NEWBERRY – Félix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a child prodigy and prolific composer whose work has made him one of the most performed musicians of our day. Along with Robert Schumann, he was also a member of the generation who came of age around the time of Beethoven's death (1827) and who would dominate the European music scene. He died at age 38, but he left a body of work that will ensure his place among the great masters.

If Mendelssohn's soul was Romantic, his heart was certainly Classical. Even in its most exuberant moments, his music retains a certain grace and transparency, well illustrated by the complete works for cello and piano presented at the Newberry Opera House on Sunday, Nov. 22.

Works will include Mendelssohn’s Sonata No.1 for Cello and Piano in B-flat, Op. 45 (1839), Variations Concertantes, Op. 17 (1829), the Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano in D, Op. 58 (1843) and the immortal Song without Words, Op. 109 (1845).

The afternoon concert will feature two University of South Carolina music professors Robert Jesselson, cello, and Charles Fugo, piano.

Jesselson is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at USC, where he teaches cello and plays in the American Arts Trio. He was the national President of ASTA, the American String Teachers Association, from 2000- 2002. Jesselson is now the Executive Director of the National String Project Consortium. He has performed in recital and with orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States, and has participated in the Music Festivals at Nice, Granada, Santiago, Aspen, Spoleto and the Grand Tetons.

Fugo is Professor of Piano at USC, where he teaches piano and coaches chamber music. He received his baccalaureate degree at Oberlin Conservatory, with additional study at the Akademie des Mozarteums, Salzburg, Austria, and his MM and DM Performance degrees at Indiana University. His principal teachers include Abbey Simon, Jorge Bolet and Menahem Pressler.

He has performed throughout the Southeast as well as other areas of the United States and with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the South Carolina Chamber Orchestra, and the Florence, Charleston and Temple (Texas) Symphony Orchestras, and has appeared on several statewide programs on South Carolina Educational Radio and Television as both soloist and chamber musician.

For tickets and information to this Mendelssohn celebration, contact the Newberry Opera House at 803-276-6264 or visit online at www. newberryoperahouse. com.