Matt Haimovitz to Perform at W&L’s Lenfest Center The cellist’s three-day residency is sponsored by the Concert Guild.

By Emily Innes
January 30, 2023

The Lenfest Center at Washington and Lee University presents “A Moveable Feast,” performed by celebrated cellist Matt Haimovitz on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Wilson Concert Hall.

The Valentine’s Day concert is the final event of Haimovitz’s three-day residency at W&L, from Feb. 12 to Feb. 14. The residency is sponsored by W&L’s Concert Guild, which brings professional performing artists to campus each year for concerts and master classes.

The New York Times calls Haimovitz a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles,” and his highly anticipated event series has been almost three years in the making, having been originally scheduled for March 2020.

“A Moveable Feast” is a unique programming concept that will span Haimovitz’s three-day residency at W&L. Haimovitz kicks off his residency by leading a master class on Feb. 12 with three W&L students: cellists Victor Foster ’24 and Sofia Zarazua ’25 and violinist Alexis Park ’25. The public is invited to attend the master class, and interested parties should contact professor Gregory Parker at parkerg@wlu.edu for more information.

“It is an honor to be able to participate in the master class and I am so excited to be able to play for Matt Haimovitz,” Park said. “I am curious to hear his perspective on being a classical musician in today’s society.”

On Feb. 13, Haimovitz will lean into the “moveable” element of his residency with three pop-up performances around campus. Each performance will consist of Haimovitz performing one Bach cello suite and an overture for cello by a living composer. The performances will take place in Lykes Atrium in Wilson Hall at 9:30 a.m., the Elrod Commons Living Room at 11:30 a.m., and the Great Hall in the Science Center at 2 p.m. The three pop-up sessions have been scheduled to correspond with breaks between classes to make it easier for students to experience Haimovitz’s performances.

Haimovitz’s residency culminates with the Feb. 14 concert, where he will perform two cello suites along with two additional overtures. The overtures were composed as part of the Primavera Project, where composers were commissioned to write pieces for cello that respond to Sandro Botticelli’s fifteenth-century “Primavera” painting and Charline von Heyl’s contemporary “Primavera 2020” painting.

“We are fortunate to have the resources to bring world-class performing artists like Matt Haimovitz to campus and to be able to provide our students with opportunities to interact with them personally,” Parker said.

Order your tickets for Haimovitz’s Feb. 14 performance online at wlu.edu/lenfest-center or call the Lenfest Center box office at 540-458-8000. Box office hours are Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The cost is $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for W&L faculty and staff; students receive free tickets by showing their student identification.