Local Classical Music: Fall 2016

admin Posted OnSeptember 14, 2016

2.5K Views

Local Classical Music: Fall 2016: Less than an hour away from Carnegie Hall, it’s no surprise that our towns offer such a high level of classical music. Bedford alone serves up Bedford Chamber Concerts, with Anthony Newman, the high priest of Bach, and NPR’s favorite “original instruments” ensemble REBEL Baroque. Then there’s The Chappaqua Orchestra, Mt. Kisco’s Music from Copland House and Caramoor’s Music in the Rosen House series in Katonah. Add in the Westchester Philharmonic, the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College and the Stamford Symphony Orchestra and it’s like Lincoln Center in the suburbs for local culture-vultures.

September

Local! Focus on Strings, Chappaqua Orchestra Chamber Series – Sun, 9/18: 3pm: The Chappaqua Orchestra Strings perform Cello Quartet by Tchaikovsky, String Quartet #6 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and more. (Chappaqua Library, 198 S. Greeley Ave.: www.chappaquaorchestra.org)

Local! The Joy of Sexets, Music from Copland House at Merestead – Sun, 9/18: 3pm: Four generations of American composers conjure the musical ghosts of Bach, Schubert and the late-English Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons. Featuring Aaron Copland’s 1933 masterwork, the Sextet for Clarinet, String Quartet, and Piano; Tashi by the prodigious Lukas Foss; Partita-Pastorale after J.S.B. by Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Stucky, and Motion by perhaps today’s most-talked-about young composer, Nico Muhly. (Copland House at Merestead, 455 Byram Lake Rd., Mt. Kisco; www.coplandhouse.org)

October

Jazz at The Center: Piano Spectacular, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sat, 10/8: 8pm: Four piano icons join forces for this evening of piano jazz. Bill Charlap, Gerald Clayton, Benny Green and Helen Sung perform in various combinations of dueling piano harmonies and melodies. Helen Sung won the 2007 Kennedy Center Jazz Piano competition. JazzTimes called her 2006 album Helenistique “one of the year’s most exciting listens.” Featuring Todd Coolman (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums). (Pepsico Theatre, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Black Violin, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Fri, 10/14: 8pm: “Wil B” Baptiste (viola) and “Kev Marcus” (violin) perform their genre-bending fusion of hip-hop, pop and classical strings. Black Violin has opened for such diverse names as Kanye West, 50 Cent, Aerosmith, and Tom Petty. They have also collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan, Linkin Park, Wyclef Jean and Alicia Keys. Their major label debut, Stereotypes, was released last year to critical acclaim. Black Violin’s “high-energy performance” is recommended for “even the most jaded teen!” (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase College; www.artscenter.org)

Russian Souls, Stamford Symphony, Sat, 10/15: 8pm & Sun, 10/16: 3pm: The Stamford Symphony opens this 2016-17 season with a program of works by music_stamford_symphony_russian-cathedral1423x593px Local Classical Music: Fall 2016 three great Russion composers, Glinka, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. Special guest George Li, winner of the Best Sonata Performance at the 2015 National Chopin Competition, will solo on Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3 in C Major. The program also features Glinka’s Kamarinskaja and Tchaikovsky’s Winter Dreams. (Stamford Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford; www.stamfordsymphony.org)

Beyond the Variations, REBEL Baroque, Bedford – Sun, 10/16: 4pm: REBEL Baroque, one of the most played “original instrument” chamber ensembles on National Public Radio performs three concerts a year in Bedford. Led by Jorg-Michael Schwarz and Karen Marmer REBEL has recorded 14 albums for major classical music labels. Here they perform works by JS Bach and Johann Gottlieb Goldberg from from their latest CD, Beyond the Variations. (Bedford Presbyterian Church, Rt. 22, Bedford; www.rebelbaroque.com)

Local! All Bach, Anthony Newman & Bedford Chamber Concerts – Wed, 10/19: 8pm: Taking in a concert with Anthony Newman, Bedford’s High Priest of Bach, at the acoustically significant St. Matthews Episcopal Church made What To Do’s Bucket List. Here Newman and his friends from NYC perform an All Bach program. Including Trio Sonata in C, Coffee Cantata and Triple Concerto in D for Three Violins. (St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 382 Cantitoe St., Bedford; www.bedfordchamberconcerts.org)

Warsaw Philharmonic, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Fri, 10/21: 8pm: Jacek Kaspszyk leads the Warsaw Philharmonic and piano soloist Seong-Jin Cho in a program of Weinberg, Beethoven and Brahms. Cho won First Prize in the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition. The program includes Weinberg’s Polish Melodies, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 and Brahms Symphony No. 2. “The Warsaw Philharmonic was sensational, a highlight of the year…” — Los Angeles Times (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase College; www.artscenter.org)

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – Emerson String Quartet, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sat, 10/22: 5pm: Acclaimed cellist and co-Artistic Director of CMS of Lincoln Center, David Finckel joins the Emerson String Quartet for a program of Beethoven, Shostakovich and Schubert. Fortune magazine called these nine-time Grammy winners “Arguably the world’s best group of chamber musicians.” Finckel was ESQ’s cellist from 1979 to 2013. He now serves as co-Artistic Director of CMS of Lincoln Center. (Recital Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Westchester Philharmonic, Jaime Laredo (conductor) Bella Hristova (violin), Performing Arts Center Purchase College –Sun, 10/23: 3 pm: Jaime Laredo leads the Westchester Phil with soloist Bella Hristova. The program features a premiere of a new Violin Concerto written for Bella by her husband David Ludwig. With Romance as the theme of the evening Book-ending this “romantic” new work are two Romantic period works by, Weber (Oberon Overture) and Brahms, whose fourth and final symphony is regarded as his crowning achievement. (Concert Hall, The Performing Arts Center Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase: www.westhcesterphil.org)

Frankenstein – The Movie Score, Chappaqua Orchestra, Nyack HS – Fri, 10/28: 8pm: The Chappaqua Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director and composer Michael Shapiro, perform his original score simultaneously with the classic early talkie with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. Under the auspices of ArtsRock, the concert will be preceded by an interview of the composer by WQXR radio personality Elliott Forrest. (360 Christian Herald Rd., Upper Nyack; www.chappaquaorchestra.org)

Sounds of Havana, Music from Copland House at Merestead – Sat, 10/29: 8pm: Clarinetist, composer and 14-time Grammy-winner Paquito d’Rivera traces his personal odyssey through the classical and Afro-Latin jazz worlds. Features several of his own compositions, Johannes Brahms’ Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano; and the World Premiere of a new work for 2 clarinets written for this concert by Music from Copland House’s Founding Clarinetist and Grammy-nominated composer Derek Bermel. (Copland House at Merestead, 455 Byram Lake Rd., Mt. Kisco; www.coplandhouse.org)

Kids Go Free! Evnin Rising Stars, Caramoor – Sat, 10/29: 8pm & Sun, 10/30: 3pm. Caramoor’s Evning Rising Stars mentorship program has launched the careers of the likes of Edward Arron, Jonathan Biss and Alisa Weilerstein. This year’s mentees join forces with distinguished artists Pamela Frank, Nobuko Imai and Ralph Kirshbaum in two performances in the Rosen House Music Room. Tickets are just $15 & $35 and kids under 18 go free. Caramoor, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah: www.caramoor.org)

Joshua Bell (violin), Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sun, 10/30: 3pm: The Boston Herald called Joshua Bell “the greatest violinist active today.” Bell has recorded 40 CDs since his first LP at age 18. Including his performance on the Red Violin soundtrack that won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Movie Score. Bell also serves as the Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Here he performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin with Alessio Bax on piano. (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase College; www.artscenter.org)

November

Divisions: The Art of Variation & Imagination, Ars Antiqua, Chappaqua – Sat, 11/5: 8pm: Mark Kramer’s Ars Antiqua ensemble’s new season launch will feature harpist and early-music specialist Cheryl Ann Fulton in a program of virtuoso music for instruments of the 17th century. She will be joined by baroque violinist, Krista Benion Feeney, theorbo player, Charles Weaver and Mark Kramer playing the viola da gamba. This is a rare opportunity to hear this wonderful music in an intimate and historic setting. A Buffet reception of English Cheeses and Mulled Wine will be presented after the concert. (Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 191 S. Greeley Ave., Chappaqua; www.ars-antiqua.org)

Scottish Fantasy, Stamford Symphony, Sat, 11/12: 8pm & Sun, 11/13: 3pm: The Stamford Symphony metaphorically dons the kilt in a program featuring Mendelssohn’s Symphony NO. 3, Scottish. Guest Peter Walker will solo on bagpipe on PM Davies’ Orkney Wedding with Sunrise. Caroline Goulding soloes on violin on Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. (Stamford Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford; www.stamfordsymphony.org)

Local! Argus Quartet, Caramoor – Sun, 11/13: 3pm: Caramoor’s 2016-17 Ernst Stiefel String Quarter-in-Residence performs Bartok, Theofanidis and two works by Knox and Man commission by the iconic Kronos Quartet. Caramoor, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah: www.caramoor.org)

Local! Music of the Gilded Age: London, France & America, Chappaqua Orchestra – Sun, 11/13: 3pm: Music by Adolphe Sax and W.S. Gilbert, as well as the songs of Jerome Kern. Vocalist Elizabeth Gerbi, saxophonist Christopher Brellochs, and pianist Cynthia Peterson. (Chappaqua Library, 198 S. Greeley Ave.: www.chappaquaorchestra.org)

Local! All Mozart, Anthony Newman & Bedford Chamber Concerts – Wed, 11/16: 8pm: Taking in a concert with Anthony Newman, Bedford’s High Priest of Bach, at the acoustically significant St. Matthews Episcopal Church made What To Do’s Bucket List. Here Newman and his chamber music buddies from NYC perform an All Mozart program including Symphony no. 40, Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Violin Sonata in D. (St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 382 Cantitoe St., Bedford; www.bedfordchamberconcerts.org)

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – Reflections, Sat, 11/19: 5pm: Anne-Marie McDermott (piano), Ida Kavafian (violin) and David Shifrin (clarinet) perform two distinctive sets with the Calidore String Quartet. The first features Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Schoenfeld’s Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano and a Mendelssohn string quartet. The second set features three pieces inspired by the power of Jewish music. Including Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes and Bloch’s “Nigun” from Baal Shem and Three Pictures of Hassidic Life. (Recital Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase College; www.artscenter.org)

Local! Chappaqua Orchestra’s Children’s Book Festival Story Concert – Sat, 11/19: 4pm: Michael Shapiro conducts music by Chappaqua composer Brad Ross for narrator and orchestra. Paul Shaffer (SNL and Late Show with David Letterman) narrates “A Family for Baby Grand” preceded by Ogden Nash’s “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” sung by Broadway star Timothy Warmen. Children under 4 go free. (Wallace Auditorium, 480 Bedford Rd.; www.chappaquaorchestra.org)

Edward Arron & Friends, Caramoor – Sun, 11/20: 3pm. Famed cellist Edward Arron reunites with violin virtuoso Jennifer Frautschi and pianist Andrew Armstrong for a witty program of Stravinky, Tchaikovsky and more. (Photo by Gabe Palacio) Caramoor, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah: www.caramoor.org)