Mainly Mozart concludes the 2010 Spotlight Series at the Neurosciences Institute this month and next with Friday-Saturday concerts featuring the music of (who else but?) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played by magnificent artists. The program this weekend (March 27-28, 8 p.m.) features renowned clarinetist David Shifrin, recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. Shifrin is known locally for his excellence and ebullience on the concert platform. A frequent participant in San Diego area festivals, Shifrin served as artistic director of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society from 1992 to 2004. He will be joined in music making by the Daedalus Quartet in its Spotlight Series debut. The program comprises Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B flat, J.182; Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in E, Op. 18, No. 1; and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581. When Shifrin made his Spotlight Series debut in January 2009, audiences were reminded of his genius, his gift of gab, his impeccable phrasing and the incredible sweetness of his tone. To hear him play is a real treat. The April concerts April 23 and 24 Ida Levin, a world-renowned violinist and longtime favorite of San Diego audiences, collaborates with Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient Richard Yongjae O’Neill, viola. O’Neill makes his Mainly Mozart Spotlight Series debut in these Neurosciences Institute concerts. Joining them is esteemed cellist Fred Sherry, a great favorite in La Jolla. Sherry has been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1984. Levin is a native of Santa Monica and began violin studies at age 3. She made her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at 10 and soon after played for President Ronald Reagan and wife, Nancy, along with pianist Rudolf Serkin on PBS’s “Performances at the White House.” She, too, is recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. The April program comprises Mozart’s Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola, K. 423; Franz Schubert’s String Trio in B flat, D. 581; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3. Spotlight Series concerts in the acoustically-excellent Neurosciences auditorium commence at 8 p.m. For tickets and further information, visit www.mainlymozart.org or phone (619) 239-0100. The Neurosciences Institute is located at 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego, off I-5 at Genesee Avenue. Maestro David Atherton, artistic director, and Nancy Laturno Bojanic, executive director, founded mainly Mozart in June 1988. The organization presents the Spotlight Series at The Neurosciences Institute and the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, as well as the annual Mainly Mozart Festival (June 8-19). Featuring soloists and the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra conducted by Atherton, the Mainly Mozart Festival is in residence at downtown’s Balboa Theatre.
