Artvoice: Buffalo's #1 Newsweekly
Home Blogs Web Features Calendar Listings Artvoice TV Real Estate Classifieds Contact
Previous story: Not Quite a Still Life
Next story: Boom Round 3 Week 1: Psylensol vs. Photos of Wagons

Musical Movement

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (pictured top) kicks off the Ramsi P. Tick Concert Series on Friday, December 4

The Ramsi P. Tick Concert Series relocates to the Nichols School

When the late Ramsi Tick, owner of the QRS Music Rolls Company, decided to put on a classical music concert series, his goal was to bring to town the finest artists in the classical firmament, in performance settings apart from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. It was due solely to Tick’s artistic vision that local audiences had the chance to see and hear legendary soloists like Vladimir Horowitz and Nathan Milstein, as well as legendary small ensembles, such as the Stern-Istomin-Rose piano trio, on local concert stages.

The Ramsi P. Tick Concert Series was established in 2001 to perpetuate his legacy, and for the past eight seasons the series has done just that, bringing top-flight soloists like Gil Shaham, Midori, Peter Serkin, and Hilary Hahn, and groups like the Waverly Consort and the Tallis Scholars to the series’ original home at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

This season the Ramsi P. Tick series, which opens this Friday at 7:30pm with a performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, has found a new home, right on the edge of Delaware Park in North Buffalo, on the Nichols School campus. The Ramsi P. Tick series has been and continues to be an all-volunteer effort, according to artistic director Phil Rehard. “We are excited to be entering into a new partnership with the Nichols School,” said Rehard. “The concerts will be performed in the acoustically superior Flickinger Performing Arts Center, which has a seating capacity of about 480, making it an ideal venue for establishing an intimate, chamber music ambience.” Additionally, the tiered, comfortable seating of the hall also makes for ideal sight lines, while the free, ample parking is another plus for the new venue. “Our new partnership with the Nichols School offers some unique opportunities for their students,” Rehard noted, while wondering if there was any other high school in the country that has hosted a series of concerts by such well-known artists. “The students will experience exposure to an unprecedented level of musical artistry, when sitting in on rehearsals.”

From its inception, the organizers of the Ramsi P. Tick series decided that the only way that they could make the series pay for itself was by organizing it on prepaid subscription basis, eliminating expensive administrative and advertising costs. Tickets for the four concerts on this year’s series are available for $160 per package, with subscribers having the option to use any of the tickets for additional seats at a different concert, if they are unable to attend a particular event. Also new this year, student subscriptions are available at $80 with a valid student ID. Single tickets are not sold.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra soloist, Albrecht Mayer

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which performs without a conductor, has appeared once before on the series, in a January 2008 concert highlighted by a performance of a Mozart violin concerto that music lovers are still talking about. One of the very finest chamber orchestras now performing, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has a distinguished discography of almost 100 discs issued on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. During their last visit the group enjoyed the high degree of rapport that it was able to establish with its Buffalo audience, and, intrigued by the subscription concert concept, requested a return engagement at the earliest opportunity. Friday’s program includes two Mozart selections, the lovely, seldom performed ballet music from the opera Idomeneo, K.366 and the popular Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K.525 (Linz). Also on the program are the Eight Instrumental Miniatures by Stravinsky and the Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D Major by Richard Strauss, with oboe soloist Albrecht Mayer.

By the way, on the evening following their appearance in the Ramsi P. Tick series, the group will perform the same program at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where the top ticket price is $110.

On Tuesday, February 9, Radu Lupu, the reclusive, veteran Rumanian born pianist, winner of the 1966 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, makes his long-awaited Buffalo debut, in a program that includes Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata, Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat Major, D.960, and Leos Janacek’s highly atmospheric In the Mists.

The rising young American violinist Jennifer Koh will be joined by pianist Shai Wosner on Tuesday, March 2, in a program of pieces for violin and piano by Mozart and Schubert, including the Sonata B-Flat Major, K. 454 by the former and Rondo Brilliant by the latter.

On Tuesday, April 6, the San Francisco-based vocal ensemble Chanticleer, repeat visitors on both the old QRS series and the new Ramsi P. Tick series, brings its unique choral singing style back to town in a wide-ranging program that starts with music composed by Palestrina, Dufy, and Janequin during the Renaissance and ends in the 20th century with works by composers as diverse as George Gershwin and György Ligeti.

For more information, call 759-4778 or visit www.ramsitick.com.

blog comments powered by Disqus