The Glenn Korff School of Music presents a free concert, “You Had Me at Cello,” at 7:30 p.m. April 3 in Westbrook Music Building, Room 119. The performance will feature guest artist Sonja Kraus, assistant professor of cello/bass at the University of South Dakota; Karen Becker, professor of music (cello); and the Nebraska Cello Choir.
A native of Germany, Kraus is an internally acclaimed cellist, teacher and music scholar, whose concertizing and teaching career has taken her through Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States. She is currently assistant professor of cello/bass at the University of South Dakota and is the cellist in the renowned Rawlins Piano Trio.
Kraus is a sought-out performer, clinician and instructor of masterclasses throughout the U.S., Latin America and Germany with recent invitations to Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, University of Oklahoma, University of Kansas, Chapman University, Colegio Universitario San Gerónimo de La Habana in Cuba and Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico. Kraus has also participated in several music festivals around the world, including Habana Clásica, the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico and the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy.
The program includes Kraus featured as the guest soloist on Ernest Bloch’s “Solo Suite No. 3.” Kraus and Becker will share their love of cello duets by playing works by David Popper, Friedrich August Kummer and Jean Barrière. The program also includes one of the most famous cello ensemble pieces, Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1” for eight cellos.
The concert is free and open to the public.
