Whether you are a professional musician, a student, or a lover of fine music, this concert series will not only entertain you, but these world class musicians, many of whom are also university professors, will enlighten you about the pieces they perform.
2023 – 2024 CONCERT LECTURES
All Concert/Lectures:
Wilton Library
137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897
2:45 Refreshments, 3pm - 5pm Concert/Lectures
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 3pm – Pavlo Gintov
“Music In the Times of War”
Saturday, March 30, 2024 – Margarita Rovenskaya
A Program on Dvorak
Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 3pm - Itay Goren
Music Inspired by Nature
Saturday, May 4, 2024 – Anita and Julian Graef
Compositions for cello and violin from the Baroque to Contemporary
If Presented via ZOOM -
Register to attend by contacting Moira Schur Craw
1661222904
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 3pm - Pavlo Gintov
“Music In the Times of War”
The extreme experience of living through a wartime has always inspired artists to create powerful works. Pianist Pavlo Gintov, who has been called a “musical storyteller”, presents a program of works by Chopin, Gottschalk, as well as works by the modern composers written in a response to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
Saturday, March 30, 2024 - Margarita Rovenskaya
Dvorak
Biographers and textbooks often describe composer Antonín Dvořák's (1841-1904) music within an imagined binary: between the Germanic tradition and Czech folk music. Or Dvořák’s life and music may be condensed into a few pages in a chapter titled “Nationalism” with several other composers. The Romantic era saw the development of national styles in countries outside the long-standing established traditions of Italian, French and German music. Grouping music inspired by Hungarian dance, Russian folk songs, Spanish guitar, and Czech furiant in one chapter, however, does not do justice to the wide range of composers and music from so many different countries. Dvořák expanded musical forms to include dances such as dumkas, furiants, polkas and sousedskas, using new harmonies and creating melodies inspired by the countryside around him. He is well known for the use of these nationalist elements of Czech life and culture in his orchestral works and operas. Yet his contributions to the genres of music for solo piano remain largely neglected, and rarely performed. These works embody his nationalistic spirit and his skill in communicating an idiomatic Czech style within the Germanic tradition. They also occupy a unique place within the larger development of a specific Czech musical identity and of nationalism in the 19th century more generally.
The historical and cultural events of the Czech people have shaped the music of the Czech composers, who have created a Czech identity within the classical tradition. Influence of Czech church chants, folk dances and songs, battle hymns, and influence of Czech culture appear in unison melodies, chromaticism, frequent use of diminished chords, and sectionalization in the form. Yet, each composer created a “Czechness” in the music unique to their different approaches, and each combined these elements differently with the German styles of their time. Their success created a path for future Czech generations to celebrate Czech culture and music. This presentation will illustrate the folk harmonies, forms, and spirit of the Czech style through the music of Dvorak, Smetana, and Janacek.
Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 3pm - Itay Goren
Music Inspired by Nature
In connection to Earth Day, pianist Itay Goren returns to the Schubert club to present his program, “Music inspired by Nature”. Throughout history, nature has been a source of enchantment and inspiration for the great composers. All of the works are inspired by nature - trees, flowers, birds, insects, the sea, weather etc. This concert will feature music by Bach, Rameau, Daquin, Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Lamothe, Sibelius, MacDowell, Debussy and Ravel, as well as a new work written especially for this program by contemporary composer Christodoulou Georgiades.
Saturday, May 4, 2024 – Anita and Julian Graef
Compositions for cello and violin from the Baroque to Contemporary
"Sibling performers Julian and Anita Graef will present a program exploring duet repertoire for both the violin and viola with cello from throughout history-from the baroque to the present day. Composers performed include J.S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, Astor Piazzolla, Caroline Shaw and more."
