The University of Delaware’s Master Players Concert Series (Master Players) will present “Unusual, Unexpected, Unsurpassed,” its 2019-20 seven-concert season showcasing the uniqueness, innovative spirit and high quality its artists exude on stage.

Now in its 16th year, Master Players brings the world’s top musicians and ensembles to Delaware in its role as the University’s cultural ambassador, said Xiang Gao, producing artistic director of the series.

The three fall concerts kick off with “Virtuosi Showcase: Season Opening Concert,” scheduled at 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, in the Gore Recital Hall of the Roselle Center for the Arts. This concert will launch the season with an unusual combination of performers, including virtuoso bassist YungChiao Wei from Taiwan, master accordionist Djordje Gajic of Scotland and the acclaimed American pianist Marian Lee. Featured will be a uique and surprising repertoire for this unexpected combination of performers.

The following month, Russian virtuoso pianist Asiya Korepanova will return to the stage of Gore Recital Hall at 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, to perform a program of Liszt, Chopin, Bach and Beethoven. She is also an accomplished visual artist, and the recital will feature her own paintings as visual elements of her interpretation of Modest Mussorgsky’s masterpiece, Pictures at an Exhibition, celebrating the 180th anniversary of the birth of the Russian composition giant.

On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Donald Sinta Quartet will return to the Master Players stage in a performance scheduled at 3 p.m. in Gore Recital Hall. Hot off the heels of its first album release entitled Collider, the quartet took first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City and has earned praise from audiences and critics alike for their virtuosic performances, compelling recordings and distinctive repertoire. The quartet first appeared in the Master Players Concert Series in 2015 with a hugely successful debut and returns to perform a program that blends their characteristically diverse repertoire with seasonal favorites.

iMusic 12: Shanghai Sonatas – A Chamber Music Play is a pioneering new musical that will have its world premiere at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 15 in Mitchell Hall. Combining musical theatre, live classical music and visual art, Shanghai Sonatas tells the story of a Chinese violinist who stumbles upon restored violins from the Jewish ghetto of Shanghai that, when played, transport him back to Japanese-occupied Shanghai of the 1930s and '40s. Through these violins, he learns of the wartime experience of some of the 450 world-renowned classical musicians among the 20,000 Jewish refugees who found safe haven there and who trained the first generation of Chinese classical musicians.

In “Great Musical Families: The Berofsky Quartet,” scheduled at 3 p.m., Saturday, March 14, in Gore Recital Hall, Aaron Berofsky and Kathryn Votapek, former longtime members of the legendary Chester String Quartet, will be joined by their award-winning sons, pianist and composer Charles and cellist Sebastian. The family members will perform music by Mozart, Moszkowski and a piano quartet composed by Charles Berofsky.T

“Xiang Gao and Friends: Season Finale” closes the season at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 2, in Gore Recital Hall. Accompanied by world-renowned collaborative pianist Martin Katz, Gao will be joined by newly appointed UD faculty violinists Guillaume Combet and Elicia Silverstein to finish the season with a performance of all three Brahms violin sonatas.

Tickets now on sale

2019-20 Master Players Concert Series subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now. Single ticket prices are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors, UD faculty, staff and alumni; $10 for students; and $5 for students for the Shanghai Sonatas concerts only. Prices are discounted for subscriptions. Tickets can be purchased online (single tickets only), by phone: 302-831-2204 (from noon-5 p.m., Monday-Friday;  subscriptions and single tickets), by order form (mail or fax) or in person at the REP Box Office.

Master Players Concert Series (MPCS) serves as the cultural ambassador for the University of Delaware. Producing Artistic Director Gao, an international artist and UD 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, a professional theatre company, offers a large variety of public performances in University venues and throughout the region. Master Players is cosponsored by long-term collaborating unit, the UD 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 the University of Delaware and the Marriott’s Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware. See a complete list on the Master Players website.