Join us on Friday, March 15, 2024 at 7:30pm for an evening of exquisite chamber music with Hartford Symphony concertmaster Leonid Sigal and friends. Mr. Sigal always creates a program sure to mesmerize audience members and take full advantage of the beautiful acoustics of the St. John’s nave. This event will be presented in person and by livestream.

A reception will follow this concert.

The concert is free admission, suggested donation $20. Checks payable to Music at the Red Door or click here to donate online.

Click on image below to watch.

Leonid Sigal, violin with Peter Zay, cello, and Anastasia Dedik, piano

PROGRAM:
Mozart – Sonata for Piano and Violin in F major, K.376
Ravel – Sonata for Violin and Cello, M.73
Perkinson – Blue/s Forms, 1979
Brahms – Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in A minor, Op. 114

About the artists

LEONID SIGAL
Leonid Sigal has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as recitalist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and soloist, as well as conductor. Since early performances he was praised by audiences and critics for his virtuosity and musical sensitivity. The Miami Herald wrote: “He demonstrated what a fine violinist he is, playing passionately and cleanly with a soaring tone;” and the Hartford Courant echoes: “His tone is consistently sweet. He brings a clear sense of phrasing, articulation, and effortless virtuosity.” And most recently: “The richness of his interpretive voice remains fascinating.”

Born in Moscow, Russia into a musical family, Mr. Sigal began violin studies at age five and was accepted to the renowned Gnessin School of Music. He went on to graduate with excellence from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Maya Glezarova. Winner of several violin competitions and recipient of the Meadows Artistic Scholarship Award, he moved to the U.S., where he continued his studies under the tutelage of Erick Friedman, Joseph Silverstein, and Emanuel Borok. In 1995 he was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to join a prestigious orchestral fellowship at the New World Symphony.

Mr. Sigal’s vast performing experience includes recitals, chamber music performances, festival and orchestral appearances in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Russia, Japan, South Korea and throughout Europe. He has performed under Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Herbert Blomstedt, among others. A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich, Evgeny Kissin, Edgar Meyer, James Ehnes, Roberto Díaz, William Wolfram, and Jason Vieaux. He founded and has served as Artistic Director of the celebrated Sunday Serenades, a popular chamber music series at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Now in its 12th season, the series has been highly regarded for creative programming of both traditional as well as rarely heard baroque, classical, and romantic repertoire, along with notable works by 20th-century and contemporary masters.

Mr. Sigal’s appearances as soloist include highly acclaimed performances of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Bach’s Double Concerto with Joseph Silverstein, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, concertos by Mozart, Brahms, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Barber, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy and Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings. In 2011, he performed a world premiere of Stephen Michael Gryc’s violin concerto Harmonia Mundi, specially commissioned and written for him.

Recent and upcoming seasons’ highlights include Brahms’ Double Concerto with cellist David Finckel, concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Glazunov, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Margreet Francis and Wendy Warner, and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade to commemorate the composer’s centennial, as well as Winton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto. In addition to a busy performance schedule, he had served on faculties at the University of Florida and University of Hartford’s The Hartt School, as well as strings coach at Yale College.

Mr. Sigal has been serving as Concertmaster of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Since 2012, at the invitation of Music Director Gerard Schwarz, he has been part of the Emmy Award-winning nationally syndicated program The All-Star Orchestra alongside fellow principals from major American orchestras, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Minnesota, among others. Previously Associate Concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic, he has performed with the San Diego Symphony and Boston Symphony, and is in demand as a guest concertmaster and conductor. He served as Artistic Director of the Miami Chamber Symphony, and has made frequent returns to the podium, most notably in recent performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven symphonies, Poulenc’s Sinfonietta, Bachianas Brazileiras by Villa Lobos, Tchaikovsky’s orchestral suites and works by Glazunov, Prokofiev, and Schnittke, as well as crossover projects such as Focus: The Stan Getz Tribute and The Classical Mystery Tour.

 

PETER ZAY
A highly sought-after musician, Peter Zay is equally at home in orchestras, chamber ensembles, bands, and as a soloist. He fuses his classical training with many multi-genre styles in his performances, compositions, and arrangements. Recently Peter has been performing extensively on both cello and guitar with fiddler and violinist EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks in their newly formed group Larksgrove. They fuse old time fiddle music, improvisation and classical music into their concerts bringing a unique experience to the traditional concert setting.

Peter performs regularly as cellist of the long standing, Connecticut based New World Trio, and he often appears as a guest artist on the Sunday Serenades Concert Series at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, and at the Trinity College Concert Series. He has traveled frequently to Spain to perform as a guest of the Quartetto Saravasti, and as a member of the American Sinfonietta he has toured to many leading venues in Europe including Vienna’s Musikverein, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, and Stuttgart’s Beethoven Saal.

A cellist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra for over twenty years, Peter recently sat as acting Principal for performances of Ginastera’s Orchestral Variations, of which his solos were called “spectacular” by the Hartford Courant. Peter is also the Principal Cellist of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. He has performed numerous times with the Boston Lyric Opera, Portland (ME) Symphony, The Barrington Stage Company, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Boston Modern Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and the New Haven and Springfield (MA) Symphonies.

Peter is a soloist with the critically acclaimed New Bedford (MA) Symphony Orchestra’s Learning in Concert program that is an in-school partnership with the symphony and over fifty local elementary schools in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. As a member of the Mosaic String Trio in Hartford, Peter has collaborated to create and perform many varied and engaging educational programs for thousands of school children throughout Connecticut.

Peter has a BMus in cello performance from the Hartt School and a MMus from the Manhattan School of Music. His primary teachers were David Wells and David Geber, and he has been coached and mentored by members of the American, Emerson, Guarneri, and Muir String Quartets, and the Beaux Arts Trio. Music festivals to his credit include the International Musical Arts Institute in Fryeburg, Maine, the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival (VT), the Taos Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Bellingham (WA) and Wintergreen (VA) Festivals of Music.

ANASTASIA DEDIK
Ms. Anastasia Dedik has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Great Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, and many others. She has appeared as a soloist with Fort Worth Symphony, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, NYCA Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Symphony, and Oberlin Orchestra, to name a few. Anastasia has been featured on RAI TV in Italy, NDR TV in Germany, WABC in NYC, as well as in an episode of NBC’s Law and Order SVU, performing Beethoven’s Appassionata in an exciting episode entitled True believers.

Born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia to a family of distinguished musicians, Anastasia graduated from The Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 2004 and moved to the United States to continue her education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School on full talent scholarships. She has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including The Governor of Saint Petersburg Award for Achievements in Arts, Harold and Helene Schonberg Piano Scholarship and Susan W. Rose Fellowship at The Juilliard School in NYC. Anastasia is a top prizewinner of many International Piano Competitions, including Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition, San Jose International Piano Competition, and Pietro Argento International Piano Competition.

Anastasia is a founding member of the The Prima Trio, an ensemble that burst onto the international stage when they won the Grand Prize at the Fischoff International piano competition. Since 2007 the Prima Trio has performed over 200 concerts in more than 20 states and abroad. The Prima Trio is managed by Lisa Sapinkopf Artists.

Ms. Dedik’s début Solo CD was recorded at a live recital in Recco, Italy and was released by GPM Records in 2008. In 2015 she recorded Tchaikovsky-Pletnev’s Nutcracker Suite and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky. The CD PIANO was recorded at Yamaha Artist Services in New York City, it has been released in 2015 and available for purchase on Amazon. Anastasia’s playing has been praised by David Beech, Peninsula Reviews in New York Concert Artist Review as “flawless and memorable,” and “highly accomplished and authentically Russian pianism.” In the past few seasons Anastasia has performed in New York, Vermont, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Seattle, Miami, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Saint Petersburg and other places. Her latest recording has been released on Toccata Classics and premieres works for piano and violin by Ukrainian composer Theodore Akimenko.

Anastasia manages a busy performing and teaching schedule. She is a founder of Prima Music Academy Music School in NYC, which provides first class music lessons both in person and remotely. Anastasia’s piano students have performed at Carnegie Hall, Manhattan School of Music, Seoul Conservatory, and have been recipients of various prizes and awards. In June 2023 Anastasia is leading the Rising Stars piano camp which will take place at The Berkshire Music School in Massachusetts. This festival will include young pianists and distinguished faculty with the most aspiring students being offered solo opportunities in music soirees with Prima Music Foundation, Inc. Anastasia is a President and an Artistic Director of Prima Music Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, which supports young talents and provides scholarships to students from under-represented communities. Additionally, Anastasia is currently a candidate to receive a doctor of musical arts in piano performance at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. Currently Anastasia resides in New York City with her husband and their 9-year-old daughter.

For more information visit: www.primamusicfoundation.com and www.anastasiadedik.com