HUDSON VALLEY CHAMBER MUSIC CIRCLE OFFERS A FREE CHILDREN’S CONCERT WITH THE STRING TRIO PI ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

Trio includes violinist Madalyn Parnas, violist Emily Baker-White, and cellist Cicely Parnas performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) will present a concert for children and students on Sunday, October 2. The trio of young artists—ranging in age from 12 to 15 years old—will perform short selections of works by classical masters. The 40-minute program—intended specifically for a young audience—was designed by the trio to demonstrate the joy and beauty of classical music as well as provide information about the family of stringed instruments and their unique sounds. Free and open to the public, the concert is presented by The Bard Center and begins at 11:00 a.m. in Olin Hall. Trio π—violinist Madalyn Parnas, violist Emily Baker-White, and cellist Cicely Parnas— will introduce the audience to their stringed instruments, with each performer demonstrating the size and pitch range of her respective instrument. A performance of short works by Bach, Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart follows (each selection will be approximately 5 minutes in length). At the conclusion of the program there will be a question and answer session with the musicians. “The point of the concert is to draw children to chamber music by showing them that young people can succeed in the arena and that it is a joyful endeavor,” says HVCMC board member Tara Shafer. “Many of my peers would like to expose their children to classical chamber music but do not have the opportunity, since most concerts are not intended for this purpose. The HVCMC would like to provide this opportunity for children and their parents to learn about music from young musicians in a forum designed specifically for young listeners.” For further information, call the HVCMC at 518-537-6665. # ABOUT THE MUSICIANS Emily Baker-White started her musical training when she asked for piano lessons at age 3. She started playing the viola in the public school system in San Antonio, Texas, in the fourth grade. She became more and more active in the string community when she moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where she studied privately with Margaret Wright. She has played with chamber groups at the Levine School of Music, the Landon School, Mt. Greylock Regional High School, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI). Emily attended the BUTI program at Tanglewood in 2005 and participated in quartet master classes with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2004 and 2005. She tied for second prize in the Uel Wade Music Scholarship Competition in 2005. Emily plays with the Empire State Youth Orchestra and studies privately with Alla Zernitskaya in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Cicely Parnas began her musical studies at age 4 and was soon setting records. A first prize awarded when she was 9 earned her a performance with the Walden Chamber Players. As guest soloist for the Pittsfield Community Orchestra and Choir in Rutter’s Requiem, a review described her playing as “an astonishing mix of pungency and finesse.” Numerous master class and recital performances have already taken her to many venues in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, including Tanglewood, Stockbridge Chamber Music Series, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Hudson Opera House, Spencertown Academy, Lenox Library, and Trail Mix Music Festival in the Catskills. Cicely has performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin and Cello with the New Bedford Symphony; Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra; and Monn’s Cello Concerto with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. She received a full scholarship to the 2005 Hotchkiss School summer chamber music program. Cicely studies with conductor and cellist Ronald Feldman. Her cello is a copy of a Sanctus Seraphim and was made in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in 1959 by Roelof Weertman. Madalyn Parnas began her musical studies at 4, and by age 10 became the youngest first-place winner of the Berkshire Music School’s Merit Competition. She was featured in the magazine Music Alive! following her performance on the NPR radio show From the Top. “A young mistress of the violin [who] executed with poise and mastery,” states the review of her orchestral debut with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. Her appearances with the Greater Newburgh Symphony and New Bedford Symphony earned her reviews as “a lush virtuoso” and “a real show-stopper.” Madalyn received the first-prize in the Schenectady Symphony League’s 2005 Stefan Scholarship Competition and first-prize in the 2005 Uel Wade Music Scholarship Competition. She was awarded a full scholarship to the 2005 Hotchkiss School summer chamber music program. She will perform the Bach Double Concerto with the Georgia Philharmonic in October 2005, the Viotti Sinfonia Concertante with the Newburgh Symphony in January 2006, and the Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 2 with the Schenectady Symphony in May 2006. She is a student of internationally renowned violinist James Buswell. Her violin was made in Cremona in 1937 by Tullio Rovescalli. # # # (9/15/05)

This event was last updated on 10-03-2005

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