Colgate’s Memorial Chapel will be infused with the musical talent of Laura Klugherz and Steven Heyman when they perform “The Schubert Fantasies Concert” together on Sunday, February 4th at 3:30pm.

Klugherzwill play the viola and violin while Heyman will staff the piano. The concert will be the first of a two part series, including Franz Schubert’s Sonatas D. 384 and 385.

Klugherz is a professor of Music and Africana & Latin American Studies at Colgate. She joined Colgate’s faculty in 1988; this semester she has been on sabbatical and returned on Tuesday, only a few days before the performance. Heyman, Artist in Residence at Colgate and a native of Syracuse, joined the faculty of Syracuse University in 1988 and is currently the Co-Chair of SU’s Keyboard Department.

The two musicians have a long history playing together, recently covering timeless composers such as Beethoven and Brahm. Heyman and Klugherz share a common philosophy about how to conduct a concert.

“We both felt that playing a particular Sonata by a composer on a single program was standard and a good opportunity to play the work and have it be heard,” Herman said. “We thought to present a complete catalogue by a single composer could really show the development of the composer.”

Heyman and Klugherz’s concert series is unique. They offer a wider spectrum of an artists’ music and evolution of that music throughout the composers’ lives.

Franz Schubert was a contemporary of Beethoven in Vienna, though unfortunately his work became popular only after his death in 1828. Nicknamed the “Little Mushroom,” he stood at 5 foot 1. Perhaps vertically challenged, his music today is considered some of the best.

“For those somewhat unfamiliar with the music of Franz Schubert, I would say first and foremost it’s vocal music,”

Heyman commented. “He wrote more songs than anything else, and the idea of beautiful, songlike melodies are present in his instrumental music. In other composer’s works, you can sometimes get the feeling that the two instruments in a Sonata might be opposing ideas. Schubert clearly has the two instruments working together in a beautiful blend of melody and accompaniment. It’s extremely tonal, songlike and easy to listen to.”

The duets of Klugherz and Heyman have been met with great enthusiasm and success.

“Occasionally, performers and presenters will do a cycle like this, but usually you need to go to a large city with established concert series,” Heyman noted about playing at an intimate setting like the Chapel. Throughout their careers, both Klugherz and Heyman have played on large-scale forums around the world.

On the prospect of future concerts Heyman admits, “To be honest, we haven’t thought much beyond the idea of the Schubert Sonatas.”

This is not an event to be missed, considering the musicians’ talent and the rarity with which such concerts occur in the middle of dairy country. Also, admission is free. Refreshments will be served following the concert.