Organ and piano will mix to create lovely melodies in next Malmgren Concert at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel on Nov. 16

Organ and piano will mix to create lovely melodies in next Malmgren Concert at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel on Nov. 16November 03, 2008Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Organ and piano duo Hans and Ulrika Davidsson will be the featured presenters for the next Esther Drake and John Vincent Malmgren Concert at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel on Sunday, Nov. 16. The concert-beginning at 4 p.m. in the chapel-is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in the Irving Garage.

Through their performance, the Davidssons will provide a unique opportunity to hear the sounds of the organ and piano together in works by Buxtehude, Dupre, Nilsson and Sowerby.

Hans Davidsson is a professor of organ and affiliate faculty in the musicology department at the Eastman School of Music. He is director of the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative, a project to bring several significant new and historic organs to Rochester.

Since 1974, he has given regular recitals in the Scandinavian countries, and toured England, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. He received his soloist diploma from the Conservatory of Goteborg, Sweden, in 1985. He served as organ professor at Goteborg University and was director of the Goteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt).

Hans currently serves as GOArt’s general artistic and research director, as well as the artistic director of the Goteborg International Organ Academy. He received the ?Forsk research prize, one of Sweden’s most distinguished research awards, in 2001. Hans was awarded the King’s Medal, the highest national award in Sweden, in 2004 for “significant accomplishments in musicology and music, primarily in the fields of organ research and organ education.”

Ulrika Davidsson is assistant professor of historical keyboards at the Eastman School of Music and music director of the Rochester City Ballet and the Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester. She is a versatile musician and maintains a performance career on the piano, fortepiano, clavichord, organ and harpsichord.

She holds a master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Gothenburg and organist and cantor diploma from The Royal Academy of Music, as well as a master’s degree in harpsichord performance and doctor of music degree in piano performance, both from the Eastman School of Music. She previously served on the faculty of the University of Gothenburg’s School of Music and held the position of organist and director of music at Bjorko Church in Sweden.

Ulrika has given concerts throughout Europe and in Canada, Japan and the United States. She also has presented recitals and lectures at many international academies and conferences.

The concert is part of the Malmgren Concert Series at Hendricks Chapel. The series was made possible by a generous gift to Hendricks Chapel from SU alumna Esther Malmgren ’42 in 1991. The free Sunday afternoon concerts, held throughout the year, feature a wide variety of music. Upcoming concerts this season include the Boston Brass with organist Kola Owolabi (Feb. 8, 2009), A Rising Star Recital featuring organist Aaron Tan (March 22, 2009) and the Hendricks Chapel Choir’s 2009 Spring Concert (April 19).

For more information, call Hendricks Chapel at 443-2901.