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Mozart is unquestionably one of the great geniuses of Western music. Beginning at an amazingly young age, he composed an astonishing array of masterpieces in all the major genres of his era: opera, symphony, church music, chamber music, solo piano works, and music for dances and parties. Taught by his father and many other well-known musicians of his youth, he quickly developed one of the most sensitive, versatile musical minds in all of history, and continued to grow as a composer right up to his untimely death in Vienna at the age of 35. This presentation, featuring live performances by local musicians, will look at Mozart’s output and explore aspects of his life to understand how he became so skilled and achieved so much in such a short lifetime.
Thomas Shoebotham has taught and performed on the cello in the Bay Area for over 20 years. Maestro Shoebotham plays a 2004 Anthony Lane cello, which won a silver medal for tone at the Violin Society of America competition in Portland. Also a noted conductor, he has directed performances for a number of groups, including Opera San Jose, Berkeley Opera, Peninsula Symphony, West Bay Opera, Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, Albuquerque Philharmonic, and Palo Alto Philharmonic.
