Musicians to Perform Beethoven, Brahms

American Double, a duo featuring violinist Philip Ficsor and pianist Constantine Finehouse, will perform works by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven on Friday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. in Westmont’s Deane Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.

The first half of the performance features two sonatas in G, Beethoven’s Sonata in G Major, Op. 96, and Brahms’ Sonata in G Major, Op. 78. Ficsor says the second half of the concert offers a special treat. “We're going to be collaborating with UCSB French horn professor Dr. Steven Gross,” Ficsor says. “He is an amazing horn player, having been in the Atlanta Symphony and National Symphony among others.” The three musicians will perform Braham’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn.

The program’s three pieces are the first installment of a complete recording of Brahms’ sonatas, which the musicians hope to release in 2016, and Beethoven’s sonatas, which they hope to release in 2020. The American Double and Gross are raising funds to commission American composer William Bolcom for a horn trio to be premiered in fall 2014.

Ficsor, in his sixth year as an assistant professor of violin at Westmont, recently released his third recording, “Summer Day,” featuring the complete works for violin and piano of Emma Lou Diemer, with the composer at the keyboard.

Finehouse, who has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad since receiving his master’s degree in piano performance from Yale University, is a champion of music by Bolcom, whose complete solo piano works he is currently recording for Naxos Records. He is an artist-in-residence at Westmont this year.

Gross, director of the winds, brass and percussion program at UC Santa Barbara, has international solo appearances with the Orchester der Stadt Vöcklabruck in Austria, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Moscow Conservatory and the L’Abri International Arts Festival.