The Stern/Andrist Duo Plays Berg: UMD Wind Orchestra
The UMD Wind Orchestra, under music director Michael Votta, Jr., presents a concert built around Alban Berg’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and 13 Wind Instruments, with faculty violinist James Stern and pianist Audrey Andrist as featured soloists. Berg wrote the piece as a belated 50th-birthday gift for his mentor Arnold Schoenberg, inscribing it with the phrase “Aller Guten Dinge sind Drei” (“All good things come in threes”)—a reference to the work’s three movements, three performing units, and the trio of friends (Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg) whose names shape the first movement’s theme. The evening also includes the consortium premiere of Arturo Márquez’s *Sinfonía Nómada*, and the concert is available both in person and as a livestream.
When: Friday, December 4, 2026, at 8:00 pm (Eastern Time).
Venue: Dekelboum Concert Hall, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland; reserved seating.
Tickets: Regular admission $30 plus a $5 booking fee; students and youth $10.
Performers: The UMD Wind Orchestra, conducted by Michael Votta, Jr.; James Stern, violin; Audrey Andrist, piano.
Program: Alban Berg — Concerto for Violin, Piano and 13 Wind Instruments; Arturo Márquez — *Sinfonía Nómada* (consortium premiere).
Note: The Clarice describes Berg’s concerto as a testament to friendship, rich with musical and programmatic meaning drawn from the compositional world of 1920s Vienna. In an open letter to Schoenberg, Berg wrote that if listeners knew how much friendship, love, and human and spiritual references he had woven into the three movements, devotees of program music “would go mad with joy.”
Livestream: Yes, the performance will be livestreamed.
Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible seating, size-inclusive seating, large-print programs, assisted listening devices, adult and child-friendly sensory packs, and quiet spaces are available upon request. ASL interpretation, audio description, and captioning are available for select events or by patron request at least six weeks in advance.