This preview has been provided by the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival.
The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival presents Chamber Music Monuments Plus at 3:00p.m. on November 19 at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh. Festival mainstays Adam Neiman (piano) and Axel Strauss (violin) join cellist Peter Stumpf and festival artistic director Ara Gregorian (violin/viola) in performance of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26, Dvorak’s Silent Woods, Op. 68 and Faure’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 45.
“Chamber Music Monuments is not-to-be-missed,” said Gregorian. “The Faure and Brahms quartets will take you on epic journeys into the innermost spirit of each composer and the soulful Dvorak will melt your heart. I look forward to exploring these pieces with our wonderful guest artists and to presenting all of these pieces to our audience.”
Chamber Music Monuments Plus also takes place in Greenville on November 16th (7:00 p.m.) and 17th (8:00 p.m.) at A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall.
Former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Peter Stumpf has performed with the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles, the chamber music societies of Boston and Philadelphia and at the Marlboro and Santa Fe music festivals. He has appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival and is a member of the Johannes String Quartet and the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio. Stumpf is currently professor of cello at Indiana University.
Nominated for a Grammy Award, pianist Adam Neiman has performed as soloist with the Chicago, Minnesota and National symphony orchestras. He has appeared in the PBS documentary film “Playing for Real” which aired worldwide, was a winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award and a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Neiman is a two-time winner of Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and is assistant professor of piano at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Winner of the 1998 Naumburg Violin Award, Axel Strauss has performed as soloist with the Hamburg and New York chamber symphonies, the Seoul, Budapest and Bucharest philharmonics, and has served as guest concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and Montréal Symphony. He has appeared at the Library of Congress and Alice Tully Hall, at the Marlboro and Kammermusiktage Mettlach festivals, and with the Philharmonic Violins Berlin on tour in Japan. Strauss is on the violin faculty at McGill University in Montreal.
Founder and artistic director of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, violinist/violist Ara Gregorian made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra. He has appeared in cities throughout the world including Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Helsinki, and has performed as a member of Concertante. Gregorian is a member of the Cooperstown Quartet and is professor of violin at East Carolina University where he holds the Four Seasons Distinguished Professorship.
Chamber Music Monuments Plus is the second of four Classic Series concerts, the festival’s flagship concert experience. Four Seasons also presents two Chamber Music Dressed Down concerts as part of the 2017-2018 season subscription. These intimate concerts in parlor-like settings seek to transform the listener’s experience with discussion from the stage and access to the musicians during and after the performances. Chamber Music Dressed Down concerts take place February 3 at Saint Mary’s School and March 15 at All Saints Chapel in Raleigh.
“This is the audience’s opportunity to experience a live performance up close,” said Gregorian. “People can come dressed down and be in the middle of all that is going on.”
There are six concerts in the Raleigh season ticket package, which includes four Classic Series concerts and two Chamber Music Dressed Down concerts. Tickets are available online at www.ecu.edu/fourseasons, or by phone at 252-328-6019.
Raleigh Concert Season
Chamber Music Monuments Plus: November 19, 3:00 p.m.; Hayes Barton UMC
The Intimate Brahms: February 3, 5:00 p.m.; Saint Mary’s School
Cooperstown Quartet: February 18, 3:00 p.m.; Hayes Barton UMC
Quartet for the End of Time: March 15, 7:30p.m.; All Saints Chapel
Thrilling Season Finale: April 8, 3:00 p.m.; Hayes Barton UMC
