The Center for Early Music Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in the Mitchell Auditorium on the St. Scholastica campus. The concert, entitled “Storm and Stress,” is part of the College’s 2007-08 Cambiata Music Series.

“‘Storm and Stress’ refers to a time of extremely heightened emotions and conflict during the late 1700s,” said director Shelley Gruskin, faculty emeritus in the College’s Department of Music.

The pieces chosen for the concert reflect the theme and include a storm scene from the opera “Le Pescatrici” by Joseph Haydn. The piece is sung by Bill Bastian, renowned tenor and instructor of music at St. Scholastica.

Bastian will provide narration for “Ariadne auf Naxos” by composer Georg Benda. “This mythological story includes storm, fury and high emotion,” said Gruskin.

The program also includes symphonies by C.P.E. Bach and Luigi Boccherini, and selections of ballet music by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the story of Don Juan.

Members of the Center for Early Music Orchestra are among the region’s finest professional musicians. They perform on replicas of historic 18th century instruments. Gruskin is known internationally for his expertise in historical performance practices.

Tickets will be available at the door; they are $10 for adults and $5 for students age 18 and younger (or with current college ID). For advance ticket sales, call (218) 723-7000 or visit: www.css.edu/mitchell.xml.

 Final 2007-2008 Cambiata Series performance:

Late and Great: Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann
7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15
Mitchell Auditorium

Join pianist LeAnn House for an evening of mature masterpieces by three great composers. The program includes one of Beethoven’s last piano sonatas and Chopin’s “Ballade in F minor,” works that review the exceptional and transcendent qualities of the composers’ late styles. After intermission, violinists Penny Schwarze and Laurie Bastian, violist Ron Kari, and cellist Rebecca Peterson will join House for a performance of Schumann’s “Piano Quintet,” a milestone that signaled Schumann’s lasting success and recognition as a great composer.