Justin Kolb in Concert at the Cyr CenterSunday November 18 at 3PM

Justin Kolb, piano

For the eighth concert and the final classical chamber performance of our 2012 Season, Friends of Music is happy to welcome back Justin Kolb, piano. Mr. Kolb usually includes lively and humorous commentary in his programs, which keeps the audience engaged regardless of their musical tastes. The program for this concert — as he often likes to do — includes the music of Franz Liszt and works by living American composers.

Nationally Mr. Kolb serves on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society. In our region he is highly regarded as an Honorary Director of the Belleayre Music Festival in Highmount, New York and for the key role he plays in organizing the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice. He also serves as artist-in-residence for Kids in the Kaatskills, a charitable foundation.

As an educator Justin Kolb notes that “Music education of young people is a short cut to intellectual development and the key to a happy life.” His favorite topic of conversation involves “the innate entrepreneurism of musicians,” which we have observed first-hand with virtually all of the artists who perform in the Friends of Music series.

Mr. Kolb began his piano studies at age four and soon became a student of Francis Clark and Lillian Whitaker DeCamp. He made his concert debut at the age of ten in solo performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Gary Symphony. At DePaul University, Kolb studied with Herman Shapiro, Alexander Tcherepnine, and Paul Stacevich; he has since received the University's Distinguished Alumni Award.

While serving in the Army, Justin Kolb was named a cultural ambassador by the State Department and toured throughout Europe and the Middle East. He has studied with Rolf Beyer in Germany and with Gui Mombaerts, Martin Canin, and German Diez. Justin cites German Diez (once a teaching assistant of Claudio Arrau) as his most important musical influence. The master pedagogue is Kolb's close friend, mentor and teacher of 20 years and is his artistic advisor.

Justin Kolb has graciously agreed to allow Friends of Music to dedicate his concert to the memory of David Caddis. Years ago when Mr. Caddis was president of this organization he engaged Mr. Kolb for his first performance in Stamford. It therefore seems elegant and appropriate to celebrate in this particular performance the dedication of both men to music in general and the relationship they had to Friends of Music and to each other, which are inextricably linked.

To read more about the artist please visit his Web site at www.justinkolb.com.

The program is planned as follows:

November 18, 2012

Program

Justin Kolb, piano

 

Liszt and the Barefoot Carmelite

 

Apparitions……………………………………	Franz Liszt
Senza lentezza quasi allegretto Vivamente Fantaisie sur une valse de Schubert
Costa Diva from “Norma”……………… Introduction and Variations……………	Bellini/Hermann Cohen Hermann Cohen
Harmonies Poetiques Et Religieuses Gnomenreigen	Franz Liszt
Intermission
On Wings of Song………………………… Reiselied………………………………………	Mendelssohn / Liszt Mendelssohn / Liszt
Four Preludes…………………………………	Joseph Hudson
October Wind Pas de Deux January Snow Shawangunk Mountain View
Tango quasi una Fantasia…………………	Robert Cucinotta

Please join us for this final concert of our regular 2012 Season to enjoy the music of the talented Justin Kolb, and to pay tribute to David Caddis for his vital efforts in the development of Friends of Music and for introducing us to Mr. Kolb years ago.


We once again thank all of our donors and in particular the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation and the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation for your generous help which makes the Friends of Music concert series possible for all to enjoy.

Bryant Park Quartet in PerformanceSunday, October 21 @ 3PM

The Bryant Park Quartet (l to r): Nathan Schram, viola; Anna Elashvili,
violin; Ben Russell, violin; Tomoko Fujita, cello.

PLEASE NOTE: As of Monday, October 15 the second half of the program has been changed from Brahms' String Quartet in C minor to Debussy's String Quartet in G minor.

 

The Bryant Park Quartet honors us with a performance on Sunday, October 21st at 3:00 PM at the Cyr Center in Stamford. Friends of Music was introduced to the group through violinist Anna Elashvili, another alumna of the fabled Silver Jubilee Chamber Ensemble in 2011, and we are so pleased for the opportunity to bring this amazing Quartet to the Catskills.

 

Based in New York City and formed in 2006, the Bryant Park Quartet has developed into an accomplished and acclaimed string quartet. Through its series “The rEvolving Ear,” the group has created programs that explore some of the connections between established and contemporary music, programs that inspire new ways to listen to and appreciate historical works that have inspired works by contemporary composers.

 

The Bryant Park Quartet (BPQ) is also dedicated to extensive community outreach through performance, lecture/demonstrations and a creative approach to music education. They seek to increase “awareness of the value of chamber music” through their commendable commitment to education programs at many levels, from public schools to private universities, and to community from business locations to private homes to public performing arts centers. The audience at this small venue in the Catskills is no doubt the beneficiary of this idealism and commitment.

 

The BPQ has been coached by members of the Brentano, Borromeo, Cavani, Cleveland, Emerson and Juilliard String Quartets and by such luminaries as Itzhak Perlman, Heidi Castleman, Colin Carr, Kathy Murdock and Roger Tapping. The Quartet was a 2010 prizewinner in the Hugo Kauder International Music Competition and its members individually are highly regarded as well. Two of its artists, Anna Elashvili and Nathan Schram, were each fellows of The Academy at Carnegie Hall, a joint effort of the Juilliard School, the Weill Music Institute and Carnegie Hall to nurture young musicians at the highest level. The Academy seeks to help the selected exceptionally talented young people develop their careers and thrive in current circumstances while serving as "evangelists" for classical music in order to assure its survival.

 

Ms. Elashvili became Mr. Schram's Academy mentor, and he joined the BPQ in 2011 when previous violist Adam Meyer became a dean at the Juilliard School. Nathan Schram was featured on National Public Radio reports about The Academy, three times during his first year with the program and again when his two-year term was completed.

 

Click here to read more about the artists of the Bryant Park Quartet at the Friends of Music Web site, or to read more about the group and its admirable mission and listen to some of their work please visit their Web site at bryantparkquartet.com.

 

The program for October 21st is as follows:

 

Bryant Park Quartet

“Alleged Minimalism”

Sunday, October 21, 2012

3:00 PM

 

	Scaramella Mille Regretz El Grillo	Josquin des Prez (c. 1450 / 1455-1521) arr. Bryant Park Quartet
	String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 20, No. 5   I. II. III. IV. Allegro moderato Menuetto Adagio Finale: Fuga a due Soggetti	Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
	Selections from: John's Book of Alleged Dances	John Adams (1947 - )
** Intermission **
	Structures for String Quartet (1951)	Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
	String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (1893)   I. II. III. IV. Animé et très décidé Assez vif et bien rythmé Andantino, doucement expressif Très modéré - En animant peu à peu - Très mouvementé et avec passion	Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

 

As always we thank our many individual donors and the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation and -- for this particular concert -- the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation. Without their collective generosity this performance would not be possible, or we would all have to spend a great deal of time, effort and money to travel to a larger city to hear the likes of the Bryant Park Quartet.

 

We hope you will join us for another afternoon of incredibly wonderful music, amiable company and good food at the Cyr Center in Stamford, NY.

 

 





Katie Thomas and Yoni Levyatov in Concert Sunday, September 16 at 3PM

Katie Thomas, violin

Yoni Levyatov, piano

For the sixth concert of our 2012 Season, Friends of Music is happy to welcome back Katie Thomas, violin, another alumna of the beloved 2011 Silver Jubilee Chamber Ensemble. Joining her this year will be pianist Yoni Levyatov. Both musicians are graduates of the Manhattan School of Music, and each has won recognition in many competitions; we invite you to read more about their triumphs and feats at the Friends of Music Web site. 

 

Colorful and vibrant, this dynamic duo has been touring individually far and wide recently and we are so pleased they are willing to travel to the Catskills to perform together for us in Stamford. This vivacious pair will likely be as interesting and as fun to watch as they will be to listen to, and their program will no doubt result in a beautifully memorable afternoon of great music:

 

September 16, 2012

Katie Thomas, violin

Yoni Levyatov, piano

Sonata No. 18 for Violin and Piano in    G Major, K.301 (1778)			Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart    (1756-1791)
	I. II.	Allegro con spirito Allegro
Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano (1886)			César Franck (1822-90)
	I. II. III. IV.	Allegretto ben moderato Allegro Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato Allegretto poco mosso
Intermission
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Opus 24,    “Spring” (1801)			Ludwig van Beethoven    (1770-1827)
	I. II. III. IV.	Allegro Adagio molto espressivo Scherzo: Allegro molto Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Scherzo in C for Violin and Piano    (“F.A.E Sonata”) (1853)			Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

  

As always we thank all of our donors and in particular the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation for your generosity, which makes this concert and our entire season possible. As of now the forecast is for a rainy afternoon, but join us at the Cyr Center in Stamford at 3:00PM where the atmosphere will be sunny and vibrant!