The University of Delaware Master Players Concert Series will present a concert entitled “Xiang Gao and Friends: A Special Event and Season Finale” at 3 p.m., Saturday, April 28, in Mitchell Hall.

Master Players founding director Xiang Gao will be joined by leading artists who will appear in the Master Players Festival in the summer of 2018. In this season finale concert, Gao will perform masterful solo violin pieces such as Beethoven’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major” and chamber works including Brahms’ “Piano Quartet No. 1” and Spohr’s “Nonet,” alongside his colleagues.

Featured artists will include Bo Li, cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Master Players Festival director of admissions and programming; Mark Hill, oboe professor from the University of Maryland; Satoshi Okamoto, bassist with the New York Philharmonic; and George Sakakeeny, bassoon professor from the Eastman School of Music.

The concert also will feature many faculty members of the University’s Department of Music, including Christopher Nichols, clarinet; Eileen Grycky, flute; John David Smith, horn; Julie Nishimura, collaborative piano; and Sheila Browne, viola. Pianist Matthew Brower, a member of the Master Players’ Ensemble-in-Residence 6-wire, will also appear on the program.

Additionally, Gao will announce the 2018-19 season during this concert, including a sneak preview of the popular iMusic concert.

Themes of unity and cultural understanding will be central to this one-of-a-kind performance that celebrates global culture at the University.

Single tickets are available now in person or by phone at the REP box office (302-831-2204, open noon-5 p.m., Monday through Friday) or online through the Master Players website. Tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors, alumni, faculty and staff; and $10 for students. For more information, visit the Master Players website.

About the series

Master Players Concert Series (MPCS) serves as the cultural ambassador for the University of Delaware. Producing Artistic Director Xiang Gao, international artist and Trustees Distinguished Professor of Music, brings a rich and wide array of world-class musicians to the UD campus and to underserved local communities. The series’ hallmarks are its high artistic standards, the Delaware debuts of remarkable artists and its diverse and distinctive programming. Master Players, in combination with the UD Resident Ensemble Players, offer a large variety of public performances in numerous University venues and throughout the region. Master Players is co-sponsored by long-term collaborating unit, the University’s Department of Music.

This program is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Other sponsors include Vita Nova restaurant at UD and the Marriott’s Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware. (See a complete list on the website.)