Duo Esprit, a harp and viola duo from Colorado, will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in the UW Fine Arts concert hall.
Tickets are $7 for the public and $5 for students and seniors. For tickets, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.
The program will include such selections as Andrea Ferrante's "The Flowers of Winter," Ricardo Iznaola's "Petit Variations," Chris Malloy's "The Harmony of Opposites," Chopin's "Nocturne in C# minor" and Arnold Bax's "Fantasy Sonata."
Founded out of mutual admiration of their talents as both instrumentalists and artists, Duo Esprit harpist AnnMarie Liss and violist Basil Vendryes come together to explore the repertoire for this unusual combination.
Esprit has commissioned works by Lamont School of Music professor Christopher Malloy, distinguished New York composer David Tcimpidis, Italian composer Ferrante and others.
Vendryes has been principal violist of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra since 1993. He is a former member of the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Rochester Philharmonic orchestras. He currently serves on the faculties of the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver, the Quartet Program at SUNY Fredonia, New York and the Montecito Music Festival in California. He also is the founder/director of the Colorado Young Sinfonia, comprised of some of the best young talent in the Denver area.
Liss is a member of the Colorado College performance faculty and maintains an active private studio and concert career. At the age of 23, she became the youngest harpist to be awarded the prestigious Diplome Superieure de Concertiste (DMA) from the Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique de Paris, where she studied with Isabelle Perrin.
She has performed as principal harpist and guest solo artist with many orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Australia, and has recorded productions with Le Theatre Française De La Musique and Radio France.
