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Musica Nova Ensemble to Perform Bach, Mozart

UT Dallas’ Advanced Orchestra and Chamber Music ensemble will perform April 22 for the biannual Musica Nova concert under the direction of music professor and composer Dr. Robert Xavier Rodriguez.

Selections for the concert include Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F and Concerto in C Minor for Oboe and Violin by Bach. The second half of the concert includes Divertimento in F, K. 138 and Piano Concerto in B-flat, K. 238 by Mozart.

“Bach and Mozart were the two greatest composers who ever lived, so our concert will feature the pinnacle of musical achievement,” Rodriguez said. “The music is transcendentally difficult, and the students have risen to the challenge. The concert will also feature a quartet of players from the Dallas Symphony who are participating in a special partnership with UTD, coaching our students in private sessions and then performing with them side-by-side at the concert.  I urge everyone to come early, because our concerts are always ‘standing-room-only.’”

The ensemble performs music written for large and small ensembles, plus multimedia and theater works of all periods. Musica Nova guest artists have included members of the Dallas Symphony and Dallas Opera Orchestra and singers from the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera.

For the upcoming concert, they will also perform alongside clinical assistant professor and pianist Michael McVay.

“It is always a pleasure to perform with our talented students at UT Dallas, and it is especially a treat for me to play the fun and virtuosic Mozart piano concerto with them,” McVay said. “We selected it specifically for its instrumentation and its beauty.”

Music from past Musica Nova concerts has ranged from Medieval and Renaissance dances and motets to standard repertoire to experimental mixed-media works written for or developed by the ensemble. Concerts have included an evening of tangos, improvisation, French cabaret and mariachi songs, chamber opera, video art and ballet.

The concert starts at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall and is free and open to the public.