Beethoven Concert
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Chestnut Hill Concert Series, which for nearly 40 summers has entertained shoreline audiences with much-acclaimed classical music programs in Madison, is coming to our synagogue.
Carol LeWitt has arranged a Chestnut Hill “bonus,” a repeat of this season’s final concert, featuring an all-Beethoven program and world-renown pianist Mihae Lee (pictured, R), at 4 p.m., on Sunday, Aug. 24., with a wine and cheese reception to follow.
Ms. Lee, who recently moved to Deep River, has captivated audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia in solo recitals and chamber music concerts for more than two decades. She has appeared at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Academia Nationale de Santa Cecelia in Rome, Warsaw National Philharmonic, the Taipei National Hall – and now our shul.
Praised by the Boston Globe, “Mihae Lee’s playing was simply dazzling,” she is an artist member of the Boston Chamber Musical Society and a member of the Triton Horn Trio with violinist Ani Kavafian and French hornist William Purvis. Her recordings of Brahms, Shostakovich, Bartok, and Stravinsky were critically acclaimed by High Fidelity, CD Review, and Fanfare magazines, the reviews calling her sound “as warm as Rubinstein, yet virile as Toscanini.”
Born in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Lee made her professional debut at the age of fourteen with the Korean National Orchestra after becoming the youngest grand prize winner at the prestigious National Competition held by the President of Korea.
She is particularly delighted to perform for friends and neighbors. “That’s why I moved here,” she said. “So many of the people who came to our concerts over the years became our friends. When you get on the local stage you feel, as an artist, the personal touch.”
Our violinist for the concert will be Ayano Ninomiya (pictured). The New York Times hailed her 2004 New York debut recital in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as “deeply communicative and engrossing.” Since her debut with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, on its opening night in 1999, Ms. Ninomiya has appeared across the U.S. as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has been featured as soloist with the Boston, Zurich, Harrisburg, and Southwest Florida symphonies, among others. As a JAL “Classic Special New Artist,” she has been presented in recitals throughout Japan, including a debut recital in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall.
They will be joined in our program by Ronald Thomas (pictured), the cellist and artistic director of the Chestnut Hill Concerts since 1989. Mr. Thomas has made solo appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony the Seattle Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and other renowned ensembles.
The Beethoven program for the synagogue includes: The Violin Sonata in F Major, Opus 24, “Spring,” the Cello Sonata in G Major, Opus 5, Number 2, and the Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, Opus 97, “The Archduke.”
The piano that Ms. Lee will use is our concert Mason & Hamlin grand, built for us in Boston, and paid for by the generosity of several donors.