Cabaret, Operetta, and Quintessential Viennese Charm—Composers from Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven to Lehar, Johan Strauss Jr., Fritz Kreisler, Korngold, Mahler and Schonberg Capture the Many Faces of the Imperial City.
Close Encounters with Music presents “Café Vienna—Nervous Splendor,” Sunday, May 19, 4 PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Join us for this intriguing chamber music performance!
The ”Café Vienna” program takes a cross-section of Viennese musical modes—from operetta to waltz, Beethoven’s Piano Trio which spins on a popular song by Weigl, to Schubert’s sublime testament to his beloved métier, “An die Musik.” And of course, the quintessential café music of Fritz Kreisler, “Caprice Viennois.” In charm, verve, and artistic sophistication, Vienna’s past is unsurpassed.
The imperial “City of Song” has played an essential role as a leading European cultural center, hosting major personalities in the development of music, as well as literature, painting, psychiatry and intellectual thought, from the 16th to 20th centuries. As in the architecture, musical styles that sprang up are a mix of Baroque, Classical, Art Nouveau, Modernist and sleek contemporary. During the 19th century, the café became a meeting place for the creative set in town. Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Johan Strauss Jr., Mahler, Korngold, all of whom are represented on the program, could be found in their favorite coffee houses, penning compositions while greeting the likes of Gustav Klimt, Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Rilke, Freud, Kafka, Werfel, or Wittgenstein.
“The city was the crowning glory of the Hapsburg empire. The paradox of its reaching unparalleled heights in the flowering of the arts, literature, sciences as it was gradually crumbling – declining politically and economically – makes it a fascinating historical case study. From the founder of the classical dynasty, Haydn, all the way to the rebellion of Arnold Schonberg, and everything in between – cabaret, operetta, Beethoven trio—the program is as eclectic as Vienna itself was” says artistic director Yehuda Hanani.
Under the artistic influence of mezzo-soprano Emily Marvosh, pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, and violinist Xiao-Dong Wang, who join cellist and artistic director Yehuda Hanani, Vienna’s magic will cast its spell.
All performers are frequent guests of Close Encounters With Music. Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute’s ability to communicate the essential substance of a work has led critics to describe her as possessing “razor-sharp intelligence and wit” and “subtle, complex, almost impossibly detailed and riveting in every way” (The Washington Post) and as “an artist of commanding technique, refined temperament and persuasive insight” (The New York Times). American contralto Emily Marvosh has been gaining recognition for her “plum-wine voice,” and “graceful allure,” on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, Prague’s Smetana Hall and Vienna’s Stefansdom. Following her solo debut at Boston’s Symphony Hall in 2011, she has been a frequent soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society. Recent solo appearances include the American Bach Soloists, Washington National Cathedral, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. Xiao-Dong Wang, who has been called the most talented violinist to emerge from China, has performed as soloist with orchestras around the world, including the London Royal Philharmonic, the London Mozart Players, Adelaide, Perth, Queensland symphony orchestras and Sydney Opera Orchestra.
As of this season, CEWM has fully resumed its hors d’oeuvres and wine receptions. Audience members are invited to meet the artists and enjoy beverages and bites by Authentic Eats by Oleg on stage at the Afterglow receptions. Join us!
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, $52 for Orchestra and Mezzanine and $25 for Balcony seats, can be purchased at www.cewm.org or by calling 413-528-0100. In addition to offering live in-person concerts, curated online performances are available to accommodate geographically remote listeners and newly expanded virtual followers. Tickets are $28 for individual programs, delivered to your email address!
“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime it will defy explanation.” – The Berkshire Edge
Close Encounters with Music presents “Something Borrowed, Something Blue — Cross-Cultural Synergy” on Sunday, April 14 at 4pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Chertock and Zorman join internationally renowned cellist and artistic director Yehuda Hanani for an adventurous musical voyage. Join us for this intriguing chamber music performance!
Debussy and Ravel in Spanish attire; Haydn’s “Gypsy” Trio, Beethoven Turkish Marches, Synagogue Prayer in Gregorian Mode, Tango, and Other Exotica Enliven and Extend the Composers’ Palettes and Listeners’ Pleasures. And Celebrating 100th Anniversary of Gershwin’s 1924 Rhapsody in Blue!
Close Encounters With Music’s Winter / Spring 2024 concerts continue on Sunday, April 14 with an afternoon of jazz, tango, liturgy, waltz, Habanera and Gershwin’s wildly popular Rhapsody in Blue, known for its integration of jazz and classical music – and written on the train between New York and Boston! Composers include Haydn (Gypsy tunes), Max Bruch (German composer retrofits synagogue “Kol Nidrei” prayer), Ravel and Debussy (Spanish and North African heritage), César Cui (Russian composer writes “Orientale”), and Astor Piazzolla (tango goes to Paris!).
Michael Chertock, piano; Itamar Zorman, violin; Yehuda Hanani, cello.
Pianist Michael Chertock has been a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Baltimore, Detroit, Utah and Oregon, and made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Cincinnati Pops. Since his emergence winning top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, violinist Itamar Zorman has wowed audiences all over the world with his breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a “young badass who’s not afraid of anything.” Also winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, he has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, and RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), working with Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Robertson, Valery Gergiev, Karina Canellakis and Yuri Bashmet. Chertock and Zorman join internationally renowned cellist and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani in “Something Borrowed, Something Blue—Cross-Cultural Synergy” for an adventurous musical voyage.
CEWM has resumed its hors d’oeuvres and wine Afterglow receptions on stage following the concerts. Audience members are invited to meet the artists and enjoy beverages and bites by Authentic Eats by Oleg. Join us!
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine) and $28 (Balcony), can be purchased at www. cewm.org or by calling 413-528-0100. We also offer a virtual option—tickets are $28 for individual programs, delivered to your email address!
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Something-Borrowed-Something-Blue-Event-Size.jpg640800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2024-03-13 09:38:212024-03-14 14:28:28Something Borrowed, Something Blue — Cross-Cultural Synergy on April 14
Close Encounters With Music presents the Celtic Baroque Band Makaris in “A Bach Family Concert with an Irish Twist” on Saint Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17, 4pm at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Violin, Guitar, Harp and Harpsichord Meet Bagpipes and Irish Whistle in a Cross-Genre Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration
In his dance suites, J.S. Bach ventures into Spanish sarabandes, French bourrées, and British gigues. He and family members delighted in arranging Celtic and Scottish folk music. They will be joined by Beethoven and Haydn who also forayed into Irish folk music with their own arrangements. Makaris formed in 2018 to explore the broad musical heritage of Scotland and the following year released its disc Wisps in the Dell, to critical international acclaim.
“Absolutely wonderful…one of the very best releases of 2019 – MusicWeb International). A makar (pl. makaris) was a royal court troubadour of medieval Scotland and the program provides a lush sampling from the ensemble’s collection. “You can’t help but feel like you’ve suddenly traveled back in time and are enjoying a tankard of old Scottish ale inside a seedy establishment.”
– Classical Music Sentinel
Scottish music proved creatively productive and financially lucrative for several composers during the 18th century. Haydn and Beethoven alone arranged hundreds of these traditional songs for home performance. The songs included dance calls, serenades, expressions of unrequited love, laments for lost loved ones, and all manner of joyous and gruesome subjects. Well-known names from orchestral music and opera clothed the folksy melodies and down-to-earth lyrics in sophisticated arrangements and their own styles. The ensemble Makaris’s debut CD, Wisps in the Dell, shows why this repertoire proved so popular with audiences and artists.
About Makaris
Members of New York-based 10-member Makaris include Fiona Gillespie, a classically-trained singer, songwriter and composer who holds degrees in voice performance from Westminster Choir College and the University of North Texas; and Eliott Figg, keyboardist, conductor and composer, a graduate of the Historical Performance Program at Juilliard who recently appeared with New Vintage Baroque and as conductor and harpsichordist with Little Opera Theatre of New York, with Spoleto Festival USA and L.A. Opera. The leader of the ensemble, cellist, viola da gamba and lirone player Kivie Cahn Lipman performs and records with Le Strange Viols. He formed ACRONYM Baroque Band, who have been guests of CEWM several times, because he discovered 17th-century music in old manuscripts which have to date translated into eight CDs of modern premieres recorded and more on the way! Cahn-Lipman is a graduate of Oberlin, Juilliard, and the University of Cincinnati where he received his doctorate studying under CEWM artistic director Yehuda Hanani.
Afterglow Reception Post Concert
As of this season, CEWM has fully resumed its hors d’oeuvres and wine receptions. Audience members are invited to meet the artists and enjoy beverages and bites by Authentic Eats by Oleg on stage at the Afterglow receptions. The concert fortuitously coincides with St. Patrick’s Day. Join us for a toast!
Ticket Information
Tickets are $52 for Orchestra and Mezzanine and $25 for Balcony seats, can be purchased at www.cewm.org or by calling 800-843-0778. Pro-rated Season subscriptions for the remainder of 2024 ($185 Regular, $160 Senior), are available until February 11 at cewm.org. We also offer a virtual option—tickets are $28 for individual programs, delivered to your email address one week post performance.
“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime it will defy explanation.”
— The Berkshire Edge
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Makaris-photo-2.jpeg600800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2024-02-08 14:08:572024-02-08 14:08:59Celtic Baroque Band Makaris on St. Patrick’s Day
Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Puccini, Court Intrigue, Ancient Persia, and Early Feminism in Stacy Garrop’s Berkshire Premiere on Sunday, February 11, 4 PM at Saint James Place, Great Barrington
Close Encounters With Music’s 2024 Winter / Spring chamber music concerts open on February 11th with the return of the estimable Avalon String Quartet, bringing to the stage the Berkshire premiere of “For Such a Time as This.” The work is a retelling of the biblical Book of Esther for string quartet and vocalist, from a feminist perspective. Composer Stacy Garrop’s (recent commissions from the Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Louisiana symphony orchestras) intent is to remind us “we each possess agency to make changes happen in our lives, to act upon injustices, and leave the world a better place.” Mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley takes on the role of narrator, alternatively playing Queen Vashti, King Ahasuerus (identified as the historical Xerxes), Queen Esther and her guardian Mordecai from the 5th century BCE scroll, as well as the villain Haman who seeks to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Persia – modern day Iran. Bentley has been featured soloist with orchestras led by Raymond Leppard, Oliver Knussen, Robert Shaw and Pierre Boulez. Tickets Here.
In choosing the biblical tale, Garrop says, “I find several striking points. First, women had little or no agency over their lives. Biblical times were a man’s world. Vashti’s banishment at the beginning of the Book sets this tone immediately. The question whether Esther possesses the agency to act is addressed head on.” Court intrigue, a beauty pageant, and an averted genocide are elements of the gripping story, set to dramatic music.
Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 2 pulsates with young love before landing in fairyland with a shimmering scherzo right out of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puccini’s verismo-style “Chrysanthemums,” a seldom-performed gem, begins the concert.
Close Encounters has featured leading string quartets of today each season— the Dover, Ariel, Borromeo, Escher, Muir among others—and the Avalon is an audience favorite (“The Avalon—drop-dead gorgeous playing” – Classics Today) returning for their fourth visit.
Julia Bentley, narrator/mezzo-soprano, Avalon String Quartet: Blaise Magniere, violin; Marie Wang, violin; Anthony Devroye, viola; Cheng-Hou Lee, cello
The Art of the String Quartet—The Avalon
Sunday, February 11, 4 PM at Saint James Place, Great Barrington
CEWM has resumed its hors d’oeuvres and wine receptions. There is an Afterglow Reception in Saint James Place’sGreat Hall following the concert in the Sanctuary Space. Audience members are invited to meet the artists and enjoy beverages and bites by Authentic Eats by Oleg. Join us!
In addition to offering live in-person concerts, curated online performances will be available to accommodate geographically remote listeners and newly expanded virtual followers.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, $52, can be purchased at www.cewm.org or by calling 800-843-0778. Prorated Season subscriptions for the remainder of 2024 ($185 Regular, $160 Senior) are available at cewm.org. We also offer a virtual option—tickets are $28 for individual programs or $100 for the complete season, delivered to your email address!
“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime.” – The Berkshire Edge
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Avalon String Quartet
Described by the Chicago Tribune as “an ensemble that invites you — ears, mind, and spirit — into its music,” the Avalon String Quartet has established itself as one of the country’s leading chamber music ensembles. The Avalon has performed in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St Y, Merkin Hall, and Bargemusic in New York; the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Wigmore Hall in London; and Herculessaal in Munich. Other performances include appearances at the Bath International Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Caramoor, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, NPR’s St. Paul Sunday, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Los Angeles Music Guild, and Ravinia. The quartet performs an annual concert series in historic Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has presented the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Bartok, and Brahms in recent seasons. The Avalon is quartet-in-residence at the Northern Illinois University School of Music, a position formerly held by the Vermeer Quartet. Additional teaching activities have included the Interlochen Advanced Quartet Program, Madeline Island Music and the Britten-Pears School in England, as well as masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States. Additionally, they have given numerous performances and presentations to young audiences in under-resourced schools and communities. The Avalon captured the top prize at the ARD Competition in Munich (2000) and First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City (1999). In its early years, the ensemble trained intensively with the
Julia Bentley, narrator/mezzo-soprano. Following apprenticeships with Santa Fe Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera, mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley appeared in leading operatic roles including Carmen, Rosina, Dorabella, Despina, and both Rossini and Massenet Cinderellas, from Anchorage to New York. Recognized by the New York Times for her “rich sound, deep expressivity and uncanny sense of pitch,” she has been featured as soloist with orchestras led by George Manahan, Raymond Leppard, Oliver Knussen, Robert Shaw and Pierre Boulez. Ms. Bentley performs frequently with Chicago’s many fine ensembles, including the Ear Taxi Festival, Contempo, eighth blackbird, the Spektral Quartet, Fulcrum Point, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Opera Theater, the Newberry Consort, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera and the MusicNOW series at Symphony Center with conductor Cliff Colnot. She has appeared to critical acclaim at Alice Tully Hall and Weill Hall with Pierre Boulez as the soloist in Le Marteau Sans Maître, and recorded on the Albany, Cedille and Tintagel labels. Recent engagements have included performances of La Damnation de Faust with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Pierrot Lunaire with eighth blackbird, La Cenerentola with Sacramento Opera, Berg’s Lyric Suite with the Emerson String Quartet, and the Bach B MinorMass with the Apollo Chorus as well as chamber music series in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. She is honored to have a 20-year affiliation with The New Budapest Orpheum Society and is featured in their Grammy-nominated CD As Dreams Fall Apart on Cedille Records. She served as an Associate Professor of Voice and Graduate Art Song Literature at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana.
Composer Stacy Garrop
Stacy Garrop’s music is centered on dramatic and lyrical storytelling. Dr. Garrop is a full-time freelance composer living in the Chicago area. Her catalog covers a wide range, with works for orchestra, opera, oratorio, wind ensemble, choir, art song, various sized chamber ensembles, and works for solo instruments. Recent commissions include Forging Steel for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Goddess Triptych for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Spectacle ofLight for the Music of the Baroque Orchestra, Berko’s Journey for the Omaha Symphony, Song of Orpheus for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, TheBattle for the Ballot for the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, In a House Besieged for The Crossing on texts by Lydia Davis, and Alpenglow, a double concerto for saxophone, tuba, and wind ensemble commissioned by a consortium of 18 organizations. Notable past commissions include My Dearest Ruth for soprano and piano with text by Martin Ginsburg, the husband of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Glorious Mahalia for the Kronos Quartet; Give MeHunger for Chanticleer; Slipstream for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Musicians Chamber Music Series; and Terra Nostra (oratorio), commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society. Dr. Garrop’s current commissions include upcoming projects with the U.S. Navy Band, Fauré Centennial Festival, and Chicago Opera Theater for a new opera with librettist Jerre Dye. Garrop has received numerous awards and grants including an Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Fromm Music Foundation Grant. Recent performances of her orchestral works were given by the Baltimore, Chicago, Fort Collins, Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Reading, Richmond, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, of her wind ensemble works by the U.S. Marine Band and U.S. Navy Band; and of her chamber works by the Avalon String Quartet, Boston Trio, Capitol Saxophone Quartet, Ensemble Échappé, and the Lincoln Trio. Theodore Presser Company and ECS Publishing carry her works.
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Avalon-String-Quartet-smaller-image.jpg567800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2023-12-20 12:29:362023-12-20 12:29:38“The Art of the String Quartet—The Avalon” Concert
Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata Take Center Stage
On Sunday, December 3 at 4 PM, Close Encounters With Music, the Berkshires’ premiere chamber music organization, presents Nocturne – Night and Dreams, a multi-faceted program that explores nuances and contradictions of the night. Release from the brightness of daylight, from consciousness into sleep and dreaminess, the night’s seductive, mysterious potion-like allure has fascinated artists throughout the ages. Lullabies celebrate repose, the restful charm; serenades celebrate love. Other works mark the fear of darkness, the unseen and what may lurk beneath the veil of the night.
Composers from Mozart and Schubert to Borodin and Bernstein have been transfixed, lulled, soothed, and aroused. Beethoven evokes the enchantment of the moon in his iconic “Moonlight” Sonata; Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a perennial favorite and will be performed in its original scoring. Leider by Schumann, Debussy, Fauré, arias from Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, and selections from favorite musicals (West Side Story and Man of La Mancha) demonstrate the universality of the theme. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, only the darkness of the night reveals all the stars—in the Heavens and on stage!
Italian pianistFabio Bidini has appeared as soloist with orchestras worldwide—the London National Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, San Francisco, Dallas and Philharmonia Orchestra Prague among many others. Baritone John Viscardi, who takes on the vocal repertoire in the program, also serves as executive director of Berkshire Lyric Arts, a vocal summer program. Mr. Viscardi’s performances with orchestra and recital include Carmina Burana with Opera Philadelphia and appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall. Also joining artistic director and cellist Hanani will be violinists Kobe Malkin and Grace Park, violist Luke Fleming, and double bassist Lizzie Burns.
All audience members are invited to an “Afterglow” reception with canapés from Authentic Eats by Oleg following each concert to meet the performers and one another!
In addition to offering live in-person concerts, curated online performances will be available to accommodate geographically remote listeners and newly expanded virtual followers.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available through the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center or by calling 413-528-0100. Subscriptions are $250 ($225 for seniors) for the series of 7 concerts (a 35% savings!). Season subscriptions are available at [email protected]. We also offer a virtual option. Tickets are $28 or $100 for the complete season.
“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime it will defy explanation.” — The Berkshire Edge
“The Berkshires are home to distinguished cultural events, but none so brilliant, perhaps, as the chamber music series Close Encounters With Music.” —Berkshire Record
Italian pianist Fabio Bidini is one of this generation’s top-flight pianists. His appearances have included performances with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra Prague at the Rudolphinum, and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra at Liszt Academy Hall. He has collaborated with conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Max Valdes, Dimitry Sitkovetsky, Ivan Fisher, Jesús López Cobos, JoAnn Falletta, Zoltan Kocsis, Michael Christie, and Gianandrea Noseda. Bidini’s schedule last season included orchestral appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, where he has performed close to a dozen times, and with the Fresno Philharmonic. In great demand as a chamber music partner, he is the pianist of the highly acclaimed Los Angeles Piano Trio and has enjoyed artistic collaboration with many ensembles and artists including Trio Solisti, the Modigliani Quartet, American String Quartet, Janacek Quartet, Brodsky Quartet, Szymanowski Quartet, Zoltan Kocsis, and Dimitri Ashkenazy. In 2015 the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles founded the Carol Colburn Grigor Piano Chair for him, and he currently serves on the faculty.
John Viscardi, tenor
John Viscardi has moved audiences around the world with his vocal beauty and dramatic intensity, having performed with Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Opera Carolina. Viscardi is a winner of both the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Concorso Internazionale F.P. Tosti. Last season’s engagements included his role début as Cavardossi in Opera Carolina’s Tosca, a production of Pelléas at Mélisande with Los Angeles Opera, Hardin’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Opera San Luis Obispo. This season, Mr. Viscardi will join Opera Louisiane to sing Conrad in Hell’s Bells and Intermountain Opera Bozeman in Montana to sing Rodolfo in La Bohème. Mr. Viscardi attended the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Kobi Malkin, violin
Israeli violinist Kobi Malkin, is making his mark as both as an exciting soloist and a perceptive chamber musician. He was praised by the New York Times for his “aptly traversed palette of emotions, from languid introspection to fevered intensity with gorgeous tone and an edge-of-seat intensity.” As a soloist, Malkin has appeared with the Ashdod Chamber Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Music Academy Symphony Orchestra Haifa, New England Conservatory’s Philharmonia, Symphonette Ra’anana, the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orquesta de Camara de Bellas Artes, the Saint Louis Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic under the batons of such conductors as Ze’ev Dorman, Stanley Sperber and Hugh Wolff. Malkin’s musicianship has been recognized by many awards, including the prestigious Ilona Kornhauser prize in the America-Israel Cultural Foundation’s Aviv Competitions, New England Conservatory’s Violin Competition, Haifa Symphony Orchestra’s Zvi Rotenberg Competition, the Canetti International Violin Competition, as well as scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and has performed at an array of venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Ruse’s Philharmonic Hall, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Sylvia Rosenberg and Donald Weilerstein, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, where he worked under the guidance of Miriam Fried.
Luke Fleming, violin
Praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for his “glowing refinement,” violist Luke Fleming‘sperformances have been described by The Strad as “confident and xpressive…playing with uncanny precision,” and lauded by Gramophone for their “superlative technical and artistic execution.” Festival appearances include the Marlboro Music School and Festival, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Perlman Music Program, the Norfolk and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festivals, the Melbourne Festival, Bravo!Vail, and Festival Mozaic. Formerly the violist of the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet, he has served as Artist-in-Residence for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and received the National Federation of Music Clubs Centennial Chamber Music Award. He was awarded First Prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and top prizes at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. In 2015, Mr. Fleming became the Founding Artistic Director of both the Manhattan Chamber Players, a New York-based chamber music collective, and the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival. He currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Viola at the University of New Orleans School of the Arts. Mr. Fleming holds the degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts, Artist Diploma, and Master of Music from the Juilliard School, a Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from Louisiana State University.
ABOUT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, Yehuda Hanani
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.
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Nocturne-Night-and-Dreams-1500-x-1200-px-1.jpg640800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2023-11-09 11:18:142023-11-17 10:49:56CEWM Presents “Nocturne – Night and Dreams” on Sunday, December 5, 4 PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Close Encounters With Music’s 32nd Season sparkles and vibrates with brilliant performers and thought-provoking themes in Great Barrington, Mass.
Season performances include Celtic Baroque Band Makaris in a Bach Family Concert with an Irish Twist and the story of Biblical Esther from a feminist perspective in a new work…and so much more!
This season offers the widest swath of genres, styles, composers and instruments—and of course, the great performers who share their brilliant artistry, including pianists Adam Golka, Fabio Bidini, Ieva Jokubaviciute, Max Levinson and Michael Chertock; violinists Giora Schmidt, Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Xiao-Dong Wang, Itamar Zorman; vocalists John Viscardi, Julia Bentley and Emily Marvosh; the Avalon String Quartet, and Celtic Band Makaris.
Artistic director Yehuda Hanani is welcoming audience members new to the Berkshires as well as long-time residents to join for intimate programs with outsize talent, in the beautiful landmark Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center “to regain a sense of Community through the inspiring and healing effects of the best music ever penned—from over 300 years ago to almost yesterday, with the ink just drying”!
Just a few of this season’s themes are explorations of what constitutes “virtuosity” in art; the historic allure of Vienna as a nexus of music and art and destination for composers, painters and groundbreaking thinkers; and cross-cultural synergy and its enriching effects. Featured works include Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachmusik,” Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, and the incomparably beautiful Dvorak and Brahms Piano Quintets.
All audience members are invited to an “Afterglow” reception following each concert to meet the performers and one another!
In addition to offering live in-person concerts, curated online performances will be available to accommodate geographically remote listeners and newly expanded virtual followers.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available through the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center or by calling 413-528-0100. Subscriptions are $250 ($225 for seniors) for the series of 7 concerts (a 35% savings!). Season subscriptions are available at [email protected] and through our website.
“CEWM patrons have learned that sooner or later they’ll be blindsided by a performance so sublime it will defy explanation.”
— The Berkshire Edge
(For Calendar listings, see below.)
2023-24 SEASON
Virtue and Virtuosity
Sunday, November 5, 2023 4 PM
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
The words are intricately related but diverge. Virtuosity: music that glorifies the possibilities of the instrument and the prowess of the performer—that titillates and stuns the audience in the Romantic tradition of Paganini. It’s the violinist tight-rope walking on the strings, performing impossible feats, stretching the capabilities of the instrument, creating pacts with the Devil. Sarasate and Saint Saëns will dazzle (his gorgeous Rondo Capriccioso, a minefield for the violinist, will be performed on the cello, exponentially more challenging!). And introducing Russian/Ukrainian composer Nikolai Kapustin, whose Preludes offer a “Red and Hot” fusion of jazz and classical forms. Pyrotechnics and acrobatics? Mastery of content and form? Craft plus magic as the ideal… According to Rodin, the greatest virtuosity is when you don’t notice it. The program touches on some of the most fundamental questions about the nature of art and culminates with the emotionally compelling and ineffably beautiful Brahms Piano Trio Op. 8.
Adam Golka, piano;Giora Schmidt, violin; Yehuda Hanani, cello; Philip Thompson, cello
Nocturne—Night and Dreams
Sunday, December 3, 2023 4 PM
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Nuances of the night are explored in this multi-faceted program. Release from the brightness of daylight, from consciousness into sleep and dreaminess, the night’s seductive, mysterious potion-like allure has fascinated artists throughout the ages. Lullabies celebrate repose, the restful charm; serenades celebrate love. Other works mark the fear of darkness, the unseen and what may lurk beneath the veil of night. Composers from Mozart and Schubert to Borodin and Bernstein have been transfixed, lulled, soothed and aroused. Beethoven evokes the enchantment of the moon in his iconic “Moonlight” Sonata; Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a perennial favorite and will be performed in its original scoring. Lieder by Schumann, Debussy, Fauré, arias from Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet and selections from favorite musicals (West Side Story and Man of La Mancha) demonstrate the universality of the theme. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, only the darkness of the night reveals all the stars—in the Heavens and on stage!
Fabio Bidini, piano; John Viscardi, baritone; Kobi Malkin and Grace Park, violin; Luke Fleming, viola; Lizzie Burns, double bass; Yehuda Hanani, cello
The Art of the String Quartet—The Avalon
Sunday, February 11, 2024 4 PM
Saint James Place, Great Barrington
The notable Avalon returns with another Berkshire premiere, “For Such a Time as This,” a retelling of the biblical Esther story for string quartet and vocalist, from a feminist perspective. Composer Stacy Garrop’s (recent commissions from the Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Louisiana symphony orchestras) intent is to remind us “we each possess agency to make changes happen in our lives, to act upon injustices, and leave the world a better place.” Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 2 pulsates with young love before landing in fairyland with a shimmering scherzo right out of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puccini’s verismo-style “Chrysanthemums,” a seldom-performed gem, begins the concert.
Julia Bentley, narrator/mezzo-soprano, Avalon String Quartet: Blaise Magniere, violin; Marie Wang, violin; Anthony Devroye, viola; Cheng-Hou Lee, cello
“The Avalon—drop-dead gorgeous playing” – Classics Today
Celtic Baroque Band Makaris—A Bach Family Concert with an Irish Twist
Sunday, March 17, 2024 4 PM
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
In his dance suites, J. S. Bach ventures into Spanish sarabandes, French bourrées and British gigues. He and family members delighted in arranging Celtic and Scottish folk music. They will be joined by Beethoven and Haydn, who also forayed into Irish folk music with their own arrangements. Makaris formed in 2018 to explore the broad musical heritage of Scotland and the following year released its first disc, Wisps in the Dell, to critical international acclaim (“Absolutely wonderful…one of the very best releases of 2019” – MusicWeb International). A makar (pl. makaris) was a royal court troubadour of medieval Scotland and the program provides a lush sampling from the ensemble’s collection. “You can’t help but feel like you’ve suddenly traveled back in time and are enjoying a tankard of old Scottish ale inside a seedy establishment.” – Classical Music Sentinel
Fiona Gillespie, soprano; Caitlin Hedge, violin; Ben Matus, Irish whistle, bassoon and bagpipes; Elliot Figg, harpsichord and organ; Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello; Doug Ballilett, bass; Liv Castor, harp; Paul Morton, theorbo and guitar
The Romans appropriated the entirety of classical Greek culture, and the Renaissance rediscovered and revitalized it. Then came Rodin and Greek Revival in American architectural style. An Egyptomania craze gripped 19th century Europe and found its way into operas (Aida, Samson and Delilah), couture (harem pants as high fashion), architectural idioms, decorative arts, music and dance (arabesques). Culinary arts, fashion (remember Issey Miyake?), painting, furniture design – we are all enriched, stimulated and invigorated by borrowed influences. An afternoon of Gershwin, Max Bruch (German composer uses synagogue “Kol Nidrei” prayer), Cesar Cui (Russian composer writes “Orientale”), Ravel’s “Habanera,” Haydn Trio (Gypsy movement) and more. When the main stream gets tired, foreign tributaries recharge it!
Michael Chertock, piano; Itamar Zorman, violin; Yehuda Hanani, cello
Annual Luncheon Musicale Benefit
Sunday, May 5, 2024 12PM
At a Private Club in Lenox, Mass.
Celebrate the Salon in the Gilded Age elegance at a private Berkshires club. The scintillating atmosphere of the 19th century institution that helped promote artists, painters and musicians as the intelligentsia gathered to exchange ideas, enhanced by gaiety and ambience. Savor a superb lunch and support Close Encounters With Music. La vie est belle!
Reserve the date! Tickets will go on sale in March.
Café Vienna — “Nervous Splendor”
Sunday, May 19, 2024 4 PM
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
The imperial “City of Song” has played an essential role as a leading European cultural center, hosting major personalities in the development of music, as well as literature, painting, psychiatry and intellectual thought, from the 16th to 20th centuries. As in the architecture, musical styles that sprang up are a mix of Baroque, Classical, Art Nouveau, Modernist and sleek contemporary. During the 19th century, the café became a meeting place for the creative set in town. Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Johan Strauss Jr., Mahler, Korngold, all of whom are represented on the program, could be found in their favorite coffee houses, penning compositions while greeting the likes of Gustav Klimt, Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Rilke, Freud, Kafka, Werfel, or Wittgenstein. This program takes a cross-section of Viennese musical modes—from operetta to waltz, Beethoven’s Piano Trio which spins on a popular song by Weigl, to Schubert’s sublime testament to his beloved métier, “An die Musik.” And of course, the quintessential café music of Fritz Kreisler, “Caprice Viennois.” In charm, verve, and artistic sophistication, Vienna’s past is unsurpassed.
Dvořák’s sublime Piano Quintet in A Major occupies a lofty place in the chamber music canon, at the same elevation as Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34. Simply put, both works are majestic, symphonic in scope, and invite the listener into a lost world of powerful beauty, profundity, and nobility of sentiments, peppered with folk tunes and polkas. Dvořák admired Brahms, Brahms encouraged and mentored Dvořák. The combination of string quartet and piano lends the quintet a sonic grandeur as it joins two self-sufficient forces in an ideal partnership. An all-star ensemble that shares the stage with artistic director Yehuda Hanani includes Max Levinson (“a brilliant American pianist…who touches the listener deeply and often—Los Angeles Times) and violist Jordan Bak (“a bright commanding presence…a rising star”—Boston Musical Intelligencer) making his CEWM debut. So concludes Season 32 of Close Encounters—bookended by the most miraculous output of Johannes Brahms and with Dvořák’s folkloric genius, spontaneity, and vitality.
Max Levinson, piano; Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim, violin; Jordan Bak, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC stands at the intersection of music, art, and the vast richness of various cultural traditions. Entertaining, erudite, lively commentary puts the composers and their times in perspective to enrich and enlighten your concert experience.
Join our community of friends and patrons as we continue our tradition of bringing together sublime chamber music, distinguished performers and musical commentary, all in convivial settings. Share the excitement of world premiere performances and meet some of the most original and influential figures in contemporary classical music, as well as up-and-coming stars of tomorrow. And to accommodate our newly expanded virtual followers, we are also offering a virtual pass to a curated online selection of performances.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC supports the renaissance of the Southern Berkshires by presenting six concerts this season at the landmark Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Situated in the heart of Great Barrington’s historic district, the Mahaiwe offers modern comfort in the nostalgic atmosphere of a 100-year-old theater. A seventh performance is held at the acoustically superb Saint James Place. Join the growing number of culture enthusiasts who converge from the Berkshires, Hudson Valley, Northwest Connecticut, New York City and Boston for each Close Encounters event! Contributing Benefactors and Endowers are invited to a special gala dinner following the June concert (see Ticket Order form).
“…To experience the finest music ever written, presented by leading musicians of the day, in the inviting atmosphere of the Berkshires, is the best of all possible worlds. . . The quality of Lincoln Center with an intimacy that exceeds it….”
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Virtue-and-Virtuosity-1500-x-1200.jpg640800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2023-09-07 13:42:102023-09-07 13:42:12CEWM’s 32nd Season Sparkles and Vibrates!
Experience the elegance of the Gilded Age Salon at a private Berkshires club!
Our Annual Luncheon Musicale Benefit, “Piano Duo, Four Hands,” features pianists Anthony Zerpa-Falcon and Jong-Gyung Park performing Mozart, Brahms, and Liszt.
Celebrate 24 years of CEWM’s Commissioning Program, savor a superb lunch and support Close Encounters With Music. La vie est belle!
Tickets on sale now!
https://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Piano-Duo-Luncheon-Musicale-Event-Image.jpg640800Dawn Stanyonhttps://cewm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CEWM-Logo-Purple-340w.pngDawn Stanyon2023-08-28 16:12:332024-04-02 17:10:36Piano Duo, Four Hands Annual Luncheon Musicale Benefit
The imperial “City of Song” has played an essential role as a leading European cultural center, hosting major personalities in the development of music, as well as literature, painting, psychiatry and intellectual thought, from the 16th to 20th centuries.
As in the architecture, musical styles that sprang up are a mix of Baroque, Classical, Art Nouveau, Modernist and sleek contemporary. During the 19th century, the café became a meeting place for the creative set in town. Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Johan Strauss Jr., Mahler, Korngold, all of whom are represented on the program, could be found in their favorite coffee houses, penning compositions while greeting the likes of Gustav Klimt, Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Rilke, Freud, Kafka, Werfel, or Wittgenstein.
This program takes a cross-section of Viennese musical modes—from operetta to waltz, Beethoven’s Piano Trio which spins on a popular song by Weigl, to Schubert’s sublime testament to his beloved métier, “An die Musik.” And of course, the quintessential café music of Fritz Kreisler, “Caprice Viennois.” In charm, verve, and artistic sophistication, Vienna’s past is unsurpassed.
Afterglow Reception on the Mahaiwe stage following the concert! You are invited to meet the artists and enjoy bites and beverages by Authentic Eats by Oleg. Join us!
Dvořák’s sublime Piano Quintet in A Major occupies a lofty place in the chamber music canon, at the same elevation as Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34. Simply put, both works are majestic, symphonic in scope, and invite the listener into a lost world of powerful beauty, profundity, and nobility of sentiments, peppered with folk tunes and polkas.
Dvořák admired Brahms, Brahms encouraged and mentored Dvořák. The combination of string quartet and piano lends the quintet a sonic grandeur as it joins two self-sufficient forces in an ideal partnership.
An all-star ensemble that shares the stage with artistic director Yehuda Hanani includes Max Levinson (“a brilliant American pianist…who touches the listener deeply and often—Los Angeles Times) and violist Jordan Bak (“a bright commanding presence…a rising star”—Boston Musical Intelligencer) making his CEWM debut. So concludes Season 32 of Close Encounters—bookended by the most miraculous output of Johannes Brahms and with Dvořák’s folkloric genius, spontaneity, and vitality.
Max Levinson, piano; Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim, violin; Jordan Bak, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello
