The Sierra Duo Performs Beethoven and McCullough

The Sierra Duo formed in 2015 to record the complete cello works of internationally renowned composer Roberto Sierra, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University. The duo consists of John Haines-Eitzen, cello - current faculty at Cornell and former cello section member of the NY Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra - and Matthew Bengtson, piano - keyboard faculty at the University of Michigan and internationally renowned interpreter of Scriabin and Szymanowski. The duo regularly appear in concert to perform standard, under-performed, and new works for the ensemble. They will appear in concert at Purdue on 02/22/2025 (Hiler Theater, WALC; 8pm) for a repeat performance of a concert given in Ithaca, NY in September of 2024. The first half of the program consists of Beethoven's "7 Variations in E-flat Major" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for cello and piano; the second half of the program features Purdue Professor Allen McCullough's "Sonata for Cello and Piano." Completed in 2022, Dr. McCullough's sonata was commissioned by the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society and was premiered in Lafayette. The sonata unfolds in epic proportion, consisting of four movements exploring the full range of each instrument, surpassing monumetal works - like Rachmaninoff's and Chopin's cello sonatas - in both duration and scope.