Festival Returns to the Campus of Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA in the Beautiful and Culturally Dynamic Berkshire Hills. 

Performances Talks, Master Classes, and Gifted Musicians on the Cusp of Careers; Events are Free and Open to the Public July 20 – 30.

Berkshire High Peaks Festival will mount its 14^th annual season on the bucolic campus of Berkshire School, in Sheffield, Mass, welcoming back string players and pianists from around the globe and adding a vocal department.

At the core of the festival are 50 international students of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment who gather for intensive study, are coached as part of performing ensembles and enjoy discussions and workshops by prominent composers, renowned pedagogues, and notable figures in the music world as they prepare for professional lives.  

This year’s theme is “Pathways.” At a time when the music business is fraught with uncertainties and career paths aren’t as prescribed and predictable as previously, faculty will give a series of talks about how they found their individual places in the music world. All concerts, master classes, and talks will be open and free to the public.

The ten-day festival, directed by internationally acclaimed cellist Yehuda Hanani, will continue to make its offerings of “Moonlight Sonatas” concerts (faculty and participants perform), lectures, and master classes open to the public. Hanani and his renowned colleagues infuse students with love and enthusiasm for their musical vocation, instilling them with an appreciation for past traditions and a spirit of adventure and discovery—as well as connecting them to the Berkshire community and beyond with daily events. Highlights include a faculty concert on Tuesday, July 25, and a wall-to-wall farewell concert on July 30.

“We are committed to bringing the very best artists and leading pedagogues to continue this musical tradition, here in the breathtaking environment that inspired generations of writers, artists and musicians,” says Hanani. Guest faculty / performers include violinists Peter Zazofsky, First Prize winner of the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition and Hye-Jin Kim, First prize winner at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen; Metropolitan Opera soprano Danielle Talamantes, George Mason University baritone Kerry Wilkerson and opera director and conductor Jay Lesenger (who directed John Corigliano’s Ghosts of Versailles at Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown); and pianists Alexander Shtarkman, a Van Cliburn Competition winner and Gila Goldstein, director of piano studies at Brown University; cellists Jeffrey Zeigler (former member of the renowned Kronos Quartet), Diego Fainguersch, first cellist of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Ross Harbaugh, member of the Bergonzi String Quartet, and Yehuda Hanani. Jazz pianist John Esposito of Bard Conservatory will release the improvisor in each musician; and Juilliard’s chief operating officer, Lesley Rosenthal, will moderate a panel of faculty who will share insights into the pathway of their diverse careers.

“Music from High Peaks” has been presented in popular concert locations, including the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA; Orpheum Theater in Tannersville, NY; Basilica Hudson; the New York State Museum in Albany; Bridge Street Theater in Catskill, NY; the Carey Institute for Global Good in Rensselaerville, NY, and many others.  This July, in addition to the concerts that are scheduled at state-of-the-art Allen Theater at the Berkshire School, performances will take place at Chesterwood in West Stockbridge and in Tannersville, New York.  

The following are free and open to the public:

Friday, July 21

2 PM – Master Class Gila Goldstein (Longy School of Music, Brown Univ.), piano

4 PM – “Pathways to a Future in Music” – Panel Discussion with Juilliard Chief Operating Officer Lesley Rosenthal and High Peaks Faculty

Saturday, July 22

11 AM – Master Class Ara Gregorian (East Carolina Univ. School of Music), violin

2 PM – Master Class Danielle Talamantes and Kerry Wilkerson (Metropolitan Opera and George Mason University), vocalists

5 PM – Concert at Chesterwood, West Stockbridge (paid tickets required)

Sunday, July 23

11 AM – Master Class – Unleashing Your Inner Improviser! – John Esposito (Bard College Conservatory)

2 PM – Master Class Yehuda Hanani (Mannes School of Music), cello

7:30 PM – Concert Moonlight Sonatas (High Peaks residents)

Monday,July 24

2 PM – Master Class Jeffrey Zeigler (Frost School of Music), cello

4 PM – Opera Talk – Jay Lesenger (Former Artistic Dir. of the Chautauqua Opera Company)

7:30 PM – Concert Moonlight Sonatas (High Peaks residents)

Tuesday, July 25

2 PM – Master Class Alexander Shtarkman (Peabody Conservatory), piano

4 PM – Master Class Diego Fainguersch ((Institute of Art at the Teatro Colon), cello

7:30 PM – Concert Moonlight Sonatas (High Peaks Faculty perform)

Wednesday, July 26

2 PM – Master Class Ross Harbaugh (Frost School of Music), cello

4 PM —Master Class Hye-Jin Kim (East Carolina Univ. School of Music), violin

7:30 PM – Concert Moonlight Sonatas (High Peaks residents perform)

Thursday, July 27

2 PM – Master Class Ching-Yi Lin, piano

4 PM – Opera Talk II – Jay Lesenger (Former Artistic Dir. of the Chautauqua Opera Company)

Friday, July 28

3 PM – Private Concert in Tannersville, NY

7:30 PM – Concert Moonlight Sonatas (High Peaks residents perform)

Saturday, July 29

2 PM – Master Class Peter Zazofsky (Boston University), violin

Sunday, July 30

11 AM – Master Class – Unleashing Your Inner Improviser! – John Esposito (Bard College Conservatory 7:30 PM – Moonlight Sonatas — Farewell Concert popular concert

MORE ABOUT THE HIGH PEAKS FESTIVAL

The Berkshire High Peaks Festival is a performing and teaching summer institute bringing together renowned musicians, pedagogues, and exceptionally gifted international students, normally held in the cultural hub of the southern Berkshires.  The intimate scale and highest level of talent make possible an invigorating ten days of discovery, exploration, bonding, and growth. The festival has an all-inclusive atmosphere, fostering camaraderie and cross-cultural exchange and understanding. The faculty is similarly international. In past summers, in addition to the classical canon, the music has focused on traditions ranging from Latin American tango to Japanese ceremonial drums to the heritage of Jazz and improvisation in addition to the classical canon. Central to the festival’s mission are performance opportunities for young artists on the cusp of their careers.  Faculty and guest performers have included the most respected classical musicians and teachers of our time: guitarist Eliot Fisk; violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi, Elmar Oliveira, Peter Zazofsky, and Stefan Milenkovich; violists Pierre-Henri Xuereb and Michael Strauss; pianists James Tocco, Michael Chertock, and Vassily Primakov and cellists Thomas Landschoot, Sae Rom Kwon and Yehuda Hanani. Berkshire High Peaks concerts have taken place at the New York State Museum in Albany, NY; the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge,MA; Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, NY; Orpheum Theater in Tannersville, NY; in the orchard at Olana, at Claremont Historical Site and at the Carey Center for Global Good in Rensselaerville, NY.

Berkshire High Peaks Festival Artistic Director YEHUDA HANANI has received acclaim across the globe for his charismatic playing and profound interpretations. An extraordinary recitalist, he is equally renowned for performances with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Irish National Symphony, Belgrade Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Seoul Symphony, and BBC Welsh Symphony. His engaging chamber music with commentary series, Close Encounters With Music, has captivated audiences from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and at the Frick Collection in New York City. He has been the subject of hundreds of articles and interviews in the media, and his weekly program on NPR affiliate station WAMC Northeast Radio, “Classical Music According to Yehuda” attracted thousands of fans. A prolific recording artist, he served on the faculties of the Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory, as Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is now on the faculty of Mannes School in New York City.

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CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC PRESENTS

“Pictures at an Exhibition”— A Gallery Stroll

Performed Live at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 4 PM

A work in ten movements by Modest Mussorgsky that was inspired by a visit to an art exhibition, “Pictures at an Exhibition” is a showpiece where only the most virtuosic pianists dare to tread! It is also a perfect point from which to explore the common language of music and art, which share not only terms such as “line, rhythm and color,” but also considerations of structure, narrative, counterpoint, etc. The program offers other “pictures in time”: Granados’ musical portraits from his opera Goyescas; Franz Liszt’s St. Frances walking on the waves; Debussy’s Sonate with its commedia dell’arte storyline; and the Hogarth-Stravinsky connection for the opera The Rake’s Progress. The final picture of Mussorgsky’s work is a majestic depiction of his friend Victor Hartmann’s sketch, “The Great Gate of Kiev.” Images will be projected to accompany the music.

Performers are Max Levinson, piano; Danielle Talamantes, soprano; and internationally acclaimed cellist and artistic director Yehuda Hanani.

Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available through Close Encounters With Music. Virtual tickets are also available.

Complete Information on the season’s seven concerts can be found here

Close Encounters With Music:

“Innovative and captivating…a smart blend of classical, contemporary, and cutting-edge.”

“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime it will defy explanation.”  —  The Berkshire Edge

ABOUT THE ARTISTS-

Pianist Max Levinson’s career was launched when he won first prize at the Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition, the first American to achieve this distinction. He was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2005, the Andrew Wolf Award for his chamber music playing. The Boston Globe proclaimed: “The questioning, conviction, and feeling in his playing invariably remind us of the deep reasons why music is important to us, why we listen to it, why we care so much about it.” Levinson has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, New World Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Oregon Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Boston Pops, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland among others. He has worked with such conductors as Robert Spano, Neemi Järvi, Uriel Segal, Joseph Swensen, Jeffrey Kahane and Alasdair Neale. Artistic Director of the San Juan Chamber Music Festival (Ouray, Colorado), he has appeared at major music festivals including Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe, Marlboro, Tanglewood, La Jolla, Bravo/Vail, Seattle, Killington, Vancouver, Cartagena, and Switzerland’s Davos Festival. Max Levinson garnered international accolades for his two recordings. Max Levinson, his debut recording, traces the musical lineage between Brahms, Schumann, Schönberg and Kirchner. American Record Guide declared Levinson’s second disc, Out of Doors: Piano Music of Béla Bartók “an important recording and a great one. The disc blew me out of my chair….Hearing performances as riveting as these produces a rare frisson; indeed, this is the most brilliant and exciting Bartók piano disc I have heard. On the basis of only two recordings, Mr. Levinson has created the myth of a pianist with everything.” He has experimented with internet broadcast, served as Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Lowell House for four years, and has been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today” and “A Note to You.” He has also taught master classes at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Harvard, MIT, Brigham Young University, Rutgers, the University of Washington, UCLA, the Colburn School, and Boston University. Mr. Levinson is chair of the Piano department at the Boston Conservatory and is also a faculty member at the New England Conservatory.

“It’s not often that a fortunate operagoer witnesses the birth of a star!” critics hailed Danielle Talamantes’ recent role début as Violetta in La traviata. This season, Talamantes sings Mimì in La bohéme with Fairfax Symphony and returns to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Frasquita for their productions of Carmen. In addition, she will appear as a soloist in multiple classical masterworks including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Carnegie Hall, Verdi’s Requiem with the National Philharmonic, Fauré’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with Eugene Concert Choir, and in the National Philharmonic’s Bernstein Choral Celebration concert. In recent seasons, Talamantes performed the role of Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Princeton Festival; Mimì in La bohéme with the St. Petersburg (FL) Opera and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas; the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Anna in Nabucco and Frasquita in Carmen with The Metropolitan Opera; Violetta in La traviata with Finger Lakes Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; a début at Spoleto Festival USA as Sergente in Veremonda. Additional concert works include “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman!” with Close Encounters With Music in Great Barrington and at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts; Mozart’s Requiem with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Cathedral Choral Society, and Fairfax Symphony; Brahms’ Requiem with National Philharmonic, Choralis and St. Mary’s College; Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, Bach’s Magnificat, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the National Philharmonic; Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Handel’s Laudate pueri dominum, and Charpentier’s Te Deum with The City Choir of Washington; Händel’s Messiah with Phoenix and La Jolla symphony orchestras, United States Naval Academy, National Philharmonic, The New Choral Society, and Austin Symphony & Chorus Austin; Poulenc’s Gloria with Arizona State University’s Symphony Orchestra; Verdi’s Requiem with Choral Artists of Sarasota and the Oratorio Society of VA; soprano soloist in Bob Chilcott’s Requiem at Alice Tully Hall; Dvořák’s Stabat Mater at North Carolina Master Chorale; Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Manchester Symphony Orchestra; and recitals and masterclasses with El Paso Pro Musica, Washington & Lee University, James Madison University and Point Loma University. Her debut album, Canciones españolas, was recently released on the MSR Classics label and the album Heaven and Earth, A Duke Ellington Songbook has followed.

Named “one of the most polished performers of the post-Starker generation and a consistently expressive artist.” by The New York Times, Yehuda Hanani’s charismatic playing and profound interpretations bring him acclaim and reengagements across the globe. He has won wide international recognition as soloist, chamber musician and inspiring pedagogue. His concerto appearances have been with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, San Antonio, New Orleans, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, BBC Welsh Symphony, Irish National Symphony, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Taipei and Seoul symphonies among many other orchestras, and he has toured with I Solisti de Zagreb, conducting from the cello. A frequent guest at Aspen, Bowdoin, Chautauqua, Yale at Norfolk, Great Lakes, Casals Prades, Finland Festival, Ottawa, Oslo, Round Top Institute, Manchester, and the Australia Chamber Music festivals, he has collaborated in performances with preeminent fellow musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Aaron Copland, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Itzhak Perlman, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, Dawn Upshaw, Yefim Bronfman, Eliot Fisk, the Tokyo, Vermeer, Muir, Escher, Ariel, Colorado, and Manhattan quartets. His recording of the monumental Alkan Cello Sonata received a Grand Prix du Disque nomination, and on CD and in live performances, he has given premières of works of Nikolai Miaskovsky, Lukas Foss, Leo Ornstein, Paul Schoenfield, Thea Musgrave, Joan Tower, Eduard Franck, Osvaldo Golijov, Lera Auerbach, Tamar Muskal, Virgil Thomson, William Perry and Pulitzer Prize winners Bernard Rands and Zhou Long. In New York City, he has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully, and the Metropolitan Museum. Among the early designers and proponents of thematic programming, his engaging chamber music with commentary series, Close Encounters With Music, has captivated audiences from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Detroit, Calgary, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and at the Frick Collection in New York City. A three-time recipient of the Martha Baird Rockefeller grant, Mr. Hanani’s studies were with Leonard Rose at Juilliard and with Pablo Casals. He has inspired scores of cellists as Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and previously served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory. Artistic director of Berkshire High Peaks Festival, he presents master classes internationally at conservatories and for orchestras, including the Juilliard School, University of Indiana at Bloomington, New England Conservatory, McGill University, Paris Conservatoire, Berlin Hochschule für Music, Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School in London, Tokyo National University, Jerusalem Academy of Music, the Central Conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and the New World Symphony in Miami. In recognition of his distinguished teaching, he was given the title of honorary professor of the Tianjin Conservatory, China. His objective is to instill a sense of wonder and adventure in young musicians, to lead them to technical mastery and bridge tradition with innovation. He now is a member of the faculty of the Mannes College of Music in New York City.

ABOUT 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 founder and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani puts the composers and their times in perspective to enrich the concert experience. Since the inception of its Commissioning Project in 2001, CEWM has worked with the most distinguished composers of our time—Paul Schoenfield, Osvaldo Golijov, Thea Musgrave, Lera Auerbach, Jorge Martin, John Musto, among others—to create over 20 important new works that have already taken their place in the chamber music canon and on CD. A core of brilliant performers includes pianists Max Levinson, Roman Rabinovich, and William Wolfram; violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi, Cho-Liang Lin, Vadim Gluzman and clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein, Charles Neidich; vocalists Dawn Upshaw, Emily Marvosh and William Sharp; the Escher, Amernet, Muir, Manhattan, Dover, Avalon quartets, and Cuarteto Latinoamericano; and guitarist Eliot Fisk. Choreographer David Parsons and actors Richard Chamberlain, Jane Alexander and Sigourney Weaver have also appeared as guests, weaving narration and dance into the fabric of the programs.

HOW TO REACH US

Close Encounters With Music

Post Office Box 34

Great Barrington, MA 01230

800.843.0778

Web: cewm.org

e-mail: [email protected]  

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Performed Live at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA, Sunday, November 6 at 4 PM

Tamar Muskal’s twice-postponed work will receive its long-awaited world premiere, kicking off the new season with a musical adventure. In the words of the composer, “We live in a very challenging time—a time of war, sickness, climate disasters, and economic difficulties. One Earth, for a rapper/beatbox artist, tabla player, string quintet and a treble chorus, calls all people to positive action, to love, to beauty, and to anything that protects the planet and humanity. The piece is rich in sonorities, a fusion of different musical worlds, and contrasts between energetic rhythms, lyrical melodies and powerful rapping.” The program also features Schubert’s heavenly String Quintet in C Major—an early 19th Century call to humanity, beauty and truth.  Of Muskal’s music, the Chicago Tribune has written: “The ripples and shimmers that filled Muskal’s post-minimalist score were as evanescent as swirling, digitized visuals— dissolving into one another with kaleidoscopic beauty…high-tech music theater at its most inventive and fascinating.” 

“Tamar’s work embraces the universe and looks outward.  It’s all-encompassing, utopian, embracing.  Schubert plunges us into the depths of the inner and personal world, the heart and soul, its agony and sublime heights” is how artistic director Yehuda Hanani describes the two polarities of the program.  Joining him for the Schubert Quintet are the Borromeo Quartet.  Muskal’s One Earth calls for the 22-person Mount Holyoke College Chamber Singers, a string quintet, beatbox artist Christylez Bacon and tabla player Avirodh Sharma.  Tianhui Ng will conduct.

The series continues on December 11 with an all-Beethoven program – two piano trios that are almost orchestral in breadth, scope and brilliance.  Complete Information on the season’s seven concerts can be found at cewm.org.

November 6 musicians: Borromeo String Quartet; Yehuda Hanani, cello; Avirodh Sharma, tabla; Christylez Bacon, beatbox artist; Tianhui Ng, conductor; Rachel Feldman, choral director; Mount Holyoke College Chamber Singers

Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available through Close Encounters With Music or the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center or by calling 413-528-0100. Subscriptions for the series of 7 concerts are $250 ($225 for seniors), a 35% savings!. Virtual subscriptions and individual tickets are also available.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a GRAMMY® Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC. As a performer, he multi-tasks between various instruments including the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all the while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics. In 2011, Mr. Bacon began a cross-cultural collaborative concert series in Washington, DC called the “Washington Sound Museum” (WSM), a monthly intimate celebration of music featuring guest artists from diverse musical genres with Christylez Bacon and his progressive hip-hop orchestra. Since WSM’s inception, Mr. Bacon has collaborated with artists from various cultural backgrounds, ranging from the Hindustani & Camatic music of India, the contemporary Arabic music of Egypt, and the music of Brazil.  With a mission of fostering cultural acceptance and unification through music, he constantly pushes the envelope – from performances at the National Cathedral, to becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to be featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival to composing and orchestrating an entire concert for a 12-piece orchestra commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institute, or recording a Folk/Hip-Hop children’s album. He is the recipient of several honors awarded by the Washington Area Music Association including the 2013 Artist ofthe Year, and the Montgomery County Executive Award for Excellence in the Arts. He was honored as a 2012 “Library Superhero” by Friends of the Library, Montgomery County.

Sought after for both fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and their championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the Borromeo String Quartet has been hailed for “edge-of-the-seat performances,” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.” Inspiring audiences for more than 25 years, the Borromeo continues to be a pioneer in its use of technology and has the distinction of being the first string quartet to utilize laptop computers on the concert stage. Reading music this way helps push artistic boundaries, allowing players to perform solely from 4-part scores and composers’ manuscripts, a revealing and metamorphic experience which Borromeo members now teach to students around the world. As the New York Times noted, “The digital tide washing over society is lapping at the shores of classical music. The Borromeo players have embraced it in their daily musical lives like no other major chamber music group.” Moreover, the Quartet often leads discussions enhanced by projections of handwritten manuscripts, investigating with the audience the creative process of the composer. Passionate educators, The BSQ has been ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory and Taos School of Music and enjoyed a relationship with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for over two decades. It is quartet-in-residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where first violinist Nicholas Kitchen is Artistic Director. The quartet has worked extensively with the Library of Congress (highlighting both its manuscripts and instrument collections) and has been in residence at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Kansas University, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Colorado State University. Their presentation of the cycle of Bartók String Quartets as well as the lecture “Bartok, Paths Not Taken,” give audiences a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear a set of rediscovered alternate movements Béla Bartók drafted for his six Quartets. The Borromeo’s expansive repertoire includes the Shostakovich Cycle and those of Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Brahms, Schumann, Schoenberg, Janáček, Lera Auerbach, Tchaikovsky, and Gunther Schuller. Recent premieres are works written for them by Sebastian Currier and Aaron Jay Kernis, presented in recitals at Carnegie Hall and Shriver Concerts. The Borromeo has received numerous awards throughout its illustrious career, including Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and the Young Concert Artists career award.

In addition to her role as visiting director of choral studies at Mount Holyoke College, conductor and mezzo-soprano Rachel Feldman also directs the choral ensembles at Connecticut College. Recent engagements include conducting Mount Holyoke choirs at Vespers, preparing William Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast,” and serving as the clinician for the Quinebaug Valley Middle School Music Festival. For two summers she has taught at Westminster Choir College’s High School Summer Vocal Institute, where she conducted the treble choir and taught music theory and history. Ms. Feldman recently earned her master’s degree in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College under the tutelage of Dr. Joe Miller, Dr. Amanda Quist, and Margaret Cusack. During the 2018-2019 season, she acted as graduate assistant conductor for the world-renowned Westminster Choir, assisting in the preparation of the choir’s performances and tours throughout China and Texas, ACDA’s national conference and Spoleto Festival USA. A Connecticut native, she began her musical training with the Elm City Girls’ Choir in New Haven and has since returned to the organization to conduct on tours to Canada and China. She received her bachelor’s at the University of Connecticut, studying conducting and, while there, assisted in conducting the Festival Chorus and the choir at Storrs Congregational Church. In addition to conducting, she remains active as a singer. She was a featured member of Westminster Choir, Westminster Symphonic Choir and Westminster Kantorei and currently performs with the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, the professional choir for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Recent solo work includes Joby Talbot’s “Path of Miracles,” J.S. Bach Cantata 45, Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater,” Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass,” and Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.”

Cellist Yehuda Hanani is founder and artistic director of Close Encounters With Music. His engaging chamber music with commentary has captivated audiences from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and at the Frick Collection in New York City. A three-time recipient of the Martha Baird Rockefeller grant and a nominee for Grand Prix du Disque for his pioneering recording of Alkan, he appears with orchestras and on the recital stage on five continents. Mr. Hanani is one of the illustrious cellists of today, has appeared with musical luminaries—Aaron Copland, Andre Kostelanetz, Dawn Upshaw, David Robertson, Itzhak Perlman, Leon Fleisher—since his career was launched; and is a prolific recording artist and an innovator in reshaping concert programs to include original, illuminating commentary. He has been the subject of hundreds of articles and interviews in the media, and his weekly program on NPR affiliate station WAMC Northeast Radio, “Classical Music According to Yehuda” attracted thousands of fans. Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for three decades, he is on the faculty of Mannes College in New York City and directs the Berkshire High Peaks Festival each summer.

Undaunted by new forms or new frontiers,Tamar Muskal has written everything from pop songs to symphonies to a score for the historic silent film “La Venganza de Pancho Villa” (for string quartet and a Mexican band—a collaboration with the Library of Congress, about the Mexican revolution), a song cycle commissioned by ASCAP and music for a documentary film about finding a cure for blindness (narrated by Robert Redford), exemplifying the diverse material and platforms she uses. Her work “The Yellow Wind,” based on the novel by Israeli author David Grossman, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Ms. Muskal has been the recipient of many other awards from institutions such as ASCAP, Meet-the-Composer, the Academy of Arts and Letters, the Jerome Foundation, American Music Center, the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. Educated both in Israel and the United States, Ms. Muskal’s music harmonizes the unique cultural aspects of both places. Her music follows a counterpoint style, carefully structured, and with great attention for details. She earned her degrees in composition from the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance and Yale University. Her composition teachers included Mark Kopytman, Jacob Druckman, Martin Bresnick, Tania Leon and David Del Tredici. Recent and future commissions include a double concerto for saxophone and viola for the Williamsport Symphony, an orchestral piece for the Idyllwild Arts Academy, a song cycle for Jo Lawry, Sting’s backup singer commissioned by ASCAP for a string quartet, a piece for Lucy Shelton and the Colorado String Quartet on text by Hanoch Levin and a piece for bassoon and string quartet for Uzi Shalev of the Israeli Philharmonic for the International Double Reed Convention in New York. Ms. Muskal also focuses on music for theater. Recent works include “Angels in America” performed in Cincinnati, “The Labor of Life” and “The Seven Beggars” performed at La Mama Theater in New York, and “Cristabel” and “Trojan Women” performed in New Haven. Of her work “Mirrors,” John Von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune wrote: “The ripples and shimmers that filled Muskal’s post-minimalist score were as evanescent as swirling, digitized visuals – dissolving into one another with kaleidoscopic beauty. Mirrors is high-tech music theater at its most inventive and fascinating.” Tamar Muskal has written two works as part of the Close Encounters With Music Commissioning Program, one marking the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, and the second, “One Earth,” receiving its world premiere this season.

Tianhui Ng is Music Director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony, Boston Opera Collaborative and the Victory Players and White Snake Projects. In addition, he is Director of Orchestral Studies at Mount Holyoke College. He has conducted orchestras around the world including the Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Dartington Festival Orchestra (UK), Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Wallonie (Belgium), and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (USA). Equally at home in the realm of choral music, he has conducted the Stuttgart Chamber Choir (Germany), Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus (USA), Oregon Bach Festival Chorus (USA), Yale Schola Cantorum (USA), and the Young Person’s Chorus of New York (USA). He has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Dashon Burton, Tyler Duncan, Marcus Eiche, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Ayano Kataoka, Ilya Polataev, Astrid Schween, Sara Davis Buechner, Nicholas Phan, and James Taylor. Bringing new music to fresh audiences, he has premiered works by Pulitzer and Rome Prize winners Jay Kernis, Robert Kyr, David Sanford, and Joan Tower. Tian Ng’s irrepressible musical spirit first expressed itself when he conducted a choir of kindergarten children in his native Singapore at the age of five. A pianist, singer and trombonist, he studied composition and Early Music at the University of Birmingham (UK) where he discovered his love for Stravinsky and contemporary music. Returning home, he helped found one of the first contemporary music ensembles in the country, and was soon composing for animation, dance, film, chorus, and orchestra; and following his affinity for inter-disciplinary work, created the groundbreaking site-specific community-based arts festival, NOMAD, with which he has won awards from the Singapore National Arts Council. Ng Tian Hui continued his education at the Yale School of Music where he fed his passion for the masterworks of the choral orchestral repertoire, assisting such renowned interpreters as Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Dale Warland, Simon Carrington, Marguerite Brooks and Jeffrey Douma. His works have been heard in diverse settings such as the Hong Kong Film Festival, Animation World Magazine (USA), and Apsara Asia Dance (Singapore).

Avirodh Sharma is considered one of today’s leading exponents of the tabla, carrying on the tradition of percussion rhythm that originated on the Indian Subcontinent. Trinidadian born, Mr. Sharma was trained by his father, Dr. Ravideen Ramsamooj, managing director of the East Indian Music Academy who, together with his mother, Bharati Ramsamooj, have produced over 20,000 students in New York City. As a resident teacher at the Academy for over 24 years, Sharma has trained tabla players nationwide. A multifaceted artist, he is also a composer and producer, with work featured in films, documentaries, fashion shows, on radio and in television commercials. He has been featured in The New York Times, NY Daily News, TV Asia, STARZ NETWORK, Zee TV and NPR Radio. Sharma has worked with Grammy-winning artists including Shakti and Masters of Percussion, Vikku Vinayakram, Dhrubesh Regmi and Sukarma, Suresh Wadhkar, and many more. He has also collaborated with Asian Underground musician Karsh Kale, fiddler Patrick Mangan, and David Bowie drummer Sterling Campbell. In 2015, his debut recording as a tabla soloist was nominated for the 14th Independent Music Awards “Best World Beat Album.” He was recently commissioned by Parsons Dance Company to compose and perform Microburst in NYC’s Joyce Theatre, receiving critical acclaim. In the realm of theater, he composed and performed for Dishwasher Dreams which was developed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. His performances have captivated audiences in Italy, Switzerland, Nepal, India, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and the U. S. This past January, he performed at Kumbh Mela, in India, the largest religious festival in the world with millions in attendance. He has appeared recently at the international festivals Artisti in Piazza (Italy), and Taj Mahotsav (Taj Mahal, India).

ABOUT 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 founder and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani puts the composers and their times in perspective to enrich the concert experience. Since the inception of its Commissioning Project in 2001, CEWM has worked with the most distinguished composers of our time—Paul Schoenfield, Osvaldo Golijov, Thea Musgrave, Lera Auerbach, Jorge Martin, John Musto, among others—to create over 20 important new works that have already taken their place in the chamber music canon and on CD. A core of brilliant performers includes pianists Max Levinson, Roman Rabinovich, and William Wolfram; violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi, Cho-Liang Lin, Vadim Gluzman and clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein, Charles Neidich; vocalists Dawn Upshaw, Emily Marvosh and William Sharp; the Escher, Amernet, Muir, Manhattan, Dover, Avalon quartets, and Cuarteto Latinoamericano; and guitarist Eliot Fisk. Choreographer David Parsons and actors Richard Chamberlain, Jane Alexander and Sigourney Weaver have also appeared as guests, weaving narration and dance into the fabric of the programs.

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