Joining the 13 Joseph Haydn Societies worldwide, The Haydn Society of California officially launches this month with an inaugural conference to be held on March 29-30 at Scripps College in Claremont. Scheduled events include several lectures and panel discussions, and Dr. Walter Reicher, Intendant of the Haydn Festpiele in Eisenstadt, Austria, will deliver the keynote address. In addition, three concert performances featuring works by Haydn will be open and free to the general public: on Saturday, March 29, at 4:15 p.m. in Balch Auditorium, and 8:00 p.m. in the Humanities Auditorium, both on the Scripps campus, and on Sunday, March 30, at 10:00 a.m., at Claremont United Church of Christ Congregational on Harvard Avenue and 6th Street. For conference registration instructions, concert or program information, or to join The Haydn Society of California, please call (909) 607-3266.
The Haydn Society of California has been formed in cooperation with the Haydn Festspiele and the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Under the guidance of Executive Director Jane O’Donnell, Scripps College’s Bessie and Cecil Frankel Professor of Music, the California chapter joins the 13 existing Haydn Societies worldwide, located in such geographically diverse countries as South Korea, Great Britain, and the United States. The various activities of the Societies include publicizing concerts, sponsoring competitions, awarding prizes or stipends to young promising musicians for worthy scholarship or performance, and organizing concerts, conferences, and concert travel. The Haydn Society of California will enhance this current program by focusing on the promotion of California- and Western United States-based opportunities, concerts, and events that relate to Joseph Haydn.
On the Inaugural Conference program, the March 29 concert at 4:15 p.m. in Balch Auditorium will offer performances by three diverse groups. First will be the Gold Coast Trio, comprised of Rachel Huang, violin, Susan Lamb Cook, cello, and Hao Huang, piano. The Gold Coast Trio will be followed by the Claremont Colleges Vocal Quartet, featuring Anna De Michele, soprano, Jane O’Donnell, mezzo-soprano, Leland Vail, tenor, Norman Craver, bass, with Paul Bishop, piano. The final performance will be by the Euphoria Quartet, with violinists Rachel Huang and Jonathan Wright, Cindy Fogg, viola, and Tom Flaherty, cello.
At 8:00 p.m. in the Scripps Humanities Auditorium, Con Gioia Early Music Ensemble, led by founder Preethi de Silva, will perform Haydn’s Cantata Arianna a Naxos, Sonata for Fortepiano in E-Flat Major, Ho. XVI: 49, and Fortepiano Trio in G Major, and additional works by C.P.E. Bach and W.A. Mozart. Music Director de Silva, who plays harpsichord and fortepiano, will be joined by musicians Frances Moore, violin, James Bell, viola, and Benjamin Wyatt, cello, and Katharin Rundus, soprano.
On March 30, the final performance of the conference will take place at the 10:00 a.m. service at the Claremont United Church Christ, Congregational. Haydn’s Schöpfungsmesse (“Creation” Mass), with choir and orchestra, will be conducted by Michael Deane Lamkin, Scripps dean of faculty and professor of music.
The Haydn Society of California Inaugural Conference at Scripps College is sponsored by the Harper Lecture Fund, the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Commons, and the Scripps College Music Department.