HUDSON VALLEY CHAMBER MUSIC CIRCLE 2003 SEASON FEATURES A DAZZLING ARTISTIC LINEUP Performers include pianists Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal with percussionists Andrew Blanco and Brian Vogel, Miami String Quartet, and Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) announces its 2003 season, featuring a dazzling lineup of artists for three concerts in June at Bard College. The Saturday evening concerts, presented by The Bard Center, begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall.
The opening concert on Saturday, June 7, features pianists Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal, with percussionists Andrew Blanco and Brian Vogel. The program includes Debussy's "En blanc et noir," Ned Rorem's "Six Variations for two pianos," Ravel's "La valse," Schubert's "Divertissement à l'hongroise," and Bartók's "Sonata for two pianos and percussion."
Pianist Ursula Oppens, recognized for her performances of both traditional repertoire and contemporary music, was described in Time magazine as "the madonna of contemporary music . . . an accomplished performer of the standard repertoire . . . [who] understands that the same pianistic virtues called for in Beethoven and Mozart are necessary in new music." Twice nominated for a Grammy Award, she is a regular guest in concert series and with major orchestras in the United States and Europe. Jerome Lowenthal was described in the New Yorker as "an extraordinary technician and a superb stylist, who plays with the sort of authority that seems instinctive." For three decades, he has performed with such great artists as Josef Kripps, Leonard Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, and Nathaniel Rosen.
On Saturday, June 14, the Miami String Quartet will perform Haydn's Quartet in D, Ginastera's String Quartet, and Beethoven's Quartet in F.
Praised in the New York Times as having "everything one wants in a quartet: a rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive purpose, and seemingly unflagging energy," the Miami String Quartet has quickly established its place among the most widely respected quartets in the United States. The members of the ensemble are violinists Ivan Chan and Cathy Meng Robinson, violist Chauncey Patterson, and cellist Keith Robinson.
The 2003 series concludes on Saturday, June 21, with a performance by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and violinist Jennifer Koh. They will perform works by Moszkowski, Mozart, Ravel, and Schumann.
Since making their debut as the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at the White House for President Carter's inauguration in January 1977, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson have set the standard for performance of the piano trio literature for 25 consecutive seasons. The trio's 2003 European touring season takes them to Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw. Their domestic touring includes appearances in New York, Detroit, and Seattle, among other cities. Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson are coartistic directors of the HVCMC.
"Jennifer Koh is a risk-taking, high-octane player of the kind who grabs the listener by the ears and refuses to let go," says The Strad magazine. "Unlike so many players of this temperament, however, she supports her mesmerizing flights of fancy with a beguilingly silvery tone, fabulous technique, and dead- center intonation. . . . A scorching talent that should on no account be missed." Koh's repertoire ranges from Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Paganini, and Bartók to Elliott Carter, Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, Ornette Coleman, and John Zorn.
The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, celebrating its 53rd season this year, was founded by Helen Huntington Hull and two friends from Staatsburg, New York. They enlisted the help of violinist Emil Hauser, then a member of the Bard College faculty and original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet, to invite performing artists for concerts at the Mills and Vanderbilt Mansions. In 1979 the concert series began its association with Bard College. The HVCMC remains an association of chamber music lovers and a venue that attracts many of the world's preeminent chamber music artists.
These performances are made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation at Bard College. A subscription to the three-concert series is $60; individual tickets, $25; senior citizens, $15; and students, $5. For further information, call
518-537-6665.
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(4.8.03)
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