Arizona Friends of Chamber Music

Piano & Friends Series

All concerts at 3:00 p.m. at Leo Rich Theater

 

We are delighted to present some of the world's finest musicians, playing interesting repertoire both classical and contemporary. These musicians represent the 21st century's rising stars and the best of artists from Europe, Asia and the United States. All concerts are performed in the intimate setting of Leo Rich Theater.

Master classes for students of the Tucson Music Teachers' Association and the Tucson Junior Strings are open to the public on the Saturday preceding each concert, at 3:00 p.m., at Leo Rich Theater. You are invited to meet the musicians at a reception after each concert.

Sergey Antonov, cello
Bernadene Blaha, piano

Sunday, October 24, 2010

A cello sonata usually lets the cello be the star, but all three of these works were written by superb pianist-composers, so the keyboard stands as the cello’s full partner. Beethoven virtually invented the sonata for cello and piano; he had no models from Haydn or Mozart to work from. By the time he wrote his Op. 102 sonatas, he was withdrawing from society (because of his deafness) but exploring new ways of expressing himself in music. Benjamin Britten’s suite, from nearly 150 years later, is the first of several works he composed especially for the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich; it’s essentially a traditional four-movement sonata with a march inserted to keep things a little unpredictable. In Sergei Rachmaninov’s late-Romantic sonata, the cello contends with the piano for dominance (not always successfully) in a restless work full of long, lush melodies.


Sergey Antonov website

 


Bernadene Blaha website

Beethoven, Sonata for cello for piano No. 4 in C major, Op. 102/1

Britten, Sonata for cello & piano in C major, Op. 65

Rachmaninov, Sonata for cello and piano in G minor, Op. 19

In his early 20’s he was hailed as “a brilliant cellist” by the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich and Sergey Antonov went on to prove his mentor’s proclamation by garnering top honors in numerous soloist and chamber competitions, ultimately landing the most coveted prize of them all, the Gold Medal at the world’s premier musical Olympiad, the quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2007. Born into a musical family in Moscow in 1983, Antonov was one of the youngest recipients of the Tchaikovsky award. His subsequent performances have taken him round the globe, from the Moscow Conservatory's Great Hall to Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and as a repeat guest artist at the Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island, where he made his American debut in 2007. He has collaborated with such maestros and classical artists as Yuri Simonov, Maxim Vengerov, David Geringas, Michiyoshi Inoue, Mikhail Pletnev and Yuri Bashmet among others, and has appeared on Russian National Television in performance with the Moscow Philharmonic in their “Stars of the 21st Century” series, and in live concert on Boston’s NPR radio station WGBH. Antonov now calls Boston, Massachusetts his home.

Bernadene Blaha's "brilliant command of the piano", whether featured as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician, has been heralded in performances throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Mexico. This season’s highlights include her debut performances in Australia, as well as an invitation to serve as a jury member at the prestigious 2010 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Originally from Canada, Ms. Blaha first came to international attention as a prizewinner in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition; the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Masterplayers International Competition, Lugano, Switzerland; and the 11th Annual International Piano Competition, New York City. This latter award resulted in two highly acclaimed recital appearances, at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Lincoln Center Library. Soon afterward, Ms. Blaha was featured in the opening orchestra concert and a solo recital at the XXIX International Chopin Festival in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia, followed by solo recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and in London, England.

A highly regarded chamber musician, Ms. Blaha has been a regular guest at international festivals including, The Newport Festival, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Festival of the Sound, Bard Festival, Banff Festival of the Arts, Round Top International Festival and Festival de San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

 

 

Helena Baillie, viola
Roman Rabinovich, piano

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Violists who want to play much pre-contemporary music must rely heavily on transcriptions of pieces originally for violin or cello, but Johannes Brahms did violists a favor by offering his two nostalgic, autumnal Op. 120 sonatas to either clarinetists or violists. Otherwise, this program is dominated by borrowings, and features some Bach-obsessed music: a pair of movements derived from one of Bach’s solo violin partitas, and Bach tributes by two 20th-century composers. The rest is a series of treats, though not trifles: one lyrical and one dramatic excerpt from Prokofiev’s most popular ballet, and entertaining items by Paganini and Popper that require a nimble player of great technical skill.


Helena Baillie website

Audio files for Helena Baille can be found on her website.

 


Roman Rabinovich website

Audio for Roman Rabinovich can be found on his website.

Kodaly, Chorale Prelude in the style of Bach: Ach was ist doch unser Leben

Brahms, Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op. 120

Emmanuel Moór, Prelude in the style of Bach, Op. 123

J.S. Bach, Prelude and Gavotte from the Violin Partita No. 3 in E. Major (arranged for Viola and Piano by Alan Arnold)

Prokofieff, Romeo and Juliet Op. 64 (Vadim Borisovski)
1) Juliet the Young Girl
2) Dance of the Knights
Paganini, La Campanella
Popper, Elfentanz (transcribed for Viola and Piano by Helena Baillie)

Helena Baillie was born in London to a musical family. She graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music where she studied violin and viola. Her 2008 New York violin recital debut at Bargemusic was hailed by The Strad magazine for its ‘brilliance and poignance.’ Helena has appeared in chamber music with Pinchas Zukerman and with the Beaux Arts Trio at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in the Alexander Schneider Series and given recitals throughout Europe and the United States. She is the recipient of numerous awards, among which, the Barenreiter-urtext prize at the 2004 Munich ARD competition as well as prizes at the 2001 Banff and 2003 Tertis competitions. Her performances are regularly broadcast on Performance Today for American Public Radio. The first violinists of the Guarneri, Emerson, Vermeer, Juilliard and Tokyo quartets were Helena’s teachers: Arnold Steinhardt, Philip Setzer, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Robert Mann and Peter Oundjian. She studied viola at Curtis with Roberto Diaz and Joseph de Pasquale, and with Wilfried Strehle, principal viola, Berlin Philharmonic. Isaac Stern, Lorand Fenyves, Felix Galimir, and Leon Fleisher guided Helena in chamber music.

 

Twenty-three year old Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich was praised for the “vivacity and virtuosity” and “the impeccable clarity of execution” and has performed throughout Europe and USA in such prestigious venues as Leipzig’s Gewandhaus and London’s Wigmore hall, Carnegie’s Weill Hall and the Metropolitan Museum, as well as Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Salle Cortot in Paris and Millennium Stage of Kennedy Center in Washington DC. He is a winner of the top prize at the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein competition, 1st prizes at the Animato and the Arjil Piano Competitions in Paris, Frank Peleg Piano Competition, as well as “Vendome Virtuosi” prize. At age 10 he made his Israel Philharmonic debut under the button of Zubin Mehta and since then performed with IPO and Maestro Mehta again in 1999 and 2003. He performed as a soloist with most of Israeli orchestras, Buffalo Philharmonic, An Arbor Symphony, Delaware Symphony and other orchestras. He has participated in international festivals such as Ravinia’s Steans Institute, Verbier Academy in Switzerland, Conservatoire Week in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was featured on radio and TV in numerous occasions in Israel, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan Roman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1994, where he studied with Arie Vardi. Roman graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Seymour Lipkin. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree with Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School. Romn also excels as a gifted artist, and won prizes as a painter.

 

 

Christòpheren Nomura, baritone
Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Something unusual for Piano & Friends: a vocal recital. It begins with a great Schumann song cycle (it translates as “The Poet’s Love”), which opens with optimism but hints right from the start that the outcome will be, at best, bittersweet. Maurice Ravel wrote his song cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée in competition with Falla, Milhaud and other composers to provide songs for a film version of Don Quixote; Ravel lost, but today his is the most celebrated effort. Lee Hoiby had a more serious purpose in composing Last Letter Home in 2006; it’s a setting of a letter that the late Pfc. Jesse Givens, serving in Iraq, left for his wife and children. Nothing could be more different from that than William Bolcom’s witty Cabaret Songs, inspired by similar material by the likes of Kurt Weill.


Christòpheren Nomura website

 


Kevin Fitz-Gerald website

Schumann, Dichterliebe, Op. 48

Ravel, Don Quichotte à Dulcinée

Lee Hoiby, Last Letter Home

William Bolcom, Cabaret Songs

Baritone Christòpheren Nomura has emerged at the forefront of the new generation of American singers. Since making his New York City debut, he has performed throughout the world, hailed as one of classical music's "rising stars" by the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Nomura has earned a prominent place on the operatic, concert and recital stages. In the realm of opera, Mr. Nomura is a noted Mozartean, known for his portrayals of Don Giovanni, Papageno in The Magic Flute, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte. He has sung Don Giovanni with the New Hampshire Music Festival and New York Chamber Symphony; Papageno for his debut with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Cosi fan tutte for his Hawaii Opera debut and the count in Figaro for his Opera Carolina debut. He has likewise had a strong association with Puccini's Madama Butterfly. He was Prince Yamadori in the SONY film of Butterfly co-directed by Martin Scorsese and Frédéric Mitterand, conducted by James Conlon. He sang Yamadori for his Boston Symphony debut under Seiji Ozawa and the Imperial Commissioner for his debut with Dallas Opera. He sang both of these roles for his Cincinnati Opera debut. He sang Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for his debut with the Skylight Opera of Milwaukee, returning as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor. He sang Enrico for his El Paso Opera debut, Malatesta in Don Pasquale for his Opera Idaho debut and again for his Seattle Opera debut in 2003. He sang his first Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola for his debut with Lake George Opera.

Pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald, enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his “hypnotically powerful and precise” pianism and “dynamic and distinguished” interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne).

Mr. Fitz-Gerald's concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio and television networks in Canada, USA, South America, France, Japan and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM and GM Records labels. In constant demand as a chamber musician, he has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Patrick Gallois, Stephen Isserlis, Richard Stolzman, Alan Civil, Camilla Wicks, Midori, Eudice Shapiro, Milton Thomas, Karen Tuttle, Donald McInnes, Ronald Leonard, the Bartok, St. Petersburg and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

He regularly performs two-piano and four-hand recitals with Bernadene Blaha appearing at prestigious festivals, conventions, music teacher’s symposiums and concert venues throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The Blaha/Fitz-Gerald Duo has performed extensively throughout Canada under the auspices of the “Piano Six” program, the Canada Council Touring Office and the “Cross Country Classics” program.

Mr.Fitz-Gerald also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting master classes and lecture-symposiums throughout the world. In addition to his position as associate professor at the Thornton School, Mr. Fitz-Gerald is also a regular visiting artist teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts, a frequent master class teacher at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, the Aria International Summer Institute in Indiana, as well as visiting faculty at many other national and international music festivals and institutions throughout Canada and the USA.

 

 

Arizona Friends of Chamber Music

P.O.Box 40802, Tucson, AZ 85717

520-577-3769

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