Newburgh Music Festival

2017 NEWBURGH MUSIC FESTIVAL

JUNE 15th to JUNE 25th

The Newburgh Music Festival is a 10 day long immersive young artist program devoted to solo repertoire, chamber music, and art song. Program includes daily private lessons, coaching sessions, masterclasses, lectures, and performances.

newburghmusicfestival.com 2017 Newburgh Music Festival

A word from our Artistic Director:

The idea of creating a music festival has been present in my mind for a long while; mainly inspired by programs I was fortunate to be a part of since my late teens. There was always something deeply compelling and addictive about being united with different people by a single and upmost strong desire - striving to make music to the best of our ability and sharing this experience collaboratively. This is how I imagine a universal love being born. To feel wholly present and intricately connected to other musicians is something I am striving to create here, for more musicians to experience, younger and older alike.

Why Newburgh, NY? One December day in 2015 I allowed myself to share this idea with David Ludwig, the creative power behind Queen of the Hudson Concert Series. The response that followed was not what I had expected -David in all seriousness suggested it might be possible to bring it to fruition in Newburgh. And here we are…

Our inaugurating season during the summer of 2016 consisted of three chamber music concerts dedicated to composers of four different geographic locations: Russia, Germany and France united with Spain during the last performance. The experience of working with extraordinary musicians, while overseeing the mountains on the opposite shore of the Hudson river and observing the moon sneak out from behind them slowly, but with full determination, was a source of profound inspiration. This season, a whole other significant aspect will be incorporated into the Newburgh Music Festival: we have young artists and an educational program tailored to help their artistic development. The program will provide a full immersive environment, in which participants will be learning not only from our distinguished guests, but also through brainstorming with each other. We hope these young musicians move forward with a spirit of full dedication to their musical aspirations, broaden their knowledge and understanding of music, and embody their role in it as an individual and as a society.

- Victoria Schwartzman Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Event Schedule

SATURDAY JUNE 17th, 2017 FACULTY & GUESTS ARTISTS RECITAL*

INCLUDING A PRE-CONCERT LECTURE WITH MORGAN MANIFACIER: “Teaching Musicians: The Legacy of Nadia Boulanger”

Concert Program Concert Information

Berg, Piano Sonata Op. 1 Lecture starts at 5:30 pm, concert starts at 7 pm Mendelssohn, Allegro Brilliant, Op. 92 $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

Schumann, “Du bist wie eine blume”, “Widmung” John Greer, piano Strauss "Ich trage meine minne” Anna Rabinova, violin Lehar, “Dein is mein ganzes herz” Victoria Schwartzman, piano De Curtis, “Non ti scordar di me” Christian Sebek, voice

Intermission Atlas Industries

Schumann, Sonata for violin and piano 11, Spring Street No. 2 in D-minor, Op. 121 Newburgh, NY 12550

Photograph

French

Pedagogue

Boulanger

Teaching

* This event was made possible by a generous gift from Briar Forsythe, owner and founder of Willowdale Estate. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Event Schedule

TUESDAY JUNE 20th, 2017 PIANO MASTERCLASS WITH CONSTANTINE FINEHOUSE*

Masterclass begins at 2pm. Free admission and seats may be reserved online.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 21st, 2017 2PM: VOICE MASTERCLASS WITH THOMAS GRUBB* 7PM: STUDENT PERFORMANCE*

Masterclass begins at 2pm. Free admission, but seats may be reserved online.

Maestro Thomas Grubb, pianist of international recognition and faculty at The Juilliard School, will be giving an open masterclass at the Newburgh Music Festival this year.

Maestro Grubb was a student and close assistant of Pierre Bernac, on the photograph below, who was the most renowned interpreter of the French mélodie. He will be working with five singers on their French art-song repertoire.

*All events will take place at Atlas Industries, 11 Spring St, Newburgh, NY Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Event Schedule

FRIDAY JUNE 23rd, 2017 FACULTY & GUESTS ARTISTS RECITAL

Concert Program Concert Information

Bach, Sonata in c-minor for violin and piano, Doors open at 6:30 pm, No. 4, BWV 1017 Concert starts at 7 pm Schubert, Variations in Ab major for piano four hands, $20 in advance, D. 813 $25 at the door

Intermission Atlas Industries

Greer, Song cycle The House of Tomorrow 11, Spring Street Shnittke, Suite in an old style Newburgh, NY 12550 Weill, Songs from Lady in the Dark United States

John Greer, piano Delores Ziegler, voice Nadya Meykson, violin Victoria Schwartzman, piano

Faculy

Recital

Newbugh

Festival

2016. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Event Schedule

SATURDAY JUNE 24th, 2017 STUDENT GALA PERFORMANCE

Concert Information

Doors open at 6:30 pm, Concert starts at 7 pm Free admission, Seats may be reserved online

Program: to be announced

Atlas Industries 11, Spring Street Newburgh, NY 12550 United States Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Faculty

JOHN GREER Vocal coach, collaborative piano

John Greer is an active accompanist, vocal coach, conductor, and composer and is heard in these capacities throughout the United States, Canada and abroad, in recital and on various CBC broadcasts. He is an honoured music graduate ofboth the University of Manitoba and of the University of Southern California where he was a student of pianists Gwendolyn Koldofsky and Brooks Smith and harpsichordist Malcolm Hamilton, followed by conducting studies with Boris Goldovsky. Currently residing in Toronto, Mr. Greer was previously Music Director of the Eastman Opera Theatre in Rochester, New York (1996-2001) and the Opera Studio at the University of Maryland (2001-3). He was subsequently recruited as Chair of Opera Studies at the New England Conservatory, a position he held from 2003-2010.

Mr. Greer was General Manager and Head of Music Staff of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina for ten seasons, Head Coach of Voice and Opera in a visiting capacity at the University of Kentucky, Lexington for three years and joined the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York in 2008 as head coach/continuo player for Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, joining the Chautauqua Opera music staff the following summer. He currently lives in Toronto, Canada.

His numerous vocal & choral compositions, including ten song cycles with either piano or chamber ensemble accompaniment, have been heard worldwide, recently at the first“Greeriad”, a performance of exclusively Greer compositions in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has written two operas for the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus and a recent Aldeburgh Connection CD features two of Greer’s song cycles; Allegory of Sweet Desire with soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and his Liebesleid Lieder for vocal quartet and piano, four hands. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Faculty

BETH ROBERTS-SEBEK Mannes College The New School, Voice

For over 20 years Beth Roberts has been a dedicated and accomplished voice teacher and music educator. She has been on the faculty of Mannes College The New School for Music since 1996 and has served as Coordinator of the Vocal Department since 2001. Her voice studio at Mannes has produced principal artists in many national and international professional venues, including the San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Saint Louis Opera, Covent Garden and La Scala. Students of Ms. Roberts have been finalists and winners of such major vocal competitions as the Metropolitan Opera National Finals, the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the Giuseppe di Stefano Competition, the Jenny Lind Competition, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Giulio Gari Competition and the Joy of Singing Competition. Others have entered young artist programs at Merola, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass, Santa Fe, Tanglewood and Chautauqua.

Through her affiliation with the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department, Ms. Roberts co- created a vocal pedagogy course and Professional Development Outreach for Mannes students in New York City public schools. The success of this venture has been most evident over the past 10 years in the graduates now employed by the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, as teaching artists for the New York City Opera, and as music teachers at the United Nations International School and other New York City schools. Ms. Roberts’ relationship with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department began in 1988, when she was a teaching artist and led master classes on vocal pedagogy for music educators. She has recently been appointed to serve on the Education Committee of the Board of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

Ms. Roberts has been a vocal instructor for the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca (with the University of Cincinnati), a guest lecturer at the Classical Singer Convention, and an adjunct faculty member at the Westminster Choir College. She has served as an adjudicator for numerous competitions, including the Fulbright Scholarship and the Finals of the Concours de Musique du Canada. She is currently a faculty member of the International Vocal Arts Institute, and she gives frequent master classes at Yale University.

A lyric soprano, Ms. Roberts has sung with many opera companies throughout the United States, including the Santa Fe Opera and the Washington Opera, and performed numerous concerts at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall. She was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Winner and a Liederkranz Foundation Competition Winner. She has also recorded for radio and television. Ms. Roberts earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Screen Actors Guild. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Faculty

VICTORIA SCHWARTZMAN Co-Founder of the Newburgh Music Festival Montclair State University, LIU Post Piano, vocal coach

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Victoria Schwartzman (formerly Mazin) performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. Victoria has appeared at the Music Mountain Festival with the St. Petersburg String Quartet, in the New York Philharmonic Ensembles series at Merkin Hall, at Summit Music Festival with Dmitri Berlinsky, at Bargemusic, in the Gessner- Schocken concert series in Cambridge, WMP Concert Hall, and the Nicolas Roerich Museum concert series in New York City. As a member of the Yanvar Trio, she was a prizewinner in the Val-Tidone Chamber Music Competition and a finalist in the Zinotti International Chamber Music competition, both in Italy.

After graduating from Jerusalem Conservatory, Victoria continued her education at the Longy School of Music and New England Conservatory. While pursuing various degrees in solo and chamber music performance, she was selected to perform in masterclasses given by Dmitri Bashkirov, Menahem Pressler, and Richard Goode, among others.

Her principal teachers include Irina Kivaiko, Issak Kossov, Victor Rosenbaum, Sally Pinkas, Eda Shlyam, and Eteri Andjaparidze. As soloist with orchestra, Victoria has performed with the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra, the Longy School of Music Chamber Orchestra, and the Riverside Orchestra. She has performed at the Quartet Program in Pennsylvania, and participated in the Tel-Hai International Piano Festival in Israel and the Lyrica Chamber Music Festival in New Jersey. Also active in the field of opera and art song.

Over the span of her career, Victoria was vocal coach and accompanist at Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Bard Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, the Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, and the American Institute of Musical Studies Festival in Graz, Austria.

Victoria is as committed to performance as she is to education. She recently gave a master class in Russian vocal repertoire at Queens College, NY. She is on the coaching faculty in the Vocal Department at Montclair State University and Long Island University Post. Victoria is also the co-founder of the Newburgh Music Festival, a week long immersive classical music program devoted to both solo performance and chamber music, located on the shore of the Hudson river, in Newburgh, NY. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Faculty

DELORES ZIEGLER University of Maryland Voice

American mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler has been heralded as "the mezzo we have been waiting for" by Martin Bernheimer in the Los Angeles Times. Her career takes her to every major theater in the world and into collaboration with the great directors and conductors of our time. Many of these extraordinary performances have been recorded and released as audio recordings and on video and film.

With a repertoire that extends from bel canto to verismo, Ms. Ziegler has appeared in the world's greatest opera houses. At the Vienna Staatsoper, she made a debut as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, returned for Idamante in a new production of Idomeneo, for Dorabella in a new Cosi fan tutte and for Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. At Teatro alla Scala she has opened the season as Idamante in a new production of Idomeneo, as well as having appeared as Dorabella, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi and Meg Page in a new production of Falstaff. She opened the prestigious Salzburg Festival as Sextus in a new staging of La Clemenza di Tito. At the Glyndebourne Festival she was heard as Dorabella and at the Bastille in Paris she sang Cherubino and Idamante.

Highlights of her many appearances in Germany include the Composer in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos in Munich, Marguerite in a new staging of La Damnation de Faust in Hamburg and Salieri's Falstaff in a new production by Cologne. Other European appearances have included the Florence May Festival, where she sang Idomeneo, Octavian and Dulcinée in Massenet's Don Quixotte, Athens Festival for her first Gluck's Orfeo and Dresden for a rarity, Bertoni's Orfeo.

An acclaimed interpreter of bel canto mezzo roles, she has the honor of being the first singer in operatic history to sing Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Bolshoi in Moscow, at the San Francisco Opera and in Japan. In another milestone, Ms. Ziegler is the most recorded Dorabella in operatic history, first on two audio recordings, one with Bernard Haitink on EMI and another on Teldec with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She can also be seen as Dorabella in a videodisc of the La Scala production with Riccardo Muti and in a film of "Cosi" which has been televised throughout Europe, this the last project of director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.In South America she has performed Adalgisa in Norma at the Teatro Colon in Argentina and in Rio de Janeiro.

In addition to the two Cosi sets, Ms. Ziegler's complete opera recordings include two of La Clemenza di Tito – one as Sesto conducted by Riccardo Muti on EMI and one as Annio with Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Teldec; the title role in Bertoni's L'Orfeo with Claudio Scimone on Frequenz; Margarad in Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys with Armen Jordan on Erato Disque; Fatima in Weber's Oberon with James Conlon on EMI; and Meg Page in Falstaff with Riccardo Muti on Sony Classical. Ms. Ziegler recently recorded Sara in Roberto Devereux and Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena for the Nightingale label with Edita Gruberova, both conducted by Elio Boncompagni. Her most recent CD is Ned Rorem's song cycle "The Evidence of Things Not Seen"; she took part in the world premiere of this work in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Special Guests

CONSTANTINE FINEHOUSE New England Conservatory Piano

Constantine Finehouse was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended New England Conservatory, Juilliard and Yale. His principal teachers included Fredrik Wanger, Natalia Harlap, Herbert Stessin, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Berman and Bruce Brubaker. Praised by Rhein Main Presse Allgemeine Zeitung for his "interpretations of depth and maturity,” Finehouse has performed extensively in the US (including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington) and abroad (including in Lausanne, London, Salzburg, Odessa, St. Petersburg, and Trieste). His newest album with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam feautures the universally-admired Brahms Sonata, Opus 38 for piano and cello, as well as several new works in the High Romantic style by Boston composer, Tony Schemmer. His 2009 solo recording, Backwards Glance [Spice Rack Records 101-01], interweaves music of Johannes Brahms and Richard Beaudoin.

The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included a double-CD [Albany Troy 959/960] and a national tour. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th-century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” As part of American Double, Finehouse also toured Hungary, performing sonatas by Brahms, Bolcom and Ravel. More recently, he collaborated with violinist Olga Caceànova at the Lausanne Conservatoire and on a 5- concert tour of North Carolina and Georgia, as well as with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall), Merkin Recital Hall (Kauffman Center) and Mozarteum (Salzburg). In partnership with pianists Ursula Oppens and Christopher Taylor, Finehouse has recorded Bolcom’s solo piano works for Naxos Records, to be released later this year. Starting in 2016, Finehouse also performs as part of the Ellipsis Trio, based in Boston.

The 2016-17 season brings recitals celebrating William Bolcom's 75th birthday, in which Finehouse will be featured as a soloist as well as in chamber music performances across the United States. Of special note was a highly-praised solo recital at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in March, 2014. Finehouse has been awarded the Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship from Juilliard, a 2004 St. Botolph Club Foundation Grant and a 2006 Classics Abroad Project Award. He serves on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory and Extension Divisions in Boston and as Visiting Artist/Faculty at Westmont College, Santa Barbara. For more information visit www.cfinehouse.com. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Special Guests

THOMAS GRUBB The Juilliard School Piano, French diction

Thomas Grubb is the author of SINGING IN FRENCH, A MANUAL OF FRENCH DICTION AND FRENCH VOCAL REPERTOIRE (Schirmer Books/Macmillan, 1979) with a foreword by Pierre Bernac. Mr. Grubb participated in the coaching of all French productions at New York City Opera for more than twenty years. He was also on the coaching staffs of Houston Grand Opera and the Opera Society of Washington, D.C. For three decades, Thomas Grubb was a member of the faculty of The Juilliard School where he gave both classes and coachings in French Vocal Repertoire and French Diction. From 1984 until May of 2007 he taught Advanced Vocal Performance and French Diction at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Previously he served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music (1964-1985), The Curtis Institute of Music (1970-1977) and the Academy of Vocal Arts (1977-1983), both in Philadelphia, as well as at New York University in the early 1970s.

From 1970 until 1977, Thomas Grubb assisted the renowned maitre of French song, Pierre Bernac, in his master classes throughout the United States, Canada and France as both pianist and coach. Mr. Bernac eventually became his primary mentor and the inspiration for his specialization in French Vocal Repertoire. Among his most influential piano teachers were Magda Tagliaferro, with whom he studied in Paris for three years, as well as Dora Zaslavsky and Artur Balsam with whom he studied at the Manhattan School of Music where he earned his Master of Music degree in Applied Piano in 1966. In 1962, Mr. Grubb received a Master of Arts degree in French Literature from Yale University Graduate School and in 1960 his Bachelor of Arts in French and Piano from the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. As a performing pianist, Thomas Grubb has appeared in recital with Elly Ameling, Benita Valente, Eleanor Steber, Elizabeth Mannion and Dawn Upshaw, plus numerous others. He also made two North American concert tours with the French trumpet-player, Maurice Andre, as both pianist and translator. Mr. Grubb has recorded for both the Orion and the Lyrachord labels with Carol Kimball, mezzo-soprano, and Gerald Tarack, violinist. Mr. Grubb has participated as adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, the International Voice Competition of Paris, the Fulbright Commission Auditions, the Rockefeller American Music Competition of Carnegie Hall, various NATS competitions and those of the Oratorio Society of New York.

In May, 2002, Mr. Grubb was decorated as Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in Paris for his advancement of French culture throughout the world. Presently, Thomas Grubb is working on a second edition of his Singing in French as well as a companion book to Pierre Bernac’s Interpretation of French Song. Mr. Grubb is on the Advisory Board of the Art Song Preservation Society of New York (ASPSY), and he maintains a private studio on the Upper West Side of Manhattan not far from Lincoln Center where he has resided since 1974. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Special Guests

MORGAN MANIFACIER French diction

From operatic repertoire to art-song, Morgan Manifacier's sensibility and purity of expression has lead him to sing both in America and abroad. A native of France, Manifacier received his Bachelor's of Music from Holy Names University, and his Master's of Arts in Voice Performance from Long Island University. There, he notably appeared at Tenor Soloist with the LIU Post Chorus in Handel’s Messiah, and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major.

He recently made his operatic debut with NY based Opera company Amore Opera as Borsa in Rigoletto, and sang the role of Tircis in Lully’s Carnaval Mascarade with the Baroque Opera Workshop at Queens College. Earlier this season, he performed Buxtehude’s cantata Membra Jesu Nostri as Tenor Soloist with the Amherst Early Music Workshop, before studying the role of Ferrando from Così fan tutte in the prestigious Martina Arroyo’s Role Performance Class. This July, he will be singing the role of Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Manhattan Opera Studio, and perform in an Opera Scene concert at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall. In addition, Manifacier will start his DMA in Opera Performance at Stony Brook University in the Fall 2017.

NADYA MEYKSON New York Conservatory of Music Violin

A native of Moscow, Nadya Meykson holds a Master's Degree in Music from the Eastman School of Music, where she served as Teaching Assistant for Mikhail Kopelman. Her other primary teachers include Levon Ambartsumian, Alexander Volobuev, Alvia Vandysheva, Elvira Simonova and Ai-Yi Bao. Nadya has performed as soloist and chamber musician in venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center, The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, WMP Concert Hall, David Josefowitz Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music in London, The State Kremlin Palace Concert Hall, and All-Union House of Composers in Moscow.

As soloist with orchestra, Nadya has appeared with the OSSIA Orchestra, Shoals Symphony Orchestra, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and Alabama Youth Symphony Orchestra. Nadya has won various prizes, including Noel Levine Award, First Prize at Ray Dunmyer Youth Concerto Competition, Howard Hanson Scholarship, Charles W. Kennett Scholarship and First Prize at Shoals Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. In 2006, Nadya was selected to participate in London Master Classes at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She also received a full scholarship three consecutive summers to participate in the National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Music Institute at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her recent performances were in Moscow in collaboration with a harpsichordist Anna Kuchina and ensemble La Villa Barocca. Nadya teaches violin at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Williamsburg Music Studio and The New York Conservatory of Music. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Special Guests

ANNA RABINOVA New York Philharmonic Violin

Violinist Anna Rabinova performs nationally and internationally as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and recording artist. She joined the New York Philharmonic in 1994, two years after arriving in the United States from her native Russia; in the 2008–09 season she was a soloist with the Orchestra in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, led by Lorin Maazel.

Ms. Rabinova has toured Germany, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Bulgaria, performing concertos with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and numerous other European orchestras. They include the Halle Philharmonic, Schwerin Philharmonic, Moscow Radio Orchestra (Vladimir Fedoseev conducting), Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Eisenach Symphony, Russian State Symphony, and Berlin Symphony (Lior Shambadal conducting). In the United States, she has made solo appearances with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Symphony Orchestra (Leon Botstein conducting), and Memphis Symphony, among others, and has premiered works by John Corigliano and Alfred Schnittke.

As a recitalist, Ms. Rabinova has appeared in numerous halls, including the Shauspielhaus in Berlin, Tchaikovsky Philharmonie Hall in Moscow, and Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, as well as in venues in Rome, Leipzig, and Belgrade. In the U.S. she has performed at the Phillips Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Bargemusic, and on the Rockefeller University concert series. In April 2004 she served as concertmaster of the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra. Her festival performances have included appearances at the Schleswig Holstein, Berlin Chamber Music, and Long Island Mozart festivals, the Music Festival of the Hamptons, and at Tanglewood and Caramoor.

Ms. Rabinova’s recordings include works by Schuman (for Germany’s Auris-Subtilis) and David Winkler’s Violin Concerto (Naxos); in 1998 she recorded sonatas by Brahms and Schubert for an NHK-TV (Japan) chamber series, which was broadcast worldwide and produced by Paul Smaczny. She has been interviewed and has performed on WLIW-TV in New York, as well as on German and Russian radio.

Anna Rabinova was born in Moscow and performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst’s Violin Concerto, and Paganini’s Violin Concerto with the Moscow State Symphony at the age of 13, later studying at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Leonid Kogan and Igor Bezrodnyi. She was a first-prize winner at the 16th International Violin Competition in Belgrade, in addition to winning the Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany, and the 1993 Concerto Competition at The Juilliard School. She has taught at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow, the Manhattan School of Music, and LaGuardia High School, in addition to giving master classes in the U.S. and abroad. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Special Guests

CHRISTIAN ŠEBEK Voice

In Christian Šebek’s "Cross-Over" career he has entertained audiences from Opera to Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, film and international concert halls. Tenor Christian surpassed 1600 performances on Broadway as Ubaldo Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera before leaving the show in 2016.

Since his debut in 2003, Christian Šebek has been recognized for his powerful and lyrico spinto voice. The New York Times praised him as “possessing a marvelous voice,” while the Houston Chronicle extolled his Rodolfo as "full of visceral excitement.”

Mr. Šebek has sung many of opera's most enduring, tenor, roles including: Il Trovatore's Manrico, Rodolfo in La Boheme, , Cavaradossi in Tosca, Radames in Aida and Calaf in Turandot , Otello, Samson in Samson et Delilah, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Don Jose in Carmen Alfredo in La Traviata and Michele in Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street. He performed Luigi from Puccini's Il Tabarro in Edmonton, AB Canada to rave reviews and sang the role of Romeo in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette in concert at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Šebek created the lead role of Nathanael in Thomas Cabaniss’s Off- Broadway, contemporary opera The Sandman.

In 2009, he performed at the Basilica de Santa Maria Aracoeli the role of the Shepherd in Andrew Miller’s The Birth of Christ for Pope Benedict and the Vatican. The performance starred actors Jim Caviziel, Michael York, and Lou Gossett Jr. In concert, Christian Šebek has performed internationally throughout Eastern Europe, Spain and Italy. Heard by millions in households across America and internationally Christian’s voice, as a Jingles Artist, can be recognized in dozens of television and radio commercials. Television and film highlights include appearances on Comedy Central and in the movie Harlem Aria, starring Damon Wayans, Paul Sorvino and Christian Carmargo, Mr. Šebek continues to perform concerts with a recent performance as the Soloist in the Berlioz Requiem with the University of South Carolina Symphony. Mr. Šebek is currently on Faculty of Concordia College in Bronxville.

Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Participants

GABRIEL SHAPIRO Bass

Gabriel Shapiro holds a master’s degree in cello performance from Boston University and has studied voice for the past ten years. He has sung in several productions with Opéra immédiat in Montreal and sang last year in the premier of Maisonneuve & Mance, a historic opera commissioned to mark the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city of Montreal. In addition to musical performances, he took part in four student productions of the University of Montreal Theatre, where he was awarded the student engagement prize for his portrayal of Dr. Chemla in Yasmina Reza’s Heureux les heureux.

Gabriel recently completed a graduate diploma at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, where he sang the role of Ben in Menotti’s The Telephone. He will be singing the roles of Masetto and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni later this summer at the Accademia Europea Dell’Opera in Lucca, Italy, and will begin a Master’s degree in vocal performance this fall at the University of Ottawa, where he will sing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro. In addition to musical studies, he holds certificates in German and Italian language and culture and a Ph.D. in public health from the University of Montreal.

VERONICA NGUYEN Mezzo-soprano

Veronica Nguyen, mezzo-soprano, is an undergraduate music major studying Vocal Performance at LIU Post. This fall, she will begin her senior year of college. Fortunate to have been born into a musically inclined family, she was given the opportunity to study piano and cello at a very young age with singing being secondary for most of her life. However, she discovered her passion for classical singing during her sophomore year of high school when she began taking private voice lessons. Hailing all the way from Fort Worth, Texas, she has come to New York to pursue a career in performance, focusing on classical and operatic repertoire. She is currently a member of the LIU Post Chorus, LIU Post Chamber Singers, and Long Island Sound Vocal Jazz. In addition to these ensembles, Veronica has also performed as a soloist in multiple performances within the LIU Post Music Department, including invitations to sing with the LIU Post Percussion Ensemble and the LIU Post Jazz Ensemble this past 2016-2017 school year. Most recently, she was a grateful winner of the 2017 LIU Post Concerto Competition and subsequently earned the opportunity to perform an aria with the LIU Post Orchestra this past April. Along with her study this summer at Newburgh, she will also travel to Quebec, Canada to study at the Midsummer Music Dream Festival. Veronica currently studies with Barbara Fusco-Spera. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Participants

KRISTIN HAGAN Soprano

Kristin Hagan has been acclaimed for her emotionally stunning, thoughtful performances and fearless commitment to the music. Her most recent opera role was Dara that of in Dan Shore’s Embarrassing Position. Ms. Hagan made her Chicago debut performing the role of Puck in Benjamin Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also made her Boston debut performing the role of Fortuna from Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea in December 2014 at the Longy School of Music’s Opera Scenes Gala. Other recent engagements include the roles of Cherubino from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Frasquita from Bizet’s Carmen in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Opera Scenes Gala. Ms. Hagan has also appeared as Papagena in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Fall 2013 production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Hagan has recently been engaged by Longwood Opera to appear in their 2017 Summer Series as a guest artist.

Classically trained, Ms. Hagan has also pursued an interest in contemporary music and recently premiered Six Bedlam Songs After Anne Sexton by Michael Shaffer in Cambridge, MA. She has also studied and performed works by local Boston composers such as Vartan Aghababian, John Harbison, and Jordan Chase. Ms. Hagan performed George Crumb’s Madrigals Book II and Madrigals Book III with the CIM New Music Ensemble at the Cleveland Museum of Modern Art as well as Mixon Hall and Kulas Hall to high acclaim. Ms. Hagan has also premiered the chamber work Janie by Nicholas Landrum. Ms. Hagan’s most recent venture in contemporary music is the Boston based group Triad. She is a regular vocalist in the group and has been a featured soloist in their most recent performances.

A native of Georgia, Kristin Hagan recently completed a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, studying voice with Anna Gabrieli. Ms. Hagan received her Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music with departmental honors for Voice studying with Dr. Mary Schiller. She earned her Bachelor’s of Music from Westminster Choir College studying with Mark Moliterno and Sally Wolf, graduating summa cum laude.

WEI DING Soprano

Wei Ding is a lyric coloratura soprano. Since her early childhood, she has actively pursued musical activities and creative learning through piano, singing and dancing. At the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Wei received her bachelor’s degree music education and Master of Arts degree in Music Performance at Long Island University. The highlights of her time include singing for a vocal master class with Grammy-nominated Metropolitan Opera Soprano Carole Farley and David L. Jones. She has also performed twice as a member of LIU chorus with orchestra in Carnegie Hall. In, July 2016, She performed a Baroque concert with Youth Orchestra in Tilles Center. Also, she successfully held her graduate recital in December, 2016. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Participants

ELIZABETH WOOTON Soprano

Elizabeth Wooton is a graduate of Montclair State University B. Music, where she studied under Dr. Lori McCann. She has performed Fire/Nightingale in L'enfant et les sortileges as well as Ida in Die Fledermaus and Papagena in Die Zauberflote. She has performed scenes from Lakme, Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Idomeneo (Ilia), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Tytania). She will begin her graduate studies in the Fall with Luretta Bybee at Loyola University New Orleans.

ADAM SZOKOLAY Piano

Adam Szokolay is a second-year student at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he holds the Belinda and Stephen Kaye Scholarship and is studying with Peter Serkin. Born in Budapest, Adam started playing the piano at the age of four. He won admission to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music’s Preparatory Class five years later, where he studied with Dénes Várjon, Gyöngyi Keveházi and Attila Némethy. Adam was awarded top prizes at numerous national and international competitions including the Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition in Sibiu, the György Ferenczy International Chopin Piano Competition in Budapest and the Zlatko Grgosevic International Piano Competition in Zagreb. In 2016 he received honorable mention in the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and was a finalist in the Stecher and Horowitz New York International Piano Competition. He was awarded the Sári Biró Memorial Award and the Fisher Annie Scholarship for his diligent work.

DREW GALLS Piano

Drew Galls is from Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to his work on solo repertoire, he is the pianist for the Milton Academy Chamber Orchestra and loves playing with others. Newburgh Music Festival 2017 Participants

XIAOYAO CHE Piano

Xiaoyao.Che, hails from a south city of China--Zhuhai. She started to learn piano and singing at the age of twelve. In 2012, she received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Xinghai Music Conservatory of Guangzhou. She majored in piano and minored in voice and piano four hands. In the Fall of 2014, she came to the United States to begin her graduate studies at LIU Post. On May 6, 2016, she received her Master of Arts degree in Music Performance. At LIU Post, her major was piano, but she also minored in classical guitar. Within the past two years, she has grown through different performing stages and gained more performance experience. She has recently performed with the LIU Post Guitar Ensemble and the LIU Post Piano Ensemble, as well as performed with the LIU Post Vocal Jazz Ensembe. She held her graduate recital in March of 2017. Xiaoyao.che currently studies with pianist Aeree Kim.

SHURAN WANG Piano

Shuran Wang graduated from the Nanjing University of the Arts, majoring in music education, where she learned piano and percussion. Throughout her years of study she has participated in many competitions, and some international events in education. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she taught music in China for more than two years. Shuran came to the United States for her graduate studies and is currently pursuing her M.A. degree in Music with a concentration in piano performance at LIU Post. Meanwhile, she is continuing her interests in percussion and vocal studies at LIU Post. She is a student of Dr. Paul Kim, who is a noted pianist and teacher. The coming semester is her last semester as a matriculated graduate student, and she has already taken part in various social events and music performances on campus. In recent years, she won the gold award for Band Ensemble of Adults Group of “2016 Singapore International Chinese Orchestra Competition”. And won the Outstanding Contribution Award in “2016 Singapore International Chinese Orchestra Competition” as a piano accompanist.

UNDERSTUDY: OKIRA SANGARE Soprano

Okira is 15 years old and has been studying classical voice and piano for 11 years. Okira is an honors student who was accepted into the National Juniors Society. She was picked for all county choir in the past and has auditioned for NYSMA the past 5 years, scoring higlighly in voice, piano, and percussion. It is Okira's dream to become an Opera singer. She has performed in numerous plays and has played percussion in her school band for the past 5 years. Okira is dedicated to her craft. She strive to do her best at what she loves. She currently studies with Mrs. Norma Gillespie, from Middletown, NY. The 2017 Newburgh Music Festival was made possible by the support and sponsorship of the following:

Atlas Industries Mount Saint Mary College The City of Newburgh Dr. Hannah Brooks Shari Diamond Deborah Dresser Briar Forsythe Yaakov Sullivan Vertical Access & Alta Access Calabash Restaurant Seoul Kitchen Restaurant Plum Point Dental

We thank you for your help and continued support!

If you are interested in sponsoring the Newburgh Music Festival with a tax-deductible gift, please contact us at [email protected]. As music enthusiasts, we hope you can appreciate this new educational endeavor and show your support by donating any amount to help bring our Newburgh Music Festival to fruition. Through your support and gifts, the Newburgh Music Festival will not only succeed, but will be able to lay a foundation for years to come. Donations of any amount are welcome.

Thank you for your love of music, and for your consideration.

Sincerely, Victoria Schwartzman & David Ludwig

This booklet was designed by Morgan Manifacier