South Berkshire Concerts presents Walden Players at Simon's Rock
GREAT BARRINGTON – The South Berkshire Concert Series presents the Walden Chamber Players at Bard College at Simon’s Rock on April 12. The program will feature a string trio by Alfred Schnittke, work for oboe and harp by Elliot Carter, and three premiers of the works by Sheila Silver, Alice Spatz, and Larry Wallach from the Berkshires Composers Project.The Walden Chamber Players is comprised of 12 artists in various combinations of string, piano, and wind ensembles; five of them will perform. Founded in 1997, the group presents educational curricula and concerts in a format that highlights the belief that music is the human experience translated into sound. Their concerts present new concepts of a classical concert both in content and presentation – programs consist of rarely heard classical work and contemporary compositions, paired with the use of multi-media.
Violinist Joel Pitchon is active as a concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Music from The Juilliard School, where he studied violin with Oscar Shumsky and Joseph Fuchs. He has been a concertmaster of numerous orchestras internationally, and has also collaborated frequently in chamber groups. He is currently the concertmaster of the EOS Chamber Orchestra in New York City, and the Associate Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Smith College.
Violist Christof Huebner is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players. Born in Vienna, he attended the Vienna Conservatory and the Wiener Musikhochschule where he studied with Hatto Beyerle. He also studied with Michael Tree at Saint Louis Conservatory as a Fulbright scholar, and received his Artist Diploma there. He has performed with many orchestras and chamber groups, and also made several recordings. He is currently the artistic director of the Walden Chamber Players and a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music.
Cellist Ashima Scripp is a native of Boston and has performed extensively in various settings. She is also the winner at many competitions, including the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation String Scholarship Competition, the Eleanor Thaviu String Competition, and the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. This past summer she was invited as one of only three national semi-finalists to the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition. She holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Northwestern University. She is currently a faculty member at Concord Academy and the Longy School of Music.
Oboist Laura Ahlbeck is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players. She attended Ohio State University where she studied with William Baker, and later with Elaine Douvas while pursuing her graduate degree at Manhattan School of Music. She has been a member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Orcestra Sinfonica de Maracaibo, and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for eight years. In addition, she also performs frequently with different groups internationally. She is currently a faculty member at Boston University, New England Conservatory of Music, and Boston Conservatory of Music.
Harpist Franziska Huhn won first prize in the prestigious German competition, Jugend Musiziert, at the age of fourteen. She came to the United States to study with Lucille Lawrence at Boston University and Ann Hobson Pilot at the New England Conservatory. She has the distinction of being the first harpist to receive the Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, along with its Gunther Schuller Award. Since 2003, Ms. Huhn has been assistant director of the Harp Seminar at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute. Since 2001, she has been a substitute harpist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Huhn has given solo concerts throughout the United States and Europe, and in Germany, has performed several times for the German President.
The concert will take place at 8 p.m. in the McConnell Theater of the Daniel Arts Center. Tickets, available at the door, are $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors, and free to all students and to all members of the Simon’s Rock community. For information, call 413-528-7212.
