HUDSON VALLEY CHAMBER MUSIC CIRCLE SEASON FEATURES A STELLAR ARTISTIC LINEUP Performers include violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson, pianist Leon Fleisher, and violist Michael Tree; the Johannes String Quartet with pianist Gary Graffman; and
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) announces its 2001 season, featuring a stellar artistic lineup for three concerts in June at Bard College. The Saturday evening concerts, presented by The Bard Center, begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall.
On Saturday, June 9, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson will be joined by pianist Leon Fleisher and violist Michael Tree. The program includes Brahms's Piano Quartet in A Major, a Schubert sonatina, and Dohnanyi's Serenade for String Trio.
Artistic directors of the HVCMC, Laredo and Robinson are also members of the acclaimed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. Laredo tours regularly as soloist and/or conductor and has won the admiration and respect of audiences, critics and fellow musicians the world over. He is artistic director of New York's renowned Chamber Music at the Y series. His wife, Sharon Robinson, is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, and a Grammy nomination. She is recognized worldwide as a dynamic artist and one of the outstanding cellists of our time.
Violist Michael Tree, a founding member of the Guarneri Sting Quartet, plays with the quartet and in solo performances in major cities around the world. Leon Fleisher is considered one of the great pianists of our century. He was the first American to win the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Belgium. In the mid 1960s his career was interrupted by a debilitating ailment affecting his right hand. He went on to devote his musical talents to teaching and conducting, and eventually playing left-hand piano literature to great acclaim. He has held the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at the Peabody Conservatory of Music since 1959 and serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Manhattan College of Music, and Royal Conservatory of Music.
On Saturday, June 16, the Johannes String Quartet, with pianist Gary Graffman, will make its first appearance at the HVCMC. This young and exciting group will perform a string quartet by Mendelssohn, the Debussy string quartet, and Korngold's suite for left-hand piano, two violins, and cello.
The Johannes Quartet made an acclaimed debut in 1998, bringing together the concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, Robert Chen; the associate principal viola and cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra, C. J. Chang and Peter Stumpf; and the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, Soovin Kim. The quartet has appeared in the Schneider Series at the New School in New York and the Peoples' Symphony Concerts at Town Hall; they will make their Carnegie Hall debut next season. Pianist Gary Graffman's busy performing schedule was abruptly curtailed in 1979 by an injury to his right hand, and since that time he has performed music written for the left hand alone. He has served as director of the Curtis Institute of Music since 1986.
The series will conclude with a performance on Saturday, June 23, by the Kalichstien-Laredo-Robinson Trio with Emerson Quartet violinist Philip Setzer and violist Lawrence Dutton. They will perform Beethoven's "Ghost" trio, Stanley Silverman's "In Celebration" for trio, and Schubert's "Trout" quintet.
The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio made its debut at the White House for President Carter's inauguration in January 1977. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson have shared classic works and exciting new repertoire with loyal audiences around the world for more than twenty consecutive seasons. One of the very few chamber music ensembles to retain all of its original members, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio balances the careers of three internationally acclaimed soloists while it maintains its musical mission through both close personal friendship and a strong dedication to music.
Violinist Philip Setzer is a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet; he received a bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Belgium and has appeared as a guest soloist with the National Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra. Violist Lawrence Dutton has earned distinction as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, chamber musician, recording artist, and teacher of viola and chamber music.
The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, which celebrated its 50th season last year, was founded by Helen Huntington Hull and two friends from Staatsburg, New York. They enlisted the help of violinist Emil Hauser, a member of the Bard College faculty and original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet, to invite performing artists for concerts at the Mills and Vanderbilt Mansions. In 1979, the concert series began its association with Bard College. The HVCMC remains an association of chamber music lovers and a venue that attracts many of the world's preeminent chamber music artists.
These performances are made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and The Leon Levy Foundation at Bard College. A subscription to the three-concert series is $60; individual tickets $25; senior citizens $15; and students $5. For further information, call 845-338-1172.
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(4.18.01)
[Note to editors-Photographs are available, in electronic form, by request. Call 845-758-7512 or email [email protected] for information.]