LENOX, Mass. — Prima Music Foundation presents the piano duo Anna and Dmitri Shelest and tenor Alexander Dedik at Ventfort Hall on Thursday, August 3 at 4 pm.
There will be light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar offering beer, wine and our new signature cultural cocktail, the Ventfort Vesper, in collaboration with Berkshire Mountain Distillers. The bar will open a half hour prior to the concert.
The program will include works for piano duo and art songs by composers from the Gilded Age including works by Gerswhin, Barber, Spross, Respigi, Friml, Lysenko and Skoryk.
Tickets are $45 general admission and $40 for Berkshire county residents. Reservations are strongly recommended as seating is limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/events/ or call (413) 637-3206. Note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable.
The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.
According to a press release:
Praised for their "stirring performances of rare repertory," Shelest Piano Duo is a husband-and-wife team who take their roots to the music school in Ukraine. The Duo, who met as classmates in middle school, began performing together after their marriage in the U.S. Their inventive programs brought them to a broad array of venues from concert stages to state functions, and, in words of Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, "realized diplomacy through music."
Born in Ukraine, Anna Shelest received her early music education at Kharkiv Special Music School. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree at Northern Kentucky University, she graduated from The Juilliard School with a master's degree.
Dmitri Shelest started studying piano at the age of six in Ukraine and soon enrolled into the Kharkiv Special Music School, succeeding at his first contest when he was 11 years old. It was also piano that brought him across to the U.S. after he was offered a full scholarship to Northern Kentucky University as a bachelor's degree candidate in piano performance.
They make their home in New York City with their two sons.
After becoming a prize-winner at both Tchaikovsky's and Glinka's International Competitions in 1970, Alexander Dedik was invited to be a leading dramatic tenor at the internationally famous opera house Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Alexander has had bestowed upon him and been given the honored and highest awards for artistic and musical achievement, namely the People's Artist of Russia in 1983 (awarded by then President Mikhail Gorbachev), the People's Artist of Belorussia in 1979, and the Honored Artist of Poland in 1978. Alexander has been a performing duo with his wife Tatiana Dedik who was accompanying him when he won a prize at the Tchaikovsky and Glinka Competitions. They have performed concerts together in over 20 countries throughout Europe, Israel, China, Peru and Scandinavia. Alexander is a Professor of Voice at the Rimsky-Korsakov College at The Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
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Tanglewood, Taconic Festival Blossoms; Sevenars Upcoming
By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires
The Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood opens its classical season Friday, July 5, as BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons takes center stage in the Shed with a powerhouse all-Beethoven program consisting of his supremely lyrical Violin Concerto, Op. 61 and concluding with the transcendental masterpiece Symphony No. 3 (‘Eroica'). On Sunday afternoon, July 7 Maestro Nelsons again directs the BSO, featuring the celebrated Metropolitan Opera diva Renée Fleming in an all-Richard Strauss program of operatic selections from "Die Frau ohne Schatten," "Intermezzo" and "Der Rosenkavalier."
Be sure to also consider attending the spectacular Taconic Music Festival for intimate and brilliantly performed chamber music in Manchester, Vermont.
Finally, plan to enjoy the convivial atmosphere at Sevenars Concerts, located in bucolic South Worthington, Mass. This season marks their 56th anniversary, as they present a festival season of six weekly Sunday afternoon concerts, beginning July 14.
There's so much music to experience in our culturally rich corner of the world! Read on for the details:
Tanglewood Shed Concerts
Friday, July 5, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: Opening Night at Tanglewood with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leading the first Boston Symphony Orchestra concert of the 2024 Tanglewood season. Maestro Nelsons, conductor, with the stellar violinist Gil Shaham performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto, Op. 61, composed in 1806, and Symphony No. 3, Op. 55, (‘Eroica'), composed in 1803-1804.
Saturday, July 6, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: The Boston Pops Orchestra: Maestro Keith Lockhart leads the Pops in a spectacular and wide-ranging program of Broadway showstoppers.
Sunday, July 7, 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: The Boston Symphony Orchestra will be led by Andris Nelsons, with operatic soprano Renée Fleming in an all-Richard Strauss program.
Monday, July 8, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: The Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Orchestra will be conducted by Maestro Andris Nelsons in a program of Dvorak ("Carnival Overture"); Coleridge-Taylor ("Ballade in A Minor"), and Shostakovich (Symphony No. 5).
Taconic Music Summer Festival
With four concerts over two weeks of great programs in this exhilarating music festival, be sure to include Taconic Music on your "not-to-be-missed" concert agenda.
Why go? Based in Manchester, Vermont, co-founders Ariel Rudiakov and Joana Genova will showcase their outstanding festival-resident teaching/performing artists and young artists.
For information, including tickets, and Taconic Music's year-round programs, call (802) 362-7162 or visit online at directors@taconicmusic.org. Chamber Music Saturdays are $30. for adults, free for students and kids. Reservations are recommended. Concerts will also be livestreamed.
Arrive early for an informal pre-concert reception on every Chamber Music Saturday, beginning at 6:30, when the box office also opens. Enjoy a glass of wine or Töst, and mingle with friends before the concert begins.
Here's a listing of the Taconic Festival's programming over the next two weeks:
Saturday, July 6 at 7:30pm:
AN EVENING OF POPS
Ariel Rudiakov conducts the Taconic Pops Orchestra in an evening of light classical music and hits from Hollywood and Broadway, and themes from James Bond movies, TV shows. Featuring guest vocalist Maxine Linehan.
Wednesday, July 10 at 7pm:
MASTERCLASS with violinist Eugene Drucker. Experience firsthand how chamber music is refined and brought to a whole new level. Former Emerson String Quartet violinist Eugene Drucker will offer insights and guidance to Taconic's Young Artists as they prepare for their July 15th concert.
Saturday, July 13 at 7:30pm: CHAMBER CONCERT III: Brahms and Mendelssohn
Eugene Drucker and Joana Genova, violins; Ariel Rudiakov and Stefanie Taylor, violas; Raman Ramakrishnan and Roberta Cooper, celli; Drew Petersen, Piano perform 19th century Romantic chamber music masterworks.
Monday, July 15 at 7pm:
YOUNG ARTISTS CONCERT II
Taconic's 2024 Young Artists perform works for string quartet, quintet and piano quartet in the final concert of Taconic Music's summer festival.
Sevenars Celebrates 56th Anniversary Season
Six Upcoming Sevenars Concerts
Opening Concert: Family and Friends:
Sunday, July 14, 4:00 p.m.: The Opening Concert of Sevenars Music Festival's 56th anniversary season offers exciting masterpieces for piano duo, piano solo, and cello - with Clifton J. ("Jerry") Noble, Rorianne Schrade, Lynelle James, and Christopher James. The program will include masterworks composed by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Holst (celebrating his 150th anniversary), and Gershwin (the "Rhapsody in Blue," in honor of the 100th anniversary of its 1924 premiere). In addition, Jerry Noble will perform his own composition written in memory of recently departed Sevenars family member David James, along with several other tribute performances by family members to be announced.
Looking ahead:
July 21, 4:00 p.m.: Sevenars welcomes revered violist Ron Gorevic in music especially composed for him; composers include - along with Bach, Reger, and Stravinsky - Laurence Wallach, Tasia Wu, Salvatore Macchia, and Kenji Bunch.
July 28, 4:00 p.m.: Sevenars is excited to present internationally renowned cellist Inbal Segev performing three Bach solo Cello Suites.
August 4, 4:00 p.m.: Exciting pianist Junwen Liang is Sevenars "Young Artist to Watch," performing Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and Prokofiev.
August 11, 4:00 p.m.: Outstanding pianist Sayuri Miyamoto and oboist Joel Bard join Atlanta violinist/violist Jun-Ching Lin for a beautiful and varied program of solos, duos, and trios by Mozart, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Respighi, Loeffler, Wallner and Paderewski.
August 18, 4:00 p.m.: The Sevenars season is capped off with the inimitable jazz of Jerry Noble, Kara Noble, Chris Devine, and John Van Eps.
Location: Sevenars Academy, 15 Ireland Street just off Rte. 112 at Ireland Street, South Worthington, Mass. Phone: (413) 238-5854 (please leave a message for return call) Website: www.sevenars.org.
Admission: There is no admission fee, but donations are welcomed at the door (suggested $20). Refreshments are offered free of charge.
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