Christopher O’Riley (by Wendy Lynch)
(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.) – Tannery Pond’s 23rd concert season, taking place in the Tannery on the grounds of the Darrow School, opens Saturday, May 25, 2013, with a concert featuring pianist Christopher O’Riley (of “From the Top” fame) and cellist Matt Haimovitz, in an all-Russian program. Season highlights include performances by the Miró Quartet (July 27), duo Parnas (September 7), and a season-closing concert by Brentano String Quartet (September 21) playing works by Beethoven, Debussy and Mendelssohn.
The Tannery, built by the Shakers in 1834, is a plain barn-like structure of warmly resonant wood unusually favorable to the sounds of chamber music, whether string ensemble, voice, piano, or small orchestra. Its size (it seats 290) fosters an intimate and interactive relationship between performers and artists, providing an exciting opportunity for closeness with the renowned artists that have appeared at Tannery Pond since its inception.
The season, once again programmed by artistic director Christian Steiner, himself a concert pianist and a photographer of musicians who performs on June 22, is as follows:
May 25: Christopher O’Riley with cellist Matt Haimovitz, renowned as a musical pioneer for his classical and crossover artistry, for an all-Russian program of works by Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky.
June 8: Another piano-cello concert with Sebastian Bäverstam and Yannick Rafalimanana playing works by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.
June 22: Pianist Christian Steiner plays a Dohnányi Quintet with Soovin Kim and Jessica Lee (violin), Ed Arron (cello) and Maurycy Banaszek (viola). A selection of Bartók’s Duos for violin and viola and Kodály’s Duo for violin and cello will also be performed.
July 27: Miró Quartet, in residence at the University of Texas at Austin, and widely considered one of the most distinguished chamber music groups. Schubert, Puccini, Beethoven.
duo Parnas
August 17: Vassily Primakov returns with his duo partner and friend for more than a decade, Natalia Lavrova. Primakov will play Chopin during the first half of the program; the duo performs Rachmaninov for the second half.
September 7: duo parnas, featuring Madalyn Parnas on violin and Cicely Parnas on cello, will be joined by French pianist, Vincent Adragna, playing Prokofiev, Brahms and Schubert.
September 21: The season concludes with Brentano String Quartet playing Beethoven, Debussy and Mendelssohn.
All concerts are at the Tannery on Saturday evenings. The first (May 25) and last (September 21) will be at 6pm, the other five will be at 8pm.