MEDIA RELEASE June 11, 2004 For immediate release Editorial Contact: Denise Meyer [email protected] (for editorial use only) Chestnut Hill Concerts presents Beethoven, Piston & Dvorak At 8:00 PM Friday, August 27, 2004, Chestnut Hill Concerts, Ronald Thomas, Artistic Director, presents Beethoven’s String Trio in C Minor, Op. 9, No. 3; Piston’s Duo for Viola and Cello; and Dvorak’s String Sextet in A Major, Op. 48. Featured musicians will be: Carmit Zori, violin; Scott Yoo, violin; Cynthia Phelps, viola; Robert Rinehart, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello; and Sarah Carter, cello. The concert will be held at the First Congregational Church of Madison (26 Meetinghouse Lane, Madison, CT). Single tickets are $25, $20 and $15, $8 students, Kids Come Free! Preconcert picnic suppers prepared by Anna’s (New Haven) are available for $17 each. For information, call (203) 245-5736 or www.chestnuthillconcerts.org. This concert is sponsored by The Source and with the support of the CT Commission on the Arts. At the recommendation of Isaac Stern and Alexander Schneider, violinist Carmit Zori came to the United States from her native Israel at the age of fifteen to study with Ivan Galamian, Jaime Laredo and Arnold Steinhardt at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Ms. Zori is the recipient of a Levintritt Foundation Award, a Pro Musicis International Award and a top prize in the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in recital at Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston and the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. Her engagements abroad have included performances throughout Latin America and Europe, as well as in Israel, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, where she premiered the Violin Concerto by Marc Neikrug. In addition to her appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ms. Zori has been a guest at chamber music festivals and concert series around the world. Ms. Zori was an artistic director and frequent performer at Bargemusic in New York and is now the artistic director of the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, which she founded in 2002. She has recorded on the Arabesque, Koch International, and Elektra-Nonesuch labels. Scott Yoo won first prize in both the 1988 Josef Gingold International Violin Competition and the 1989 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 1994 he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and was named 1995 Young Artist-in-Residence of NPR’s “Performance Today.” As a chamber musician, Mr. Yoo has appeared with Bargemusic, Boston Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Strings in the Mountains, and the Colorado College, Las Vegas, New Hampshire and Seattle festivals. In 2003-04, Mr. Yoo celebrated his tenth season as co-founder and Music Director of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that he has led in its subscription series in Boston as well as over ninety performances on tour. Mr. Yoo and Metamorphosen have made eight recordings for Albany, Archetype, New World and Sony Classical. Mr. Yoo has guest-conducted the Dallas and Indianapolis Symphonies and will conduct the Columbus, Honolulu, Oregon and Utah Symphonies in 2003-04. Scott Yoo began his violin studies at the age of three and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony at age twelve. He has studied violin with Roman Totenberg, Albert Markov, Paul Kantor and Dorothy DeLay and conducting with Michael Gilbert and Michael Tilson-Thomas. In 1993 Mr. Yoo graduated with honors and a B.A. in Physics from Harvard University. Cynthia Phelps is principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, where she has performed Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, the Bartok Concerto for Viola, Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Concerto for String Quartet by Benjamin Lees, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and a concert specially commissioned for her (and violist Rebecca Young) by Sofia Gubaidulina. She appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as numerous other orchestras throughout the world. As a chamber musician, she performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, the Boston Chamber Music Society, and Music from Copland House. She has toured South America, Israel, and Germany as a member of the Zukerman and Friends Ensemble; appeared with the Guarneri, American, Brentano, and Prague String Quartets, and the Kalichstein-Ronbinson-Laredo Trio among many others; and performed in recital in Paris, Rome, London, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Ms. Phelps is a recipient of the Pro Musicis International Award, and top prize at both the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the Washington International String Competition. Her appearances on television and radio have included Live from Lincoln Center on PBS-TV, National Public Radio, Radio France, and RAI in Italy. Violist Robert Rinehart, a member of the New York Philharmonic, is also an active chamber musician. He has appeared at the Spoleto Festival, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A founding member of the Ridge String Quartet, Mr. Rinehart has performed in every major music center in the United States, as well as in Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, and has collaborated with Benny Goodman, Rudolf Firkusny and the Guarneri String Quartet, among many others. His chamber music recordings include albums which have received a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations and the Diapason d’Or. A native of San Francisco, Mr. Rinehart studied violin there with Isadore Tinkleman and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Jaime Laredo, David Cerone and Ivan Galamian. He is a member of the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Cellist Ronald Thomas has been Artistic Director of Chestnut Hill Concerts since 1989. Mr. Thomas sustains one of the most active and varied careers in today's music world as performer, teacher, and artistic administrator. His solo appearances with orchestra include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Handel & Haydn and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestras of Boston, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra, among many others. Mr. Thomas has played recitals in virtually every state in the U.S. including the cities of New York, Washington D.C., Boston and Los Angeles as well as numerous concerts in Europe and Asia. In great demand as a chamber music collaborator, Ronald Thomas is the co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society with whom he appears regularly and has produced a number of highly acclaimed recordings. He has also appeared numerous times with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both at Alice Tully Hall and on tour. Other chamber music appearances include the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Bravo! Colorado Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Blossom Festival, the Chamber Music Northwest Festival, The Sarasota Festival and the Yale at Norfolk Festival as well as the festivals of Dubrovnik, Edinburgh and Amsterdam and others. Prior to winning the Young Concert Artists auditions at the age of 19, Mr. Thomas attended the New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute. His principal teachers were Lorne Munroe, David Soyer, and for early studies, Mary Canberg. Sarah Carter began her cello instruction at age seven. Growing up in Seattle, she studied with Toby Saks. Since then, she has soloed with orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Youth Symphony and the Bellevue Philharmonic. She has participated in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Josef Gingold, Gar Hoffman, Franz Helmerson, Janos Starker, Joel Krosnick, Paul Katz, Lynn Harrell, Leon Fleischer and Claude Frank, among others. She has collaborated with such artists as Glbert Kalish, Kim Kashkashian, Samuel Rhodes and Vera Beths. Ms. Carter was the winner of the 1999 Corpus Christi International Young Artists Competition, as well as the 1998 ASTA National Solo Competition. She has performed solo recitals at La Jolla, Ravinia, and Camerata Musica. In addition, she has made concert appearances with the chamber music societies of Boston, Seattle and Andover, as well as at Bargemusic, Tannery Pond, the Casals Festival in Prades, France and with the chamber ensemble Metamorphosen. In 2002 and 2003, Ms. Carter participated in the “Rising Stars” residency program at Caramoor. She was a participant at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival for two summers and will complete her third summer at the Marlboro Music School and Festival this year. Ms. Carter recently joined the Denali Piano Trio, along with colleagues from Marlboro, and they recently completed their first successful tour of the UK. Ms. Carter attended the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove in the spring of 2004. She is currently a senior at Harvard University, where she is pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology. ****** for calendar editors: 8:00 PM Friday, August 27, 2004, at the First Congregational Church of Madison (26 Meetinghouse Lane, Madison, CT): Chestnut Hill Concerts, presents Beethoven’s String Trio in C Minor, Op. 9, No. 3; Piston’s Duo for Viola and Cello; and Dvorak’s String Sextet in A Major, Op. 48. Carmit Zori, violin; Scott Yoo, violin; Cynthia Phelps, viola; Robert Rinehart, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello; and Sarah Carter, cello. Tickets $25, 20, 15, $8 students (Kids Come Free!) Preconcert picnic suppers $17 each. To order, call (203) 245-5736. www.chestnuthillconcerts.org. Press photos available at: www.chestnuthillconcerts.org/press or by request. ####.