The Fleisher Duo - married pianists Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson - will lead off the sixth season of String Theory.If you go• What: String Theory at the Hunter featuring Fleisher Duo with Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson.• When: 6:30 tonight, Oct. 16; Musical Dialogue with the performers starts at 6 p.m.• Where: Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View.• Admission: $25 for Hunter members, $35 for non-members, $10 for students with a valid student ID and $25 for groups of 20 or more people. Season subscriptions available.• Phone: 423-267-0968• Website: www.stringtheorymusic.orgEarly extrasOne of two programs will precede each String Theory performance.• Musical Dialogues are scheduled for the Oct. 16, Dec. 18 and March 19 concerts. These programs feature in-depth conversations with the evening's performers on their lives, inspirations and the masterpieces to be performed. They start at 6 p.m. from the concert stage.• Art Connections are scheduled for the Jan. 22, Feb. 12 and May 7 concerts. These programs give attendees time to visit the Hunter galleries to hear Ellen Simak, the Hunter's former chief curator, and Robert Bernhardt, conductor emeritus of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, discuss works from the museum collection that relate to the music featured in the evening's concert. They start at 5:30 p.m.Save the dateSeason subscriptions for all six concerts are $130 for Hunter Museum members, $180 for nonmembers.• Dec. 18: The Pacifica Quartet and Gloria Chien (piano); works by Mendelssohn and Brahms.• Jan. 22: Family concert featuring Tara O'Connor (flute), Peter Kolkay (bassoon), James Austin Smith (oboe), Gloria Chien (piano); works by Haydn, Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, Jolivet, Ginestera, Poulenc and Britten.• Feb. 12: Anthony McGill (clarinet); works by Debussy, Scriabin, Schumann and Weber.• March 19: Ayano Kataoka, Ian Rosenbaum and Christopher Froh (percussion trio); works by Cage, Lansky, De Mey, Nancarrow, Reich, Takemitsu and Zivkovic.• May 7: Soovin Kim (violin), Hsin-Yun Huang (viola), Paul Watkins (cello), Gloria Chien (piano); Brahms' Piano Quartet in A Major.
String Theory at the Hunter begins its sixth season tonight, Oct. 16, with a concert by the Fleisher Duo, husband and wife pianists Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson. They will perform works by Bach, Kirchner, Scriabin, Chopin, Debussy and Ravel.
Founded in 2009 by pianist Gloria Chien, String Theory brings acclaimed chamber musicians from around the world to Chattanooga to perform in the intimate setting of the Hunter Museum of American Art. Chien, an associate professor at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., with extensive performing credits, serves as the series' artistic director and often accompanies the visiting musicians.
At 86, Fleisher continues to build on his career as a conductor, soloist, chamber musician and teacher. He made his public debut at age 8, played with the New York Philharmonic at 16 and became one of the few child prodigies to be accepted for study with Artur Schnabel.
In 1964, Fleisher lost the use of his right hand due to focal dystonia. He continued his performances, recording left-hand repertoire and later conducting. He regained the use of his right hand in 2007. A short documentary about Fleisher, "Two Hands," was nominated for an Academy Award in 2007.
From 1968 to 2003, he co-founded and co-directed the Theater Chamber Players, the first resident chamber ensemble of the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center. In 1994, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society. He currently conducts and teaches at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Curtis Institute of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Jacobson has received international acclaim as a soloist, duo pianist and chamber musician. She has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra of Portugal and the Orchestre National d'Ile de France. This season she will give concerts in Japan, Germany, France and the United States.