by Mark G. Auerbach
January At The Symphony
Both the Springfield and Hartford Symphony Orchestras ring in the New Year with concerts featuring world-class pianists. Here’s a hint to enhance your concert experience, especially if you’re bringing a young person who is studying piano. Ask the box-office for “house left” tickets–those on the left said of the hall, when you’re facing the stage. You’ll get a better view of the pianist’s use of the keyboards. Grand tier, mezzanine and balcony seats can be an affordable way to enjoy these programs, and be sure to check the box-offices for student and senior discounts.
In Springfield and Holyoke:
Spencer Myer
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has two great January programs, both featuring Maestro Kevin Rhodes, back from conducting Nureyev’s ballet Raymonda at the Vienna State Opera, and both featuring the talented pianist Spencer Myer. Myer and Rhodes have performed together twice at both the Springfield Symphony and Michigan’s Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and they worked together in Boston at the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.
On January 21, Rhodes and Myer join the Orchestra at Symphony Hall in Springfield for a program that includes: Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), and Symphony No.40 in G minor, with Myer performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (Emperor). The program is sort of a Viennese Hit Parade of 1788 and 1812. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org
On January 22, Rhodes, Myer, and members of the Springfield Symphony perform their second concert in the music room at Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke. The program includes works by Haydn, Ravel, Chopin, and Bolcom. This unique program includes a light brunch, and a pre-concert chat with Maestro Rhodes. For details: https://wistariahurst.org/events/springfield-symphony-orchestra-presents-winter-ensemble-2/
Spencer Myer is one of the most respected and sought-after artists on today’s concert stage, having been soloist with some of the world’s most distinguished orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra, the Johannesburg, Cape Town, Boise, Dayton, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Traverse, and Tucson Symphony Orchestras, Mexico’s Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra. An in-demand chamber musician, Myer has appeared for three consecutive summers at the Lev Aronson Legacy Festival in Dallas and has enjoyed a recurring partnership with the Miami String Quartet at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival/
Spencer Myer’s career was launched with three important prizes: First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa, the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association, and the Gold Medal from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland, and 2005 Busoni international piano competitions. He was a member of Astral Artists’ performance roster from 2003-2010.He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University. .For details on Spencer Myer: http://spencermyer.com/
Gilles von Sattel pianist
Photo: Marco Borggreve
In Hartford…
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra celebrates Beethoven and Ravel with concerts on January 20-22 at The Bushnell in Hartford. The January 22 concert is a matinee. Pre-concert talks will be held one hour prior to each concert in the Belding Theatre.
Joel Smirnoff conducts the Orchestra in Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op. 133; Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with guest pianist Gilles Vonsattel; and Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944, “The Great C Major”.
Swiss-born American pianist Gilles Vonsattel is an artist of extraordinary versatility and originality. Comfortable with and seeking out an enormous range of repertoire, Vonsattel displays a musical curiosity and sense of adventure that has gained him many admirers. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Naumburg and Geneva competitions as well as a Honens laureate, he has in recent years made his Boston Symphony, Tanglewood, and San Francisco Symphony debuts, while performing recitals and chamber music at Ravinia, Tokyo’s Musashino Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bravo! Vail, Music@Menlo, the Gilmore festival, the Lucerne festival, and the Munich Gasteig. He is the the Assistant Professor of Piano at UMass/Amherst since 2010. For details on Gilles Vonsattel: http://www.gillesvonsattel.com/.
For concert details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
Greg Whitaker
Maestros On The Move
Kevin Rhodes is Principal Conductor of Boston’s Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, wheh he’s not on the podium at The Springfield Symphony, The Traverse City Orchestra in Michigan, or the theatres of Paris, Vienna, and Oslo. The Pro Arte Chamber orchestra presents its Cure For The Winter Doldrums with Rhodes conducting music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Vivaldi, with trumpet soloists ’Dana Russian, who is a member of the Springfield Symphony, and Greg Whitaker, who has performed with the Springfield Symphony. This concert is January 14 at First Baptist Church in Newton Center. For details: 617-779-0900 or http://www.proarte.org/
Mark Gionfriddo
Mark Gionfriddo, creator and director of The Big Broadcast at Mount Holyoke, is spending his time between teaching and rehearsals on a book tour. He and his mother, Jeannie, co-authored a new book, Good Night, Dear Hart, Good Night, a new historical non-fiction account of Hart Lester Allen, the Springfield woman who was married to the man who brought down the infamnous Ponzi. The Gionfriddos discuss the book at a reading and booksigning on January 21 at 1pm at Blue Umbrella Books, in downtown Westfield, MA. For details: http://goodnightdearhart.com or www.blueumbrellabooks.com
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Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
