Prairie Ensemble to be 'Deconstructed' at next show

CHAMPAIGN – The Prairie Ensemble will take the orchestra apart on Saturday in a concert titled, "The Deconstructed Orchestra."

The program will consist of works for small groups of instruments by composers ranging from Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart to Astor Piazzolla and will feature pianist Debra Sutter, trumpeter Nick DelVillano and bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro.

The concert, directed by Kevin Kelly, will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Faith United Methodist Church, 1719 S. Prospect Ave., C, with Kelly's Concert Conversation at 7 p.m.

The concert will give listeners an opportunity to get up close and personal with the composers, too, through intimate chamber works.

Mozart might be one of the best-known but it's not well-known that while growing up he idolized his older sister, Marianne, whose nickname was Nannerl. The Divertimento in D for oboe, two horns and string quartet, known as the "Nannerl Septet," was probably written by Mozart for her birthday.

"It's a lively, tuneful work that fits the celebratory nature of the day," Kelly said.

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos explored in his music Brazil's "dark interior," distilling the influences of indigenous cultures into new compositional forms that had little relationship to the typical European sonata or concerto forms. He called one such new form "choros,"

His "Choros No. 7," for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, alto sax, violin, cello and gong, has the thick, sultry sound of the Brazilian rainforest, with the occasional folk melody, Kelly said.

The Septet Op. 65, a mini piano concerto with trumpet obbligato by French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saens, will return the concert to more traditional fare. The featured performers will be Sutter and Nick DelVillano.

The Prairie Ensemble will then clear away any late 19th-century excesses with Ingram Marshall's "Fog Tropes" for brass sextet and tape. Marshall's interest in world music and his minimalist style create a sound scape, with the brass almost serving as background to the recorded sounds of foghorns, sea birds and wordless vocalizations.

The Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla is known for dance-inspired, energetic works. In "Winter," from "Four Seasons in Buenos Aires," he presents a concert tango. The performance will feature the original instrumentation of violin, bandoneon (a small Argentinean accordion), electric guitar, bass and piano. Guest artist Julien Labro, originally from France, now lives in Detroit. He and the rest of the quintet also will play during "half-time."

The program will close with standard American fare: an up-tempo arrangement of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" for combined woodwind quintet, brass quintet and percussion, and an arrangement of American folk tunes, "Lou's Mountain Bread," by Clark McAlister for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quintet.

Advance tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $7 for students, or $20, $18 and $8 at the door. Also available by pre-order will be The Prairie Ensemble's pre-concert box dinner, provided by Classic Events. Deadline for ordering a dinner is Wednesday.

To purchase tickets or a pre-concert box dinner or for more information, visit online www.prairieensemble.org or call 355-9077.

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