The series that brought campus Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin is back again, this time in its 21st season.
The season will commence at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20, in Swasey Chapel with a debut performance of two well-known performers, Mark O’Connor and Rachel Barton.
Tickets are available free of charge to Denison students, and a limited number of tickets are available to the public for $15.
Barton, a native of Chicago, began to study the violin at the age of three. She made her professional debut at the age of seven with the Chicago String Ensemble.
Since that time, Baron has performed with numerous prestigious groups, including the Chicago Symphony, the St Louis Symphony, the Vienna Symphony and the Belgian National Orchestra.
Barton has been awarded numerous honors for performing. In 1992, she won the Quadrennial JS Bach International Violin Competition in Leipzig, Germany. She was the first American and the youngest performer to win the award.
In 1993, she was honored by Queen Elisabeth in Brussels, Belgium.
In 1996 Barton appeared as a torch bearer for the Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. She was also featured as a soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic.
Grammy award-winning O’Connor has appeared at the White House, the Presidential Inauguration and at the Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.
For the 1996 games, O’Connor composed “Olympic Reel.”
In addition, he has been featured in numerous major television shows, including Great Performances on PBS, the Kennedy Center Honors and America’s celebration of Israel’s 50th birthday, televised on CBS. In October 1999, O’Connor released Fanfare for the Volunteer on Sony Classical. The album was recorded with the Lon- don Symphony Orchestra.
In April 2000, O’Connor premiered his newest composition, “The American Seasons: Seasons of an American Life,” at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY.
O’Connor’s compositions have been performed by a wide variety of musicians and groups, including Yo-Yo Ma, the New York City Ballet and the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
His most popular piece, “Fiddle Concerto No. 1,” has been performed over 150 times, making it the most widely performed violin concerto.
O’Connor is also the founder of the internationally recognized Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camps, held twice a year near Nashville, Tenn.
Associate Professor Andrew Carlson will be making a cameo performance during the concert. Carlson, who was recently named the 2000 Ohio Grand Champion, is working on his first book, Fiddling for Classical Violinists.
Future Vail Series performances include pianist Christopher O’Riley, “From the Top, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and “Habitats.”
For more information, contact the Vail Series Hot Line at (740) 587-6557.
