Celebrating 150 Years of Rachmaninoff
$10-$49 (student/senior discounts available at the box office)
- Sarah Coburn, soprano
- Kristina Reiko Cooper, cello
- Maia Gonzalez, soprano
- Navasard Hakobyan, baritone
- Ani Kushyan, mezzo-soprano
- Asi Matathias, violin
- Chaeyoung Park, piano
- Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
- Alisa Sadikova, harp
- Aristo Sham, piano
- Diana Skavronskaya, soprano
- Victor Starsky, tenor
- Ben Strong, bass-baritone
- Elizaveta Ulakhovich, soprano
- Dmitry Yudin, piano
- Morgan State University Concert Choir
- Eric Conway, conductor
Sergei Rachmaninoff — All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Op. 37 (selections)
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Aleko (selections)
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Francesca da Rimini, Op. 25 (selections)
Sergei Rachmaninoff — The Miserly Knight, Op. 24 (selections)
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Selected works (Romances TBA)
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
The Cultural Exchange Foundation – in cooperation with Young Concert Artists, Houston Grand Opera, Classical Movements, Prague Summer Nights Young Artists Music Festival, and Morgan State University – celebrates 150 years of Rachmaninoff with a diverse program of instrumental and vocal music. The evening commemorates one of the finest composers of the Romantic era and one of the most celebrated pianists of all time. An exciting group of world-class artists from around the globe will perform some of Rachmaninoff's most famous music: Preludes, Études Tableaux, and original transcriptions, as well as more rarely heard selections, such as excerpts from Rachmaninoff's Vespers performed by the Morgan State Choir, and arias from the operas Aleko, Francesca de Rimini, and The Miserly Knight. The night will also feature various romances, solo piano works, and chamber works: Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor with Asi Matathias on violin, Kristina Reiko Cooper on cello, and Dmitry Yudin on piano, as wells the brilliant Sonata for Cello and Piano, also performed by Cooper and Yudin. Soprano Sarah Coburn will also perform three of Rachmaninoff's most treasured romances including his perennial favorite Vocalise.
About Cultural Exchange Foundation
Created in 1992 in Washington, DC, the Cultural Exchange Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has brought to public attention works of art that promote themes of freedom, civil liberties, and cultural diversity.
The Foundation's mission is to organize art-related projects and educational activities that foster greater understanding and appreciation of differing cultures and peoples. The Foundation’s projects have been seen by audiences in the United States, Hungary, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan and Taiwan.
Services include art management, creative concept development, curatorial assistance, and supervision and coordination of exhibitions, films, seminars, concerts, cultural events, publications, and theatrical performances.
http://www.cef-us.org/home.htmAbout Sarah Coburn, soprano
About Kristina Reiko Cooper, cello
Cello virtuoso Kristina Reiko Cooper has won worldwide acclaim for her musical diversity, artistry, and charismatic stage presence. Hailed by The New York Times as "sensational in concert" and as a "striking virtuoso" by the Los Angeles Times, Kristina has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on many of the world's most distinguished stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall of Tokyo, Radio France in Paris, and appearances with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Tokyo Yomiuri Symphony.
http://kristinareikocooper.com/home/About Maia Gonzalez, soprano
About Navasard Hakobyan, baritone
Hailing from Garni, Armenia, Navasard Hakobyan was the first-place winner at Houston Grand Opera's 2022 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias.
Hakobyan was a member of the young artist program of the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Yerevan, Armenia from 2018-23. His roles there included Silvio in "Pagliacci," Giorgio Germont in "La traviata," and Belcore in a new production of "The Elixir of Love."
Hakobyan has won numerous international competitions, including first prize in the Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, third prize in the José Carreras Grand Prix in Moscow, Russia, and first prize in the Butler Opera International Voice Competition in Austin.
Hakobyan received his master’s degree at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. He was named the 2019 winner of the President of the Republic of Armenia Youth Prize.
https://www.houstongrandopera.org/artists/navasard-hakobyanAbout Ani Kushyan, mezzo-soprano
About Asi Matathias, violin
About Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
Winner of the 2022 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, Joseph Parrish is a Baltimore native and holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School. As a current artist diploma candidate in opera studies at the Juilliard School, Mr. Parrish is passionate about giving back to the various communities that have nurtured him. He is a Music Advancement Program chorus teaching fellow, Gluck Community Service Fellow, and Morse Teaching Artist. Mr. Parrish is also a member of the inaugural cohort of Shared Voices, an initiative designed to address diversity, equity, and inclusion through collaboration between Historically Black Colleges and Universities, top conservatories, and schools of music in the United States with the Denyce Graves Foundation.
https://yca.org/artist/parrish-joseph/About Aristo Sham, piano
About Diana Skavronskaya, soprano
About Victor Starsky, tenor
Victor Starsky is a native of Richmond Hill, New York, where he has learned and practiced his craft as a teacher, martial artist, and professional musician. Mr. Starsky was a participant of the 2019 Merola Opera Program and a 2020 San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow where he gratefully received the prestigious Shoshana Foundation's Richard F. Gold Career Grant. Victor performed the role of Lt. B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Long Island Opera and made his role debut as the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto at Opera Modesto. In February 2020, he performed the role of Don José in his company debut with Opera Tampa. Opera Today writes: "Victor Starsky's Don José is terrifying and compelling, with a voice that performs vocal acrobatics with strength and beauty that remains undiminished through his final line."
Victor made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2019 as the tenor soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass. In 2018, he traveled to Italy to perform the role of Alfredo in La Traviata, conducted by Audrey Saint-Gill. Victor sang Il Postiglione in La Fanciulla del West and Rodolfo in La Bohème with New York City Opera, and Tony in West Side Story with Opera North. In 2014, Mr. Starsky received the honor of a lifetime to perform the role of The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's MASS with its premiere conductor, Maestro Maurice Peress. Victor is blessed beyond expression to be a proud father and husband.
About Ben Strong, bass-baritone
About Elizaveta Ulakhovich, soprano
About Dmitry Yudin, piano
Dmitry Yudin was born in Moscow on May 16, 2001. From five to eighteen years of age, he was Professor Lydia Grigoryeva's student at the Moscow Gnessins School of Music; since summer 2019, he has been a full-scholarship student of Prof. Horacio Gutierrez at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Dmitry has taken part in a number of regional, national and international competitions and festivals, winning prizes and audiences at numerous important international events like the E-Muse International Music Competition (Greece, 2015, 1st prize), 15th International Scriabin Piano Competition (Paris, 2015, 1st prize), 3rd International Classical Music Festival and Competition for Young Pianists, Astana Piano Passion (Astana, 2015, 3rd prize), 2nd Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition (Moscow, 2017, prize), 17th Youth Delphi Games in Russia (Vladivostok, 2018, silver medal), 5th Heinrich Neuhaus Moscow International Festival of Young Pianists (Moscow, 2018, prize). From 2013 till 2019, Dmitry invariably was a participant in the Youth Academy of Music, a Russian-Polish festival.
For several years since 2014, Dmitry regularly performed with the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College orchestra of St. Petersburg, including 2015 - 2017 tours in Latvia and Lithuania with an international team of the orchestra and solo recitals at the end. From 2013 till 2018, Dmitry took part in Vladimir Spivakov's International Charity Foundation programs and was on the Foundation's scholarship since 2014. As a Foundation scholarship holder, he performed on stages like the Chamber Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic, Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Mikhail Glinka Music Culture Museum in Moscow. In January 2006, Dmitry Yudin gave a solo recital in Vilnius, Lithuania, as a part of the Christmas Festival sponsored by Vladimir Spivakov's International Charity Foundation. In 2014 - 2016, he was a winner of the Moscow City Government grant, and in 2016-2018 a prize winner of the Moscow Mayor's Arts Grant Program. Since the spring of 2018, he has been participating in concert programmes of the St. Petersburg House of Music on various stages in Russia (St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Yekaterinburg) and abroad: in France (Paris), Austria (Vienna, Linz), and the USA (Washington).
Dmitry has shared concerts or given solo recitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod, Kazan, Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, Daugavpils (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), New York and Washington (USA). His performance record includes concerts with orchestras like the Saratov Conservatory Orchestra (conductors G. Petrosyan, S. Nesterov, M. Myasnikov), Rimsky-Korsakov Music College Orchestra (cond. A. Vasilyev), Baltic States Youth Symphony Orchestra (cond. A. Vasilyev), Baltic Music Academy Symphony Orchestra (cond. J. Janulevicius), Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra (cond. L. Kazakov), National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia (cond. V. Simkin), St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra (cond. A. Titov), Tomsk Academic Symphony Orchestra (cond. M. Granovsky).
Dmitry has taken part in master classes conducted by E. Korolev, V. Derevyanko, B. Berezovsky, D. Bashkirov, B. Bloch. By now he has performed in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, France, Croatia, Greece, and the US.