Tom Gallant and Tesla Quartet to perform concert Jan. 18
Oboist Thomas Gallant and the Tesla String Quartet will perform the 100th concert in Coastal Concerts’ 21 years of bringing world-class music to southern Delaware, at 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18. Concerts take place in the Bethel United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, Fourth and Market streets, Lewes.
Before the concert, Lani Spahr will give a 30-minute Performance Insights talk at 1 p.m. Spahr is a professional oboist and bagpiper, internationally acclaimed audio remastering engineer, and Coastal Concerts board member. Using audio and visual aids, he will highlight and discuss some of the detail and nuance of the music the audience will hear during the concert.
Immediately following the concert will be a reception for the audience and performers to celebrate the first 100 Coastal Concerts. Light refreshments will be served.
In addition to the Jan. 18 concert, Tom Gallant and the Tesla Quartet will conduct an interactive outreach event for Mariner Middle School music students Friday, Jan. 17, at the school, 16391 Harbeson Road, Milton.
Gallant is one of the world’s few virtuoso solo and chamber music oboists. He is a first-prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild International New York Competition, a rare accomplishment for an oboe soloist. The oboe is considered by many to be the most difficult of all the musical instruments.
The Tesla String Quartet took second prize as well as the Haydn Prize and Canadian Commission Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2016.
The Tesla Quartet members are Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie, violin; Edwin Kaplan, viola; and Serafim Smigelskiy, cello. The group formed at the Juilliard School in 2008 and quickly established itself as one of the most promising young ensembles in New York, winning second prize at the J.C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition only a few months after its formation.
The program includes Luigi Boccherini’s “Oboe Quintet No. 17 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, No. 5”; Edward Elgar’s “Andante and Allegro for Solo Oboe and String Trio”; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370”; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor.”
The program is subject to change at the artists’ discretion.
General seating tickets are available for $35 online or at the door the day of the concert.
Coastal Concerts offers free admission to ages 18 and under and one accompanying adult. Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling 888-212-6458. Discounted $10 admission is available at the door for students 19 and older and for active-duty military, military veterans and first responders. Valid IDs are required.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.coastalconcerts.org.