Spring Break
Noted violinist Perlman to play in OPAS event
Award-winning virtuoso who rarely travels ventures to A&M for performance
By: Jill Beathard
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News
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"He's a star on the international stage, a really famous classical musician," said Leigh Sinclair, OPAS student chairwoman and a senior biomedical engineering major. "He's the biggest star we've had since Yo-Yo Ma. The opportunity to see him is just amazing."
Perlman has received four Emmy Awards and 15 Grammy Awards, performed at the 2006 Academy Awards and performed the violin solos for the film "Schindler's List."
OPAS marketing representative Craig Boleman said Perlman the pianist Rohan de Silva will accompany him. Perlman and De Silva performed together for a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip at the White House. On Sunday the duo will perform J.M. Leclair's "Sonata for violin & piano in D Major," R. Strauss' "Sonata for violin & piano in E flat major, Op. 18," O. Messian's "Theme and Variations for violin & piano," and other pieces to be announced on stage.
"I'm looking forward to it just because of the caliber of performer he is," said Elizabeth Melton, an OPAS executive committee member and a junior English major. "He's the best in the world right now."
Perlman had polio when he was young, and uses a wheelchair because of it . "He doesn't do much traveling," Sinclair said. "We worked really hard to get him here. In the end it came down to coordinating the travel to get him down here."
"It's harder for him to get around, he doesn't like to travel much anymore," Melton said. "It's not an opportunity that's going to be around much longer."
Profit from ticket sales is used to pay the performers, Sinclair said. For performers like Perlman, money has to be drawn out of the OPAS Endowment, a fund set up by donors specifically to be used for bringing in more expensive performers for the student body and community.
A limited number of tickets will be held for rush tickets, to be sold Thursday and Friday at the Box Office. "I anticipate this performance will be sold out," Sinclair said.
Perlman teaches at the Julliard School and each summer at the Perlman Music Program, a music program founded by his wife, Toby Perlman. The performance is part of Perlman's 50th season since his American debut, Boleman said. As part of his anniversary tour, he will perform with Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax at Carnegie Hall gala, and with students from the Perlman Music Program for a three-concert series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Chicago's Symphony Hall.
Tickets
The performance will be at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in Rudder Auditorium Ticket prices range from $53-$85 and $49-$96 for students. Tickets may be purchased from the MSC Box Office at
(979) 845-1234 or online at
http://www.MSCOPAS.org.
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