Department of Music Chair Robert Koenig featured on Santa Barbara Symphony’s Beethoven @ 250 Concert

Robert Koenig, UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Music Chair and Professor of Keyboard, will be featured on the Santa Barbara Symphony’s Beethoven @ 250 Concert on Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 7 pm. The event will be streamed live from the Music Academy of the West as part of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s 2020/2021 digital concert season.

The chamber music program will feature highlights from Beethoven’s extensive repertoire, such as excerpts from his String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18; Violin Sonata No. 5, Op. 24 “Spring”; Trio: Variations in C Major, “La Ci Darem la Mano”; Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 11; and Marzelline’s aria from Fidelio. The program will also feature arrangements of his Trio, Op. 87 for brass trio; Sonatina in F Major, Ahn. 5 for solo marimba; and his Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor “Für Elise” for harp.

This intimate performance will feature Koenig as a special guest alongside soprano soloist Julia Metzler, an alumna of the Music Academy of the West and an Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Artist. They will be joined by the Santa Barbara Symphony’s concertmaster Jessica Guideri, principal cellist Trevor Handy, principal trumpet Jon Lewis, and clarinetist Juan Gallegos, as well as other symphony musicians.

Koenig will join violinist Jessica Guideri for the “Allegro” from the Violin Sonata No. 5, Op. 24 “Spring”; soprano Julia Metzler for Marzelline’s aria from Fidelio, and clarinetist Juan Gallegos and cellist Trevor Handy for the “Theme and Variations” from the Trio, Op. 11 for Clarinet, Cello and Piano.

The event will be hosted by Maestro Nir Kabaretti and can be streamed live on Saturday, November 21st at 7 pm or patrons can enjoy the event as a rebroadcast on Sunday, November 22nd at 3 pm.

Tickets and more information are available here.

Koenig serves as Chair of the Department of Music and Professor of Keyboard at UC Santa Barbara. He has performed at many of the world's most important venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Jordan Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, Vancouver’s Chan Center, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Paris’ Louvre Museum, and Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw. These frequent recital appearances have seen him collaborating with many of this generation’s most renowned musicians, including Augustin Hadelich, Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Pamela Frank, Ida Kavafian, Kyoko Takezawa, Esther Yoo, Paul Huang, Roberto Diaz, Jonathan Moerschel, Zuill Bailey, Sara Sant’Ambrogio, Jennifer Kloetzel, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Miro String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and members of the Tokyo and Juilliard String Quartets.

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