Opened as a private school
for teacher training in 1847, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is an architecturally magnificent
Greek Revival building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s
the perfect place for a Sunday winter concert of classical music, such as the
one by pianist Joanne Polk that will take place in the center’s Blanche Grubin
Auditorium on January 19.
Polk is an acclaimed
pianist and educator whose Grammy-nominated albums have been rated “best
of the year” by the New York Times and Seattle Times. Her
2014 CD The Flatterer debuted at number one on the Billboard classical chart. Her
many illustrious credits include performances with the English
Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Center in London conducted by Paul Goodwin,
the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco with conductor Apo Hsu, and with Lark
Quartet at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. She earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, and she currently serves
as a member of the piano faculty Manhattan School of Music, where she received
her Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
Classical
Spencertown Academy Arts
Center will present “Classical Sunday with pianist Joanne Polk” on January
19 at 3:00pm at the Academy’s Blanche Grubin Auditorium. The program will
include Johann Sebastian Bach, Amy Beach, Cecile Chaminade, Alberto
Ginastera, David Shenton, and Cole Porter. Tickets are $25 ($20 for academy members
or $10 for students) and are available via the center’s website.
This article appears in January 2025.
