Tuesday, May 14, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
University of Oregon, Berwick Hall
With Nicholas Sharma
All Musicking events are free and open to the public. All events are subject to change
Despite Anton Fils’ relative obscurity, he was actually quite famous after his death in 1760. In fact, the music composer Christian Schubart praised him as the best symphonist to ever have lived. Despite this, Fils’ name is typically only mentioned in passing as another composer from Mannheim during their golden years. Yet when one examines his music, Schubart’s praise seems quite deserving. His Sinfonia in G Minor is incredibly beautiful, and seems to pre-empt many of the stylistic trends that were to appear in the following thirty years. These trends include moments of real Sturm und Drang contrasted with very lyrical passages that seem very Empfindsam. The composition is highly mature, and these trends, along with the frequent stark dynamic contrasts allow for a compelling comparison even to later works written by composers such as Mozart or Haydn. However, this piece has not been popular in the past few centuries, and there are no reputable printed editions. The only authoritative source is from the manuscript held by the Thurn und Taxis Library in Germany.
For this conference, I will be sharing this piece through a performance with the talented students from University of Oregon. We will be working to create a carefully researched and prepared performance, drawing from the scholarship that surrounds Mannheim and the practices from that time. This will tie into my lecture presentation, which will center around performing practices of Fils’ Sinfonia in G Minor as well as the considerations and challenges of creating a scholarly performing edition.
Nicholas Sharma is currently completing his master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Oregon. Sharma additionally serves as the assistant conductor for both the University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the Oregon Mozart Players. This year, he was also awarded a position as conducting fellow for the Eugene Symphony Orchestra’s 2018/2019 season. Sharma received his bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music in 2017, studying privately with Professor Oleh Krysa— a former student of David Oistrakh’s. It was during Sharma’s time at Eastman that he discovered his true passion for conducting. While at Eastman, Sharma worked with many different ensembles including the Eastman Conducting Orchestra and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductors Sharma has worked with include Neil Varon (Eastman Philharmonia), Alexander Treger (American Youth Symphony/ Concertmaster of LA Philharmonic), Francesco Lecce-Chong (Eugene Symphony), Kelly Kuo (Oregon Mozart Players), and David Jacobs (UO Symphony).
* The Musicking conference is free and open to the public. Click HERE to donate to the conference and keep Musicking free for our community.