Check out the great review of our
benefit
concert in the
Boston Musical Intelligencer
“a well-deserved standing ovation”
Benefit Concert in Support of Ukraine
An Evening of Chamber music
Music by Akimenko, Brahms & Reinecke
Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 7:30 PM
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church
1555 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 01238
TICKETS HERE
All proceeds will be donated to the
United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, Inc.
PROGRAM
Akimenko Eclogue (Elegia), Op. 12
Brahms Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40
Reinecke Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 274
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
We dedicate this concert to the victims of war in Ukraine. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, Inc., which provides vital medical supplies to victims, care for the injured and refugees, as well as shelter and food to those affected. We hope that you will join us for the concert and support the humanitarian aid efforts to provide much needed relief from this brutal invasion. If you cannot attend, please consider gifting tickets to your loved ones.
If you cannot attend, please consider gifting tickets to your loved ones or making a DONATION. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will be included along with the concert proceeds.
The concert will open with a beautiful work by Ukrainian composer Théodore Akimenko, who was Stravinsky's first composition teacher, and who dedicated much of his life to exploring Ukrainian national themes and including them in his own music.The concert features two of the great romantic works of the 19th century by Johannes Brahms and Carl Reinecke. Brahms Trio, Op. 40 was originally written for horn, violin and piano, but this evening, the violin part will be adapted for clarinet in Mr. Cohler's own arrangement. Carl Reinecke was one of the most influential pianists, conductors, and teachers of the time, and a great champion of Brahms' music. He served as the music director of the world-renowned Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig for more than 30 years, and taught some of the most famous musicians, including composers Edvard Grieg and Max Bruch. The musical selections for this unusual and unique instrument combination will include engaging introductions to the music, and promise an exciting evening!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Hornist Hazel Dean Davis performs frequently with the Boston Symphony and Pops, the Grammy-nominated chamber orchestra A Far Cry, Boston Ballet, Portland Symphony and Chameleon Arts Ensemble. Hazel has also played and toured with the Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Baltimore Symphonies. A dedicated teacher, Hazel maintains a private studio and is on faculty at the Longy School of Music and the Brevard Music Festival. Before moving to Boston, Hazel spent 11 years as a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, a job she won at 22. She was a Tanglewood Fellow for two summers, and also attended the Marlboro, Pacific, and Aspen Music Festivals. Hazel grew up in St. Paul, MN before attending Harvard University (B.A. ‘03) and The Juilliard School (G.D. ‘04). Her primary horn teachers were Caroline Lemen, Kendall Betts, James Sommerville, and Julie Landsman. Hazel lives in Arlington, MA with her husband, three kids, dog, cat, and tortoise.
Conductor and clarinetist Jonathan Cohler has been hailed as “the preeminent, most-recorded [clarinet] soloist of our time” (Fanfare) and his performances have been compared to the legendary pianist Dinu Lipatti. Cohler’s recent CD Cohler plays and conducts Mozart—including Symphony No. 35, overtures to Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, and the Clarinet Concerto, all in new editions by Cohler—was featured last year on the cover of Fanfare and called the new “standard for Mozart.” Mr. Cohler and multiple-award-winning Lithuanian pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite form today’s leading clarinet-piano duo and is featured on the cover of the current issue of Fanfare Magazine with their newest CD Latin Journey, their fourth CD together. As a conductor, Cohler has been compared to the likes of George Szell. Mr. Cohler is Professor of Clarinet and Chamber Music at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a Vandoren, Rossi, Royal Global, and Silverstein artist, and records exclusively for Ongaku Records. His Facebook page is the #1 classical clarinet Facebook page in the world.
Internationally acclaimed multiple prize-winning Lithuanian pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite Faneuf has been hailed for “artistry of poetic and observant sensitivity” (Gramophone) and dubbed as “a Beethoven interpreter of penetrating insight” (Fanfare). Her latest CD including Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D Minor and Beethoven Concerto No. 3 in C Minor was praised as comparable to Rudolf Serkin and the New York Philharmonic. Rasa has performed in over 30 countries and was recently named the Steinway Artist. Last season featured a solo recital on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in the Chicago Cultural Center that was broadcast live on WFMT radio and hundreds of affiliated stations nationwide. Next season will highlight Rasa’s recording of Mendelssohn Double Concerto with Tchaikovsky Gold Medal violinist Ilya Kaler. She is also the long-serving, critically acclaimed pianist of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and the founder of the largest piano studio in Cambridge, MA, where she also teaches conservatory and college students.
Chamber Music Boston – Boston's premiere classical chamber music ensemble featuring exciting performances in intimate settings by world-class artists, was founded in 2016 by Jonathan Cohler and Rasa Vitkauskaite. Recent guest performers include Tchaikovsky Gold medalist Ilya Kaler, world-renowned violinist, conductor, and educator James Buswell, University of Maryland professor violinist Irina Muresanu, Metropolitan Opera cellist Julia Bruskin, Concert Artist Guild winner Sebastian Bäverstam, celebrated soloist and chamber musician violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv.
