The return of the Hudson Valley Chamber Music
Circle series will kick off at the Bard College Fisher Center on June 8 with a concert by the Espressivo! piano quartet, who will be joined by award-winning bassist Harold “Hal” Robinson.
For over 70 years, the Hudson Valley Chamber
Music Circle has worked
to provide accessible and affordable chamber music programs for the community,
striving to promote and support performers and to educate, entertain, and
expand audiences. The organization was founded in 1950 by Staatsburg
residents Helen Huntington Hull, Mrs. Lydig Hoyt, and Mrs. Jonas Borak and Emil
Hauser, the original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet and a member of
the Bard College faculty.
Espressivo! is comprised of violinist Jaime Laredo, violist Milena Pajaro-Van de Stadt, cellist Sharon Robinson, and pianist Anna Polonsky. At the age of 17, the renowned Laredo won the
prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, launching his rise to
international prominence. Praised by Strad magazine as having “lyricism
that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Pajaro-van de Stadt
has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her
generation. A winner of the
Avery Fisher Recital Award, Piatigorsky Memorial Award, Pro Musicis Award, and
a Grammy nominee, Robinson is recognized as one of the world’s most
outstanding musicians. In demand as both a soloist and chamber musician,
Polonsky has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion, Daedalus, and
Shanghai quartets and with Mitsuko Uchida, Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, Richard
Goode, Emanuel Ax, and others.
Saturday’s performance by Espressivo!
will include works by Mendelssohn, Schubert (the beloved “Trout” quintet), and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The
series will also feature concerts by the Isidore String Quartet (June 15) and Balourdet Quartet (June 22).
The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle
series will present the Espressivo! piano quartet at Bard College Fisher Center’s
Olin Hall on June 8 at 7pm. Tickets are $40 (students $5).
