supporting community, culture, and the arts since 1898
2286 CEDAR STREET | BERKELEY, CA 94709
Office 510 848-3227 Text or Emergency 510 213-4292
Hillside Club Concert Series Archives -2018
Audrey Vardanega and Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez
play Schumann, Beethoven, and Kurtág
Friday 27 July 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: 510-845-1350
Admission: $20 general, $15 students & seniors, $10 Hillside Club members
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is thrilled to welcome the young piano virtuoso, Audrey Vardanega, back to our stage with a wonderful program featuring works by Schumann, Beethoven, and Kurtág. Joining Audrey for this concert will be violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Audrey Vardanega- piano
Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez - viola
About the Concert:
Bay Area-native and pianist Audrey Vardanega and violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez return to the Hillside Club on July 27 to present works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Kurtag. The program juxtaposes works for viola and piano duo with solo works for each instrument; duo repertoire includes Schumann’s gorgeous “Marchenbilder” and “Adagio and Allegro,” solo repertoire includes Beethoven’s magnificent Piano Sonata Opus 101 in A Major and selections for Kurtag’s “Signs and Messages” for unaccompanied viola. The program highlights the diverse potential of sounds that emerge from the viola-piano combination--sounds of tremendous warmth and tenderness, and sounds as thin as ice-- celebrating the ways that they interact, as well as the ways they don’t. We hope to see you there!
The Program:
Märchenbilder for Viola and Piano Opus 113 - Robert Schumann
Piano Sonata Opus 101 - Ludwig van Beethoven
“Signs, Games and Messages” for unaccompanied Viola (selections) - György Kurtág
Adagio and Allegro for Viola and Piano Opus 70 - Robert Schumann
​
About the artists:
Praised as a player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists” (Berkeley Daily Planet), 22-year-old Audrey Vardanega made her solo debut with IMG Artists’ Festival del Sole at the age of 12 and became the youngest soloist in the history of the Bay Area’s Midsummer Mozart Festival with Maestro George Cleve at the age of 15. She has been featured as a soloist at the Hangzhou Grand Theater, the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Herbst Theater, and the Crowden School, among others. Her past primary instructors include Seymour Lipkin, Jeremy Siepmann, Christopher Elton, Robert Schwartz, and Victor Rosenbaum. Along with five other internationally selected pianists, Vardanega participated in the Carnegie Hall Workshops with Jonathan Biss in February 2017 and participated in the 2017 Ravinia Steans Music Festival. After receiving her B.A. from Columbia University in Political Science in May 2017, she began her Masters in piano performance in Fall 2017 under the tutelage of Richard Goode at Mannes College The New School.
Spanish violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez began his musical training at Bilbao’s “Conservatorio Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga” where he studied under the tutelages of Rosa Gutierrez and Ara Cividian. He has also received instruction from Jonathan Brown, Silvia Simionescu, Kim Kashkashian, David Takeno, David Quiggle, Nobuko Imai, Gerard Causse, and Pauline Sachse. An avid chamber musician and soloist, Gonzalo has performed in some of the most reputed concert halls of Europe, including Gewandhaus Leipzig, Musikverein Wien and Sendesaal Bremen. He has performed as a soloist with the Bilbao Symphonic Orchestra, the Deusto Chamber Orchestra, and the “EIO” youth orchestra’s Venezuela and Brussels tours. He is a top prizewinner in the 2017 International Anton Rubinstein Competition for Viola, the Concurso Jovenes musicos de Euskadi, as well as a two-time winner of the Ensemblewettbewerb HMT Leipzig. Additionally, Gonzalo has participated in chamber music festivals and fellowships throughout Europe and the United States, including “Lenk musiksommer,” “Presjovem,” the Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar, the “Harmos Festival” concerts, and the 2017 Ravinia’s Steans’ Music Institute. He is currently completing his Masters of Music at the HMT Leipzig under the tutelage of Professor Tatjana Masurenko.
Alan Hall's Ratatet Octet
Chamber Jazz
​
Saturday 7 July 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: 510-845-1350
Admission: $20 general, $15 students & seniors, $10 Hillside Club members
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome our friend Alan Hall to our stage, A talented composer and drummer, Hall has performed at the Hillside Club in many ensembles. This time he's bringing his own ensemble, the Ratatet Octet, with a program of brilliantly original music celebrating their new CD, "Heroes, Saints, and Clowns." Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists
Alan Hall - composer, leader, drummer
Jeff Denson- electric and acoustic bass and vocals
Sheldon Brown - clarinets and sax
John Gove- trombone
Dillon Vado- vibraphone and percussion
Greg Sankovich- piano and keyboards
Joseph Hebert- cello
Matt Heulitt- acoustic and electric guitar
​
About the Ensemble:
The Ratatet Octet is an electro-acoustic modern chamber jazz group featuring bassoon, vibraphone, trombone and cello along with a rhythm section of guitar, piano, bass and drums.
Ratatet plays the original music and arrangements of drummer Alan Hall described as, "...scintillatingly different and passionate," by G. Greenblatt, Classicalite; and, "...a delight for younger, open-eared listeners who don't mind having the door to something new opened for them," by Midwest Records.
The octet will play music from their recent release, "Heroes, Saints and Clowns", and from their "Best Bay Area Jazz Release of 2016" album ,"Arctic" (Andy Gilbert); both on Ridgeway Records. As part of this celebration, selected paintings and photography of leader Hall will be on display. Portions of this performance will be video taped.
​
Alan Hall started Ratatet as a sextet in 2015 after writing for, and performing with “Electreo”, a unique trio with drums (Alan Hall), bass (Jeff Denson) and bassoon (Paul Hanson). He recorded on Hanson’s albums and always wanted to form a band with him. Alan taught and toured Europe with Denson and Lee Konitz, where their musical relationship flourished. “Electreo” was an outgrowth of these musical connections. Seeking more sonic possibilities to compose for, Hall began his Ratatet personnel search. The group was conceived of as an expandable group, and eventually Hall sought the right chemistry to expand the sextet to an octet.
Hall met trombone ace John Gove at a recording with San Francisco Latin Jazz group, ‘The Mission Project”. Dillon Vado, as one of the most serious students at California Jazz Conservatory, was Alan’s first choice for the vibraphone chair. While working with guitarist Michael LaMacchia, Hall was impressed with Greg Sankovich’s solid playing and bouncy attitude. A friend recommended Cal State University East Bay cello professor Joseph Hebert and he was eagerly invited into the fold. After several recording sessions and gigs with guitarist Heulitt, Hall was sold on Matt’s versatility, talent and enthusiasm. With Denson and Hanson coming along for the new ride, Hall found his personnel, and the octet was launched.
Ratatet’s first CD, “Arctic”, garnered great reviews and was named one of the best 2016 bay area jazz releases by jazz journalist Andrew Gilbert in his article for the San Jose Mercury. Grants from SF InterMusic and Creative Sonoma allowed the Spring 2018 release of Ratatet’s second Ridgeway CD, “Heroes, Saints and Clowns” along with their video, “Demographic Shift”.
​
Jovino Santos Neto Ricardo Peixoto
Ricardo Peixoto and Jovino Santos Neto
Brazilian Duets
​
Saturday 30 June 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley 94709
Info: 510-845-1350
Admission: $20 general, $15 students & seniors, $10 Hillside Club members
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to have another old friend return to our stage, bringing with him a very talented colleague. Guitarist, composer, and arranger, Ricardo Peixoto, has appeared in our Concert Series in numerous ensembles. This time he will be performing with master pianist, composer and arranger, Jovino Santos Neto, in a program of original and classic Brazilian music. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists
Ricardo Peixoto - guitar
Jovino Santos Neto - piano
About the Artists:
Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto, a master pianist, composer and arranger, is among the top Brazilian musicians working today. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, he has throughout his career been closely affiliated with the Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal. He was an integral part of Pascoal's group from 1977 to1992, where he fine-tuned his artistry, performing around the world and co-producing several legendary records.
Currently, Jovino leads his Seattle-based Quinteto and teaches piano and composition at Cornish College of the Arts. He can also be heard around the world as a piano soloist, working with symphony orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber music groups, and in collaboration with musicians such as his mentor Hermeto Pascoal, Bill Frisell, Paquito d’Rivera, Airto Moreira, Claudio Roditi, David Sanchez, Joe Locke, Marco Granados and many more.
Since moving to the US from his native Rio de Janeiro in 1993, Jovino Santos Neto has continued to tour the world and to record prolifically. He has recorded multiple CDs with his Seattle-based Quinteto, including Canto do Rio, nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2004. In 2006 Adventure Music released Roda Carioca with an all-Brazilian lineup including Joyce, Hermeto Pascoal and several other notable musicians and long time colleagues, earning him a second Latin Grammy nomination. In 2008 he released a piano duo with Weber Iago, Live at Caramoor, also nominated for a Latin Grammy award in 2009. In 2010 Veja o Som (See the Sound) was released, a double disc collection of duos with musicians such as Bill Frisell, Joe Locke, Paquito d’Rivera, Anat Cohen, João Donato, Airto Moreira, Joyce, Paula Morelenbaum and Monica Salmaso, among others.
Jovino’s compositions have been performed by the Seattle Symphony, NDR Big Band in Hamburg and by numerous jazz and chamber music groups. Jovino gives lectures, clinics and master classes worldwide on a variety of musical topics.
Originally from Rio de Janeiro and currently based in the Bay Area, guitarist, composer and arranger Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. Ricardo originally came to the US on a scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music in Boston. As guitarist and composer, he has continued to explore elements from his Brazilian roots, with its rich and diverse musical traditions, integrating them with the freedom and improvisational approach of jazz.
Ricardo’s compositions have been featured on ‘Inverse Universe’ with vocalist Claudia Villela, on ‘Kindness of Strangers’ with Terra Sul, and on Bud Shank’s ‘Tomorrow’s Rainbow’, among others. Additionally he has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Flora Purim and Airto, Dom Um Romão, Sivuca, Claudio Roditi, Raul de Souza, Paul McCandless, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, Arturo Sandoval, Spok, Marcos Silva and Berkeley Choro Ensemble. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory and has taught at Jazz Camp West and California Brazil Camp.
Sun Valley Players
Beethoven & Brahms
Sunday 24 June 2018 at 7:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is excited to host the return of the Sun Valley Players, an ensemble of virtuoso musicians, to our Concert Series. They will be performing one of Beethoven's Late Quartets, along with the famous DvoÅ™ák Cello Concerto. And there's a secret ... this super-group are all mild-mannered members of the San Francisco Symphony, including Assistant Concertmaster Jeremy Constant, and Assistant Principal cellist Amos Yang, as well as violinist Polina Sedukh and violist Adam Smyla. Joining them for this concert will be pianist Amy Zanrosso. Don't miss these world-class artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
​
The Sun Valley Players are:
Jeremy Constant - violin
Polina Sedukh - violin
Adam Smyla - viola
Amos Yang - cello
and special guest
Amy Zanrosso - piano
The Concert:
In the last several years of his life, Ludwig van Beethoven created a series of six string quartets of surpassing beauty, subtlety, and sophistication. These pieces have become known as the "Late Quartets." At the time of their composition, however, Beethoven's contemporaries didn't know what to make of them; one commented that "we know there is something there, but we do not know what it is." Composer and conductor Louis Spohr called them "indecipherable, uncorrected horrors." Since that time, however, these works have become revered by generations musicians, scholars, and listeners alike, and indeed sound modern even in the 21st Century. For this concert the Sun Valley Players will be performing one of these venerated works, "String Quartet No.16 in F Major, Op. 135." This spectacular piece was the composer's last major work.
While contemporary cello players had asked Antonín DvoÅ™ák for a cello concerto for quite some time, DvoÅ™ák always refused, stating that the cello was a fine orchestral instrument but totally insufficient for a solo concerto. According to Josef Michl, DvoÅ™ák was fond of the middle register, but complained about a nasal high register and a mumbling bass. In a letter to a friend, DvoÅ™ák wrote that he himself was probably most surprised by his decision to write a cello concerto despite these long held reservations. The result was his supreme "Cello Concerto in B minor, Op104" considered by many to be among the finest cello works in the repertoire. The brilliant Amos Yang will be performing an arrangement of the piece for cello and piano.
The Program:
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135 - Ludwig van Beethoven
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191 - Antonín DvoÅ™ák (arranged for cello and piano)
About the Artists:
After winning the Grand Prize in the 1979 Du Maurier competition in Canada, violinist Jeremy Constant studied in New York with Ivan Galamian and then with the great violinist Itzhak Perlman before making the San Francisco Bay Area his home. He became a member of the San Francisco Symphony in 1984, with whom he continues to perform as Assistant Concertmaster. He has been Concertmaster of the Marin Symphony since 1994 and in 2000 was named Concertmaster of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. He is a frequent soloist with the orchestra and participant in the Edgar M. Bronfman Chamber Series. As an active soloist and chamber musician both here and abroad, Jeremy has performed on radio and television around the world. He was violinist in the San Francisco Piano Trio, and a founding member of the Navarro Trio and Navarro Quartet. He can be heard as Assistant Concertmaster on Grammy Award winning releases such as the continuing Mahler cycle by the San Francisco Symphony and can been seen on their ongoing television project Keeping Score. Jeremy plays the ex-Heberlein Stradivarius from the year 1700, which was donated to the San Francisco Symphony for his exclusive use. Residing in Oakland with his wife Sharon, Jeremy is a pilot who took over 7 years to build a plane which he currently enjoys flying.
Born to a family of musicians in St. Petersburg, Russia, Polina Sedukh began studying violin at the age of four, her first teachers being her father Grigory Sedukh and Savely Shalman. She is a graduate of Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, where she studied under the guidance of Lev Ivaschenko and Vladimir Ovtcharek. She also holds Artist Diploma from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, where she studied with Laura Bossert and Malcolm Lowe. Prizewinner of the International Spohr Competition in Weimar, Germany, Ms. Sedukh made her solo orchestral debut at the age of seven with the Chamber Orchestra of Liepaya, Latvia and has since appeared as soloist with St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Boston Virtuosi Orchestra, St.Petersburg Capella Symphony Orchestra, Newton Symphony Orchestra and Weimer State Capella Orchestra. Following her passion for symphonic music, Ms. Sedukh pursued career in major American orchestras, presently being a member of 2nd violin section of San Francisco Symphony since 2009, and having previously served as a member of Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007.
At age 17, violist Adam Smyla won the first prize at the National Viola Competition in his native Poland. Within six months, he became the youngest member of the Polish National Radio and Television Orchestra and was invited to join the Penderecki String Quartet with whom he toured throughout the world for nearly a decade. Adam was Assistant Principal Violist of the Chicago Lyric Opera and Principal Violist of the Concertanti di Chicago before becoming a member of the San Francisco Symphony in 2000. Adam appears frequently in chamber music concerts throughout the Bay Area, often in collaboration with his wife, pianist Edna Koren.
Amos Yang is the Assistant Principal cellist for the San Francisco Symphony. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., the Far East and Europe. He has also collaborated in chamber music with the Ying Quartet, the Turtle Island String Quartet, pianists Ann Schein and Melvin Chen, violinist Earl Carlyss and composer Bright Sheng. Yang’s awards include the Performer’s Certificate at Eastman School of Music and first prizes in the American String Teacher’s Association and Grace Vamos competitions. He was finalist in the Pierre Fournier International Cello Competition and was awarded the CD Jackson Prize at the Tanglewood Music Festival for outstanding musical contribution. As cellist of the Maia String Quartet from 1996-2002, Yang was involved in many educational programs, performing throughout the country for schools under the auspices of such organizations as Arts Excel, Young Audiences Inc. and the Midori Foundation. During this time he also served on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Iowa, Grinnell College and the Interlochen Advanced String Quartet Institute. Yang holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. Before joining the San Francisco Symphony, Yang was a member of the Seattle Symphony, maintaining a private teaching studio as well as cultivating an active solo and chamber music life. Born and raised in San Francisco, he was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and San Francisco Boys Choir.
​
Amy Zanrosso, a powerful and dynamic musician, has worked within a wide range of musical genres - classical, contemporary, musical theatre, German cabaret and tango. Much in demand as a collaborator, and a chamber musician at heart, Amy has shared the stage with principal members of the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet. In her years in Montréal she specialized in repertoire for cello and piano and was invited to play for numerous masterclasses led by internationally acclaimed pedagogues and performers such as Philippe Muller, Pieter Wispelwey, Matt Haimovitz, Peter Wiley and Paul Katz. Originally from British Columbia, Canada, Amy completed her Bachelor's Degree at the University of Victoria with her unparalleled mentor, Bruce Vogt. She furthered her studies in Italy, working with Maria Tipo and Michele Campanella and then returned to Canada to complete a Master's Degree at McGill University in Montréal during which she studied with Dorothy Morton and Louis-Phillipe Pelletier. Amy is currently based in Oakland, California, and is a faculty member at the Pre-College of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music coaching chamber music and piano ensembles. As well as freelancing in the Bay Area, she is part of three local ensembles - The iO Piano Quartet, RossoRose Duo and The Eos Ensemble. She is steadily realizing her plan of learning and performing all existing piano chamber music and when not practicing Beethoven or Brahms, Amy can be found hanging out with her husband and dog or riding her bike to rehearsals.
Dillon Vado's
The Table Trio
​
Friday 15 June 2018 at 8:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present a new project from an old friend. The multi-talented vibraphonist, percussionist, composer, and arranger, Dillon Vado, has appeared in our Concert Series in numerous ensembles. This time he will be bringing his own group, The Table Trio, featuring bassist Jeff Denson and drummer Hamir Atwal. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall
The Table Trio are:
Dillon Vado - vibraphone, marimba
Jeff Denson - bass
Hamir Atwal - drums
About the Concert:
The Table Trio is a wildly original group led by vibraphonist Dillon Vado. They are known for their thoughtful and unique interpretations of familiar songs, strong but mysterious grooves, and memorably melodic original pieces. The trio features Dillon Vado on vibraphone and marimba, Jeff Denson on bass, and Hamir Atwal on drums.
From David Bowie to Bill Evans, the Table Trio interprets and re-imagines pieces, offering a different setting for them to exist, while still striving to emphasize and strengthen their existing sense of melodic character.
The original music composed by Dillon Vado for this group is well thought out and arranged to feature each member of the trio, highlighting their strengths musically. Dillon’s music is known for being relatable and accessible, but also light on its feet, and able to change directions on a dime. This concert is very special because it will feature both the vibraphone and marimba, which is unfortunately not a common pairing in most jazz settings. The deep earthy timbre of the marimba contrasts and grounds the lush and focused pitch of the vibes. This provides a musical compliment that is rare to hear, and is sure to blend nicely with the beautiful acoustics of the Hillside Club.
The Erik Jekabson String-tet
plays the Music of Duke Ellington
​
Friday 25 May 2018 at 8:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased welcome another old friend back to our stage. Trumpeter, composer, and arranger, Erik Jekabson, has delighted our Concert Series audiences with his music, both as a leader and a side-man many times. This time he will be bringing back his String-tet ensemble with a new program of his own arrangements of Duke Ellington's music - this will be some serious jazz! Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall
The Erik Jekabson String-tet are:
Erik Jekabson - trumpet
Michael Zilber - saxophones
Mads Tolling - violin
Charith Premawardhana - viola
Dillon Vado - vibes
Adam Shulman - piano
Doug Stuart - bass
Evan Hughes - drums
and special guest vocalist Kalil Wilson
About the Concert:
Trumpeter and arranger Erik Jekabson leads this 8 piece chamber ensemble which explores the music of Duke Ellington from new angles. Ellington, one of the most important American composers of the past hundred years, offers many rich musical veins to mine for new ideas. This ensemble does it with violin, viola, trumpet, saxophone, vibes, piano, bass and drums - and surpassing creativity and virtuosity; expect some new sounds from old classics.
​
Mothers & Sons - a Mother's Day Matinee
Victor Romasevich, Lena Lubotsky & Scott Macomber
play Tchaikovsky, Kodaly, Schumann and more!
​
Sunday 13 May 2018 at 4:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present a special Mother's Day Matinee program featuring our good friend, S.F. Symphony Violinist Victor Romasevich. Joining Victor will be concert pianist Lena Lubotsky (who is also Victor's mother!), and another Concert Series alum, S.F. Symphony Trumpet player Scott Macomber. They will be playing a program including pieces by Tchaikovsky, Kodaly, Schumann, Honegger, Enescu, and Andriasov. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Victor Romasevich - violin
Lena Lubotsky - piano
Scott Macomber - trumpet
​
The Program:
Intrada for Trumpet and Piano - Arthur Honegger
Piece for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 9B - Arshak Andriasov
Piece for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 15A, Coordinated Chaos - Arshak Andriasov
Legend for Trumpet and Piano - George Enescu
Concertino for Trumpet and Symphony Orchestra, Op. 14 - Iosif Andriasov
(Author's transcription for Trumpet and Piano)
Scott Macomber (trumpet) and Victor Romasevich (piano)
---
3 Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 42 - Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Meditation
Scherzo
Melody
Adagio for Viola and Piano - Zoltan Kodaly
Phantasie for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 131 - Robert Schumann
(Author's transcription for Violin and Piano)
Lena Lubotsky (piano) and Victor Romasevich (violin/viola)
​
Elaine Kreston and Friends
​
Friday 20 April 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome cellist Elaine Kreston back to our Concert Series. Joining Elaine for this performance will be two of her talented colleagues, John Malkin & Eric Schneider. They will perform original compositions for cello, piano, and world percussion, woven among transformative recitations of poets Rumi and Hafiz and more. Included will be selections from solo cello suites by J.S. Bach, as well as Malkin’s own minimalist solo piano compositions. A wonderful evening is planned! Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
​
The Artists:
Elaine Kreston, cello
John Malkin, piano and world percussion
Eric Schneider, spoken word
​
About the Program:
One of the many pleasures in putting together a program like this is the freedom it allows. I will be opening the concert with music from J.S. Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, but with a twist. Not a single suite in its entirety, not short excerpts sprinkled through. But, something I’ve been pondering and playing with for a while now: the interaction between the suites. The flow of the six suites Bach wrote is wonderful. Many cellists, with endurance and bravura, work up to a performance of all six suites in a single day, a feat usually requiring multiple intermissions and a dinner break for soloist and audience alike. I’ve been fortunate to have attended more than one, and have enjoyed the performances to be sure, as well as the camaraderie between the unique audience members such a program will attract. But, what about a closer look at just a movement or two from different suites? This program will include the middle movements from the middle suites, exploring their closely related keys and varied character. I believe that our fascination with the suites, which shows no sign of slowing since Pablo Casals’ re-discovery of them in 1890, will allow some room for playful juxtaposition of these elements.
Joining me after the Bach will be my wonderful colleagues, John Malkin on piano and world percussion, and Eric Schneider, spoken word. John and I will be performing our original compositions for piano, udu, Halo drum, and of course cello. These pieces will be interwoven with the poetry Eric recites from among the hundreds of works he has memorized by ancient and modern poets. --Elaine Kreston
​
About the Ensemble:
After performing together for a number of years, Elaine Kreston and Eric Schneider were christened "RumiCello" in 2004 at the launch of their tour of Oregon and Washington. The three you hear tonight represent a collaboration of more than a decade with Elaine Kreston (cello), Eric Schneider (spoken word) and John Malkin (percussion and piano). West coast venues have included bookstores, concert halls and music festivals. Bay Area performances include “A Great Night of Rumi” at Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage, The Science and Nonduality Conference in Marin, the CIIS conference in San Francisco, Adyashanti intensives and retreats, as well as radio stations KZSC in Santa Cruz and KWMR in Pt. Reyes. Find out more at www.rumicello.com .
New Esterházy Quartet
London, 1845 - Gratitude to Haydn
Friday 13 April 2018 at 8:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present the New Esterházy Quartet with the final program in their 2017-2018 subscription series. This program will feature quartets by Haydn. The artists of this celebrated San Francisco Bay Area string ensemble are internationally-known period instrument and chamber music specialists, and have gained a well-deserved reputation for virtuoso playing and interesting programs. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Lisa Weiss & Kati Kyme - violins
Anthony Martin - viola
William Skeen - 'cello
About the Program:
In 1845, after performing all the Beethoven Quartets, the Beethoven Quartet Society of London decided it was time for a concert of quartets by Haydn, “the great Father of that refined music.” In recreating that program, The New Esterházy Quartet present the perfect ending to the series of highlights from string quartet history they have presented this 2017-2018 season.
The Program:
Joseph Haydn:
Op. 9, No. 4 in D minor
Op. 20, No. 2 in C
Op. 64, No. 5 in D, The Lark
Op. 76, No. 4 in Bb, The Sunrise
The Ensemble:
Founded in 2006 and currently in its eighth year of subscription concerts in San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto, the New Esterházy Quartet continues to present masterworks of the classical period alongside intriguing works from less-familiar composers. With Haydn's 68 quartets as its core repertoire, NEQ is increasingly recognized as one of the world's top period-instrument string quartets. The ensemble has been presented by the San Francisco Early Music Society, Arizona Early Music Society, Carmel Chamber Music Society, has performed in New York and Los Angeles, and appeared as a Main Stage event for the 2012 Berkeley Festival & Exhibition. NEQ was also selected for Early Music America's Touring Artists Roster and has received two grants from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Recent seasons have featured works by pupils and admirers of Haydn, late quartets of Schubert and Beethoven, and novel explorations of early Bartók and Schoenberg. January 2014 saw the world premiere of Esterházy, book II, written for the ensemble by noted New York composer Paul Brantley. NEQ's 2014 summer project was the complete Mozart "Haydn" Quartets, performed at Berkeley's historic Hillside Club in a three-concert Amadè-Athon. The coming season will include an appearance on Pittsburgh's prestigious "Renaissance and Baroque" series in January and a summer cycle of the late Beethoven quartets. Four Haydn recordings are currently available, and a world premiere recording of a mid-19th century string quartet by Hungarian composer Imre Székely is near release.
The members of NEQ are internationally-known period-instrument and chamber music specialists: Kati Kyme and Lisa Weiss, violins, violist Anthony Martin, and cellist William Skeen. As individuals, the players have performed and recorded in the top echelon of early music ensembles worldwide. In addition to many years of musical collaboration in Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, and a long list of renowned chamber ensembles, these four Bay Area musicians have enjoyed decades of friendship and shared experience. Their history as both colleagues and friends endows the quartet with an unusual commonality of musical language and gesture, and provides a strong foundation for a unique and original ensemble voice. In addition to concert appearances, NEQ enjoys performing in private homes and other intimate settings where the traditional experience of true chamber music is renewed and shared by players and listeners together.
For more information on the New Esterházy Quartet and this program, please check their website:
http://newesterhazy.org/
The Russians Are Coming!
Friday 23 March 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to welcome back two old friends to the Concert Series, Sergey and Olga Rakitchenkov (Associate Principal Viola and Principal Harp in the S. F. Opera Orchestra). For this concert Sergey and Olga will be joined by two wonderful artists from Russia and Serbia, pianist Konstantin Bogino and mezzo-soprano Miomira Vitas performing a brilliant and varied program of instrumental and vocal masterpieces, including three modern works by Serbian composers Svetlana Maksimovich and Vera Milankovich. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Miomira Vitas - mezzo-soprano
Konstantin Bogino - piano
Sergey Rakitchenkov - viola
Olga Rakitchenkov - harp
The Program:
Robert Schumann - Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 (viola & Piano)
Johannes Brahms - Geistliches Wiegenlied, Op.92 #2 (voice, viola & piano)
Frank Bridge - "Where is it that our soul doth go" (voice, viola & piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov (solo piano)
Prelude in G minor, Op.23 #5
Prelude in C# minor, Op.3 #3
Prelude in G# minor, Op.32 #12
Etude in D-Major op.39 #9
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (voice & piano)
"Ne veter veja s visoti" (It was not the wind ,blowing from the heights)
Piotr Tchaikovsky (voice & piano)
"Ja tebe nichego ne skazhu" (I'm not going to tell you)
Benjamin Britten - Evening (voice & harp)
Claude Debussy - Arabesque #1 (solo harp)
Astor Piazzolla - "Tanti Anni Primo" (Many years ago) (viola & harp)
Gabriel Faure - Serenade Toscane,op.3 #2 (voice, viola & piano)
Svetlana Maksimovich - "O mistichnoj ljubavi" (Of Mystical Love) (voice, harp & piano)
Vera Milankovich - "Misao" (Thought) (voice, viola, harp & piano - world premiere)
Vera Milankovich - "Sitan kamen do kamena" (voice , viola, harp & piano)
​
​About the Artists:
Miomira Vitas was born in Zemun, Serbia. After studying science (astronomy and physics), she dedicated herself to music and particularly to her singing career as a soprano. She graduated under the guidance of the famous teacher : Bruna Spiler – The most representative and respected voice in ex-Yugoslavia. From 1977 to 1982, Miomira continued her studies of singing in at the “Tchaïkovsky” conservatorium of Moscow under the gidence of Mrs Maria Mirzoeva (who was also a great pianist and composer) after she won the special scholarship given by the Russian Government. In the eighties, Miomira Vitas won many awards in several International competitions (Zagreb, „Mario del Monaco“ Villa Manin, Skopje). She Regularly collaborates with the renowned musicians : K. Bogino, P. Devoyon, P. Gallois, P. Cooper. Her professionnal career leads Miomira to sing in the major festivals and concert halls (Dubrovnik, Conservatory „G. Verdi“ in Milan, Cité de la Musique in Paris). She has sung in the whole world : Russia, Ukraina, Moldova, Azerbejdzan, Kasakistan, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, ex-Yugoslavia.
Throughout her musical life, Miomira Vitas had the great pleasure and honnor to be choosen as the official soprano singer by many important contemporary composers such as Josip Magdic, Ljubica Maric, Mihovil Logar, Svetlana Maksimovic, Robert Corman and others who write specifically for her voice. In 1993, Miomira Vitas recorded for the label „Picture Music“ with the pianist Konstantin Bogino, a CD with the album of songs by P.I.Tchaikovsky. in 2001, Miomira was invited to recorded another CD (J.Brahms) with P. H. Xuerreb and A.de Caves, another CD . Since 2004, She is collaborating with the Trio di Roma ARS which production was praised by the Famous “Diapason” musical magasine. Since 2006, she has held master classes in Italy, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan and she is a member of juries in many international competitions.
--
Konstantin Bogino belongs to the fourth generation of a renowned family of Muscovite musicians with bonds of deep friendship with such figures as Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Anton Rubinstein and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who have without doubt helped influence his development as a young pianist. His first teacher was his father, Georgy Bogino, pianist and pedagogue, the inventor of a special method for piano and author of numerous texts on music.
From 1957 to 1966, Bogino was a pupil at the Central School of Music in Moscow, recognized throughout the world for having trained the finest talents in the USSR. At the age of 11, he held his first concert with an orchestra and his first recital dedicated exclusively to J.S. Bach. Subsequently, he gained his diploma with top votes at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in the class of Vera Gornostaeva. From 1973 to 1978, he was professor at the Gnessinih Conservatoire of Moscow. At the same time, he held more than 300 concerts, as a soloist, and in a duo with celebrated violinist Marina Kozolupova, and with the historic Tchaikovsky Trio. In 1979, he won the International Munich Contest and the Grand Prix in Florence. In 1978 he left Russia for Yugoslavia and since 1984 has resided in Paris.
Bogino has performed in the most prestigious halls of the word including Teatro alla Scala and the Conservatorio di Milano, the Auditorium Santa Cecilia di Roma, the Théâtre du Châtelet and l’Hotel de Ville of Paris, the Wigmore Hall of London, Lincoln Center in New York, The Herculessaal in Munich, The Kennedy Center in Washington, and the Bunka Hall in Tokyo. As a soloist, with orchestras and chamber music Bogino has played with artists such as Natalia Gutman, Yuri Bashmet, Miomira Vitas, Oleg Kagan, Patrick Gallois, Emmanuel Pahud, Eduard Brunner, Boris Belkin, and Victoria Mullova. He has played in numerous festivals such as Le Settimane musicali dell’Accademia Chigiana of Siena, the Festival Michelangeli of Brescia and Bergamo, the Festival Nantaalie and Kuhmo in Finlandia, the Bad Kissingen in Germany, the Evian Rostropovic Festival and that of Mentone in France, the Festival Richter a Mosca and Dubrovnik, l’Oleg Kagan Musikfest of Kreuth (Munich).
--
The San Francisco Opera Orchestra’s Principal Harp Olga Ortenberg-Rakitchenkov was born in Russia into a family rich in musical tradition. Her mother was an editor of Musica, a major Russian publishing company, and her granduncle was a member of the Budapest Quartet. The former Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera, Adolf Bruk, is her uncle. Olga started piano lessons at seven at Moscow’s Gnesin School for Musically Gifted Children. At eleven, she began to study harp in the class of Mark Rubin, making it her primary instrument. She graduated with Highest Honors from Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, studying with Professor Vera Dulova. Olga won the position of Associate Principal Harp in the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra in 1973 and was promoted to Principal. In 1989, after immigration to the United States, she won the position of Principal Harp for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.
--
Associate Principal Viola in the San Francisco Opera, Sergey Rakitchenkov was born in Moscow and attended the Central School for Musically Gifted Children. He graduated with honors from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, where he studied with Fyodor Druzhinin. For fifteen years he performed with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, rising to become Principal of the viola section. In 1980 he won the prestigious All-Union Musical Competition. His playing was broadcast on a major Soviet Union radio station. In 1987, soon after arriving in the United States with his wife Olga and daughter Liza, he won a position in the viola section of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, where he currently serves in the Associate Principal chair. He also performs at special events around the San Francisco Bay Area and in Europe.
Sarn Oliver and Robert Pearce
In Recital
Sunday 25 February 2018 at 7:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to welcome S.F. Symphony violinist Sarn Oliver back to our Concert Series. Joining Sarn will be the talented young pianist, Robert Pearce, in a program featuring music by Schubert, Brahms, Kernis, and one of Sarn's own compositions. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Sarn Oliver - violin
Robert Pearce - piano
The Program:
Franz Schubert - Sonatina for violin and piano, in D Major, D.384, (Op. posth. 137/1)
Aaron Kernis - Air (for violin & piano)
Sarn Oliver - Pathways
Johannes Brahms - Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
​
The Artists' Bios:
Sarn Oliver, Violinist, Composer, Luthier, Recording engineer, has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe and Japan. He has appeared in solo performances with orchestras like the Dallas Symphony, Sacramento Symphony and the Shreveport Symphony. He was a featured artist on the PBS television program “State of the Arts” and his concerts have been broadcast on radio stations throughout the country. Mr. Oliver’s violin playing has been described by San Francisco Classical Voice as “ simply phenomenal.” His performances can be heard on recordings including his recording of the Benda and Stamitz Violin Concertos with the Montpellier Chamber Orchestra, France. Mr. Oliver also has his own Label SarnWorks that is active in recording select artists. Mr. Olivers compositions have been performed in Japan, Russia, and throughout the United States and CD’s of his music are available online. An advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Oliver serves as a Board Member of Ebb and Flow Arts, Hawaii. Mr. Oliver also has a violin shop where he is actively making violins and bows of his own as well as selling old and modern instruments. Mr. Oliver has played in the New Jersey Symphony, Principle Second of the Sacramento Symphony, Acting associate principle second of San Francisco Symphony, Concertmaster of Santa Cruz Symphony and is currently first violin with the San Francisco Symphony.
Robert “RJ” Pearce recently graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. He has performed recitals and concerti in the United States and Europe. He has performed extensively in California with the classic-rock cover-band “Crunchy-Frog.” RJ is also a competitive cyclist and was captain of the UCLA team for two years. RJ plans to attend medical school in the coming fall.
The Circadian String Quartet
Chiaroscuro: Finding Light Within Darkness...
or, Stories for String Quartet
Saturday 3 February 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Circadian String Quartet's return to our stage with a remarkable program featuring the Shostakovitch String Quartet No. 8, Steve Reich's "Different Trains", as well as some fascinating new compositions. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Circadian String Quartet are:
Sarah Wood & David Ryther - violins
Omid Assadi - viola
David Wishnia - cello
About the Concert:
Allow the Circadian String quartet to take you on an unforgettable journey as we team up with master storyteller Nicolas Hohmann and composer Sahba Aminikia to create an evening which seamlessly weaves storytelling and music. Program master works explore the theme of light vs. dark including Shostakovich's harrowing String Quartet No. 8, dedicated to the victims of Fascism, Steve Reich's Different Trains, which incorporates real-life interviews of WWII survivors, and a new piece for narrator and string quartet by Sahba Aminikia featuring the achingly beautiful poetry of Hafez. Connecting these pieces will be stories curated by Nicolas Hohmann with original musical interludes by David Ryther entitled "Chiaroscuro." Through light/dark, sound/silence, and text/music, a whole experience emerges, greater than the sum of its parts.
Chiaroscuro: An oil painting technique developed in the Renaissance that uses contrasts between light and dark to illuminate three dimensional form.
The Ensemble:
Bay Area based Circadian String Quartet was founded in 2013 to promote the classical and contemporary string quartet repertoire, in particular music of cultural and folkloric significance. Since then, the group has been featured by Mt. Shasta's Music by the Mountain Chamber Music Festival, SunsetArts Chamber Music Series in San Francisco, and the Merced Symphony Association. CSQ has collaborated with many fine musicians, including the St. Petersburg-based Rimsky Korsakov String Quartet during their 2014 North American tour, and with local musicians of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet. CSQ is proud to have given world- and U.S. premieres of exciting new pieces of chamber music, a result of working closely with several living composers, including Sahba Aminikia, Toronto-based composer and pianist Noam Lemish, and British composer Ian Venables. The Circadian String Quartet has recently been accepted as an ensemble with the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.
Members of CSQ serve as resident teaching artists for the Villa Sinfonia Foundation's Zephyr Point Chamber Music Workshop in South Lake Tahoe, NV. Dedicated to music education, the quartet works intensely with musician of all ages in developing their musical abilities in chamber music. The quartet has also developed and presented interactive school programs for grades 4-12.
The Artists:
David Ryther (violin) has brought his interpretive powers as a soloist to such festivals as the Darmstadt Summer Festival of New Music, the Banff Center, and the Green Umbrella Series at the Bing theater in Los Angeles. He has been featured playing new music with adventurous ensembles sfSoundGroup, Earplay, San Francisco Contemporary Players, the Berkeley New Music Ensemble, Sonor, and Octagon. An active violinist, he can be found playing in many of the orchestras and ensembles in the Bay Area including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. David graduated with highest honors in music from UC Santa Cruz and recently received his doctorate in contemporary violin performance from UC San Diego. A dedicated teacher and conductor, David is a teacher and assistant conductor with Villa Sinfonia in San Francisco, teaches violin at the Crowden School, and has served as coach and interim conductor with the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. As a composer, David has had world premieres played by the Villa Sinfonia, an orchestra piece called "Friend" commissioned by the Croi Glan dance troupe in Cork Ireland, and has worked in residency with Kate Weare company in New York and Dandelion Dance Theater in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sarah Wood (violin) leads a versatile career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. She has soloed with the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival Orchestra and the Panache, Villa Sinfonia, and Icicle Creek Chamber Orchestras. In addition to her membership with the Circadian String Quartet, Sarah has performed chamber music concerts across the Northwestern and Western United States, and is a frequent recitalist. Sarah is currently acting assistant concertmaster of the California Symphony, acting Principal Second Violin of the Berkeley Symphony, and a member of the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival Orchestra. As an educator, she is on faculty at the Crowden School of Music and teaches privately. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in violin performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she studied with the Takacs String Quartet and Lina Bahn, and also holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Paul Kantor and William Preucil.
Native of Iran, Omid Assadi (viola) holds a B.M. and M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jodie Levitz and Bettina Mussumeli. Mr. Assadi is an active ensemble player and soloist; he has concertized with many of the Bay Area’s orchestras and has appeared numerous times as soloist with Golden Gate Philharmonic, City College of San Francisco String Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra, and Villa Sinfonia. Omid’s love for chamber music has led him to study chamber music with the members of the Kronos String Quartet as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty members. In addition, he has collaborated with Jennifer Culp, Jodi Levitz, Jorja Fleezanis, and with the Shams Ensemble.
An active chamber musician, David Wishnia (cello) routinely concertizes with both the Circadian String Quartet and the Villa Piano Trio, and has taught at the Zephyr Point Chamber Music Camp and Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. David has also appeared as a soloist with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra and Villa Sinfonia. He is currently a member of the Marin Symphony, and has performed in numerous Bay Area ensembles, including the Berkeley Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Sacramento Symphony, Russian Chamber Orchestra, and Marin Oratorio, among others. David received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot. He also studied with Jerome Carrington and Maurice Gendron, and received coaching from Paul Tortelier, Janos Starker, and Pierre Pasquier.
New Esterházy Quartet
Paris, 1822: The Baillot Quartet - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven & Boccherini
Friday 26 January 2018 at 8:00pm
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to present the New Esterházy Quartet with the next program in their subscription series. This program will feature quartets from Pierre Baillot’s Parisian concert of Saturday, February 9, 1822, including pieces by Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart. and Boccherini.
The artists of this celebrated San Francisco Bay Area string ensemble are internationally-known period instrument and chamber music specialists, and have gained a well-deserved reputation for virtuoso playing and interesting programs. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Lisa Weiss & Kati Kyme - violins
Anthony Martin - viola
William Skeen - 'cello
The Program:
Joseph Haydn -String Quartet Op. 76, No. 2 'Quinten'
Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No.5, Op.18 No.5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Andante from String Quartet No.18, K.464
Luigi Boccherini - String Quartet, Op32, No.6
The Ensemble:
Founded in 2006 and currently in its eighth year of subscription concerts in San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto, the New Esterházy Quartet continues to present masterworks of the classical period alongside intriguing works from less-familiar composers. With Haydn's 68 quartets as its core repertoire, NEQ is increasingly recognized as one of the world's top period-instrument string quartets. The ensemble has been presented by the San Francisco Early Music Society, Arizona Early Music Society, Carmel Chamber Music Society, has performed in New York and Los Angeles, and appeared as a Main Stage event for the 2012 Berkeley Festival & Exhibition. NEQ was also selected for Early Music America's Touring Artists Roster and has received two grants from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Recent seasons have featured works by pupils and admirers of Haydn, late quartets of Schubert and Beethoven, and novel explorations of early Bartók and Schoenberg. January 2014 saw the world premiere of Esterházy, book II, written for the ensemble by noted New York composer Paul Brantley. NEQ's 2014 summer project was the complete Mozart "Haydn" Quartets, performed at Berkeley's historic Hillside Club in a three-concert Amadè-Athon. The coming season will include an appearance on Pittsburgh's prestigious "Renaissance and Baroque" series in January and a summer cycle of the late Beethoven quartets. Four Haydn recordings are currently available, and a world premiere recording of a mid-19th century string quartet by Hungarian composer Imre Székely is near release.
The members of NEQ are internationally-known period-instrument and chamber music specialists: Kati Kyme and Lisa Weiss, violins, violist Anthony Martin, and cellist William Skeen. As individuals, the players have performed and recorded in the top echelon of early music ensembles worldwide. In addition to many years of musical collaboration in Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, and a long list of renowned chamber ensembles, these four Bay Area musicians have enjoyed decades of friendship and shared experience. Their history as both colleagues and friends endows the quartet with an unusual commonality of musical language and gesture, and provides a strong foundation for a unique and original ensemble voice. In addition to concert appearances, NEQ enjoys performing in private homes and other intimate settings where the traditional experience of true chamber music is renewed and shared by players and listeners together.
For more information on the New Esterházy Quartet and this program, please check their website:
http://newesterhazy.org/
Peter Wyrick & Britton Day
"The Hillside Club Cello Challenge"
Sunday 21 January 2018 at 7:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to have our old friend, the S.F Symphony's Associate Principal cellist Peter Wyrick, perform for us again. Joining Peter will be the talented young pianist Britton Day (son of the SFS's Principal Flute, Tim Day). Together they will play several marvelous cello works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Rachmaninov. You may recall that last year's concert where Peter and Britton embarked on an ambitious long-term project of performing all the major piecess in the cello-piano repertoire at the Hillside Club over the space of the next decade plus. Well, so far they're being good to their word and are returning in the second installment of their series. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall, and the continuation of a wonderful journey.
The Artists:
Peter Wyrick - cello
Britton Day - piano
The Program:
Johannes Brahms - Cello Sonata No. 1, Op.38 in G minor
Claude Debussy - Cello Sonata
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Sonata for Piano and Cello, Op.19 in G minor
About the program:
"The Hillside Club Cello Challenge" is what I'm calling this project to perform all the major works for cello and piano over the next decade or so. In this next recital we will be presenting sonatas by Brahms, Debussy and Rachmaninoff--all mainstays of the cello literature. These were easy choices as they are three of our favorite works and only the Rachmaninoff is new to us as a duo. Practicality is an important programming factor for busy musicians.
Johannes Brahms, one of the great figures of the 19th century wrote the Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 38 in E minor over a period of a few years and had it published in 1866. He was known for making many revisions to his works and in this case he dropped an Adagio movement, much to the dismay of Clara Schumann (and to all cellists) and replaced it with a Bach like fugue for the final movement. It is the cello's lower, baritone register that is exploited in the Sonata's opening movement marked "espressivo legato". The second movement , Allegretto quasi menuetto-Trio is like a sad waltz. The third and final movement is a furiously energized fugue, possibly a tribute to Beethoven, who it is known from his sketch books to have planned to write a cello sonata in e minor with a final fugue but never did. Sixty years later Brahms wrote one instead.
Claude Debussy wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano amid the turmoil of World War I as well as the debilitating effects of colon cancer which took his life three years later. The piece explores a wide range of moods and colors with many special effects. Debussy considered titling the work "Pierrot fåché aver la lune" (Pierrot angry with the moon) which comes across in the ironic and sarcastic nature of the work.
The Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 19 by Sergei Rachmaninoff is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful works in the cello repertoire. As is typical of Rachmaninoff, the piano is the driving force, introducing many of the themes with the cello embellishing and providing the expansive soaring lines. The third movement is the Andante slow movement and is the most beautiful of the four. The extremely emotive lyricism is what makes this piece so special.
About the Artists:
Peter Wyrick has served as Associate Principal Cello of the San Francisco Symphony, occupying the Peter & Jacqueline Hoefer Chair, since 1999. Born in New York to a musical family, he began his studies in Poughkeepsie, New York, and proceeded to the Juilliard School at the age of eight, where he was one of the last students of Leonard Rose. Mr. Wyrick made his solo debut at age twelve with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Since then he has performed as soloist with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, the Queens Philharmonic, the American Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma Chamber Orchestra, the Kozponti Sinfonicus in Budapest, Hungary, and Symphony Silicon Valley. He has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony in works including Leonard Bernstein's Meditation No. 1 from Mass, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major, and music from Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Concerto.
Mr. Wyrick was the principal cello of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra and associate principal cello of the New York City Opera Orchestra. His recordings include the cello sonatas of Gabriel Fauré with pianist Earl Wild for dell'Arte Records, and performances for the Stereophile and Arabesque labels. In chamber music, Mr. Wyrick has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jeremy Denk, Julia Fischer, and Edgar Meyer, among others. He was a member of the Ridge String Quartet, whose recording of the DvoÅ™ák piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkusny on the RCA label won the French Diapason d'Or and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Chamber Music Performance. Mr. Wyrick has participated in the Helsinki, Spoleto, Bard, Vancouver Chamber Music West, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Ruby Mountain, and Lake Tahoe music festivals.
Mr. Wyrick plays a David Tecchler cello, on generous loan from Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger, made in Rome, circa 1724.
Britton Day is a member of the accompanying staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory Division. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of music. Upon graduation from Oberlin, he continued his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, receiving both a Master of Music and a Professional Studies Diploma in Piano Performance.
The Jupiter Chamber Ensemble
play Beethoven, Myaskovsky, and Bridge
Sunday 14 January 2018 at 7:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is pleased to to welcome our friends, the Jupiter Chamber Ensemble, back to our stage with a wonderful chamber music program including works by Beethoven, Myaskovsky, and Bridge. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Jupiter Chamber Ensemble are:
Victor Romasevich - violin
Michael Jones - violin
Stephen Levintow - viola
Paul Rhodes - cello
The Program:
Three Idylls for String Quartet - Frank Bridge
String Quartet #13 in a minor, Op.86 - Nikolai Myaskovsky
String Quartet #9 in C major, Op.59 No.3 - Ludwig van Beethoven
The Ensemble:
In 1997, two veteran freelancers, violinist Michael Jones and Juilliard-trained violist Steve Levintow, recruited BBC Orchestra violinist Andrew Davies and cellist Paul Hale of the Oakland Symphony to found the Jupiter Chamber Players. The group had the good fortune to connect with Marvin Sanders, director of Live Oak Concerts at the Berkeley Art Center, just as the Center's previous ensemble-in-residence, the Cypress Quartet, left to launch their international career. The Art Center remained the Jupiter's "home" venue for 10 years. Paul Rhodes replaced Hale in 2000, bringing his years of experience in numerous orchestras and as soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival. Two years later, Davies left to pursue other projects, and San Francisco Symphony member Victor Romasevich took over as first violinist. Romasevich brought deep fascination with Russian chamber music, including masterworks by such composers as Sergei Taneyev, Georgy Catoire, and Iosif Andriasov (with whom Romasevich studied violin and viola) - all links in a tradition going back to Tchaikovsky through the Moscow Conservatory. The Jupiter Chamber Players take pleasure in introducing wider audiences to the work of these composers, while continuing also to present more familiar Russian and European repertoire.
Audrey Vardanega and Friends
play Brahms, Beethoven & Debussy
Saturday 6 January 2018 at 8:00pm
​
The Berkeley Hillside Club is thrilled to welcome the young piano virtuoso, Audrey Vardanega, back to our stage with a wonderful program featuring works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Debussy. Joining Audrey for this concert will be violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez and cellist Chase Park. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall.
The Artists:
Audrey Vardanega- piano
Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez - viola
Chase Park - cello
About the Concert:
Bay Area-native and Pianist Audrey Vardanega, violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez and cellist Chase Park (laureates of the 2017 Ravinia Steans’ Music Institute) explore the process where composers "look back” by means of Brahms and Beethoven. Through the lens of the instrumentation of viola, cello, and piano, the program puts Brahms’ late works in conversation with Beethoven’s Variations on a theme from Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” exploring the ways in which Brahms “looks back” to Beethoven and Beethoven “looks back” to Mozart. The program explores a diversity of forms and instrumentations—theme and variations for cello and piano, Sonata form for viola and piano, a Trio for viola, cello, and piano, and collections of shorter pieces for solo piano. Brahms looked to Beethoven as an immense source of inspiration and intimidation (Brahms often described himself as overwhelmed by the “shadow of Beethoven”)—by putting Brahms’ works in conversation with Beethoven, the program comments on the ways in which Brahms’ late style extends from Beethoven’s musical language.
The Program:
Piano Etude No. 10 " Pour les sonorités opposes” – Claude Debussy
Clarinet Trio in a minor Opus 114 for Viola, Cello, and Piano –Johannes Brahms
Magic Flute Variations from "Bei Mannern" for Cello and Piano – Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 120 No. 1 – Johannes Brahms
​
About the artists:
Praised as a player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists” (Berkeley Daily Planet), 22-year-old Audrey Vardanega made her solo debut with IMG Artists’ Festival del Sole at the age of 12 and became the youngest soloist in the history of the Bay Area’s Midsummer Mozart Festival with Maestro George Cleve at the age of 15. She has been featured as a soloist at the Hangzhou Grand Theater, the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Herbst Theater, and the Crowden School, among others. Her past primary instructors include Seymour Lipkin, Jeremy Siepmann, Christopher Elton, Robert Schwartz, and Victor Rosenbaum. Along with five other internationally selected pianists, Vardanega participated in the Carnegie Hall Workshops with Jonathan Biss in February 2017 and participated in the 2017 Ravinia Steans Music Festival. After receiving her B.A. from Columbia University in Political Science in May 2017, she began her Masters in piano performance in Fall 2017 under the tutelage of Richard Goode at Mannes College The New School.
Spanish violist Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez began his musical training at Bilbao’s “Conservatorio Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga” where he studied under the tutelages of Rosa Gutierrez and Ara Cividian. He has also received instruction from Jonathan Brown, Silvia Simionescu, Kim Kashkashian, David Takeno, David Quiggle, Nobuko Imai, Gerard Causse, and Pauline Sachse. An avid chamber musician and soloist, Gonzalo has performed in some of the most reputed concert halls of Europe, including Gewandhaus Leipzig, Musikverein Wien and Sendesaal Bremen. He has performed as a soloist with the Bilbao Symphonic Orchestra, the Deusto Chamber Orchestra, and the “EIO” youth orchestra’s Venezuela and Brussels tours. He is a top prizewinner in the 2017 International Anton Rubinstein Competition for Viola, the Concurso Jovenes musicos de Euskadi, as well as a two-time winner of the Ensemblewettbewerb HMT Leipzig. Additionally, Gonzalo has participated in chamber music festivals and fellowships throughout Europe and the United States, including “Lenk musiksommer,” “Presjovem,” the Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar, the “Harmos Festival” concerts, and the 2017 Ravinia’s Steans’ Music Institute. He is currently completing his Masters of Music at the HMT Leipzig under the tutelage of Professor Tatjana Masurenko.
Cellist Chase Park, born in 1998, began his musical training at the age of 4 with Madeleine Golz at the JCC Thurnauer School of Music in Tenafly, NJ. At age 11, Chase was accepted into the Perlman Music Program, where he spent 7 consecutive summers intensively studying chamber music and cello performance under the tutelage of Merry Peckham, Ronald Leonard, Paul Katz, and Itzhak Perlman. That same year, Chase began his studies at the Juilliard School’s Precollege division with Minhye Clara Kim. In 2014, Chase was featured on NPR’s From the Top, performing the Schubert’s Impromptu No. 3 in G Major accompanied by Christopher O’Riley. He also collaborated with the Shanghai Quartet, performing the String Sextet in G major by Johannes Brahms. In addition, as a finalist in classical music, Chase was invited to participate in Young Arts’s National YoungArts Week in Miami, FL. Chase has performed in cello master classes with Carter Brey, Colin Carr, Jonathan Spitz, Peter Wiley, Steven Isserlis, Ron Leonard and Paul Katz. Chase currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey and has attended Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute in the summer of 2017.