Tucson’s St. Andrew’s Bach Society is going international with the second concert in its 2024 summer series, while Arizona Friends of Chamber Music opens its summer concert series with a husband-and-wife four-hands piano recital.
Bach Society, which until a couple of years ago was the only classical music game in town over the hot summer months, hosts the series debut of French-born violinist Arnaud Sussmann and Chinese-born pianist Wu Qian. The pair’s “Musicque Française” concert on Sunday, June 23, features French music by Debussy, Boulanger, Saint-Saëns, Faure and others.
This marks the second time we’ve seen Wu on a Tucson stage. She was here for the 2023 Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival with the Sitkovetsky Trio, an ensemble that includes her pianist husband Alexander Sitkovetsky.
Pianist Wu Qian is making her St. Andrew’s Bach Society series debut, but she is no stranger to a Tucson stage.
Sussmann, who won the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009, has been praised for his unique sound and, in the words of the Bach Society, his “profound musicianship.” Minnesota’s Pioneer Press said the violinist’s “old-school sound” will remind listeners “of what you’ll hear on vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler,” calling it “a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener.”
The pair’s program includes violin and piano sonatas from Debussy, Faure and Saint-Saëns, as well as Lili Boulanger’s “Deux Morceaux” for Violin and Piano.
Tickets for the 2 p.m. concert at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St., are $16 general admission, $26 for premium seats through standrewsbach.org.
Tucson pianists Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt bring their longtime four-hands piano concert to the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music’s summer series, which includes monthly concerts through August.
Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt have been performing four-hands piano recitals for more than 25 years.
Their recital at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 26, features works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Ravel and Liszt. Tickets for the concert at Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ, 122 N. Craycroft Road, are $45 for adults, $12 for students through arizonachambermusic.org.
The summer series continues with the Rosso Trio and pianist Norman Boehm on July 17 and flutist Sasha Lipay and pianist Fanya Lin on Aug. 21.
For details, visit arizonachambermusic.org.
Fanya Lin performs the first movement of Schumann's "Fantasie."
