Guest cellist Lynn Harrell, a two-time Grammy winner for Best Chamber Music Performance, will join several other acclaimed guest artists for the String Chamber Music Extravaganza at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in the Concert Hall at Fresno State. Other performers will be Stephen Boe and Limor Toren-Immerman on violin; Paul Coletti and Michael Chang on viola; and Thomas Loewenheim on cello.

An accomplished recording artist, Harrell’s discography of more than 30 recordings includes the complete Bach Cello Suites (London/Decca) and two Grammy wins with Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy – in 1981 for the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio and in 1987 for the complete Beethoven Piano Trios (both Angel/EMI).

Boe is a Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition prize winner and former artist in residence for the National Endowment for the Arts. Coletti has been described by Fanfare magazine as “the best violist currently on the musical scene today.”

The program will include “String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18” by Johannes Brahms and “String Sextet in D minor, Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Chang is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music and a faculty member at California State University, Fullerton.

Violinist Toren-Immerman and cellist Loewenheim, Fresno State music professors, are award-winning international performing artists.

Tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $15 for students.

Harrell will also present a cello master class during his visit to Fresno State at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 5, in the Concert Hall. This class is free and open to the public.

In addition to promoting high-level chamber music, the concert is dedicated to bringing awareness to the FOOSA International Summer Orchestra Academy, a joint project of Fresno State and the Youth Orchestras of Fresno, geared toward serious young musicians who want to commit themselves to a rigorous daily plan involving orchestra rehearsals, lessons, master classes, individual practice and performance opportunities, including concerts in Los Angeles and Fresno.

For more information, contact Loewenheim at 559.278.7547 or tloewenheim@csufresno.edu.

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