Posted on Dec 15, 1997

Award-winning pianist Max Levinson will perform two concerts at Union College's Memorial Chapel on Friday, January 2, and Sunday, January 4. The Friday concert will begin at 8 p.m., the Sunday concert at 3 p.m.

Levinson will be performing two Schubert Bicentennial Programs showcasing the composer's last four sonatas. On Friday, the program will include Sonata in G major, D. 894; Wandererfantasie in C major, D. 760; and Sonata in C minor, D. 958. On Sunday, it will include Sonata in A major, D. 959 and Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960.

Winner of the 1997 Dublin International Piano Competition, Max Levinson has been called by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe “the genuine article, a real musician to the core and a pianist of exceptional gifts.” Only 25 years old, Levinson has already had a distinguished career. He received his undergraduate degree in English Literature from Harvard University and studied at the New England Conservatory, where he received the Artist Diploma and was awarded the Gunther Schuller Medal, given to the Conservatory's top graduate student.

Levinson has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Boston Pops. He has also appeared as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. In addition to his solo performances, he has performed at major chamber music festivals, including the Santa Fe, Marlboro, Tanglewood and La Jolla festivals. His solo debut CD is available on the N2K Encoded Music label and a forthcoming disc devoted to the music of Bartok is planned for June 1998. Other recordings are available on Stereophile and Warner Classics/Japan, and on the Virtuoso Disklavier label.

The Schenectady Museum-Union College concert series is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union campus. Parking is available on campus and on nearby sidestreets.

Tickets, at $12 for each concert ($6 for students), are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518) 382-7890 and at the door. For more information, call 372-3651.

Posted on Dec 15, 1997

Perennial favorites David Finckel and Wu Han return to the Schenectady Museum – Union College Concert Series for a performance on Saturday, January 10, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Memorial Chapel.

The program is to include Beethoven's Sonata for piano and cello in A major, Op. 69; Shostakovich's Sonata for cello and piano in D minor, Op. 40; and Grieg's Sonata for cello and piano in A minor, Op. 36.

Husband and wife duo cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han have attracted international attention with their profound artistry and their unique musical synergy. As the Washington Post wrote, “… what made [the performance] particularly memorable was the degree of exquisitely intimate ensemble achieved by Finckel and pianist Wu Han, with spontaneity, vigor and seamless melody.” Last season, they made their debut at London's Wigmore Hall, New York's 92nd Street Y and at the Smithsonian Institution and performed and recorded the Beethoven cycle at the Aspen Music Festival.

Born into a family of cellists, David Finckel began his musical studies with his father, composer Edwin Finckel, and made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 15. A member of the Emerson String Quartet since 1979, Finckel has performed in virtually every music capital in the world.

Wu Han began her musical studies in Taiwan at the age of nine. A regular participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and other summer festivals, she recently made her debut with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Together, David Finckel and Wu Han have recently launched the ArtistLed record label, the first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. Their debut recording includes sonatas of Chopin, Grieg, and Shumann's Adagio and Allegro. Additional releases include sonatas of Strauss and Franck and cello music by Edwin Finckel.

Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union campus. Parking is available on campus and on nearby sidestreets.

Tickets, at $15 ($7 for students), are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518)382-7890 and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.

Posted on Dec 1, 1997

Seasonal favorites Joel Cohen and the Boston Camerata return to Union College to perform A Renaissance Christmas on Monday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.

This is the tenth annual appearance of the Camerata, hailed as “one of America's finest Early Music ensembles” by the Chicago Tribune.

A Renaissance Christmas presents a cross- section of music heard and performed in Europe from roughly 1470 to 1620 in celebration of the Christmas season. An astonishing juxtaposition of music of the church and home, of seriousness and wit, of spirituality and jest, runs through the Renaissance Christmas repertoire.

Founded in 1954, the Boston Camerata is an internationally celebrated performance company of singers and instrumentalists dedicated to bringing alive the music of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the early Baroque.

The ensemble was associated with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts until 1974. Music director Joel Cohen, a musician and musicologist, has led the Boston Camerata since 1968. Cohen studied composition at Harvard and spent two years in Paris as a student of Nadia Boulanger. He has taught and lectured at several American and European institutions, and his professional honors include Phi Beta Kappa, Bodky Prize, and Harvard's Signet Society Medal.

Cohen and the Camerata won the 1989 Grand Prix du Disque for their retelling of the medieval Tristan and Iseult legend on Erato Records. Their recordings have reached bestseller status and the group has gained widespread acceptance among the general public.

In past appearances, the Camerata has made full use of Memorial Chapel and its wonderful acoustics, with musicians wandering the hall and singing and playing from balconies.

Tickets, at $20 ($10 for students), are available in advance at the Schenectady Museum (518)382-7890 and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.