We have reached the seating capacity for this concert. Please join us via livestream, below. 

Join us for a beautiful chamber music concert on Friday, April 16, 2021 at 7:30pm by Leonid Sigal and friends. In addition to being concertmaster for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Sigal is well known for his series at the Wadsworth Atheneum, “Sunday Serenades,” where he and his HSO colleagues perform repertoire inspired by the artwork on display.

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

No registration required to watch online – simply return to this page.

Click below to watch. Click here for the printed program.

Leonid Sigal, violin; Aekyung Kim, viola; Peter Zay, cello; Andrius Žlabys, piano

Program:
Prokofiev – Violin Sonata no. 1 in f minor, Op. 80
Faure – Piano Quartet No. 1 in c minor, Op. 15

For COVID-19 Safety, the following protocols are in place for those attending in person:

• Wear a mask over your mouth and nose at all times. Masks are required regardless of vaccine status. We have disposable masks should you need one.
• Practice social distancing at all times. Observe signs and the directions of ushers about where to sit. Greet one another from a distance, do not linger in the building after the ushers have dismissed you.
• If you might need to get up during the concert, please sit on the right side of the nave. The first-floor restrooms are available should you need them. Please refrain from going into other areas of the building.
• Children must stay with their accompanying adult(s).
• Entry is through the main red doors only, so park accordingly.
• Please do not leave your seat until directed by an usher; exiting will happen row-by-row starting from the rear of the hall.
• Exit is through the red doors or the side door into the cloister, as directed by an usher.
• There will not be a meet-the-artist reception. Any social time must happen outside.
• You may leave your donation in the basket in the center aisle. We can also receive donations through the mail or online. Thank you!

About the Artist:

HSO Concertmaster Leonid Sigal has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestra leader. Since early performances he was praised by audiences and critics for his virtuosity and musical sensitivity. The Miami Herald wrote: “Sigal demonstrated what a fine violinist he is, playing passionately and cleanly with a soaring tone,” and the Hartford Courant echoes: “His tone was consistently sweet. He brought a clear sense of phrasing, articulation and effortless virtuosity.”

Born in Moscow, Russia, he began violin studies at the age 5, and was accepted to the renowned Gnessin School of Music. He went on attending and graduating with excellence from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Winner of several violin competitions and recipient of the 1993 Meadows Artistic Scholarship Award, he moved to the US, where he had also studied with Erick Friedman and had taken masterclasses with Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman. In 1995 he was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to a prestigious fellowship at the New World Symphony, where he was one of the principals and also coached as conductor.

His experience includes recitals, chamber music, festival and orchestral appearances in the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Japan and South Korea. He had performed under Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Levine, Herbert Blomstedt to name a few. A passionate chamber musician, he collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich, Evgeny Kissin, Edgar Meyer, Joseph Silverstein, James Ehnes, Roberto Diaz and William Wolfram among others. In 2007 he inaugurated and became Artistic Director of the HSO’s Sunday Serenades chamber music series at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Mr. Sigal’s annual appearances as soloist with the HSO include highly acclaimed performances of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, concertos by Mozart, Brahms, Sibelius, Barber and Shostakovich. In 2011 Mr. Sigal performed, and later recorded, a world premiere of Stephen Michael Gryc’ Violin Concerto Harmonia Mundi, written for him and commissioned by the HSO. Recent and upcoming season highlights include Brahms’ Double Concerto with cellist David Finckel,  Concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chausson’s Poeme and Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy, Saint Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso and Tzigane by Ravel, as well as Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium to commemorate the composer’s 100thbirthday in 2018.

Mr. Sigal also serves as concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, as well as faculty member at University of Hartford’s The Hartt School. Previously Associate Concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic, he had performed with the San Diego Symphony and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He had served as Artistic Director of the Miami Chamber Symphony, as well as violin faculty at the Eastern Music Festival. Since August of 2012, at the invitation of Music Director Gerard Schwarz, he has been part of the Emmy Award-winning and nationally syndicated program All Star Orchestra alongside fellow concertmasters and principals from the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Met Orchestra, Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Minnesota and other major American orchestras.

Music at the Red Door is supported in part by the Richard P. Garmany Fund of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation, the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, the Ensworth Charitable Foundation, the William & Alice Mortensen Foundation, and the Marjorie Jolidon Fund of the Greater Hartford Chapter, American Guild of Organists.