Sirota viola recital includes world premiere piece

· 2 min read

Sirota viola recital includes world premiere piece

School of Music performances this week
Jonah Sirota
Jonah Sirota

Violist Jonah Sirota’s recital, a program of chamber music with viola from the time when the instrument came into its own, is at 7:30 p.m. March 15 in Kimball Recital Hall.

The performance includes guest artist Molly Morkoski, piano, and faculty artists William McMullen, oboe; Diane Barger, clarinet; John Bailey, flute; and Karen Becker, cello.

The night features works by Holst, Clarke, Loeffler, Bruch, Martinu, and the world premiere of Elegy For a Lost World by Robert Sirota.

“When Jonah invited me to contribute a work for his project commissioning elegiac pieces for viola, I leapt at the opportunity,” said Robert Sirota, Jonah Sirota’s father. “In our conversations about the creation of this work, he asked me for a piece evoking a sense of the innocence of youth. His suggested title was ‘Elegy for a Small World.’ What I actually came up with is not so much about child-like innocence as it is about yearning for the idealism of youth. Hence, ‘small world’ became ‘lost world.’”

Violist Jonah Sirota is known as a solo and chamber music violist of great range and depth. After making his solo debut at the age of 17 with Alan Gilbert and the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, he won concerto competitions at both Rice University and at the Juilliard School, and was third prize winner in the 2006 Naumburg Viola Competition. Sirota’s position at University of Nebraska-Lincoln includes teaching a select studio of violists, as well as helping run the chamber music program, coaching student chamber music groups and a performance series with the quartet.

The performance is free and open to the public. The night of the performance, click here to view the live webcast.

More events in the Glenn Korff School of Music this week include:

The Contemporary Music Ensemble performance that was scheduled at 7:30 p.m. March 15 in the Westbrook Recital Hall has been canceled.

Click here for the music events calendar.

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