Cellist Julian Schwarz to play timeless piece at Scout Hall

Scout Hall will be holding a chamber concert with Julian Schwarz on Saturday, April 20, as he brings his mastery of the cello to Scout Hall.

Schwarz was born into a multi-generational family of musicians. He made his concert debut at the age of 11 and has been performing ever since.

He has performed in many symphony orchestras across the United States as well as internationally in Australia, Mexico, and Hong Kong, and has appeared at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

He will be performing Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” (“Quatuor pour la fin du temps”) at Scout Hall.

Messiaen was rooted deeply in his faith in Christianity and the piece was composed while he was held captive by the Germans as a prisoner of war near the beginning of World War II.

Messiaen wrote “Quatuor pour la fin du temps” with the instruments and instrumentalists he had on hand and some scrap papers he had gathered from a sympathetic guard.

“When I arrived at the camp, I was stripped of all my clothes, like all the prisoners,” Messiaen said. “But naked as I was, I clung fiercely to a little bag of miniature scores that served as consolation when I suffered. The Germans considered me to be completely harmless, and since they still loved music, not only did they allow me to keep my scores, but an officer also gave me pencils, erasers and some music paper.”

And thus, one of the most important works in the history of music was born. The piece was written, rehearsed and premiered at the prison camp in freezing temperatures in front of 400 prisoners and prison guards.

Messiaen recalled that his music had never been listened to prior with “so much attention and understanding.” Almost a century later, musicians still consider this to be one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.

Along with Schwarz, there will be three other performers for the piece: Sophia Han, Galen Dean Peiskee Jr. and Dr. Gabrielle Baffoni.

Han is an associate professor of violin and viola at Southeast Missouri State University. She has performed as guest soloist with orchestras and artists across the U.S.

Peiskee Jr, has established a multifaceted career as an accomplished chamber musician, soloist, orchestral pianist, accompanist and vocal coach. He has performed all over the United States and throughout the world in Poland, Italy, Austria, Greece, Cuba and Bolivia.

Baffoni is a professor of music, single reeds at Southeast Missouri State University. In addition to teaching, Baffoni currently holds the position of principal clarinetist with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra in Kentucky and performs with Kansas City Chamber Orchestra.

Schwarz will engage the audience in a master class conversation about this piece’s place in history and musical canons after his performance.

Tickets are non-refundable and can be bought for this exciting night of music at thescouthall.com.