~Program~
Robert
Schumann: Adagio and Allegro for cello and piano, Op 70
Franz
Schubert: Sonata in A Minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821
Allegro moderato
Adagio in E Major
Allegretto in A Major
~Intermission~
Claude
Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor
Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto
Sérénade: Modérément animé
Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux
César
Franck: Cello Sonata in A Major
Allegretto ben moderato,
Allegro
Ben moderato
Allegretto poco mosso
Steinway piano provided by M. Steinert & Sons
Meet The Artists
Jonah Ellsworth,
cellist
www.jonahellsworth.com Critics
have certainly taken notice of cellist Jonah Ellsworth after solo
performances with the Boston Symphony, Akron Symphony, Jacksonville
Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, and New Bedford Symphony, among others.
Ellsworth has been referred to as “a kind of unrepentant Tannhauser”
and “a player to watch,” by the Boston Globe and Clevelandclassical.com.
The Boston Musical Intelligencer wrote that he is “fearless [with
a] complete range of expressive richness” All of these quotes were
earned after performances of the Saint-Seans Cello Concerto with
the Boston Philharmonic, the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Akron
Symphony, and his performance of Strauss’ Don Quixote and Dvorak
Cello Concerto with the Boston PhilharmonicYouth Orchestra.
Jonah was featured as a soloist with the New Bedford Symphony on
their regular subscription series in 2012, performed as a soloist
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall, with Symphony
Pro Musica, and with Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra under the baton
of the late Gunther Schuller. As the winner of the NEC's lower strings
concerto competition, Jonah performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with
the NEC Philharmonia in March of 2016. Jonah attended the Marlboro
Music Festival in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
When Jonah recently performed Strauss’ Don Quixote with Zander and
the BPYO in Europe, former Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer wrote
“Ellsworth’s grasp of what the notes mean, of the stories they tell,
of the feeling behind and within the notes, is firm, and very deep.
His playing of some of the quieter episodes, the yearning that Don
Q feels for the idealized Dulcinea, was profoundly moving, and there
was plenty of rambunction as he tilted against windmills and scattered
sheep.” His performance of the Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with
YPO in Slovakia prompted the critic from Boston Musical Intelligencer
to write, “…Any praise of Jonah’s technical abilities is likely
to be an understatement. He is completely assured and intensely
musical; each of the variations had a distinctive character and
tone color… This is a young man on the verge of an international
career.” Jonah is also a member of the Boston Philharmonic cello
section.
Jonah was finalist of the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition
in Michigan, and received a prize from the Harvard Musical Association
in 2012. Jonah appeared on the PBS TV show of the “From the Top”
taped live in Carnegie Hall in New York City which has been broadcast
on PBS stations nationwide. Jonah has studied with Laurence Lesser
at New England Conservatory and Peter Wiley at Curtis Institute
of Music. Other teachers include Andrew Mark and Natasha Brofsky.
He has attended Meadowmount Music School where he studied with Hans
Jansen, Greenwood Music Camp, Orford Arts Center in Canada. Jonah
was recently invited to join the critically acclaimed Boston Trio.
With the trio, he performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the
Boston Phiharmonic in the 2016-17 season. Another highlight of the
2016-2017 season included a performance of the Brahms Double Concerto
with violinist Yoojin Jang with Symphony by the Sea.
Hailed
as “discerningly intense” (The Boston Globe), giving a “riveting
performance that engaged us both musically and intellectually” (The
Dayton City Paper), and praised for “great playing” (The Boston
Globe), pianist Michael Bukhman is becoming widely known as a top
collaborator, chamber musician, and solo artist. His 2013 performance
with violinist Itzhak Perlman in Sarasota, Florida, was lauded for
its “brilliant playing” and having “pushed the audience to the edge
of frenzy” (Herald-Tribune). In June of 2016 Bukhman performed a
duo recital with Grammy award-winning violist Kim Kashkashian to
great acclaim at the American Viola Society Festival in Oberlin,
OH. He has also collaborated with Nobuko Imai, Donald Weilerstein,
Dawn Upshaw, Sergiu Schwartz, Peter Frankl, Roger Tapping, Anthony
Marwood, and many others. Bukhman’s concert appearances have taken
him all across the United States, Israel, Canada, and Europe. He
has recently performed in several cities in China with his wife,
violist Xinyi Xu, and has given his Japan recital debut in Tokyo’s
Ginza Yamaha Hall. An award-winning pianist, Bukhman’s accolades
include: medalist in the 2009 Hilton Head International Piano Competition;
top-ranked winner of the 2005 Jacob K. Javits Fellowship; first-prize
winner at the 2006 Corpus Christi International Competition for
Piano and Strings; and laureate of the 2006 Gina Bachauer Competition
at the Juilliard School. Notable music festival concert appearances
include Yellow Barn Music Festival, The Perlman Music Program, and
the Ojai Music Festival. He has also performed on Boston’s charitable
Music For Food concert series with members of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. In addition to the standard repertoire, Bukhman has a
keen interest in showcasing the music of our time, performing and
premiering the solo piano and chamber music of such composers as
Jonathan Harvey, Osvaldo Golijov, Philippe Hersant, Arlene Sierra,
Judith Shatin, Tzvi Avni, and others.
Bukhman served as visiting assistant professor of music at Bard
College, where he founded Play/Chat@Bard, a concert series showcasing
young musicians in performance with informal conversation. These
popular concerts featured some of the most up-and-coming musicians
of our time with Bukhman at the piano, including the Attacca Quartet,
Metropolitan Opera soprano Rebecca Ringle, and violinist Tessa Lark.
He had previously taught at Vassar College, and has served as faculty
for the Young Artist Program at Yellow Barn Music Festival and the
Killington Music Festival. In the Spring of 2017 Bukhman was Guest
Artist in Residence at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH. He was
also recently invited to present solo and chamber masterclasses
at Soochow University in Taipei, and previously taught, performed,
and presented masterclasses at Shenandoah University, Concordia
College, and Towson University.
Bukhman attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student
of Robert Shannon, where he became the first in that institution’s
history to graduate with Honors in Piano Performance. As part of
his Honors project, Bukhman recorded and self-produced the complete
24 Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich, performing ten of them in
one recital. He holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts
degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert
McDonald. Bukhman served on the staff and faculty of the New England
Conservatory in Boston, MA and is currently Assistant Professor
of Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music at Texas Christian University
in Fort Worth, TX.
Thank you
for your generous contribution to
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts
updated 2018
