Concert Schedule

2017 PIANO CONCERT SERIES SUMMER PORTALS

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Sunday, July 16, 2017 4:00PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

BORIS BERMAN, piano

The Last 20 Pieces by Johannes Brahms

Klavierstücke, op. 118 Johannes Brahms I. Intermezzo in A Minor (1833-1897) II. Intermezzo in A Major III. Ballade in G Minor

IV. Intermezzo in F Minor V. Romanze in F Major VI. Intermezzo in E flat Minor

Klavierstücke, op. 119

I. Intermezzo in B Minor II. Intermezzo in E Minor

III. Intermezzo in C Major IV. Rhapsody in E flat Major

Three Intermezzi, op. 117

I. Andante Moderato II. Andante non troppo e con molto espressione

III. Andante con moto

Fantasias, op. 116 I. Cappricio in D Minor

II. Intermezzo in A Minor III. Cappricio in G Minor

IV. Intermezzo in E Major V. Intermezzo in E Minor VI. Intermesso in E Major VII. Capriccio in D Minor

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The artistry of BORIS BERMAN is well known to the audiences of over�forty countries on six continents. His highly acclaimed performances have�included appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Ge-�wandhaus Orchestra, The Philharmonia (London), the Toronto Symphony,�Israel Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Houston�Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Royal�Scottish Orchestra. A frequent performer on major recital series, he has also�appeared in important festivals, such as Marlboro, Waterloo, Bergen,Ravinia�and Israel Festival,to name a few. Born in Moscow, Boris Berman studied at Moscow Tchaikovsky Con- servatory with the distinguished pianist Lev Oborin and graduated with distinction as both pianist and harpsichordist. He performed extensively throughout the Soviet Union as a recitalist and appeared as guest soloist with numerous orchestras,

including the Moscow Philharmonic and the Moscow Chamber orches- tras. In 1973, Boris Berman left a flourishing career in the Soviet Union to immigrate to Israel. He quickly established himself as one of the most sought- after keyboard performers, as well as one of this country’s more influential musical personalities. Presently, he resides in USA. Boris Berman has been the Founding Director of the Music Spectrum concert series in Israel (1975-84) and of the Yale Music Spectrum series in the USA (1984-1997). These concert series were hailed by the critics for the inventiveness of their pro- gramming. Mr. Berman is an active performer of chamber music. He had appeared in numerous concerts and festivals with such artists and groups as Misha Maisky, Heinz Holliger, Aurele Nicolet, Shlomo Mintz, Gyorgy Pauk, Ralph Kirshbaum, Frans Helmerson, Natalia Gutman, Tokyo Quartet, Vermeer Quartet, The Netherland Wind Ensemble and many others. A dedicated teacher of international stature, Boris Berman has served on the faculties of the world’s finest schools, such as Indiana (Bloomington), Boston, Brandeis and Tel-Aviv universities. Currently, he heads the Piano Department at Yale School of Music. He also con- ducts master classes throughout the world. He has been the Founding Director of the Yale Summer Piano Institute (1990-92) and of the International Summer Piano Institute in Hong Kong (1995-97). Mr Ber- man’s ability to recognize and commitment to nurture young talents are obvious reasons for him being invited to join panels of jurors of various national and international competitions, such as those in Leeds, Dublin and the Artur Rubinstein Competition in Tel-Aviv. In the field of recordings, Mr. Berman’s acclaimed releases on Philips, Deutsche Gramophon and Melodia labels were followed upon with 2 CDs of all piano sonatas by Alexander Scriabin for the Music and Arts label and a recital of Shostakovich piano works (Ottavo recordings), which received the Edison Classic Award in Holland, the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy. The recording of three Prokofiev Concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi conducting (Chandos) marked the beginning of an ambitious project of recording the complete Prokofiev solo piano works. The first pianist ever to undertake this task, Mr Berman has released it on nine Chandos CDs to great critical acclaim. In addition, Chandos has issued Mr. Berman’s recitals of works by Debussy, Stravinsky, and Schnittke, as well as chamber music of Janacek, and - together with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Neeme Jarvi - Concerto by Stravinsky. Berman’s most recent discography shows the breadth of his repertoire: a disc “Debussy for Children” (Ot- tavo); two releases of works for prepared piano by John Cage (Naxos), which was named the Top Recording by the BBC Music

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Magazine; the Grammy-nominated Piano Quintets of Shostakovich and Schnittke with Vermeer Quartet (Naxos); and, quite unexpectedly, a recording of Scott Joplin’s Ragtimes (Ottavo). In the recently issued Naxos collection of complete Sequenzas by Luciano Berio, Berman plays Sequenza IV for piano. For the recording of Brahms Sonatas with the cellist Clive Greensmith (Biddulph label)) he used a 1867 Bechstein piano.

In 2000, the prestigious Yale University Press has published Boris Berman’s “Notes from the Pianist’s Bench”. In this book, Professor Berman draws on his vast experience as a performer and a teacher to ex- plore issues of piano technique and music interpretation. The book has been translated to several languages. Mr. Berman is often invited to give lectures on these subjects in various universities and conferences around the world. In the spring of 2008, Yale University Press has published Boris Berman’s new book “Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and the Performer”. This book complements and is based on his highly praised recordings of this repertoire.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017 7:30PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

LUIZ DE MOURA CASTRO, piano

Three Sonatas Domenico Scarlatti I. A Major (1685-1757) II. D Minor III. C Major

Sonata in D Major, op. 28 Ludwig van Beethoven I. Allegro (1770-1827) II. Andante III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

4 Mazurkas Frédéric Chopin 2 Waltzes (1810-1849)

Rondo sobre temas infantiles Argentinos Alberto Ginastera

(1916-1983)

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Invierno Porteño Astor Piazzolla Verano Porteño (1921-1992) Milonga del Ángel

Danza del Fuego Manuel de Falla

(1876-1946) Professor LUIZ DE MOURA CASTRO is a world-renowned pianist, teacher and adjudicator with over 55 recordings. He was recog- nized as Eminent Alumnus of a renowned secondary institution in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, and graduated summa cum laude from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He also studied at the Lorenzo Fernandez Academy of Music and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He gave his debut recital at the age of nine years old in the National Theater of Rio de Janeiro.

A native of Rio de Janeiro and a resident of the United States, he regularly tours across the globe in an effort to bring quality classical music to diverse audiences and to teach a new generation of musicians, in addition to being a tenured professor at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford.

Especially renowned as a pedagogue, Professor de Moura Castro was included in the International Who’s Who in Music and The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in America by Benjamin Saver. Invited by the renowned Lili Kraus to teach at the Texas Christian University, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas from Brazil in 1968. From 1978 he has been a professor of piano at the Hartt School of Mu- sic, University of Hartford, where he was chair of the piano department for 15 years. He was also a visiting professor at the Catholic University in Washington D.C., was associate professor at the Juan Pedro Carerro Music School in Barcelona, and has taught regularly at the Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona, the Escola de Musica in Brasilia, and the Pro Arte Seminaros de Musica in Rio de Janeiro. He is the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Connecticut, has been a board member of the American Liszt Society for over a decade, and has served as adjudicator for the Fulbright Commission, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Music Teachers’ National Association Performance Competition.

Along with Spanish soprano Maria Jose Montiel, their album Modinha was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002. In 2014, he was honored to be inducted into the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame in Connecticut, and received official citations from the Connecticut General Assembly, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, and Senator Richard Blumenthal. He was awarded an Honorary Hun- garian Citizenship and Medal of the Silver Raven in 2013 from the Corvino Cultural Association in California for his lifelong dedication to the works of Liszt and received a special citation as “Supreme Lisztian” along with renowned Liszt scholar, Alan Walker.

He has appeared with the Orchestre de Chambre Lausanne, Lisbon Radio Orchestra, Orchestra Filharmonichi di Turino, the Slovak Philharmonic, the Janáek Philharmonic Orchestra, Yaroslavl Symphony

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and the London, Dallas, Saint Louis, Fort Worth, Hartford and Syracuse symphonies, in addition to all the major orchestras in Brazil. Solo recitals include the Metropolitan Museum and Merkin Hall (New York), Rubenstein Hall (St. Petersburg Academy), Piccola Scala (Milan), Teatro Ghione (Rome), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), Studio Ansermet (Geneva), and the Sala Cecilia Meireles and Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro).

Saturday, July 22, 2017 7:30PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

FABIO WITKOWSKI, piano GISELE NACIF WITKOWSKI, piano

FINE ARTS QUARTET RALPH EVANS, violin EFIM BOICO, violin GIL SHARON, viola

NIKLAS SCHMIDT, cello

HOTCHKISS PIANO PORTALS 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY GALA Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Frank ’50, P’12

String Quartet in D Major, op. 64 No. 5 (The Lark) Joseph Haydn I. Allegro moderato (1732-1809) II. Adagio. Cantabile III. Menuetto. Allegretto IV. Finale. Vivace

Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, op. 47 Robert Schumann I. Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo (1810-1856) II. Scherzo: molto vivace III. Andante Cantabile IV. Finale: Vivace

Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, op. 44 Robert Schumann

I. Allegro Brillante (1810-1856) II. In modo d’una Marcia. Un poco largamente III. Scherzo: molto vivace

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IV. Allegro ma non troppo RALPH EVANS, VIOLIN

Ralph Evans, violinist, prizewinner in the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, concertized as soloist throughout Europe and North America before succeeding Leonard Sorkin as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet. Evans, who has toured worldwide with the Quartet since late 1982, has recorded over 100 works. Evans, a cum laude graduate of Yale University and Fulbright Scholar in London, studied with Szymon Goldberg and Nathan Milstein in Europe, and subsequently won the top prize in a number of major American competitions, among them, the

Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York. Evans has also received international recognition for his work as a composer. His award winning composition "Nocturne" has been performed on American Public Television and his String Quartet No. 1, released on the Naxos label, has been warmly greeted in the press ("rich and inventive" - Toronto Star; "whimsical and clever, engaging and amusing" - All Music Guide; "vigorous and tuneful" - Montreal Gazette; "seductive, modern sonorities" - France Ouest; "a small masterpiece" - Gli Amici della Musica). EFIM BOICO, VIOLIN

Efim Boico, violinist, enjoys an international career that has included solo appearances under conductors Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Guilini, Claudio Abbado and Erich Leinsdorf, and performances with Daniel Barenboim, Radu Lupu and Pinchas Zuckerman. After receiving his musical training in his native Russia, he emigrated in 1967 to Israel, where he was appointed Principal Second Violin of the Israel Philharmonic - a position he held for eleven years. In 1971, he joined the Tel Aviv Quartet as second violinist, touring the world with guest artists such as André Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 1979, Boico was appointed

concertmaster and soloist of the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Barenboim, positions he held until 1983, when he joined the Fine Arts Quartet. Boico has been guest professor at the Paris and Lyons Conservatories in France, and the Yehudi Menuhin School in Switzerland. He is also a frequent juror representing the United States in the prestigious London, Evian, and Shostakovich Quartet Competitions. As music professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, he has received numerous awards, including the Wisconsin Public Education Professional Service Award for distinguished music teaching, and the Arts Recognition and Talent Search Award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

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GIL SHARON, VIOLA

Gil Sharon was born in Bucharest, Romania, that he left in 1961, moving to Israel, where he completed his studies with Prof. Partos at the Rubin Academy in Tel-Aviv, performing at the same time both in many chamber music concerts and as soloist with various Israeli orchestras. In 1969 he moved to the Netherlands, becoming 1st concertmaster of the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest in Maastricht. His international career began in 1971 with winning the International Emily Anderson Violin Competition in London; he has been ever since present on all important concert scenes in Europe, North-America and Israel, displaying not only the broad and better known, huge violin repertoire, but offering his public also more unusual, lesser spread works like the Concerto for Violin, Viola, Piano and String-quartet by Chausson, that he performed in Athens together with the pianist Dmitri Sgouros and the Borodin-Quartet, or Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, that he played together with Shlomo Mintz in Barcelona. His reputation as a

musician of chamber-music is wide-spread; he is first violin of the Sharon Quartet and founder of the Amati Ensemble. Gil Sharon is a frequent guest of the Prades aux Champs Élysées-series of the prestigious Thêatre de Champs Élysées in Paris as well as of the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades. In 1997 Gil Sharon was conferred by Queen Beatrix for his outstanding merits for music in the Netherlands the title of Knight of Oranje-Nassau.

NIKLAS SCHMIDT, CELLO Cellist Niklas Schmidt studied in Hamburg and later in Cologne and was a regular guest at the Menuhin Academy in Gstaad. In 1980, together with violinist Michael Mucke and pianist Wolf Harden, he founded the Trio Fontenay. The ensemble recorded nearly the entire literature for this genre on CD for Teldec, EMI and Philips; most of the recordings received national and international awards, including the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1994 for the complete recordings of the Beethoven Trios and the Diapason d’Or. The Trio Fontenay performed at the most prestigious concert halls in the world including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Herkulessaal in Munich and appeared at international festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Festival de Montpellier, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Festival de Montreal as well as at the Kissinger

Summer and the Schubertiade in Austria. At the end of 1997, Niklas Schmidt resigned from the ensemble as cellist. Since then, he has been appearing frequently as a soloist as well as in various chamber music formations. Together with Menahem Pressler, he performed the “Arpeggione” Sonata in Washington D.C. and the Beethoven Sonatas in Hamburg, and performed the Schubert String Quintet with members of the Alban Berg,

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Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard quartets. With orchestra, he has, of late, frequently performed the two Haydn concertos. His many musical partners include Nobuko Imai, Donald Weilerstein, Ralf Gothoni, the Auryn Quartet and the Fine Arts Quartet. Since 1987, Professor Schmidt has taught chamber music and cello at the Hochschule for Music in Hamburg. He is also regularly invited to conduct master classes throughout the world, from Paris, Helsinki, Nice, Montreal and New York to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Since 1999, Niklas Schmidt has directed the prestigious Hamburg chamber music series Chamber Concerts in the Mozartsaal which presents world renowned ensembles and soloists. FABIO WITKOWSKI, PIANO

A native of Brazil, pianist Fabio Witkowski has performed in the Czech Republic, Brazil, Italy, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and the USA. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Emerson String Quartet, The Guarneri String Quartet, the Fine Arts String Quartet, The Amerigo Trio, the Adaskin Trio, and cellist Robert deMaine. He has also appeared with the Santo André Symphony Orchestra, the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, The Aternus Orchestra, the Orchestra da

Camera Fiorentina, the São Bernardo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Paulista Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Witkowski also performs regularly with his wife, pianist Gisele Nacif Witkowski as the Witkowski Piano Duo. In a recent collaboration with the Bowen McCauley Dance Company, the duo gave numerous performances of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the masterpiece. “Fabio and Gisele Witkowski played the four-hand piano arrangement as if they possessed the very paws of Fate”, described the Washington Post. Mr. Witkowski holds a cum laude BM and MM from the Hartt School of Music, where he studied under the guidance of Luiz de Moura Castro. He is currently the Head of the Arts Department and Director of the Music Program at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. Mr. Witkowski has performed at the Tanglewood Institute, the Liszt and Wagner International Festival in Italy, the Prague International Piano Festival, Festival de Musica de Girona in Spain, and the Liszt Festival in Rio de Janeiro. He has appeared as a guest artist and professor in numerous music festivals, including the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in the USA, and the Ourinhos, Belém, and Londrina Music Festivals in Brazil. He is currently the co-director of the Hotchkiss in Florence Music and Arts Program in Italy and the artistic director of the Hotchkiss Piano Summer Portals in the USA. Mr. Witkowski has been acclaimed by the critics as “One of Brazil’s most promising talents,” who “never fails to impress the audience,” and whose playing “is able to conjure up the devilish colors of an inferno as well as portray an ethereal paradise...” According to the Hartford Courant, “Mr. Witkowski revealed himself as an accomplished pianist, providing many passages of bravura, sensitivity, and pearly agility”.

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GISELE NACIF WITKOWSKI, PIANO

Critically acclaimed by the New York Concert Review as having given "the most genuinely fascinating recital debut in many a moon," for her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, pianist Gisele Nacif Witkowski has been performing extensively throughout the USA, South America, Asia, and Europe. She has appeared as guest artist and professor in several music festivals, including the Amalfi Coast in Italy, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in the USA, and the São João del Rey, Ourinhos, and Londrina Music Festivals in Brazil. Presently, she is the co-director of the Hotchkiss in Florence Music and Arts Program in Italy and the co-director of the Hotchkiss Piano Summer Portals in the USA. Her orchestral engagements include numerous appearances with the São Bernardo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Piracicaba Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rio Claro, The Wallingford Orchestra, the Hartt Symphony

Orchestra, and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with several chamber groups including the São Paulo String Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet, the Amerigo Trio, Quink vocal ensemble, cellist Robert deMaine, amongst others. Mrs. Witkowski performs regularly with her husband, pianist Fabio Witkowski, as the Witkowski Piano Duo. Their long list of concerts includes prestigious venues such as the Gardens of Villa Rufolo, in Ravello, Italy, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C., at The Symphony Hall, in Shanghai, at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, and at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. According to the New York Concert Review, the duo “shows marvelous rubato and tremendously clean playing, with a lovely sense of tone”. Mrs. Witkowski holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Santa Marcelina College in Brazil. She became the first prizewinner of several piano competitions and received a full scholarship from the Brazilian Government to study at the Manhattan School of Music in NY with Ms. Nina Svetlanova, where she received her Masters degree. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Hartt School of Music where she studied under the tutelage of Luiz de Moura Castro. She is currently a member of the piano faculty at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut.

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017 7:30PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

YURI BOGDANOV, piano

Barcarolle F sharp Major op.60 Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

2 Mazurkas I. Mazurka in B Minor op. 33 No. 4 II. Mazurka in D Minor op. 68 No. 4

Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, op. 23

Nocturne D flat Major op. 27 No. 2

Scherzo No. 2 in B flat Minor, op. 31

YURI BOGDANOV was born on February, 2nd, 1972. He started to play piano at 4 years old with outstanding teacher Anna Artobolevskaya. Simultaneously he began to study music composition under direction of T.Rodionova. In 1990 he finished Central Music School, in 1995 – the Moscow State conservatory P.Tchaikovsky (with distinction) and post-graduate work of the Moscow State conservatory P.Tchaikovsky in 1997. His teachers in Central Music School were A.Artobolevskaya, A.Mndoyants, A.Nasedkin; in a conservatory – prof. T.Nikolaeva; in post-graduate – prof. A.Nasedkin and prof. M.Voskresensky. Yury Bogdanov was awarded several prizes and ranks of the winner at the international competitions: I.S.Bach in

Leipzig 1992 (III Prize), F.Schubert in Dortmund 1993 (II Prize), F.Mendelssohn in Hamburg 1994 (III Prize), F.Schubert in Vienna 1995 (Grand Prix), E. Honens in Calgary (IV Prize), S.Seiler in Kitzingen, 2001 (IV Prize). Y.Bogdanov is the winner of the festival «April spring» in Pyongyang in 2004 and the owner of a special prize at the international competition of pianists in a Sydney in 1996. In 1992 the pianist was awarded the 1-st grant A.Scriabin. In Scriabin house-museum in Moscow Yuri Bogdanov in 1989 played his first solo recital. Since then the pianist made concert activity, acted more than in 60 cities of Russia and abroad. He had been on concert tours in Austria, Australia, Germany, Canada, Canary Islands, the Netherlands, Norway, Northern Korea, the USA, France, Switzerland, Japan. Since 1997 Y.Bogdanov is the soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic society. He had played in the best concert halls of Moscow, including Big hall of the Moscow conservatory P.I.Tchaikovsky as the soloist played with symphonic orchestras of State

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television and radio of Russia, Cinematography, the Moscow philharmonic society, Deutsche Kammerakademie, Calgary Philharmonic, The state symphonic orchestra and others. The pianist cooperated with conductors: V.Ponkin, P.Sorokin, V.Dudarova, S.Skripka, E.Serov, I.Goritsky, M.Bernardi, D.Shapovalov, A.Politikov, P.Yadyh, A.Gulyanitskiy, E.Nepalo, etc. Pianist had recorded 8 CDs. His CD with pieces of F.Schubert was recognized by the Viennese F.Schubert institute like the best record of Schubert’s records in the world in 1996. Yuri Bogdanov is a professor of Ippolitov-Ivanov music Institute in Moscow and Gnessin Russian music academy. His students are laureates of several international piano competitions. Yuri Bogdanov participated like the member of jury of many children’s, youthful and adult competitions of pianists: T.Nikolaeva competition (Bryansk, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006), A.Artobolevskaya competition (Moscow, 1999, 2002, 2009), A.Scriabin-Grant competition (Moscow, 1996-1999, 2001, 2003-2007, 2009), in Rybinsk (2002), in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (2003, 2006,2010), «Romantishen Stern» competition in Kassel (2004, 2008), «The Star youth of a planet» in Krasnodar territory (2006-2010) and in Sochi (2010), competition in Ufa (2007, 2008, 2010), in Ulan-Ude (2008), in Abakan (2008). He is a president of jury and art-director of music competition «Where art is born» in Krasnodar (2008, 2010). Yuri gave master-classes in Moscow, Abakan, Astrakhan’, Birobidzhan, Blagoveshchensk, Bryansk, Vladivostok, Volgodonsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Lipetsk, Magnitogorsk, Murmansk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Pskov, Rybinsk, Saransk, Sochi, Syzran, Ulan-Ude, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Tchelyabinsk, Electrostal, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Yakutsk, Yaroslavl, etc., and also in Kitzingen, Kassel (Germany), Oslo (Norway). The repertoire of the pianist includes solo, chamber compositions and concerts for a piano with an orchestra: I.S.Bach, D.Scarlatti, G.F.Hendel, I.Haydn, V.A.Mozart, L.V.Bethooven, F.Schubert, F.Mendelssohn, F.Chopin, R.Schumann, F.Liszt, J.Brahms, E.Grieg, S.Frank, I.Albeniz, C.Debussy, M.Ravel, F.Poulenk, P.Hindemit, A.Gordon Bell, L.Lachenman, N.Medtner, M.Musorgsky, P.Tchajkovsky, A.Scriabin, S.Rahmaninov, S.Prokofiev, D.Schostakovitch, T.Khrennikov S.Gubajdulinna, A.Schnitke, A.Rozenblat etc. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation often invited Yuri Bogdanov to teach at different summer art-schools in various regions of Russia and abroad. He has gratitudes from chapters of administrations and heads of culture departments of Subjects of Federation, and also gratitude of Minister of culture of the Russian Federation. Yuri Bogdanov is one of founders and vice-president of A.Artobolevskaya music foundation, and International charitable Y.Rozum foundation. In December, 2005 the presidium of the Russian academy of natural sciences selected Yuri Bogdanov as a member-correspondent of Academy on section «The humanities and creativity». The pianist awarded a silver medal «Offer to art» by the international charitable fund «Patrons of art of century». Also he awarded a medal «Honor and advantage» by society «Kind people of the world». In March, 2006 the pianist got the honorary title «The honored artist of Russia». Yuri Bogdanov is the art-director of the project «Where art is born». In 2007 the name of the musician was published in the 10-th edition of the bibliographic directory «Who is who» (the Russian edition). In the Autumn 2008 «Steinway & Sons» company chose Yuri Bogdanov as the artist of «Steinway».

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Thursday, July 27, 2017 7:30PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

OXANA YABLONSKAYA, piano

The Seasons, op. 37 P. I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

1. January: At the Fireside 2. February: Carnival 3. March: Song of the Lark 4. April: Snowdrop 5. May: Starlit Nights 6. June: Barcarolle 7. July: Song of the Reaper 8. August: Harvest 9. September: The Hunt 10. October: Autumn Song 11. November: Troika 12. December: Christmas

Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op. 42 S. Rachmaninov

(1873-1943)

A midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 61: Scherzo Mendelssohn/Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

OXANA YABLONSKAYA is one of a number of hugely talented expa- triate Russian pianists to have emerged from the post-World War II era. Yablonskaya possesses an all-encompassing technique and vast repertory that takes in works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and many others. She has made numerous recordings throughout her career, including for Melodiya, Naxos, Connoisseur Society, and Classical Records. Yablonskaya was born in Moscow, Russia, on December 6, 1938. A gifted child pianist, she studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexander Goldenweiser. She had later studies with Tatiana

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Nikolayeva. In the 1960s Yablonskaya captured prizes at three major competitions: the Jacques Long-Thibaud (1963), the Rio de Janeiro (1965), and the Vienna Beethoven (1969). Despite nu- merous concert invitations from abroad, however, the Soviet government forbade her from per- forming outside Eastern Bloc borders.

Frustrated in her career, Yablonskaya applied for a U.S. visa in 1975 and was subsequently stripped of her professorship at the Moscow Conservatory and denied all concert engagements. In 1977, thanks in great part to a petition signed by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rod- gers, Katharine Hepburn, and other notables, Yablonskaya emigrated to the United States with her father and son, Dmitry. Her son would become the renowned conductor and cellist Dmitry Yablonsky, with whom she would make several recordings.

Later on in 1977 Yablonskaya gave critically acclaimed concerts at Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall before capacity crowds. She regularly concertized thereafter, appearing in both recitals and as a soloist with major symphony orchestras across the U.S. and Europe. She soon began making re- cordings in the U.S., producing three highly praised albums for the Connoisseur Society label that featured music of Beethoven, Liszt, Mussorgsky, and Prokofiev. The Liszt recording was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque by the International Liszt Society.

From 1983 Yablonskaya has served on the faculty at Juilliard. In 1990 she created a near-sensation in her former homeland, giving several sold-out concerts and conducting master classes at the Moscow Conservatory. With the appearance in 1995 of volume one of the piano music of Tchaikovsky, Yablonskaya launched a series of highly successful recordings for the Naxos label.

In 2004, Yamaha engaged Yablonskaya to serve as an artistic advisor for master classes in New York and to conduct yearly master classes in Paris. Yablonskaya established her own piano institute in 2008 at Castelnuove di Garfagnana in Tuscany, Italy.

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Saturday, July 29, 2017 7:30PM

Katherine M. Elfers Hall • Esther Eastman Music Center

GRAND FINALE CONCERT

Young and Guest artists share the stage for an exciting final performance

YOUNG ARTIST CONCERTS:

Saturday, July 22 - 4:00 p.m. Sunday, July 23 - 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 26 - 7:30 p.m. * Friday, July 28 - 7:30 p.m.

* at Fairfield Farm, weather permitting�

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ALL CONCERTS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC