Artistic Director Barbara Podgurski joined by internationally acclaimed virtuoso violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn performing on her famed 1720 “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Music of Beethoven, Brahms, and more.
PROGRAM:
Mozart Sonata #1 in A Major, K.305
Beethoven Sonata in a minor, op. 23
Brahms Sonata in G Major, op. 78
Violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn has earned a stunning reputation as one of America’s most beloved soloists. She appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music and in the year 2000 gave her New York debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York String Orchestra. She has since performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Fisher Center and the Kimmel Center. Passionate about youth and education, she serves as President and Artistic Director of the Luzerne Music Center which provides training for gifted young musicians ages 9 to 18 in upstate New York. Ms. Pitcairn attended the Marlboro Music Festival and is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she later taught alongside her former teacher, the renowned violin professor Robert Lipsett, and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Her former teachers include Julian Meyer, Sylvia Ahramjian, Jascha Brodsky and Shmuel Ashkenasi. The artist performs with one of the world’s most legendary instruments, the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius of 1720, said to have inspired the Academy Award–winning film The Red Violin. Pitcairn is featured on the 10th Anniversary edition of The Red Violin DVD in a special feature called “The Auction Block”. Named the Red Stradivarius violin while in the possession of Joseph Joachim, it was a gift from her grandfather in 1990 at Christie’s Auction in London. Originally from a musical family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she began the violin at age three. Pitcairn believes strongly in philanthropy and is a frequent performer for such charitable events as the American Cancer Society, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Helping Hands and Hearts Foundation and the Nakashima Foundation for Peace. Her favorite activities are skiing, tennis, horseback riding, wine tasting. On the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius, she uses the revolutionary Wittner Finetune-pegs. Her carbon titanium violin case is courtesy of GEWA.For Ms. Pitcairn’s tour schedule, please visit www.redviolin.com.
A native of New York, pianist and teaching artist Barbara Podgurski holds a DMA in piano performance from The Graduate Center (CUNY) as well as a BM in piano performance and an MM in both piano performance and music theory from the Mannes College of Music. Dr. Podgurski has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Europe, including a number of performances at Carnegie Hall. Dr. Podgurski was featured on the 2015 television documentary for NHK in Japan with her touring partner violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn and the famed “Red” Mendelssohn Stradivarius. Dr. Podgurski has premiered numerous new works including a concerto by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer George Walker. Dr. Podgurski is currently the Executive and Artistic Director of Musica Reginae Productions. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at BMCC (CUNY), Staff Pianist for the Strings Department at NYU, and is on the faculty of the RiverArts Music Program in Hudson Valley. She recently performed with rock band Evanescence on their 2017/18 Synthesis Tour and with legendary vocal group Il Divo on their 2019 “Timeless” Tour.