Festival Chamber Music: Trios by Beethoven, Bartók, & Arensky
Limited availability – please contact CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800
- Charles Neidich, clarinet
- Mika Sasaki, piano
- Stephanie Zyzak, violin
- Ruth Sommers, cello
Béla Bartók — Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano, Sz. 111, BB 116
Anton Arensky — Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32
Festival Chamber Music is known for presenting great music in a warm, intimate environment. The performers at our concerts are some of the finest chamber musicians in New York, who in addition to their artistry are known for the exuberance of their performances and their warm interaction with audiences.
About Charles Neidich, clarinet
Clarinetist and conductor Charles Neidich has gained worldwide recognition as one of the most mesmerizing virtuosos on his instrument. With a tone of hypnotic beauty and a dazzling technique, Mr. Neidich has received unanimous accolades from critics and fellow musicians both in the United States and abroad; but it is his musical intelligence in scores as diverse as Mozart and Elliott Carter that has earned for Mr. Neidich a unique place among clarinetists. In the words of The New Yorker, "He's an artist of uncommon merit — a master of his instrument and, beyond that, an interpreter who keeps listeners hanging on each phrase."
In their most recent collaboration on the WA Concert Series, Mr. Neidich and Mr. Shams performed Alban Berg's Vier Stücke, Op. 5 for clarinet and piano at the Tenri Cultural Center in fall of 2019. Rorianne Schrade of the New York Concert Review wrote: "The duo captured these remarkable miniatures with vivid expressiveness and cohesion. Mr. Neidich, as ever, was one with the music in ways that impress it indelibly upon 'the mind’s ear.'" (October 28, 2019)
An ardent exponent of new music and a composer himself, he has expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of the clarinet and has championed the works of many of the world's most important composers. He is a leading performer on period instruments and has restored and reconstructed original versions of works of composers from Mozart to Copland.
With a growing discography to his credit, Mr. Neidich can be heard on the Chandos, Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte, Deutsche Grammophon, Musicmasters, Pantheon, and Bridge labels, and most recently in the Mozart Basset clarinet Concerto on historical instruments for Bremen Radio Hall Recordings. He is publishing editions of major clarinet and wind chamber music for Lauren Keiser Music and Southern Music, has made instructional videos for Play with a Pro, and together with Ayako Oshima publishes a monthly column in the Japanese magazine, Pipers.
Under Mr. Neidich's direction, along with his wife, fellow clarinetist Ayako Oshima, the popular Wa Concert Series, held at Tenri Cultural Institute, brings lesser-known composers and works to the attention of the international music community, synthesizing Mr. Neidich's lifetime of musical knowledge, exploration, and thoughtful reflection. In recent seasons, Mr. Neidich has added conducting to his musical accomplishments. He has guest conducted throughout the country and continues to serve as conductor of the Queens College Chamber Orchestra with whom he has performed the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in historically informed interpretations.
In wide demand as a soloist, Mr. Neidich has collaborated with several of the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Halle Staatsorchester, Orpheus, the St. Louis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, San Diego Symphony, New City Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, the Yomiuri and Tokyo Philharmonic, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Juilliard, Guarneri, American, Mendelssohn, and Parker Quartets.
A native New Yorker of Belorussian and Greek descent, Charles Neidich studied with the famed pedagogue Leon Russianoff. He received a BA, cum laude, in anthropology from Yale University. In 1975 he was granted a Fulbright grant for study in the former Soviet Union, and he attended the Moscow Conservatory for three years studying with Boris Dikov and Kirill Vinogradov.
In 1985, Mr. Neidich became the first clarinetist to win the Walter W. Naumburg Competition, which brought him to prominence as a soloist. He then taught at the Eastman School of Music, and during that tenure, joined the renowned New York Woodwind Quintet, an ensemble with which he still performs. His European honors include top prizes at the 1982 Munich International ARD Competition, the Geneva, and the Paris Accanthes International Competitions. Mr. Neidich has achieved recognition as a teacher in addition to his activities as a performer, and is currently a member of the artist faculties of CUNY Graduate School, The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music. He held the post of Associate Professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College for many years. In 2004, he was awarded the William Schuman Award for performance and scholarship at The Juilliard School. The Kitakaruizawa Music Seminar, now in its 13th season, was co-founded by Mr. Neidich and Ms. Oshima. In 2018 he was awarded a lifetime membership in honor of his artistic achievements by the International Clarinet Society and a medal for lifetime achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters.
https://www.charlesneidich.net/About Mika Sasaki, piano
Praised as a "superb interpreter" (Fanfare) and for her "virtuosity…and sparkling sound" (Times Argus), pianist Mika Sasaki enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed across the U.S. and in the U.K., Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, appearing in venues such as the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Sinfonia of Cambridge, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Orchestra, and more recently, with the InterSchool Symphony Orchestra of New York, performing Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto.
A passionate chamber musician, Mika has performed with the Manhattan Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as in festivals such as Tanglewood, Music@Menlo, Chigiana, Yellow Barn, Aspen, and Taos. She is a member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and the powerhouse sextet, Ensemble Mélange. Dedicated to education and audience engagement, she has presented interactive performances in New York City and across the country, including residencies at String Theory and Chamber Music Northwest. She is an alumna of Peabody (B.M., M.M.), Carnegie Hall's Ensemble Connect, and Juilliard (D.M.A.).
Based in New York City, Mika is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, where she teaches keyboard skills, piano, and chamber music in the College, Pre-College, and Extension Divisions. When not at the piano, she can be found tending to her houseplants, cooking, or chasing after her cat.
https://www.mikasasaki.com/About Stephanie Zyzak, violin
Violinist Stephanie Zyzak is gaining a reputation as one of the most soulful and profound musicians of her generation. She has performed as a soloist throughout Germany, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Italy, and France. She is a deeply passionate chamber musician, performing at festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Caramoor, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Stephanie has collaborated with renowned artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Kim Kashkashian, Danny Phillips, Marcy Rosen, and Ida Kavafian.
https://stephaniezyzak.com/