Feb 09, 2024

Cavatina Duo, whose mastery of the flute and guitar has been praised as “brilliant” and “virtuoso,” will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

This is the sixth performance in the 2023-2024 Friends of Good Music performance season.

Cavatina Duo, the husband-and-wife duo of Eugenia Moliner on flute and Denis Azabagic on guitar, break convention with their combination of instruments. 

Moliner has been acclaimed as “brilliant” by British Flute Society magazine. She has performed with principal musicians from the Chicago Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Toronto Symphony orchestras as well with many chamber ensembles, including the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Civitas Ensemble, and the Aspen String Trio. She has released 10 CDs.
 
Azabagic, a prizewinner in 24 international competitions, has been described as a “virtuoso with flawless technique” by Soundboard magazine. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Chicago and Madrid symphonies, among many others. Azabagic has collaborated with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Civitas Ensemble, and the Quartet Casals. He has released 14 CDs, two DVDs, and published the book “On Competitions-Dealing with Performance Stress.”

The duo’s electrifying performances have captivated audiences around the world, including such venues and festivals as Ravinia in Chicago; Da Camera Society in Los Angeles; France’s Aix-en-Provence Summer Festival; the National Concert Hall of Taipei, Taiwan; the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China; and many others.

In their Quick Center performance, they will perform “Folias d’Espagne,” one of the oldest remembered European musical themes; David Leisner’s “Dances in the Madhouse;” two Balkan pieces; Georg Friedrich Telemann’s “Three Fantasies;” Maximo Diego Pujol’s “Suite Buenos Aires;” and other selections.

Cavatina Duo’s extensive discography includes “Folios and Fantasias,” music of Marais and Telemann, a Critic’s Choice selection of the American Record Guide; “The Balkan Project,” music from Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia; “Cavatina at the Opera,” virtuosic arrangements of melodies from “Carmen,” “La Traviata,” “Carnival of Venice,” and other operas; and the forthcoming “River of Fire” with the Pacifica Quartet, five newly commissioned works inspired by Gypsy music.

Single tickets for this concert are $20 at full price, $16 for senior citizens and St. Bonaventure employees, and $5 for students. For tickets and information, call The Quick Center at (716) 375-2494.

For each Friends of Good Music performance, The Quick Center will open its galleries one hour before the performance and keep them open through intermission. Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

Museum admission is free and open to the public year-round. For more information, visit www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.

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