Notes September 2019 Vol. 20, No. 1 Still Time to Subscribe Subscriptions for the upcoming 66th season have been rolling in all summer, but if you haven’t yet gotten your subscription orders in, you still can do so. Most people have been taking advantage of the traditional subscription, which, at $140 each, admits each concert goer to six concerts for the price of four $35 single The Emerson String Quartet tickets. We also offer a “mini-subscription,” whereby you purchase three tickets for $90 Launches Our 66th Season (a lesser discount) that can be used as you We welcome the return of this excellent ensemble, which the wish, e.g. all three for one concert (bring description “world renowned” fits to a tee, as they have performed a couple of friends), one ticket for three in nearly every country on every continent. The New York Times different concerts (enjoy the music on your has called their performances “technically resourceful, musically own), or any other combination. insightful, cohesive, full of character, and always interesting,” while Whatever you choose, send your orders The Washington Post has lauded their “easy virtuosity, precise sense now to Friends of Music Concerts, Inc., of ensemble, rhythmic vigor, and rich polished tone.” P.O. Box 675, Millwood, NY 10546, On Saturday, October 12 at 8 pm in the Kusel Auditorium of or subscribe on line via our website, Sleepy Hollow High School, in Sleepy Hollow, NY, their program www.friendsofmusicconcerts.org. for us will include Subscriptions also can be purchased at the Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, K. 575 ticket table at our first concert on Dvořák’s String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 51 October 12. Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 92. While you’re at it, bring students with Comprised of violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, you. If they are ages 18 or under, they violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist Paul Watkins, the Emerson will be admitted free of charge, as they has maintained its stature as one of the world’s foremost cham- have been for several years. Additionally, ber ensembles for more than 40 years. Its awards have included college students with appropriate i.d.s nine Grammys (including two for Best Classical Album), three can pay, at the door, just $15 per concert. Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical Amer- This is all part of our effort to enhance ica’s “Ensemble of the Year”. The group frequently collaborates students’ musical experiences and build with some of today’s most esteemed composers to premiere new audiences of the future. You can help us works, and has partnered in performance with stellar soloists spread the word. including Reneé Fleming, Barbara Hannigan, Evgeny Kissin, If you have any questions about ticket Emanuel Ax, and Yefim Bronfman. It is Quartet-in-Residence at availability, please call 914-861-5080 and Stony Brook University in New York. leave a message. Your call will be This fall they have spent a good part of September touring Aus- returned promptly. tralia. They will come to us from concerts in Serbia, Austria, and Switzerland, and will go on to performances in Massachusetts, Stony Brook, New York City, Michigan, and Ohio. -4--2- -5- Award-winning Young Cellist Makes Our Series Debut Zlatomir Fung, who in March 2019 was award- the Young Concert Artists International Auditions ed First Prize and the Gold Medal at Russia’s held in New York City. Born in the United prestigious XVI International Tchaikovsky States in 1999 of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Competition, will perform with us on Saturday, he currently studies with Richard Aaron and October 26, at 8 pm in the Kusel Auditorium of Timothy Eddy at The Julliard School. He made Sleepy Hollow High School in Sleepy Hollow, recital debuts earlier this year in New York and NY. His piano collaborator will be Richard Washington, DC. He also has won First Prizes at Fu. His interesting program will include the Schoenfeld International String Competition, Domenico Gabrielli’s Cello George Enescu International Cello Competition, Sonata No. 1 in G Major Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, Stulberg International String Competition, Nicolay Mayaskovsky’s Cello and Irving Klein International Competition. Sonata No. 2, Op. 81 His appearances as soloist with orchestras in the Elliot Carter’s Figment No. 1 United States include the Baltimore Chamber Gabriel Faur´e’s Romance for Orchestra, Boston Pops, and the Juilliard Orchestra Cello and Piano, Op. 69 conducted by Itzhak Perlman. He has performed The premiere of an as-yet-untitled abroad with the George Enescu Philharmonic work by Marshall Estrin Orchestra in Bucharest and Lausanne Sinfonietta in Switzerland. At the International Tchaikovsky Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Competition he performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69 Variations and Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 2 with Zlatomir Fung is the 10th recipient of our the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Performance Award, which is given to a winner of Photo Credit: Matt Dine -5--3- Announcing the George Raymond Legacy Circle If you would like to ensure planned giving is a wonderful that our unique presentation way to establish a legacy for to Westchester audiences of Friends of Music, thus making world-class chamber ensem- a lasting impact not only on bles and recital soloists at the organization but also on affordable prices continues the musical life of the county. well into the future, you can We urge you to discuss this become a member of the with your attorney or financial George Raymond Legacy Cir- advisor. After you officially cle. Named after our founding notify us of your intent, giving president, it recognizes indi- us particular information viduals who have indicated about your intended gift as their intent to include Friends well as your legal contacts, of Music Concerts in their es- your name will be included tate planning, as well as some among those that will appear from whom such gifts already on our concert programs as have been received. Such Legacy Circle members. Your School District Can Be Among Our Partners in Education Now is the time to apply for this unique Friends of performance evaluation, and, most interesting lately, Music Concerts program. Through it we bring to the improvisation and composition.” winning school district(s), at no cost to them, young We’ve always tried to have at least two school dis- professional ensembles who perform and give master tricts participate in this program, but last year in- classes in one or two-day residencies, usually in the creased monetary contributions from interested spring semester. The program is intended to supple- donors enabled us to add a third. The three were ment the districts’ own music programs, and help Harrison, Ossining, and Sleepy Hollow. Application build future audiences for classical music. letters will be going out to all Westchester public The award-winning young artists we engage bring school districts in early October. The deadline for their talents, personal stories, artistry, creativity, and receipt will be early November. Applications can be imagination both to the performances they give and made by mail or through our website, to the workshops they teach during these residen- www.friendsofmusicconcerts.org. That’s also where cies. They are young and vibrant, and have excellent more information about the program can be found. rapport with the students, who have fun while they Even if you don’t have children in the schools, you learn. Rosella Ranno, the Partnerships in Education can help spread the word about the program. Contact chair, has described it as “performance through guid- your Board of Education, a school principal, or a music ed listening and workshops for both small ensembles department head. And if you’d like to hear one of the and large, from elementary school through high ensembles that has been a very popular participant school orchestras. Workshops take varied forms, but in this program, be sure to go to our March 28, 2020, always include instruction on instrumental tech- concert by the PUBLIQuartet. nique, musical interpretation, -5- -4- Volunteer Opportunities With Friends of Music Who are the volunteers who run what one of our outsourced to outside professionals. artists has called this “legendary series”? Some of us Grants Researchers who can help find new sources are musicians (a pianist, a cellist, a double bassist) of funding and then, with help from our treasurer as but some of us are not. For instance, currently on the needed, apply for them. Currently we receive grants Board are a computer research scientist, a former pub- from Westchester County through ArtsWestchester. lic information officer/writer, a chemist, and a physi- We also have applied for, and often have received, cist. They all have in common their love of music and grants from the New York State Council for the Arts their willingness to work collaboratively in order to (NYSCA). But our costs each year increase, and such keep this unique chamber music series in the forefront government-sourced grants are sometimes in jeopardy. of the county’s cultural life. Hence, the need for new ones. Those volunteers need others to join them, either as Arrangements Committee members who can assist Board members with policy-making responsibilities in putting on each concert. This can include taking or as equally-valued off-Board associates or committee tickets at the door, passing out concert programs, members. Here are some suggestions for you pouring cider at intermission if we lack enough stu- to consider. dent volunteers, and ordering the flowers that grace Writers/Editors to help handle our publications, in- our stage.