Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

NFoM-Ensemble-season

Full Text:

Newtown Friends Of Music Announces 22nd Season

(with cuts)

The Newtown Friends of Music (NFoM) are pleased to announce that for their

22nd year they have been able to engage outstanding artists to perform a

five-concert program for the 1999-2000 season. As always, performers come from

the most prestigious music schools and have won numerous awards for their

artistic abilities. All performers who are asked to play in Newtown have been

heard in person by one or more members of the NFoM Program Committee.

Opening the season on Sunday, October 10, will be The Elm City Ensemble with

guest artist Sarah Wolfson.

The Elm City Ensemble is headquartered in New Haven and was the 1997 grand

prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, first prize

winner of the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, winner of the

Coleman-Barstow Award and winner of the AT&T National Pro-Am Youth Award.

In addition, the group has just returned triumphantly from the Third Osaka

International Chamber Music Competition, where it was the only American group

to place, receiving the silver medal for its performance.

The instruments in this group are violin, viola, cello, clarinet and piano.

For the performance in Newtown, the ensemble has invited a recent Juilliard

graduate, Sarah Wolfson, to sing the beautiful "Shepherd on the Rock" by Franz

Schubert.

On October 31, Newtown will be host to viola virtuoso Nokuthula Ngwenyama, who

will be accompanied on the piano by Melvin Chen. Ms Ngwenyama came to national

attention when, at the age of 17, she won the Young Concert Artists

International Auditions -- the first violist chosen in 14 years.

Since then she has continued to draw attention to a seldom-heard solo

instrument with her many acclaimed performances. She was the recipient of the

1996-1997 Fulbright Grant to study at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris

and was recipient of the coveted 1997 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Born of

African-Japanese parentage, Ms Ngwenyama graduated from the Curtis Institute

of Music in Philadelphia and currently resides in Boston.

Another recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1998) to come to Newtown

will be the pianist Jeremy Denk, who will give a recital on the stage of

Edmond Town Hall on Sunday, February 13.

Mr Denk made a highly acclaimed New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in

April 1997 and debuted at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the

following year. Since then he has played with major orchestras in the United

States and abroad and has performed in concerto, recital and in chamber music.

He has participated in the Marlboro, Caramoor and Aspen Music Festivals, and

has toured with the clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Last year he also toured in

Europe and premiered new works at the Library of Congress. He now serves on

the faculty of Indiana's School of Music and is a doctoral candidate at

Juilliard School.

Another exciting event in the coming season will occur on Sunday, March 19,

when the well-known Shanghai Quartet teams up with cellist Alisa Weilerstein

and violist Marcus Thompson to play string sextets by Schoenberg and

Tchaikovsky.

The Shanghai Quartet first came to Newtown music lovers' attention in 1988

when, as a very young string quartet, they were brand-new to this country and

overwhelmed everyone with their outstanding playing. They have performed for

the Newtown Friends of Music since then and it will be a thrill to see them

cooperate with other musicians to bring a variety of music to the stage.

Miss Weilerstein, born in 1982, gave her first concert at age five and made

her Cleveland Orchestra debut at 13 playing the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations.

Her acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut was with the New York Youth Symphony in

March 1997.

She has been engaged by a number of symphony orchestras and plays regularly

with her parents, Donald and Vivian Weilerstein, as The Weilerstein Trio,

which has toured throughout the country. She was recently profiled by CBS This

Morning as part of its nationally televised series on the Class of 2000.

Violist Marcus Thompson has been heralded for "major mastery of his

instrument" and "the complete interpreter." As concerto soloist, recitalist

and in chamber music, he has delighted audiences with his wide breadth of

repertoire spanning four centuries on both the viola and the viola d'amore.

He has appeared as guest with all the major quartets, in chamber music

festivals both here and abroad, as well as with the Chamber Music Society of

Lincoln Center. He is an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society.

As a conclusion to the 1999-2000 season, Newtown audiences will be treated to

an all-Russian program presented by the St Petersburg String Quartet.

Considered one of the greatest young chamber music ensembles in the world, the

quartet has played to record-breaking crowds, standing ovations, multiple

encores, return invitations and overwhelming critical acclaim.

The quartet's many honors include a 1996 Grammy nomination, special prizes at

the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, first and both special

prizes at the Florence International Chamber Music Competition, a silver medal

and special prize at the Tokyo International Chamber Music Competition, and

the appointment as quartet-in-residence at Oberlin Conservatory.

Admission to the concerts given by the Newtown Friends of Music is by

subscription, at $45 for all five concerts, or $35 for seniors over the age of

65. Remaining single tickets may be purchased the day of the concert at $14

for adults and $12 for seniors. Children between the ages of five and 14 are

always welcome and admitted free when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

For more information and a subscription form, interested music lovers can

request a brochure with all the details by calling 426-6470 or by writing to

Newtown Friends of Music at PO Box 295, Newtown, CT 06470-0295.