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** This event is postponed until further notice.
Join us in Crosstown Theater for the Spotlight Concert Series, featuring piano quintets by composers Dora Pejacovic and Zdenek Fibich.
This special performance by Memphis Symphony Orchestra musicians Priscilla Tsai, Jordan Musgrave, Ruth Burgess, Josh Muzzi, and pianist Tingting Yao features a program of piano quintets “lost in time” by composers Dora Pejacovic and Zdenek Fibich.
General Admission $10 | $5 with student ID
Doors at 6 pm | Performance at 7 pm
Violinist Jordan Musgraves writes about the program:
“We happened upon these pieces in a YouTube channel that features recordings of obscure pieces. These are two that really stand out, not only because the quality is so good but because when you dig down into why they never became widely known, it seems such a shame that we don’t know these composers today.
Zdenek Fibich was a contemporary of Smetana and Dvorak and actually the first to ever use Czech folk music in symphonic works (their use of folk song was inspired by Fibich). In his time, he did have some acclaim, though he was criticized for not being quite Czech nationalist enough and especially for composing operas in the Wagnerian style. Born of a Czech father, a forestry official, and a German-Viennese mother, he was of mixed heritage and was boycotted by most of the Czech orchestras. His music only survives because of his students, who championed it.
Dora Pejacovic, a Hungarian-Croatian composer firmly in the Romantic era, was slightly later in time. Her music did not reach wide acclaim, but even in an era of music and society dominated by men, she had a large output of composition, starting at age 12. She was mostly a self-taught composer, but luckily for us, was encouraged by several other composers who saw her talent and advocated for her music. She might have composed much more but sadly passed away following childbirth at age 39. Today, there is an ongoing effort to publish her music, much of which remains unpublished.
