Lillian Pettitt is a busy Chicago cellist who performs with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest Michigan Symphony, Orchestra Iowa and various Chicago groups. She jokes that she and her peers playing in multiple ensembles call themselves the "Freeway Philharmonic." But on Thursday night, Pettitt will have the stage to herself as a soloist in the "Cool Concerts on Thursdays" series.
Pettitt will perform two important works for unaccompanied cello: Bach's Cello Suite No. 3 in C and Prokofiev's Cello Sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 134. The latter work is rarely performed, because Prokofiev died before completing the manuscript. It was finished by Vladimir Blok. With her accompanist, Pettitt will round out her program with famous melodies by Granados, Mendelssohn, and Liszt.
The program begins at 8 pm at the First Baptist Church of Kalamazoo. There is no charge, but freewill offerings are accepted.