Violinist and former Carleton College faculty member Brenda Brenner will return to campus Saturday, Sept. 29 for a special performance at 8 p.m. in the College’s Concert Hall. Joining Brenner will be Carleton pianist and long-time collaborator Ken Huber for a program of music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Igor Stravinsky and César Franck. This event is free and open to the public.
Brenner left Carleton in 1993 to take a position as assistant professor of music (teaching string instruments) at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University—she was promoted to associate professor in 2006. However, she has continued her partnership with Huber with concerts across the United States. Brenner also serves as assistant director of the IU String Academy and the IU Retreat for Professional Violinists and Violists, as well as teaching and conducting in the IU Summer String Academy. Brenner came to Carleton from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, where she was an instructor and a member of the award-winning Augustine Quartet.
Brenner will also return to campus mid-February to present a Carleton convocation; she plans to speak about her ground-breaking work with underprivileged students at an elementary school in Bloomington, Ind. Through an outreach program sponsored by Brenner, first-graders are taking violin lessons three times a week. Brenner’s research explores whether music education can have a positive impact on children’s lives and on truancy rates.
Huber, Carleton’s senior lecturer in piano, has performed in hundreds of concerts nationwide and has collaborated with the Metropolitan, New York and Vienna State operas. Besides his work at Carleton he has taught at Augsburg College, Virginia Intermont College and Westminster Choir College at Rider University. Huber also served as the United States Navy Band’s pianist from 1968 to 1972, which included performances at the White House and the State Department.
This event is made possible thanks to The Laudie Porter Concert Series at Carleton College. For more information about this event, including disability accommodations, contact the Carleton College Department of Music at (507) 222-4347 or email music@carleton.edu. The Carleton College Concert Hall is located on Winona Street South in Northfield.
