(Albany, NY):  The UAlbany Performing Arts Center is pleased to present the Stockton Chamber Players on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 7:30pm on the uptown University at Albany campus at 1400 Washington Avenue. Featuring clarinetist Christopher Di Santo, violinist Ruotao Mao and pianist Michael Sheadel, the trio will perform works by Charles Ives, Sergei Prokofiev, Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud.

Di Santo is currently the Principal Clarinetist of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony; a position he has held since 1991.  He has participated in music festivals in both North America and Europe, and has performed throughout venues in the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany and Italy.

Mao currently serves as the concertmaster of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, Riverside Symphonia and the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra. A native of China, he was one of the founding members of the former Beijing Piano Quartet and is an active soloist and chamber musician.

Sheadel has performed in the United States and Europe as both soloist and collaborative pianist. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Chestnut Brass Company, Encore Chamber Players, Philadelphia Virtuosi and the Settlement Contemporary Players.

The Trio’s appearance is part of an exchange program developed by UAlbany that is in its second decade. As the other half of the exchange, Capital Trio, the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s ensemble-in-residence, visited Stockton University this past fall.

In the inaugural year of the exchange program, the UAlbany Performing Arts Center worked with the Music Department at the CW Post campus of Long Island University and their ensemble-in-residence, The Pierrot Consort. The following year’s exchange was with Clark University and the QX String Quartet. The third year of the program featured the Oswego Jazz Quartet from SUNY Oswego. Year four partners were Williams College and the Williams Chamber Players while the fifth anniversary year was celebrated by then 99-year-old pianist Frank Glazer from Bates College followed by Quartet Anagram from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in year six. 2016’s exchange featured Potsdam Brass from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam while the Dobbs-Dikener-Botes Trio from Marshall University participated in 2017 and The Big Galut(e) from Hartwick College took part in 2018.  The 10^th anniversary of the exchange featured the Klugherz-Heyman Duo from Colgate University. In 2019, an exchange featuring AkaBlas from the TU Braunschweig in Germany marked the first international partners in the program. With a brief hiatus because of the pandemic, the exchange resumed last season with The Copland Ensemble from Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music.

Advance tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  Tickets purchased on the day of the show are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  All tickets must be purchased on-line from the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac.  Information and assistance can be obtained by contacting the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s main office at (518) 442-3995 or [email protected].