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The University of Tampa has announced its 2015-2016 PNC Bank Concert Artist Series at the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values. This series of free, public concerts, sponsored by PNC Bank, has become one of UT’s most anticipated and well-attended events on campus.

Haig Mardirosian, dean of the College of Arts and Letters and artistic director of the series, has called this “a season of musical collaborations” adding that “no program features any single soloist, but rather the partnership of virtuoso musicians.” As such, said Mardirosian, the great Dobson organ of the chapel is featured in a new light in combination with other instruments.

This year’s series includes performances by organist Eric Plutz with The Tampa Brass; The Svyati Duo, comprised of cellist Rebecca Hepplewhite and organist Julian Collings; pianist Jeremy Filsell and organist Nigel Potts; an organ duet by Erik Suter and Choyoung Suter; and The Amernet Quartet. The traditional University of Tampa holiday celebration will also be performed as part of the series.

The concert dates follow. Seating is limited, and doors open 30 minutes before the concerts.

• Brass and Organ Extravaganza!, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2 p.m. The season opens with an exciting program of music for organ and large brass ensemble and percussion, from 20th century French composers including Marcel Dupré, Alexandre Guilmant, Gaston Litzaize, Charles Marie Widor and Maurice Duruflé, played by organist Eric Plutz and The Tampa Brass, conducted by Mardirosian.
• The Svyati Duo, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. This remarkable duo of young British musicians, comprised of Rebecca Hepplewhite, cello, and Julian Collings, organ, has earned high praise from the press for their recitals throughout the U.K., Europe and North America. Their program includes works of Johannes Brahms, Max Bruch, Sofia Gubaidulina, Joseph Jongen and Astor Piazzolla.
• Let Heaven and Nature Sing: The University of Tampa Holiday Concert, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2 and 4 p.m. A great Tampa institution and a joyful opening to the holiday season with traditional and new music sung by the select voices of the UT Chamber Singers.
• Virtuoso Music for Organ and Piano, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2 p.m. Featuring Jeremy Filsell, piano, and Nigel Potts, organ. Both musicians have amassed significant credentials as virtuoso performers before audiences here and abroad for their brilliant transcriptions of piano concertos. Their program here will be centered on the Sergey Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as other works by Rachmaninov, Joseph Jongen and Max Reger, all of whom were born in 1873.
• Music for Organ: Four Hands and Four Feet, Sunday, March 13, 2 p.m. Erik Suter and Choyoung Suter, organ, will perform an unusual program of organ duet literature, both native and transcribed, by Gustav Merkel, Kenneth Leighton and Richard Wagner. Hear how complex and rich the Chapel’s Dobson organ can sound when played by double the fingers and feet!
• The Amernet Quartet, Sunday April 3, 2 p.m. This premiere quartet’s last touring season included several visits to Europe and Latin America and return engagements in the U.S. and Israel. They collaborate in this program with UT pianist Grigorios Zamparas in a performance of Antonin Dvorak’s Quintet in A, op. 81 and other works. Don’t miss this stunning close to the concert season.

In addition to the concerts listed above, Mardirosian will play a series of three short (30 minute) organ recitals at noon on three consecutive Fridays in the fall:

• Oct. 23 at noon: Franz Josef Haydn, Concerto in C and Felix Mendelssohn, Sonata in F minor
• Oct. 30 at noon: Marie Bernadette Dufourcet, Images, and Robert Elmore, Suite on Nursery Tunes
• Nov. 6 at noon: Joseph Jongen, Sonata Eroica

The series is underwritten by PNC Banks and the UT College of Arts and Letters. For more information, contact caldean@ut.edu or go to www.ut.edu/sykeschapel.