Richter Uzur Duo performs Nov. 11 at Appalachian

Posted Nov. 3, 2015 at 12:17 p.m.

BOONE—NPR Performance Today regulars Brad Richter and Victor Uzur will perform at Appalachian State University Nov. 11. Their 6 p.m. recital will be in Broyhill Music Center’s Recital Hall. Admission is free.

The musicians perform as the Richter Uzur Duo. Richter is a guitarist and Uzur is a cellist. They met in 2005 when Richter was commissioned by Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where Uzur is cello professor, to write a concert-length chamber piece. The piece prominently featured cello and guitar and as it developed so too did a close friendship and a deep mutual respect that became the foundation for this collaboration.

Their Boone performance opens with the duo’s arrangement of “La Folio,” a Spanish composition from the 15th century. The duo also will perform Richter’s composition “Fragments Transcending,” a 2003 composition inspired by Navajo and Tibetan culture.

The musicians also will perform “Iron Wood,” “Starry Night on the Beach,” “Balkanika” and “Navigating Lake Bonneville” in addition to other original compositions.

The Richter Uzur Duo may be unique in the way in which they combine classical, rock and folk music and themes into truly original new compositions as well as in the way they collaborate. Because they live almost 1,000 miles apart, Richter and Uzur do a great deal of composing over the phone and Internet and write parts separately, combining and re-developing them while on concert tours together.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.