EUGENE–Spring term gets underway this week at the University of Oregon School of Music with two concerts–a sampling of operatic works and the final installment in a series showcasing Beethoven’s violin sonatas.

For more information, call the UO School of Music, 961 E. 18th Ave., weekdays at (541)
346-5678. To confirm concert times and ticket information, call GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 2533, for a 24-hours-a-day taped message of the week’s events.

The Oregon Opera Ensemble will perform two chamber operas and present vocal selections from other popular operas at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets, available at the door, are $5 general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens.

Under artistic director David Howell, graduate and undergraduate voice students will perform Samuel Barber’s "A Hand of Bridge" and Seymour Barab’s "A Game of Chance." The chamber operas will be presented with costuming and simple staging; piano accompaniment is by Kumiko Shimizu and Lynn Riihimaki.

Other selections on the program include music from "The Magic Flute" by Mozart, "Der Rosenkavalier" by Strauss, "Daughter of the Regiment" by Donizetti and "Otello" by Verdi.

Violinist Fritz Gearhart and pianist Victor Steinhardt will perform sonatas by Beethoven in a Faculty Artist Series recital at 8 p.m. in Beall Hall. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 general admission and $4 for students and senior citizens.

This is the third and final concert in a series featuring the cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas. The program includes two sonatas from Opus 12–Sonata No. 2 in A Major and Sonata No. 3 in E-flat Major–and two sonatas from Opus 30–Sonata No. 2 in C Minor and Sonata No. 3 in G Major.

Gearhart joined the UO music faculty in 1998. He received his master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein. His earlier performances as a member of the Chester String Quartet were widely acclaimed by the press and singled out as a highlight of the 1989 String Quartet Congress. Gearhart has performed in major halls around the country, including two recent performances in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and has several compact discs to his credit.

Steinhardt is professor of piano at the University of Oregon. One of this area’s most popular and acclaimed pianists, he has been a featured artist at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival in California, the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho, the Chamber Music Northwest Series in Portland, the Bargemusic chamber series in New York, the Mohawk Trail Concerts in Massachusetts, and the Oregon Bach Festival. As a composer, Steinhardt has received nationwide recognition for his chamber music and solo piano works.

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