Saturday, December 5 at 6 PM Close Encounters With Music will bring all the magic and inspiration of A Soldier’s Tale! to life in its annual holiday concert with renowned English baritone Benjamin Luxon narrating the classic tale. This theatrical production features nine performers, a decorative scrim, choreographed dance interlude, and special lighting effects.

Set to music by Igor Stravinsky, with a libretto based on a Russian folk tale, the much-loved l’Histoire du Soldat is a parable about a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a get-rich-quick recipe. The music—orchestral color at the fore—is scored for a septet of strings, winds and percussion; and the story is told by a narrator. Virtuoso violinist Yehonatan Berick leads the performance and other holiday fare, including light-hearted and virtuosic works by Rossini and Eugene Ysaye. Helping participants discover the charm of Stravinsky’s score, Berick and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani will be joined by a diverse ensemble, all of whom are faculty members at the University of Michigan who have served as first desks with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, Rochester Symphony, and other venerable American orchestras across the U.S.

Young and old alike will respond to the aural excitement of the winds, brass and percussion instrumentation. Performers include Willam Campbell, trumpet; Daniel Gilbert; clarinet; David Lee Jackson, trombone; Jeffrey Lyman, bassoon; Diana Gannett, bass; Joseph Gramley, percussion; and Yehuda Hanani, cello.

Benjamin Luxon CBE was one of Great Britain’s major international singers. His career of some 30 years displays an unusual versatility and he was equally renowned as recitalist, concert, and opera singer. He began as a member of the English Opera Group which was formed by Benjamin Britten and quickly became one of Britten’s key singers culminating with Britten composing the role of Owen Wyngrave (his television opera) specifically for his voice. A regular guest artist at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Glyndebourne, he performed at the most important European opera houses, worked with the world’s major conductors and orchestras and made well over 100 recordings. His work was graced with a high musicality, honesty and a very fine acting ability. In 1986 he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his service to British Music. In the early 90s his singing career came to an end due to severe hearing loss. His career is now focused on the spoken word, creating and performing programs of poetry and working with various theatrical companies, mainly as a Shakespearean actor.

Violinist Yehonatan Berick, soloist, recitalist, chamber musician (violin and viola), and pedagogue, was a prizewinner at the 1993 Naumburg Competition and a recipient of the 1996-97 Prix Opus. A member of The Los Angeles Piano Quartet, he has performed with the symphony orchestras of Quebec, Winnipeg, Jerusalem, and Haifa, and the Israel, Cincinnati, Montreal, and Manitoba chamber orchestras. Berick’s festival credits include Marlboro, Ravinia, Seattle, Great Lakes, Vancouver, El Paso, Maui, and Bowdoin; and he is a frequent guest performer with Close Encounter With Music. A member of Musicians from Marlboro, the Lortie-Berick-Lysy Piano Trio, and the Huberman String Quartet, he can be heard on recordings on the Summit, Gasparo, and Helicon labels. Currently Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan, his studies were at Tel Aviv University’s Music Academy and at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Close Encounters continues its tradition of commentary before each performance and of inviting the entire audience to an Afterglow reception to meet the artists immediately following the concerts. Now in its 18th season in the Berkshires, the series’ exceptional artistic and audience success has made it one of the leading chamber music associations in the U.S., captivating music lovers from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, Scottsdale and the Berkshires. Since its inception, the Close Encounters Commissioning Program has supported the creation of, produced and premiered fifteen new works by major American and European composers, with several recorded on the Naxos label. In 2010-11, Close Encounters With Music will be in residence at the Frick Museum in New York City.

Tickets, $35 and $25, are available at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center box office, 413.528.0100, or through Close Encounters With Music at 800-843-0778 or by emailing [email protected]. Please visit our website at www.cewm.org.

Upcoming!

Soldier’s Tale: Holiday Concert! Saturday, December 5, 6 PM
A Night of Quartets Saturday, February 20, 6 PM
The Romantic Bach Saturday, March 20, 6 PM
Chopin and His Circle Saturday, April 24, 6 PM
Prague Spring—Czech Idyll Saturday, June 5, 6 PM

These performances at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Chopin Hour Sunday, April 26, 2 PM at the Hudson Opera House, Hudson, New York

“A chamber music series on a par with anything heard at the height of the season. For this, we year-rounders are blessed.” —Rogovoy Report

“There’s a palpable mystique about these Close Encounters concerts.” —Berkshire Eagle

“STUNNER CLOSES SEASON! Though Hanani, Prutsman and Upshaw all performed with that rare combination of mutual understanding and technical finesse which makes for the most satisfying chamber music, Hanani deserves special recognition for his astute program choices.”
—Albany Times Union

“An all-star lineup…CEWM’s usual high caliber.” —Metroland

A smart blend of classical, contemporary, and cutting edge from October through May

Saturday, October 17 marks the beginning of the highly anticipated 2009-2010 Close Encounters With Music season in the Berkshires. In its 18th year, Close Encounters presents six innovative and captivating programs of chamber music, thirty performers, and more than twenty composers at South County’s premier venue, the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. To celebrate the Chopin anniversary year of 2009, Close Encounters will present two programs that include works by Chopin and his contemporaries: Liszt, Hummel, Field, Paganini, Bellini, and Donizetti. In addition, the Conversations With… series resumes on October 11 with “Music Rooms of the Gilded Age” and a “Chopin Hour” on April 25.

Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani will be joined by returning favorites and exciting newcomers to the Close Encounters roster of artists. Pianists Walter Ponce, James Tocco, Lydia Artymiw, and Adam Neiman; violinists Yehonatan Berick, Cordelia Hagemann, and Stefan Milenkovich; violist Toby Appel, and the Avalon Quartet, all familiar to Close Encounters audiences, will perform treasured masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire. Composer Jonathan Keren contributes a world premiere, his Bach-inspired chamber piece to be offered at the March concert. Artists making their first appearances with Close Encounters With Music include the violinists Lily Francis and Erin Keefe, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Houtzeel and English baritone Benjamin Luxon narrating A Soldier’s Tale! by Igor Stravinsky.

The concert season begins on Saturday, October 17, 6PM with Chopin in Paris: A toast to the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, with Ballades, Mazurkas and Polonaises—framed by works of his contemporaries, including his friendly rival Franz Liszt. Acclaimed in every major concert hall throughout the world, and with a special affinity for Chopin and the Romantics, pianist Walter Ponce has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “magical.” Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition laureate Stephanie Houtzeel brings her vocal luster to arias by Donizetti and Bellini, whose operas influenced Chopin’s bel canto style, and to his rarely heard Polish songs.

The Conversations With… series opens Sunday, October 11, 2 PM with Music Rooms of the Gilded Age. Harvey Rosenberg, professor of the History of Interior Design and Architecture at FIT/SUNY for 25 years, and frequent lecturer at Parsons, Pratt and the New School of Interior Design, offers a slide presentation and discussion of how European design principles were incorporated into the Berkshire “cottages” of the Gilded Age. Ventfort Hall in Lenox, the Elizabethan Revival mansion built in 1893 for the sister of J.P. Morgan, provides the perfect setting for this event.

On Saturday, December 5, 6PM Close Encounters presents its annual holiday concert A Soldier’s Tale! Set to music by Igor Stravinsky, with a libretto based on a Russian folk tale, the much-loved l’Histoire du Soldat is a parable about a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a get-rich-quick recipe. The music—orchestral color at the fore—is scored for a septet of strings, winds and percussion; and the story is told by a narrator, in this case renowned English baritone Benjamin Luxon. Virtuoso violinist Yehonatan Berick leads this performance and other holiday fare, with Willam Campbell, trumpet; Daniel Gilbert; clarinet; David Lee Jackson, trombone; Jeffrey Lyman, bassoon; Diana Gannett, bass; Joseph Gramley, percussion; and Yehuda Hanani, cello.

The Avalon String Quartet (“Engrossed, impassioned and imaginative…” –The New York Times) returns on Saturday, February 20, 6PM to offer A Night of Quartets, a striking program of works by Beethoven, Arensky, and Prokofiev, all mining overlapping Russian folkloric themes. The Opus 59 No. 2 Razumovsky Quartet represents the pinnacle of Beethoven’s quartet writing, revolutionary in character and symphonic in reach. Arensky’s arresting work is for two cellos, and Prokofiev’s Quartet No. 2 bears his infatuation with folk instruments. Yehuda Hanani joins the Quartet in the Arensky.

The Romantic Bach, on Saturday, March 20, 6PM features Bach through the filter of Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms (the brilliant Chaconne arrangement for left-hand piano) and Liszt, and unfiltered, in his own voice, in Suites and Partitas. Truly a composer for all seasons and for all times, Bach, like Shakespeare, emerges always relevant through different ages and treatments. A highlight of the program is the world premiere of a new neo-Bach chamber piece commissioned by CEWM in homage to his magisterial presence. Performers are Cordelia Hagemann, violin; James Tocco, piano; Yehuda Hanani, cello.

Saturday, April 24, 6 PM Chopin and His Circle will be a second evening celebrating the Chopin 200th anniversary. From John Field, father of the nocturne, who paved the way to Chopin’s masterworks of the genre, to Hummel, whose music Chopin heard in Poland and whose concerti he played, to August Franchomme, his cohort, and to the charismatic Paganini, a frequent collaborator, this program offers a spectrum of Chopin’s friends and mentors as well as his sublimely poignant, swoon-inducing Ballades and Nocturnes. Adam Neiman, a latter-day Romantic, elicits lavish praise for his Chopin—“Playing of wisdom and light” —The Washington Post. Joining Mr. Neiman are Stefan Milenkovich, violin; Yehuda Hanani, cello; Amy Gillingham, cello.

As a complement to the April 24 concert, Adam Neiman will host a Chopin Hour, the season’s second installment of Conversations With…, Sunday, April 26, 2 PM at the Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY. Hailed as one of the premiere pianists of his generation, with a burgeoning international career, Mr. Neiman will demonstrate the special place Chopin holds in the instrument’s repertoire and how the composer revolutionized the world of piano, presenting particular challenges to the performer as he pushed piano technique to a level unsurpassed at the time. The Hudson Opera House, built in 1855—only six years after Chopin’s death in Paris, is one of the oldest surviving theaters in America. Another Frederic, Hudson River painter Frederic Church showed his works here; Bret Harte read his poems; and Susan B. Anthony rallied support for women’s suffrage.

Concluding the season will be Prague Spring—Czech Idyll on Saturday, June 5, 6 PM. From the land of Franz Kafka, bucolic landscapes, and Bohemian crystal, music by Dvořak, Smetana, and Janaček that glows with lyricism and melodiousness. Dvořak’s Piano Quintet is a recognized masterpiece and, along with the other selections, it overflows with Mittel-europäische ease, cultivation, and affecting tenderness. It’s never too far from the Czech countryside and a languid summer’s evening. The stellar performers are Lydia Artymiw, piano; Erin Keefe, violin; Lily Francis, violin; Toby Appel, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello.

Close Encounters continues its tradition of commentary before each performance and of inviting the entire audience to a reception to meet the artists immediately following the concerts.

Tickets, $35 (and $40 for the June 5, 2009 concert) for adults and $10 for students, are available at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center box office, 413.528.0100, or through Close Encounters With Music at 800-843-0778 or by emailing [email protected]. Subscriptions are $150 for a series of 6 concerts, $130 for seniors (65+). Please visit our website at www.cewm.org.

Chopin in Paris Saturday, October 17, 6 PM
Soldier’s Tale: Holiday Concert! Saturday, December 5, 6 PM
A Night of Quartets Saturday, February 20, 6 PM
The Romantic Bach Saturday, March 20, 6 PM
Chopin and His Circle Saturday, April 24, 6 PM
Prague Spring—Czech Idyll Saturday, June 5, 6 PM

These six performances at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Tickets for the two Conversations with… events are $25 which includes light refreshments:
Music Rooms of the Gilded Age Sunday, October 11, 2 PM at Ventfort Hall, Lenox, Massachusetts
Chopin Hour Sunday, April 26, 2 PM at the Hudson Opera House, Hudson, New York

“A chamber music series on a par with anything heard at the height of the season. For this, we year-rounders are blessed.” —Rogovoy Report

“There’s a palpable mystique about these Close Encounters concerts.” —Berkshire Eagle

“STUNNER CLOSES SEASON! Though Hanani, Prutsman and Upshaw all performed with that rare combination of mutual understanding and technical finesse which makes for the most satisfying chamber music, Hanani deserves special recognition for his astute program choices.”
—Albany Times Union

“An all-star lineup…CEWM’s usual high caliber.” —Metroland

A smart blend of classical, contemporary, and cutting edge awaits from October through May

In its 17th season in the Berkshires, Close Encounters With Music offers up six innovative and captivating programs of chamber music, forty-five performers, and more than thirty composers at South County’s premier venue, the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. To celebrate the Mendelssohn anniversary year of 2009, Close Encounters will present two programs that include works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, and the all but unknown Eduard Franck, a prolific composer whose works have not been in circulation for over a hundred years. An accomplished pianist and renowned teacher, his professional circle overlapped that of his teacher, Mendelssohn. The February and May concerts will introduce several of his works to the American public—the masterful String Sextet No. 1 in E-flat major, op. 41; the Piano Trio in E-flat major, op. 22; and a selection of his brilliant solo piano pieces.

Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani will be joined by returning well-loved musicians and exciting newcomers to the Close Encounters roster of artists. Pianists James Tocco and Adam Neiman, violinists Yehonatan Berick and Shmuel Ashkenasi, and the Amernet Quartet, all familiar to Close Encounters audiences, will perform treasured masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire. The superb 12-member Rose Ensemble will return with a holiday program of folkloric American melodies. Composer Stephen Dankner again contributes a world premiere, his klezmer-inspired String Quintet to be offered at the March concert. Artists making their first appearances include the Avalon String Quartet, violinist Stefan Milenkovich, and harpsichordist Aya Hamada.

The season begins on Saturday, October 18, 6PM with Crown Jewels: A Musical Tour through Europe’s Princely Courts, a glittering evening of Baroque and Classical works for chamber orchestra and soloists, written for Europe’s most musically voracious rulers. Esteemed soloists join the Camerata San Marco, the virtuosic all-woman string orchestra, in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D minor; Mozart’s “Musical Joke;” Bach’s Double Concerto for two violins; and Italian gems from Corelli and Vivaldi. Soloists include Jonathan Keren and Cordelia Hagmann, violins; and Yehuda Hanani, cello.

The superb 12-member Rose Ensemble returns for its annual holiday concert on Saturday, December 6, 6PM presenting An American Holiday Tapestry, a performance in which the group reincarnates itself in the 17th and 18th centuries on American shores. Traditional Acadian and Scottish dance music, Shaker melodies, spirituals, wassail songs, and colonial Jewish synagogue hymns are featured. The remarkably broad selection also includes Mexican Baroque and Hawaiian selections with mandolin and vihujela de mano accompaniment, as well as guitar, Native American flute, and foot stomping!

On Saturday, February 21, 6PM, pianist James Tocco and violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi join Yehuda Hanani in the first of two programs entitled Celebrating Mendelssohn—and Discovering Eduard Franck. The astonishingly versatile composer-pianist-conductor-painter Felix Mendelssohn has come to personify genius and musical prodigy. The celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth begins with a tribute to his inner circle: Clara and Robert Schumann’s timeless piano favorites, the darkly romantic Chopin Cello Sonata, and the “other” Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C minor, exquisite and richly melodic. Finally, the program will include an unknown treasure by Mendelssohn’s student—the American premiere of a piano trio by Eduard Franck, a distinguished composer overlooked by history.

“I am honored to be part of the revival of such a worthy composer, and to rectify an unfortunate historical omission,” says Yehuda Hanani, who was introduced to first editions of Franck’s chamber music scores by his descendants in Germany. “Whether because he published his works late in life, or because his innate reticence and lack of self-promotion contributed to the neglect of his output, his is a voice that should be heard.”

The Amernet Quartet returns on Saturday, March 28, 6PM to join maestro Hanani for A Night of Quintets. Schubert’s heavenly last word—and by current consensus, the ultimate statement in chamber music—the Quintet in C major anchors a program of works for string quartet with the addition of guest cello. The combination imparts rich textures to an evening that includes Boccherini’s sprightly Rococo Quintet in C major, and the premiere of a klezmer-inspired quintet by Williamstown composer Stephen Dankner.

The remarkable pianist Adam Neiman will be joined by violinist Stefan Milenkovich and Mr. Hanani for Beethoven and Shostakovich on Saturday, April 25, 6PM. The most uplifting and heart-wrenching—this evening will offer an exercise in extremes, a juxtaposition of the Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2, a wartime elegy for a world gone mad, and Beethoven’s Olympic “Archduke” Trio.

Concluding the season will be the second installment of Celebrating Mendelssohn—and Discovering Eduard Franck on Saturday, May 30, 6PM. Close Encounters’ annual gala finale will present Felix Mendelssohn’s sparkling Songs Without Words and Variations—two forms Mendelssohn brought to their highest points, Robert Schumann’s majestic Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op. 47, and a sampling of Frédéric Chopin’s ballades, mazurkas, and polonaises. Also featured will be works by Fanny Mendelssohn, and the American premiere of the masterful String Sextet No. 1 by Eduard Franck, Felix’s student and friend, with the Avalon String Quartet, pianist James Tocco, violinist Yehonatan Berick, and cellist Yehuda Hanani.

Close Encounters continues its tradition of commentary before the performance and of inviting the entire audience to a reception to meet the artists immediately following the performance.

In addition, a special children’s concert, An American Quilt for Kids: Living in “Harmony,” will be offered on Sunday, December 7, 9:30AM at the Chatham, NY Middle School. While helping kids to discover the diversity of American musical styles that makes for an exciting and colorful US, the Rose Ensemble’s light-hearted and informative presentation will connect each individual to past generations through songs, instruments, and stories—a holiday treat for families, in collaboration with the Spencertown Academy Arts Center.

Close Encounters With Music will also continue its series Conversations With…, presenting Seth Rogovoy, “cultural czar” of WAMC Northeast Public Radio who will speak on “The Marriage of Classical and Klezmer,” Sunday, December 14, 2 PM, at the Lenox Athenaeum, and composer Judith Lang Zaimont, editor-in-chief of the critically acclaimed series The Musical Woman: An International Perspective presenting Fanny Mendelssohn—A Room of Her Own on Sunday, March 15, 2 PM, at the Lenox Athenaeum. $25 includes light refreshment at both events.

Tickets, $35 (and $40 for the May 30, 2009 concert) for adults and $10 for students, are available at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center box office, 413.528.0100, or through Close Encounters With Music at 800-843-0778 or by emailing [email protected]. Subscriptions are $150 for a series of 6 concerts. Visit our website at www.cewm.org.

Crown Jewels Saturday, October 18, 6 PM
An American Holiday Tapestry Saturday, December 6, 6 PM
Celebrating Mendelssohn I Saturday, February 21, 6 PM
A Night of Quintets Saturday, March 28, 6 PM
Beethoven and Shostakovich Saturday, April 25, 6 PM
Celebrating Mendelssohn II Saturday, May 30, 6 PM
These six performances at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington

“A chamber music series on a par with anything heard at the height of the season. For this, we year-rounders are blessed.” – Rogovoy Report

“There’s a palpable mystique about these Close Encounters concerts.” – Berkshire Eagle

“STUNNER CLOSES SEASON! Though Hanani, Prutsman and Upshaw all performed with that rare combination of mutual understanding and technical finesse which makes for the most satisfying chamber music, Hanani deserves special recognition for his astute program choices.”
– Albany Times Union

“An all-star lineup…CEWM’s usual high caliber.” – Metroland

APRIL 12, 2008

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Close Encounters With Music will present Transcendental Night on April 12, 2008, at 8 p.m. at Theater 4301 in downtown Scottsdale. The series is underwritten by The Richard and Deborah Felder Foundation.

Single tickets are available for $25 from the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Web site at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org or the box office at (480) 994-ARTS (2787).

Close Encounters With Music brings together sublime chamber music, distinguished performers and musical commentary, all in the intimate setting of Theater 4301. Transcendental Night features acclaimed pianist Walter Ponce, violinist Yehonatan Berick and cellist Yehuda Hanani performing a program that explores mysticism and timelessness in music. The recital includes Beethoven’s Ghost Trio, Rachmaninoff’s Trio Elegiaque, piano works by Franz Liszt and Alexander Scriabin and the world premiere of Jorge Martin’s Recuerda (To Remember) for solo cello. A reception with the artists will follow the performance.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Walter Ponce has been heard in the most important concert halls of every major city of North and South America as well as in Europe, Japan, Korea and Africa. He came to the United States at age 17 on a Fulbright grant, receiving a Master’s and doctorate from The Juilliard School, where he was one of three students chosen to study with Vladimir Horowitz. Ponce is now professor and head of the piano area at UCLA.

A prize winner at the 1993 Naumburg Competition and a recipient of the 1996–97 Prix Opus, violinst Yehonatan Berick is a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He has performed with symphony orchestras and at leading festivals world-wide. Currently professor of violin at the University of Michigan, he can be heard on recordings on the Summit, Gasparo and Helicon labels. 

The founder and artistic director of the Close Encounters With Music chamber series, Yehuda Hanani has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras, and he is a frequent guest at festivals in the United States, Europe and Australia. He has collaborated with music luminaries such as Aaron Copland, Leon Fleisher and Itzhak Perlman, and he has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous works by leading contemporary composers. Professor of cello at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Hanani has released CDs of Vivaldi and Bach that have become best-selling standard setters.

Jorge Martin is the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Academy Award in Music and a Cintas Fellowship in Music (for distinguished creative artists of Cuban descent). His works have been performed across the United States and Europe, and he has received numerous commissions, including two from Close Encounters With Music.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC
Close Encounters With Music stands at the intersection of music, art and the vast richness of Western culture. Entertaining, erudite and lively commentary from Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani puts the composers and their times in perspective to enrich the concert experience. He is joined by familiar musicians from the Close Encounters roster of artists as well as brilliant newcomers.

For additional information about Close Encounters With Music and featured artists please visit www.cewm.org.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Accommodations for the artists are graciously provided by The Ritz Carlton, Phoenix. The Steinway piano is available to the series through the generosity of Steinway of Phoenix. Cookies for the reception are generously provided by AJ’s Fine Foods.

LOCATION AND PARKING
Theater 4301 is located in the Galleria Corporate Centre at 4301 Scottsdale Road on the corner of Drinkwater Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in downtown Scottsdale, one block east of Scottsdale Road. Free parking is available in the Galleria Corporate Centre parking garage.

STUDENT DISCOUNTS
Students with valid student identification may purchase half-price tickets (subject to availability; limit one per student) 72 hours before any performance at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office. Tickets must be purchased in-person; phone orders are not accepted.