Simon’s Rock Announces the South Berkshire Concert Series Line-Up
GREAT BARRINGTON — Bard College at Simon’s Rock’s 2008/2009 South Berkshire Concert Series opens Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm with a performance by the Simon’s Rock Piano Quartet. All South Berkshire concerts take place at the College’s Daniel Arts Center in the McConnell Theater. For the first time since the series was founded, the College is offering these performances for free, with a suggested $10 donation. The concerts are completely open to the public.The Simon’s Rock Quartet will perform a program that includes W. A. Mozart, Piano Quartet in E-flat, K. 493; Aaron Copland, Trio for violin, cello, and piano, "Vitebsk" (1929); and Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quartet in c minor, op. 15. The Quartet is comprised of three Bard College at Simon’s Rock faculty members and will be joined by a guest performer, Eric Martin.
Violinist Ronal Gorevic has recorded Schumann violin sonatas, string quartet performances with the Chester Quartet on the Koch label, and a CD with the Prometheus Piano Quartet on the Centaur label. Violist Eric Martin has performed with the Syracuse Symphony, Orchestra of the Southern Fingerlakes, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and Berkshire Bach Society. Cellist Anne Legêne is a member of the baroque orchestra "Foundling" in Providence, RI and the "Les Inégales" trio. Pianist and composer Larry Wallach has appeared with the Avanti Quintet, the New York Consort of Viols, and is a regular performer on the "Octoberzest" series in Great Barrington. Wallach’s composed works have been heard in New York, Boston, Amherst, the Berkshires, and at Bard College.
The series continues on Saturday, October 18, 2008 with a performance by internationally acclaimed and recording Pipa player and vocalist, Min Xiao-Fen. Min was featured soloist with the New York City Opera, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the vocal ensemble Chanticleer, the San Diego Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, among others. In addition to a long recording resume, Min was featured on Shaolin Ulysses and The Port of Last Resort (both Tzadik), two movie soundtracks composed by John Zorn, and composed "The Shang." A duet with pianist Randy Weston, recorded Khepera (Verve), and then toured the project worldwide. Faculty member John Meyer will join Min, assisting with jazz guitar.
On Saturday, November 16, 2008, The Lydian String Quartet will visit campus to perform. The Quartet has recorded twenty CDs of music from Schubert and Brahms through Hyla, Boykan, Ornstein, Wyner and Harbison. Their recording of John Harbison's String Quartet No. 3 and "The Rewaking" was chosen by both the New York Times and the Boston Globe as one of the best recordings of 2001. Their latest recording of the complete string quartets of Vincent Persichetti was the recipient of a Copland Fund grant and was released by Centaur in 2006.
The series will come to a close with a performance by Frederic Chiu on Saturday, March 28, 2009. With over 20 CDs on the market, Frederic Chiu’s repertoire includes the complete work of Prokofiev as well as popular classics of Chopin, Liszt and others, and lesser known masterpieces of Mendelssohn and Rossini, with a special place for the piano transcription. Many have been singled out, such as "Record of the Year" by Stereo Review, "Top 10 recordings" by The New Yorker, with raves from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
For more information please visit www.southberkshireconcerts.org.
Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the nation’s first and only college designed expressly to educate bright and motivated students (after the tenth or eleventh grade) in the liberal arts and sciences. Founded in 1966, Simon’s Rock later joined the Bard College system in 1979. It maintains its own campus in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and unique identity as a supportive intellectual home for early college students. Bard College at Simon’s Rock enrolls approximately 450 full-time students, and grants both Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in more than 40 academic concentrations.
