Faculty and Guest Artists Kick Off Albion's Mendelssohn/Haydn Festival Series
Albion College kicks off its Mendelssohn/Haydn Festival on Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church in Albion. A pre-concert lecture will be given by Albion faculty member Lia Jensen-Abbott beginning at 6:30 p.m. Featured musicians include Albion’s own faculty pianists Jensen-Abbott and David Abbott as well as Louisiana State University violinist Lin He, and State University of New York at Fredonia cellist Natasha Farny.
The festival celebrates the work of composers Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), recognizing the 200th anniversary of their death and birth, respectively. The festival features talented Albion faculty musicians as well as visiting artists from across the country.
“We think this is a marvelous opportunity,” says Albion piano professor David Abbott, “to hear both well-known as well as less well known but truly remarkable works by some of the most famous composers of the classic and romantic periods of musical history.”
The first of these chamber music recitals includes performances of Haydn’s Trio in C Major and Mendelssohn’s Sonata in F major for violin and piano, Sonata in D major for cello and piano and Trio in C minor.
Lin He is an assistant professor of Violin at Louisiana State University and associate concertmaster with the Baton Rouge Symphony. He holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and has performed in numerous recitals in both the United States and China, including concertos with the Drake Symphony, the Jiang Su symphony, and the Wooster symphony. His summer festival work has included the Music Academy of the West and the Tanglewood Music Center. 
Natasha Farny, a cello professor at State University of New York at Fredonia, has performed as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Abilene Philharmonic among others. Farny has also performed at European music festivals including The Banff Summer Master Classes, the Kronberg Cello Festival in Germany, and the Bay View Music Festival here in Michigan. This summer, she will participate in the Lincoln Center Festival’s Verese production. The future recitals in the Mendelssohn/Haydn Festival will be held in Albion College’s Goodrich Chapel—Friday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. Pre-Concert lectures will be given by Jensen-Abbott on February 12 and 19, each beginning at 6:30 p.m.
This concert is free and the public is invited to attend. For information on future concerts go to www.albion.edu/music or contact the Albion College Music Department at (517) 629-0481 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .