Classical Music Winter 2017

admin Posted OnDecember 30, 2016

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Where To Hear Classical Music: There’s a treasure of classical music in & around our towns. From Bach-master Anthony Newman’s Bedford Chamber Concerts to Mark Kramer’s ARS-Antiqua who perform in Chappaqua. South Salem’s Sanctuary Series draws top names from NYC to perform locally while local musicians from the internationally renowned REBEL Baroque ensemble perform in Bedford three times a year. There’s intimate recitals in Caramoor’s historic Rosen House, the Westchester Philharmonic,the Stamford Symphony, and The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College brings in top-line orchestras and chamber ensembles from Lincoln Center and from around the world. Here’s 20 local events to choose from.

January

Emerson String Quartet, Stamford Palace – Sat, 1/14: 8pm. The Stamford Symphony presents nine-time Grammy winners The Emerson String Quartet performing selected works by Beethoven, Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky. ESQ are winners of the Avery Fisher Prize and in 2015, the Quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, Chamber Music America’s highest honor, in recognition of its significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field. 61 Atlantic St., Stamford, CT; www.stamfordsymphony.org)

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – Brahms and Fauré, Sat, 1/28: 5pm. Copland called Fauré the “French Brahms,” an apt analogy when one considers the dense textures, rhapsodic stringing together of ideas, fastidious craftsmanship and emotional, yet restrained, musical expression of both composers. But whereas Brahms sweeps us away with earthy passion, Fauré’s magic resides in the luminous, sensuous and elusive beauty of his music. With pianist Alessio Bax (pictured here), Ani Kafavian (violin), Yura Lee (viola) and Paul Watkins (cello). (Recital Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Hudson Chorale – Fri, 1/27: 8pm & Sun 1/29: 3pm. The Hudson Chorale, under the direction of Ira Spaulding, presents an evening of choral music featuring Ave Maria and Te Deum and works by Igor Stravinsky, Giuseppe Verdi, Benjamin Britten and Franz Joseph Haydn. Organist David Baranowski will play two litanies composed for organ from the French Romantic Period. (Queen of the Apostles Chapel at Maryknoll, 55 Ryder Road, Ossining; www.HudsonChorale.org)

Westchester Symphonic Winds, Tarrytown Music Hall – Sun, 1/29: 3pm. Conductor Kurt Ebersole presents the “winds” winter concert, Determination & Grit. Featuring guest conductor Jeff Ball, conductor of the Brooklyn Wind Symphony; Daniella Ashbahian, soprano, as soloist in Four Maryland Songs; On This Bright Morning by David Maslanka and Play! by Carl Holmquist – from his Symphony No. 1: A New Orleans Symphony. (13 Main St., Tarrytown; www.tarrytownmusichall.org)

February

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Stamford Palace – Sun, 2/5: 3pm.Orpheus returns to The Center with its first-ever rendition of Tchaikovsky’s sweeping Violin Concerto featuring soloist Vadim Guzman. Guzman, who The New York Timespraised for his “visceral power” will perform on a 1690 ‘ex-Leopold Auer’ Stradivarius. It is the very same violin for which the concerto was originally composed. The program includes Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 and works Chabrier and Michael Hersch. (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Venice Baroque Orchestra – Sat, 2/11: 8pm: National Public Radio called VBO “One of the world’s most adventurous and dramatic period-instrument ensembles.” Their discography includes the world premiere recording of Andromeda Liberata, Metastasio’s L’Olimpiade and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The ensemble’s founder, Andrea Marcon will lead from the harpsichord with guest soloist Nicola Benedetti on violin. (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Stamford Symphony, Vienna City of Dreams, Stamford Palace – Sat, 2/11: 8pm & Sun, 2/12: 3pm. Avery Fisher Career Grant Award winner, violinist Karen Gomyo joins the Stamford Symphony for a program of Beethoven, Hummel and Schubert. Gomyo will solo on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major. The program also features Brahms’ Symphony No. 9 in C major, The Great. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford, CT; www.stamfordsymphony.org)

Purple Haze Hot Ticket Alert! Kronos Quartet – Sun, 2/12: 3pm: Performing since 1972, Kronos Quartet gained notoriety with their 1986 string interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”. Since then they have composed 750 original works as well as covering a broad range of music genres from Mexican folk music to Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. They have performed genre-bending works with Pat Metheny, Tow Waits, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, David Grisman and the Dave Matthews Band. Their PAC program will include new works commissioned in partnership with Carnegie Hall in its Fifty for the Future project. (PepsiCo Theatre, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Kids go Free! Ted Sperling, conducting, Julia Bullock, soprano – 2/12/3pm. Bring the kids for free to the Phil’s Friends & Family concert that offers an instrument petting zoo before the show. Then Ted Sperling conducts a program of works by Mozart, Josephine Baker, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin featuring soprano Julia Bullock. The family friendly program concludes with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. (The Concert Hall, The Performing Arts Center Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase: www.westhcesterphil.org)

Alice Burla, Time Traveler, The Sanctuary Series in South Salem – Sun, 2/19: 4pm: Twenty year-old pianist Alice Burla, called an “extraordinary talent” by the New York Times, has been featured on PBS telecasts of Live from Carnegie Hall and on WQXR’s From the Top. In 2010 she appeared as a young piano prodigy in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Ms. Burla performs internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Salle Cortot (Paris), ACT City Concert Hall (Japan), and the Auditorio Nacional (Madrid). Here she travels through (classical music) time from Baroque to Impressionism. (South Salem Presbyterian Church, 111 Spring St., S. Salem; www.thesanctuaryseries.org)

ARS Antiqua, Orpheus in Hamburg, Telemann, Chappaqua – Sat, 2/25: 8pm: An evening of music from Georg Philipp Telemann from Chappaqua’s Mark Kramer and his ARS-Antiqua ensemble. Mark soloes on viola da gamba and is joined by special guests Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (Mezzo Soprano) Nina Stern (Chalumeau & Recorder) Geoffrey Burgess (Baroque Oboe & Recorder) and Michael Sponseller (Harpsichord). Come for the Telemann and stay for the apple streudel and chocolate confections from Susan Lawrence Gourmet Foods. (Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 191 S. Greeley Ave., Chappaqua; www.ars-antiqua.org)

Matt Haimovitz, (cello) – The Bach Suites, Sun, 2/26: 3pm: Itzhak Perlman discovered this musical pioneer at the age of 12. He began his professional career at the age of 15 when he took the stage with Zubin Mehta. He has performed Bach’s cello suites in nightclubs and adapted Jimi Hendrix’s improvisational “Star Spangled Banner” for cello. Haimovitz will perform selected Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello in advance of releasing his recording of the full set. (Recital Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

March

Stamford Symphony, Venetian Carnival, Stamford Palace – Sat, 3/4: 8pm & Sun, 3/5: 3pm. Elizabeth Mann, principal flutist for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra joins the Stamford Symphony for a program of Vivaldi, Mahler, Stravinsky, Monteverdi, Gabrieli and Giazotto. Ms. Mann will solo on Vivaldi’s Flute Concerto No. 3 in D Major, Il gardellino. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford, CT; www.stamfordsymphony.org)

Decoda – Sun, 3/5: 3pm: Carnegie Hall’s first-ever Affiliate Ensemble, Decoda brings impactful musical experiences to communities around the globe. They perform concerts in major international venues and develop projects with community partners. TimeOutNYcalled them a “chamber music collective of some of the brightest young classical musicians in the world…” Decoda will feature students from the Purchase College Conservatories of Music, Dance and Theater Arts in this performance. (Recital Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Rhapsody in Blue Alert! Bach to Blue, The Sanctuary Series, South Salem – Sun, 3/5: 4pm. Pianist Jeffrey Biegel returns to The Sanctuary Series with a program featuring the works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and George Gershwin. The recital features his performance of Gershwin’s rarely heard 1924 original manuscript of Rhapsody in Blue with 88 missing measures. A mainstay of WQXR’s programming, Leonard Bernstein called him: “a splendid musician and a brilliant performer.” (South Salem Presbyterian Church, 111 Spring Street, S. Salem; www.thesanctuaryseries.org)

REBEL Baroque, The Haydn Connection Two, Bedford – Fri, 3/17: 4pm. REBEL Baroque, one of NPR’s most aired Baroque ensembles performs a program of trios, quartets and quintets by Haydn, Mozart, Gyrowetz & Holzbauer for flute, oboe, strings & fortepiano performed on period instruments. Featuring Matthias Maute on flute and Karen Marmer on viola. A fully catered, meet the artists reception follows the concert. (Bedford Presbyterian Church, Village Green, Bedford; www.rebelbaroque.com)

Danú – Sat, 3/18: 8pm: Keep the St Patrick’s Day party going! For over a decade, Danú’s virtuoso players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals have toured the world. In that time they recorded seven critically acclaimed albums. Hailing from historic County Waterford, they are one of today’s leading traditional Irish ensembles. Their high-energy concerts feature a mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire, taking audiences on a musical journey to their native Isle. (PepsiCo Theatre, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Hudson Chorale, Solo Recital, Irvington – Sun, 3/19: 3pm: Hudson Chorales Music Director ira Spaulding will perform an eclectic recital of pieces in English, Italian and German featuring early opera arias and lieder by Mozart and Schubert and Negro Spritiuals. Spaulding, a baritone, has performed as a recitalist around the world for 37 years. (Church of St. Barnabas, 15 North Broadway, Irvington, 914.332.0133; http://www.hudsonchorale.org.

The Life of Birds, Music from Copland House, Mt. Kisco – Sun, 3/19: 3pm. A program of music that visits the sounds of parakeets, flycatchers, and other winged creatures. Birds of Paradise by Robert Sirota evokes the sounds of birds from the rain forests of Papua New Guinea, and is paired with a film by the Cornell University Ornithological Lab of these birds in their native habitats. The program also features Lukas Foss’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, based on the Wallace Stevens poem, and early 20th century songs by Amy Beach, Theodore Chanler, and Westchester’s own Charles Tomlinson Griffes. Copland House at Merestead, 455 Byram Lake Road, Mt. Kisco; www.coplandhouse.org)

Bedford Chamber Concerts, Four Hand Piano – Wed, 3/22: 8pm: BCC’s Anthony Newman presents Misha and Cipa Dichter in an evening of four handed piano. The program features the music of Mozart and Schubert. The Dichters perform regularly at many leading summer festivals, including Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, the Hollywood Bowl, Caramoor, and the Mann Center. (St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 382 Cantitoe St., Bedford; www.bedfordchamberconcerts.org)

Edward Arron & Friends, Caramoor – Sun, 3/26: 3pm. Here’s a great chance to see Edward Arron up close in Caramoor’s Rosen House Music Room. The New Yorker called Arron “one of New York’s most exciting young cellists” and “an inventive impresario.” The program features Haydn’s Trio in G major for violin, viola and cello, and piano quintets from Shostakovich and Brahms. (149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah; www.caramoor.org)