| Chamber Musicians Perform for Watchung Arts Center
Benefit Oboist -Carolyn Pollak |
|
CONCERT: Sunday, May 2th, 1999
|
Watchung, NJ.— Four outstanding musicians with international reputations will perform together in Watchung on Sunday afternoon, May 2, at 2:00 p.m., in the second concert in the Chamber Music in the Hills series, which benefits the Watchung Arts Center. Held in a gracious private home nestled in the Watchung Mountains, the concert will feature music for oboe and string trio and will be followed by an elegant reception for the guests and the performing artists.
The musicians are well known in the New York metropolitan area as recitalists and chamber musicians in addition to their appearances with major orchestras in the U.S. and elsewhere. They include Carolyn Pollak, principal oboist of the New Jersey Symphony; Joel Pitchon, violinist; Ruth Kahn Siderman, violist, the coordinator of the Chamber Music in the Hills series; and Marie-Volcy Pelletier, cellist. They will perform quartets by Mozart and Britten, and string trios by Schubert and Dohnanyi.
The event is the second in a series of Sunday afternoon concerts which recapture the tradition of chamber music performed in private homes. "Much of this music was intended for small audiences in intimate surroundings," says Ms. Siderman. "The audience can actually feel the vibrations of the music and relate to the musicians in a way that's impossible in a concert hall." For the musicians, too, it's a rewarding experience. "Often, this music represents some of the composers' most personal thoughts," she adds. "We feel as if they are speaking through us, as if it were a conversation among friends."
The first concert in the series took place in November and featured the Miro String Quartet, with Ms. Siderman as guest artist. "The response was beyond our expectation—both for the music and for attendance," she says. "Before we knew it, we had filled the room and had a waiting list."
Due to the setting, seating for the May 2 concert is very limited. Reservations are necessary; the deadline is April 10. The $45.00 per person donation is tax deductible within the limits of the law. Directions to the home where the concert will take place will be given after the check is received. For further information contact the Watchung Arts Center at (908) 753-0190.
The Watchung Arts Center is a not-for-profit cultural center providing a broad spectrum of visual arts, music, performance and educational experiences for central New Jersey adults and children.
The Artists:
Carolyn Pollak, principal oboist of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for 20 seasons, has made solo appearances with that orchestra and has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. Praised for her warmth of tone, touching nuance and stunning technique, she has performed throughout the U.S. and Spain.
Violinist Joel Pitchon, a graduate of The Juilliard School, has been concertmaster of the Barcelona (Spain) Symphony and the American Symphony. He has toured extensively with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia Masterworks and other major recording companies. A powerful and virtuosic performer, he is also acclaimed for his lyrical and beautiful playing.
Violist Ruth Kahn Siderman, is an active chamber musician and recitalist throughout the New York metropolitan area and performs with the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera Orchestras. She was a scholarship student of Paul Doktor and Karen Tuttle at The Juilliard School and has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. She is known for her rich, colorful sound as well as her technical brilliance. Ms. Siderman is Coordinator of Classical Music for the Watchung Arts Center, and the originator of the Chamber Music in the Hills series.
Cellist Marie-Volcy Pelletier was born in Paris, France, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study with Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, she has been a member of the BBC Orchestra in England, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, and has been featured in chamber music and solo recitals throughout Europe and the U.S. An inspired combination of warmth, wit, grace and flawless technique have endeared her to audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Music:
The centerpiece of the concert will be two quartets for oboe and strings: Mozart's Quartet in F Major (K. 370/368b) and Benjamin Britten's Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2. Composed in 1781 for a superb oboist in Munich, the Mozart quartet displays virtuosity in the outer movements and and an exquisite Adagio in the middle. Although an early work, the Britten quartet is intricate and complex and was the composer's first international success when it was performed at a major European festival in 1934. The concert opens with Schubert's Trio #1 in Bb Major and concludes with Ernst von Dohnanyi's Serenade and Trio for violin, viola and cello.
|
|
Watchung
Arts Center |
|
|
