Sedona AZ (April 6, 2021) – After a lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic, Chamber Music Sedona is pleased to announce that it will present a series of concerts as part of its Spring Festival from May 1-8, 2021. Held in locations across Sedona, the concerts celebrate the return of Chamber Music Sedona’s programming with exhilarating performances by world-renowned artists. In order to create enough space for social distancing, two performances will take place at the Saturday concerts: on May 1st and 8th at 2 p.m. and again at 5 p.m. Participants are also asked to wear masks at all events.
Spring Festival Concert I, “The Return”
On May 1st at the Hilton Hotel, 90 Ridge Trail Dr., Sedona, Arizona, 86351, the first concert of the Spring Festival will highlight the theme of return with a powerful and moving music program from six countries. A quartet with pianists Adam Golka and Michael Brown, violinist Bella Hristova and cellist (and artistic director of Sedona Chamber Music) Nick Canellakis will perform works by Beethoven, Dvorak and others.
Adam Golka has been performing regularly on the concert stage since he was 16 when he won first prize at the 2nd China Shanghai International Piano Competition. Since then, his numerous awards include the Gilmore Young Artist Award and the Max I. Allen Classical Fellowship Award from the American Pianists Association. Golka has appeared as a soloist alongside numerous symphonies around the world, in concerts at Lincoln Center and other leading venues, as well as at various music festivals.
A favorite among Sedona viewers, pianist and composer Michael Brown is a winner of the Lincoln Center’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award and the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant. As an artist with the Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society, he performs regularly at Alice Tully Hall and on tour and as a soloist alongside symphonies across the country. Brown was named composer and artist-in-residence of the New Haven Symphony and received numerous commissions from various musicians and orchestras.
Violinist Bella Hristova is a young musician with a growing international career. She has received multiple awards and honors, including an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2013. In addition to appearances worldwide, Hristova’s recording “Bella Unaccompanied” (AW Tonegold Records) and her Naxos release from de Bériot solo works have received impressive recognition.
Concert II, fundraising campaign: The Paul Neubauer Gypsy Band
The next concert of the Spring Festival, a fundraiser for Chamber Music Sedona, will take place on May 5th at 5 p.m. in a private home. The legendary violist Paul Neubauer, together with a group of renowned chamber musicians, will charm and delight the audience with a sizzling program of works by Schulenberg, Valdez and others. Neubauer’s extraordinary musicality and effortless playing have led the New York Times to refer to him as a “master musician”. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at the age of 21, he appeared as a soloist with over 100 orchestras worldwide. Neubauer is a two-time Grammy nominee and serves as the Artistic Director of New Jersey’s Mostly Music series and faculty at Juilliard School and Mannes College.
Concert III, “Heart String Masterpieces”
The “Heart String Masterpieces” concert closes the Spring Festival with grandeur and features two of the great romantic works for strings: Mendelssohn’s heartbreaking quartet in A minor and Brahms’ symphonic string quintet No. 2, one of the richest and most satisfying works in the repertoire. This concert will be performed by violinist Arnaud Sussmann, violist / violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, and other names familiar to Chamber Music Sedona audiences, outdoors at The Collective Sedona, 7000 AZ-179, Sedona, Arizona, 86351, Performed on May 8th at 2pm and 5pm.
Arnaud Sussmann, winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant 2009, has distinguished himself through his unique sound, his bravery and his deep musicality. An exciting musician who has drawn the attention of classical critics and audiences around the world, Sussmann has performed with many of today’s leading artists.
Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, named “Simply Wonderful” by the Seattle Times, is a renowned soloist and chamber musician who has performed at many of the world’s premier venues and festivals. Cindy has received several awards, including the Milka Violin Artist Prize from the Curtis Institute of Music and third place in the David Oistrakh International Violin Competition. As an educator, she has taught violin, chamber music and string pedagogy at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and is currently the artistic partner of the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles.
To find out more about Chamber Music Sedona’s exciting lineup for Spring Festival 2021 and to buy tickets to the concerts, visit https://chambermusicsedona.org.
