Performers

DAVID KAPLAN, piano CATHERINE GREGORY, flute SIMONE PORTER, violin CELIA HATTON, viola ARLEN HLUSKO, cello
JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, host

James Austin Smith introduces a program exploring Mozart’s writing for flute at a moment when the composer was navigating new musical environments and new professional realities. Australian-born flutist Catherine Gregory, winner of the 2018 Pro Musicis International Award, is joined by our resident string soloists, Simone Porter, Celia Hatton, and Arlen Hlusko as well as pianist David Kaplan.

Much of this music dates from the late 1770s, when Mozart was traveling and working under commission. He wrote reluctantly for the flute, famously claiming he “could not bear” the instrument—yet the flute quartets reveal a composer experimenting with balance, texture, and line and testing the expressive possibilities of an instrument he both resisted and reimagined.

The Fantasia in C minor, written later in Vienna, offers a striking contrast. Free in form and restless in gesture, it moves through sharply defined ideas that feel almost improvised, revealing a more private and searching side of Mozart’s voice.

Program

MOZART Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475 MOZART Flute Quartet in C Major, K.285b MOZART Flute Quartet in D Major, K.285

Tickets

Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.