Five piano faculty members, 20 piano students and 440 keys will fill the Hodgson Concert Hall stage when the Thursday Scholarship Series brings the Hugh Hodgson School of Music Piano Extravaganza to life on Thursday, February 9, at 7:30 p.m.

An historic assemblage of talent for the Hodgson School—Georgia’s first All-Steinway school—the Piano Extravaganza brings together the School’s entire piano department and nearly all of its students to perform some of the instrument’s most unique, challenging and entertaining works.

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s internationally renowned Regents Professor and Franklin Professor of Violin, Levon Ambartsumian, performs several brilliant works for violin in Ramsey Concert Hall on Thursday, February 2, at 8 p.m. 

Ambartsumian will be joined by long-time collaborator Evgeny Rivkin, professor of piano at the Hodgson School. Ambartsumian said that their goal in constructing the program for this concert was three-fold.

Five of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s most talented students, winners of the UGA Symphony Orchestra’s (UGASO) annual Concerto Competition, will perform as soloists alongside the orchestra in Hodgson Concert Hall on Wednesday, January 25, at 8 p.m.

Michael Heald, associate professor of violin at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will be joined by guest artist Timothy Lovelace in Ramsey Concert Hall for a special faculty/guest recital on Monday, January 23, at 8 p.m. 

Lovelace is the Ethel Alice Hitchcock Chair in Collaborative Piano and Coaching at the University of Minnesota, has taught across the country and has performed across the globe. Gramophone magazine wrote that “the superb collaborations of pianist Timothy Lovelace can’t be understated.”

Evgeny Rivkin, professor of piano at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will perform a solo recital of works from Chopin, Debussy and Haydn when the Thursday Scholarship Series makes its 2017 debut in Hodgson Concert Hall on January 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Rivkin has performed across the globe, mentored countless musicians in his 21 years at UGA and performed solo recitals in the Hodgson School’s flagship concert series for nearly his entire tenure.

The Board of Directors of the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University has named Adam Roberts, Hugh Hodgson School of Music assistant professor of composition, as one of 12 composers selected to receive 2016 Fromm commissions. These commissions represent one of the principal ways that the Fromm Music Foundation seeks to strengthen composition and to bring contemporary concert music closer to the public. In addition to the commissioning fee, a subsidy is available for the ensemble performing the premiere of the commissioned work.

The spirit of the holidays will rise to the rafters of Hodgson Concert Hall when the finest musicians at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music—including the UGA Symphony Orchestra (UGASO), Combined Choirs, British Brass Band and more—take to the stage for the annual UGA Holiday Concerts on Dec. 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Kenyan teenagers who had previously only known Athens, Georgia, through the computer screens they use to receive music lessons from Hugh Hodgson School of Music graduate students are currently on a tour of the Classic City and the Peach State.

Until Nov. 30, a dozen students from Moi Girls’ High School in Eldoret, Kenya, will visit, study and vacation in Athens, Atlanta and Savannah, as part of their ongoing relationship with the Hodgson School.

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music is no stranger to acclaimed international guests, but even for them, it’s rare they host an artist who has led an entire country’s military bands.

Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov, former chief conductor and Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia, will visit the University of Georgia from Nov. 8 – 16, sitting in on classes, working with students, conducting ensemble performances and taking in the Classic City.

The Hodgson Wind Ensemble (HWE) welcomes guests from as near as the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and as far as Moscow for their final concert of 2016 in Hodgson Concert Hall on Tuesday, November 15, at 8 p.m.

The Hodgson School’s premier wind ensemble will feature Pulitzer Prize winner Melinda Wagner, professor of tuba and euphonium David Zerkel and internationally-renowned Russian conductor and composer Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov.