East-West Virtuosi

with special guests Martin Maijkut (RV Symphony)
and Matt Goodrich (OSF My Fair Lady Pianist)

Saturday, July 20, 2013 7 pm

Music In The Mountains.
at The Old Siskiyou Barn (Call for directions)
Tickets for this special event are $35 ($30 for Siskiyou Institute Members)

Reservations are highly recommended.

Reservations: by Email or 541-488-3869

This performance will help raise funds for the Siskiyou Institute Artists-In-Schools Program.

For this performance, East West Virtuosi members, violinist Heather Braun, Kimberly Fitch, viola, and David Gerstein, cello will be joined by the Music Director/Conductor of the Rogue Valley Symphony, Martin Majkut, on piano, and pianist Matt Goodrich, who currently is appearing on stage as half of the keyboard orchestra in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s “My Fair Lady”. The two pianists will present Antonin Dvorak¹s festive Slavonic Dances as they were originally written for piano four-hands.

The program will follow the theme of folk music and dance in a classical setting with John Novacek¹s “Rags (2009)” for String Quartet. Commissioned by the Ying Quartet, these works celebrate music unique to American culture. Geoffrey Robson, violinist and Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony, will join the string players to complete the string quartet. Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor will compose the second half of the program, ending our evening with the rousing 4th Mvt subtitled “Rondo alla zingarese” or “in Gypsy Style”.

The East-West Virtuosi is a group of flexible instrumentation, which seeks to produce spontaneity in performance and give a breath of fresh air to the classical music world. The core musicians, violinist Heather Braun, Kimberly Fitch, viola, and David Gerstein, cello, met at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and continue to perform together despite their demanding individual careers. The summer months are a perfect occasion to share their mission for presenting classical favorites alongside contemporary works in comfortable and intimate settings. The East-West Virtuosi fosters collaboration between their core members and outstanding local musicians.