KUAF/Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival Features Mozart, Debussy in Third Concert

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The fifth annual KUAF/Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival continues its season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30, with the third of six concerts. The performance will feature works by Mozart and Debussy and will be held in the Fine Arts Building's Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. A reception will follow.

Music professors Stephen Gates and Er-Gene Kahng have been organizing the festival in collaboration with KUAF and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences since 2009. Performances will include a variety of chamber music using diverse instrumental groups from many musical eras.

The third concert will feature faculty members Kahng (violin), Gates (cello) and Paulo Eskitch (viola) and student Andrew Chu (violin). Kahng, Gates and Eskitch will play "Divertimento in E-flat major, K. 563" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The trio will be joined by Chu for "String quartet in G minor" by ­­­Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

"The Mozart divertimento is a delightful, lighthearted, virtuosic piece for sting trio, probably the best-known—and maybe the best—piece ever written for this combination of instruments," said Gates. "The Debussy string quartet is from the early 20th century and combines Debussy's well-know 'impressionistic' style with the rigor inherent in a string quartet."

Gates is professor of music. He has attended international master with Pierre Fournier and Andre Navarra and has studied with Aldo Parisot and Pau Olefsky. Gates is a member of the Fulbright Trio, performs as a guest artist with the Music Festival of Arkansas and is a founding member of the Ozark Chamber Music Players.

Kahng is associate professor of violin. She is a member of College Music Society and American String Teachers Association. She presents regularly at conferences by giving lecture recitals and performing new music. In addition to teaching, Kahng is part of the Fulbright Trio and she serves as the violin faculty and 2^nd violinist in a string quartet as part of the Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey, Mich.

Eskitch is adjunct instructor of viola. He is also adjunct instructor violin, viola and chamber music at Tulsa Community College and adjunct instructor of viola at the University of Tulsa. He has held positions with the Tulsa Philharmonic, Tulsa Opera Orchestra, Wichita Grand Opera and Opera in the Ozarks and has performed in many venues in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Chu is a violin performance major in the department of music studying with Kahng. He is from St. Louis, where he started piano and violin at a young age. He was concertmaster for Northwest Arkansas All-Region orchestra, as well as Arkansas All State orchestra. Chu is a member of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra and the University Symphony Orchestra.

The six-week series will continue with concerts every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. until June 20. The May 30, June 6 and June 20 concerts will be in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. The June 13 concert will be held in the parish hall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

Performances are free and open to the public thanks to support from the university, Fulbright College and private donors. Seats may be reserved in advance through Fulbright College.

Parking is available in the Stadium Drive Parking Facility, where parking is free after 5 p.m. Entrance to the parking facility is on Stadium Drive, and the facility's elevator will take patrons to street level directly across from the Fine Arts Center. Musical previews and other details for each concert are available on the KUAF/Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival website.

Contributions for the KUAF/Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival may be made online or by contacting the Fulbright College development office at 479.575.3712 or Fulbright@uark.edu.Musical previews and other details for each concert are available on the KUAF/Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival website.