HSO Violinist Leonid Sigal, Violist Patricia Vance & Cellist Peter Zay to Perform
HARTFORD, January 29, 2010 – The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will present “Reunited Masterpieces,” the second concert of the 2009-2010 Sunday Serenades Chamber Music series, on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in Morgan Great Hall at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. This program is inspired by the Wadsworth’s latest exhibition, “Reunited Masterpieces: From Adam and Eve to George and Martha,” and will feature performances of works by Handel, Bach, and Eisler. Sunday Serenades Artistic Director and HSO Concertmaster (principal violinist) Leonid Sigal will join HSO violist Patricia Daly Vance and HSO cellist Peter Zay for this intimate chamber program.
The Wadsworth Athenuem’s “Reunited Masterpieces: From Adam and Eve to George and Martha” exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see several notable paintings in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum reunited with their original pendant or mate. Loans have been sent from museums in Europe, Canada, and America so that visitors in Hartford can have a brief period in which to view and appreciate the works the way the artists originally intended, as contrasting or complimentary pairs.In addition, several other reunited pairs already in the museum’s collection will be featured. The works range from the Renaissance era to the eighteenth century and include religious and mythological subjects, portraits, and genres.
Inspired by the theme of this exhibit, chamber players from the HSO will perform three Baroque standards in a new context. The first is a modern take on Bach’s signature style by early 20th Century composer and anti-Nazi activist Hanns Eisler. Mr. Sigal and Mr. Zay will play George Frederic Handel’s Passacaglia for keyboard as arranged for violin and cello by the Romantic Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. The second half of the program will feature one of the quintessential examples of the Baroque style – Bach’s Goldberg Variations – in a new, highly acclaimed arrangement for violin, viola, and cello by prominent conductor and violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
HSO Concertmaster and Sunday Serenades Artistic Director Leonid Sigal has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra leader. Born in Moscow, Russia, he began violin studies at age five. He moved to the US in 1995 when he was awarded a prestigious fellowship with the New World Symphony. A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Sigal frequently appears with the Miami Friends of Chamber Music and the Avery Ensemble, and has served as Artistic Director of the Miami Chamber Symphony.
Patricia Daly Vance has performed as a violist with the Hartford Symphony for 30 years. She has served as Orchestra Committee Chair and Musician Representative to the HSO Board. Ms. Vance was a member of the Aspen Festival Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra and has performed under the baton of Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Seiji Ozawa. She is the co-founder of the Farmington Chamber Players and the Norfolk Chamber Players and has taught in the public school string programs in Farmington, West Hartford, and Simsbury.
Cellist Peter Zay’s musical achievements have taken him to concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, and Central America. He appears regularly at the International Musical Arts Institute chamber music concerts in Fryeburg, Maine and travels frequently to Spain to perform as a guest of the Quartetto Saravasti. He has performed at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, the Taos Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Bellingham and Wintergreen Festivals of Music.
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CALENDAR LISTING:
HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Sunday Serenades at the Wadsworth Atheneum: Reunited Masterpieces
Featuring Sunday Serenades Artistic Director and HSO Concertmaster Leonid Sigal; Patricia Daly Vance, viola; Peter Zay, cello
Sunday, February 21, 2010 │ 2:00 p.m.
Morgan Great Hall │ Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Program: J.S. Bach (arr. D. Sitkovetsky): Goldberg Variations; George Frederic Handel (arr. Halvorsen): Passacaglia, Duo for Violin & Cello; Hanns Eisler: Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H, Op. 46
Ticket Prices: Single tickets to this performance are $30; $25 for Atheneum Members or HSO Subscribers. Ticket price includes general admission to the Wadsworth Atheneum on the days of the concerts.
Tickets are available in person Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Hartford Symphony Orchestra Ticket Services, 99 Pratt Street, Suite 500 in Hartford, by calling (860) 244-2999, or online 24/7 at www.hartfordsymphony.org.
The 2009-2010 Sunday Serenades Series is sponsored in part by the Helen M. Saunders Charitable Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra receives major support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is located at 600 Main St. in Hartford, Connecticut. The Museum is open Wednesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please visit www.wadsworthatheneum.org for more information.