The NOVA Chamber Music Series closed its season Sunday with a celebration of strings. Several of the community's top violin and viola players were featured in pieces that pushed their technique and musicality to the max.
Violinists Kathryn Eberle and Julie Wunderle of the Utah Symphony, Robert Waters of the Utah State University-based Fry Street Quartet and Aubrey Woods of the Ballet West Orchestra tag-teamed in eight miniatures by Béla Bartók and Niccolò Paganini. The folk-flavored Bartók duos nicely complemented the formidable virtuosity of three selections from Paganini's celebrated Opus 1 solo caprices.
Four violists had their turn next, showing off every technical feat in contemporary composer Eric Wubbels' "IJVER." (The quartet's title, as explained in the program notes, comes from a Dutch word that has "connotations of zeal, ardor and determined effort in pursuit of a goal.") It might not be the sort of music you'd listen to in your car, but it was a fascinating 15 minutes. Utah Symphony principal violist Brant Bayless and section-mates Elizabeth Beilman, Joel Gibbs and Carl Johansen executed the work's demands with polish and flair.
These showcases of violin and viola virtuosity were bookended by the familiar charms of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Eberle and Bayless opened the concert with the composer's K. 424 Duo, delivering consummate grace and elegance from start to finish. To close the afternoon, the Utah Symphony's Alexander Martin gave a smooth, strong and stylish performance as soloist in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3. An 11-member ensemble of his orchestra colleagues, playing without a conductor, gave warm and well-balanced accompaniment.
After intermission of Sunday's concert, Jason Hardink announced that next season will be his last as NOVA's artistic director, explaining that the series has grown too big for him to manage on top of his family life and full-time job as Utah Symphony principal keyboardist.