Pittsburgh Concert Society 2015–2016 • 73rd Season The sound of Pittsburgh’s artists Pittsburgh Concert Society WHAT WE’RE ABOUT The PCS involvement in the Pittsburgh scene The annual June Alumni Concert features “return is deep and varied: performances” by former Pittsburgh Concert Society winners who have achieved distinguished careers in the Major Artists Auditions, held each spring, are judged field of classical music. by independent adjudicators selected from among deans and faculty of leading schools of music. Candidates Outreach Performances. In addition to its formal audition anonymously and are judged solely on the level concert activity, the Pittsburgh Concert Society reaches of their performance and the quality of their program. out into the community and beyond. Outstanding artists Six Major winners are presented in concerts, generally are invited to perform in venues throughout the city, the following September, October, and November. Major with a special emphasis on reaching young audiences. Auditions are open to highly qualified classical musicians, These performances are arranged by the officers of the over the age of 18, living within a 75-mile radius of PCS, working in close collaboration with organizations Pittsburgh who meet the PCS program requirements. such as the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Allegheny Each winner receives an honorarium of $1,000 from the RiverStone Center For the Arts, Chamber Music William and Eleanor Benswanger Memorial Fund of Pittsburgh, assisted living communities, Pittsburgh The Pittsburgh Foundation. and suburban school districts, colleges, and other local arts organizations. Annually, one Young Artist winner Young Artists Auditions are held in January and is featured as a soloist with the Edgewood Symphony are also judged by independent, nationally-known Orchestra and Major winners are featured in the adjudicators. Instrumentalists must be under the age of Chamber Music Series of Greater Johnstown. 19, vocalists under 22, and must live within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh. Each winner of the Young Artists The PCS Homer Wickline and Conrad Seamen Auditions receives a $500 scholarship from the Benjamin Memorial Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation and Anna Perlow Scholarships Fund of The Pittsburgh awards annual grants designated to provide financial Foundation, designated for the furtherance of his/her assistance to instrumentalists and vocalists, individuals or music studies. groups, in the classical field, who are working to further their careers or their performance opportunities. Young Organists Auditions are held in March. Organists must be under the age of 23 and must live CONTACT INFO: within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh. The Young 412-279-2970 Organist winner is presented in a concert, generally soon pittsburghconcertsociety.org after the auditions. The winner of the Young Organists [email protected] Auditions receives a $500 scholarship designated for the furtherance of his/her music studies. Membership Application I wish to be a member of the Pittsburgh Concert Society. I understand that each FRIEND membership includes ONE season ticket valid for all concerts of the Society’s 2015–2016 season and that each PATRON, SPONSOR, or BENEFACTOR membership includes TWO season tickets. Name Phone Address City State Zip Email Does your employer match contributions? Yes No Employer: Contributing membership levels: Friend (minimum $60.00) Sponsor (minimum $250.00) Patron (minimum $100.00) Benefactor (minimum $500.00) Please make checks payable to the Pittsburgh Concert Society and mail to: Pittsburgh Concert Society • P.O. Box 14843 • Pittsburgh, PA 15234 Or, you may apply for membership on the PCS website: pittsburghconcertsociety.org The Pittsburgh Concert Society is a non-profit and equal opportunity organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permissible by law. Alumni Concert SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2016 Alvin Zhu, piano Young Artist winner, 2007 Pianist and Young Steinway Artist, Alvin Zhu, has excited audiences around the world, presenting concerts throughout the U.S, China, France, Italy, and Australia. A frequent soloist with orchestras, Zhu has given performances of Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Mendelssohn, and Rachmaninoff concertos. His recent collaborations include Mozart’s Concerto in d minor K. 466 with Maestro Grant Cooper and the West Virginia Symphony in April 2015, and Mozart’s Concerto in C major with Maestro Rossen Milanov and the Chautauqua Symphony in July 2015. Prior, his acclaimed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with Maestro Yongyan Hu and the EOS Symphony received a standing ovation from a sold-out performance at the Beijing Concert Hall in 2013. He has been reengaged to perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with the EOS Symphony in the summer of 2016. His versatility as a performing artist has led him to celebrated performances at the International Women’s Forum, and G20 conference in Pittsburgh. Other than appearing live, he has recorded for NPR and WQED radio and has an album distributed on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and CD-Baby. His merits include Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award on NPR’s “From the Top” and many top prizes in various national competitions around the country. Zhu is an avid composer as well; aside from pieces for piano, recently his Sonata for Violin and Piano, “Poeme” has received acclaim in Juilliard since its premiere at Paul Recital Hall in New York. Having received his Bachelor’s and Master’s through Juilliard’s prestigious 5-year accelerated program with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, Zhu spent one year pursuing the Artist Diploma with Peter Frankl at Yale University School of Music. Zhu was awarded the C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellowship and will attend Juilliard as a Doctor of Music candidate in Fall 2015. Zhu’s former teachers include Yeeha Chiu and Marylene Dosse. Zhu has collaborated with renowned musicians in masterclasses including Lang Lang, Gary Graffman, Leon Fleisher, Murray Perahia, and Emanuel Ax. For more information, visit alvinzhu.com. Danielle Pastin, soprano Major winner, 2009 Quoted as having “a lovely demeanor and irresistible creamy timbre” by Opera News, Danielle Pastin is quickly gaining attention from opera houses around the country. She made her main-stage Metropolitan Opera début singing Masha inThe Queen of Spades and has been invited back several times since, in a new production of Massenet’s Manon, in Francesca da Rimini, and, most recently, singing Frasquita in Carmen, a role she also performed in her début with the Dallas Opera. She triumphed in her Santa Fe Opera début, stepping in as Mimì in La bohème under the direction of Maestro Leo Vordoni on just a few hours’ notice and subsequently received their Judith Raskin Memorial Award for Singers. She has since performed the role to international critical acclaim in venues such as The Royal Albert Hall in London, Manitoba Opera, and Arizona Opera. This season Danielle will be debuting the roles of Liu in Nashville Opera’s Turandot and Hanna in The Merry Widow for Pensacola Opera. Since graduating the Pittsburgh young artist program in 2010, she enjoyed a triumphant return to Pittsburgh Opera as Desdemona in last season’s production of Otello and will be returning this season as Fioridligi in Cosi fan Tutte. The Pittsburgh Concert Society Schedule of Events (PCS) promotes the finest 2015–2016 Season Pittsburgh-based classical All events are at 2:00 p.m. at Kresge Recital Hall, musicians, all selected by Carnegie Mellon University. A “Meet the Artists” adjudicators of national stature, reception follows each concert. Tickets can be purchased at the door, by phone at 412-279- providing each winner with a 2970, or online at pittsburghconcertsociety.org: formal recital opportunity as Adults $15 – Seniors $10 – Students Free well as a financial award. MAJOR WINNERS RECITALS Sunday, September 27, 2015 Founded in 1943, the PCS is Sandro Leal-Santiesteban, violin Trio Rizi: Alyssa Wang, violin, Evan Kahn, cello, a non-profit, equal opportunity Dimitri Papadimitriou, piano organization. All artists appearing Sunday, October 11, 2015 in the PCS programs must live Katerina Istomin, viola Kristina Vidic, soprano within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh. To ensure fairness Sunday, November 8, 2015 Bill Davidson, piano and impartiality of the selection Alabaster Trio: Raquel Winnica Young, mezzo soprano, Lenny Young, oboe, Jack Kurutz, piano process, the PCS auditions are adjudicated by invited musicians YOUNG ARTISTS WINNERS RECITALS Sunday, March 6 and Sunday, March 20, 2016 from outside the Pittsburgh area. ALUMNI CONCERT Sunday, June 5, 2016 The PCS is proud of its history Alvin Zhu, piano and its contribution to the arts Danielle Pastin, soprano in the Pittsburgh area. It is an SEASON AUDITION DATES organization of dedicated officers Young Artists Auditions Saturday, January 9, 2016 and board members, all volunteers Fred Bronstein, Dean of the Peabody Institute, adjudicator consistently working to maintain Major Auditions the highest level of musicianship Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, 2016 Fred Bronstein, Dean of the Peabody Institute, adjudicator in their concert presentations. 2015 Major Auditions Winners Recitals featuring Sean Neukom’s Solo Violin Sonatas, the fourth Major Auditions are open to instrumentalists, of which is dedicated to him and will be premiered in the fall of 2015. vocalists, and chamber music ensembles over the age of 18 who live within a 75-mile radius Trio Rizi – Alyssa Wang/ of