CONCERTS at RHUMC
Rolling Hills United Methodist Church shares the gift of great music with the congregation and the community with a variety of concerts during the year.
Upcoming concerts are listed below. See the concerts recently presented by clicking here.
THIS MONTH & UPCOMING CONCERTS
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, June 9, 2013 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
TRIO CÉLESTE
Kevin Kwan Loucks piano
Iryna Krechkovsky violin
Ross Gasworth cello
Ensemble-In-Residence at University of California, Irvine
with Michelle Gasworth viola
Based in Orange County, California, Trio Céleste was recently appointed Artists-in-Residence at the University of California, Irvine. The Trio has already taken on several large-scale projects, including performances of the complete Beethoven Trios and performances of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the UCI Symphony Orchestra in June of 2012. Recital performances also include appearances at the Orange County Great Park's Chamber Music Series, a project pioneered by Trio Céleste's pianist, Kevin Kwan Loucks. The Trio will be the principal Ensemble-in-Residence at the new chamber music series, Chamber Music OC. This performance will feature the famed 1689 "Baumgartner" Stradivari Violin on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Joining Trio Céleste is violist Michelle Gasworth, who earned her Bachelor and Master's degrees at the Cleveland Institue of Music. Michele plays with the Dallas Opera
orchestra.
PROGRAM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K478
with special guest Michelle Gasworth viola
Maurice Ravel
Piano Trio in A Minor
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
iPalpiti ORCHESTRA
EDUARD SCHMIEDER Music Director & Conductor
16th Annual
iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates
iPalpiti in the South Bay
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Saturday, July 20, 2013 — 7:00 p.m.
Performing Selections from the Festival Programs
Maestro Edward Schmieder iPalpiti in Walt Disney Concert Hall, July 2012 - photo by Dana Ross
"... Eduard Schmieder, the founder of the admirable iPalpiti, believes that music remains a functional universal language. Schmieder is an authoritative conductor. A tall and serious Russian of the old school, he goes in for intense expression and dug-in string sonorities..."
Mark Swed, Chief Music Critic, Los Angeles Times
The orchestra iPalpiti (ee-PAHL-pit-ee, Italian for "heartbeats") is unique in the world in that it draws its members from top prize-winning laureates of international
competitions. iPalpiti has played to great acclaim in leading concert halls around the world. Approximately 30 artists will arrive in Los Angeles from over 20 countries for the
annual iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates. Concerts take place at various venues throughout the Southland and culminate in an evening concert by the full orchestra in
the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Read about the remarkable assemblage of talented artists by clicking here.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, September 8, 2013 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
New York-based Pianist
KARINÉ POGHOSYAN
"Ms. Poghosyan is a relaxed and natural musician, very obviously at home in the Tchaikovsky concerto. Her technique is big and secure, with blazing octaves, clean articulation, and a beautifully weighted touch. More importantly, her virtuosity was not a shallow display of party tricks, but a tool for musical expression." The New York Concert Review
New York City-based rising-star pianist Kariné Poghosyan returns to open the 6th season of Sundays At Two concerts at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church. Kariné graduated from California State University, Northridge and went on to earn her Master's degree and Doctorate in record time at the Manhattan School of Music, where she is now on its distinguished faculty. Along the way, Kariné won the New West Symphony Discovery Artists Competition, the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, CSUN Symphony Concerto Competition, the Artists International Auditions, and she was a top-prize winner in the Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, Five Towns Music and Arts Competition, and the Arno Babajanian Piano Competition. Kariné Poghosyan has been described as "extraordinary" and "larger than life" pianist, whose playing goes "to the heart of the music." New York Concert Review called her a pianist who "has that spark." She made her orchestral debut at 14 playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1, and her solo Carnegie Hall debut at 23. She has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the New West Symphony, Park Avenue Chamber Symphony Orchestra, Musica Bella Symphony Orchestra, and the CSUN Symphony.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, October 13, 2013 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
4handsLA
STEVEN VANHAUWAERT and DANNY HOLT piano
Reprising their critically acclaimed Jacaranda performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Paris debut
4handsLA is L.A.'s "dazzlingly young" (Los Angeles Times) piano duo. Regular performers on the Jacaranda: Music on the Edge of Santa Monica series, the energetic duo of Steven Vanhauwaert and Danny Holt was introduced to audiences in 2009 in a performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The Huffington Post wrote that the duo's performance "created a sensation", and LAOpus said of their Stravinsky performance: "The four-hand piano Sacre blazed like a comet through the hall. Both illuminating and liberating, one could only stand mute at the work's astounding musical structure. Vanhauwaert and Holt tore into this piece like furies, undeterred by daunting challenges. It was a performance at turns propulsive and precise, aggressive and tender. What aplomb these two demonstrated!" 4handsLA was recently among seven finalists at the Liszt 200 Chicago International Duo Piano Competition.
The duo's debut CD, Paris 1913, - available for purchase at the concert - features their signature Stravinsky alongside other contemporaneous four-hand works from Paris by Ravel, Satie, Casella, and Poulenc.
Steven Vanhauwaert and Danny Holt - both individually Beverly Hills Audition winners - are also active soloists, having performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw, and other venues across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Vanhauwaert was the Grand Prize winner of the 2004 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and his recent tour of China culminated at the National Center of Performing Arts in Beijing. Holt is a versatile performer known for championing contemporary works. His Fast Jump album (2009, Innova Recordings) received rave reviews from Gramophone magazine and has been heard on radio stations from coast to coast.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, November 10, 2013 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
SMOKE & MIRRORS
Percussion Ensemble Formed at the Colburn School
While the Smoke & Mirrors Ensemble has championed the work of percussion masters, they also work with young composers who are just beginning their careers. Their debut album on the Yarlung label includes selections by Steve Reich, Eric Whitacre, Happenstance, Toru Takemitsu, and Ravel, and a world premiere recording by ensemble member Derek Tywoniuk. Together the five musicians weave into filaments of sound and rhythm as if they were one person.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, January 12, 2014 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
THE SCHUMANN DUO
Pianists
ELIZABETH and SONYA SCHUMANN
As young children, Elizabeth and Sonya shared cacophonous practice time on their family's second-hand spinet piano. Finally, their mother gave in and
purchased another! The furious practicing which ensued resulted in prizes in major national and international piano competitions for both, and eventually led to a
dynamic and harmonic musical and theatrical collaboration between the sisters. The Schumann Duo evolved out of their shared passions for music, literature,
and drama. A dynamic combination of storytelling and piano playing, their performances give deeper expression to words and make the profound experience of
classical music accessible to audiences of all ages. The sisters share a kinetic connection with their audience, providing an opportunity for listeners to enter the
world of the composers through artistic excellence, innovative programming, and insightful narration. Often receiving standing ovations, this duo was called
"attractive, unique, and immensely engaging" by the Fine Arts Initiative, and has been garnering international attention since their debut.
Elizabeth Schumann performs internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. The Washington Post Magazine noted her playing as "deft, relentless, and devastatingly good--the sort of performance you experience not so much with your ears as your solar plexus." The first prize winner of the Bösendorfer International Piano Competition and the Pacific International Piano Competition, she also won various prizes in numerous other major competitions, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. As a result of receiving a prestigious Irving S. Gilmore Award, Elizabeth was a featured artist in the PBS documentary about the Gilmore.
Sonya Schumann made her orchestral debut with the Williamsburg Symphonia League at thirteen, performing as the Young Soloist Competition winner. She has competed and won several competitions, including the Bartók-Kabelevsky-Prokofiev Competition, Williamsburg Symphony Concerto Competition, South Carolina Music Teachers Association Competition, and Southeastern Piano Festival. In 2005, Sonya performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the South Carolina Philharmonic. Also nationally recognized for prose and poetry interpretation and performance, Sonya recently competed and placed at the national level in poetry.
Watch
The Schumann Duo performs Poulenc's Sonata for Piano Four Hands
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, February 9, 2014 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
Los Angeles Philharmonic Concertmaster
MARTIN CHALIFOUR
~ and ~
Pianist TIMOTHY DURKOVIC
Martin Chalifour began his tenure as Principal Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995. The recipient of various grants and awards in his native Canada, he graduated with honors from the Montreal Conservatory at the age of 18 and then moved to Philadelphia to pursue studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. In 1986 Martin Chalifour received a Certificate of Honor at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and was a laureate of the Montreal International Competition the following year. Since then he has concertized extensively, playing hundreds of concerto performances from a repertoire of more than 50 works with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He is also a frequent guest at several summer music festivals, including the Sarasota Festival and the Mainly Mozart Festival. Martin Chalifour is a professor at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. He records for the Yarlung label; his latest album was released in September 2011, and features solo music composed by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Steven Stucky, as well as Mozart and Lutoslawski concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Los Angeles-based pianist Timothy Durkovic is an active soloist and chamber musician, collaborating regularly with some of world's finest instrumentalists
and vocalists including Martin Chalifour, Helen Callus, Movses Pogossian, Timothy Landauer, Richard O'Neil, Jonathan Mack, among others. He is the Grand
Prize Winner of the 1996 Los Angels Liszt Competition as well as a winner of the Beverly Hills Auditions, the Carmel Music Society Competition, the 2001
San Diego Duo Piano Competition and the 2001 IBLA Grand Prize Duo Award (Sicily, Italy) with his duo partner Chie Nagatani, as well as the recipient of the
prestigious Outstanding Master's Graduate Award from the USC Thornton School of Music. He has served on the faculties of the Orange County High School
of the Arts, University of La Verne, USC Thornton School of Music and is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Long Beach City College. His playing
has been described as having great "sensitivity to colors" (Salt Lake City Tribune) and "effortless, with the music always in the forefront, and an overall
effect…of music making that is too rarely heard." (Frederick Swann). His CD recording "Gargoyles," available on iTunes, received rave reviews as being "an
incisive and exciting performance" from Lowell Lieberman, the title track's composer himself. Born and raised in Guatemala, Mr. Durkovic studied at the
National Conservatory of Guatemala, the Juilliard School, Salem College, and the USC Thornton School of Music.
Watch
Martin Chalifour and Timothy Durkovic perform the first movement of the Brahms' Violin Sonata in G Major.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, March 9, 2014 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
Pianist
LUCINDA CARVER
The celebrated conductor, pianist, and harpsichordist performs Franz Schubert's sublime masterpiece: Piano Sonata in G Major, Op.78, described by Schumann as the "most perfect in form and conception" of any of Schubert's sonatas.
Lucinda Carver is a rare triple-threat: a much beloved and highly acclaimed musician equally at home on the podium, at the keyboard, or in the lecture hall. As a Fulbright Fellow to Austria, she concertized throughout Europe and has performed as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Capella Salisburgensis, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and Manhattan Philharmonic, among others. For 11 years she was music director of the renowned Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra. In 2009, she was named Artistic Director of the Centrum Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Carver is Professor of Piano, Harpsichord, and Conducting at the USC Thornton School of Music.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, April 6, 2014 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
Pianist
INNA FALIKS
Firm and vibrant playing ... tonal weight and great expressive flourish ... a delight to hear... riveting passion and playfulness, warmly poetic." ~ Baltimore Sun
Called "adventurous" and "passionate" by The New Yorker and "poetic" by Time Out New York, Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since performed on many of the world's great stages, with numerous orchestras with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart, and in solo appearances in Carnegie Hall's Weill Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris' Salle Cortot, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall, to name some some, and. Critics praise her "courage to take risks, expressive intensity and technical perfection" (General Anzeiger, Bonn), "poetry and panoramic vision" (Washington Post), and "riveting passion, playfulness" (Baltimore Sun). Her acclaimed CD on MSR Classics, "Sound of Verse", was released in 2009. She was recently appointed to UCLA's Piano Faculty.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated
ROLLING HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, June 8, 2014 – 2:00 p.m. sharp
Sundays At Two
presents
Pianist
ROBERT EDWARD THIES
Gold-Medal Winner of the International Prokofiev Competition
Internationally renowned concert pianist and favorite of Southland piano aficionados, Los Angeles-based Robert Edward Thies is Gold-Medal winner of the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. Robert has performed worldwide with over forty orchestras including the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Liepaja Symphony (Latvia), Mexico City Philharmonic, the National Symphony of Mexico, Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand), Louisville Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, and the Naples Philharmonic., to name just some. A graduate of USC, his teachers have included Robert Turner and Daniel Pollack, both protégés of the legendary Russian pedagogue and pianist Madame Rosina Lhevinne and the great pianist Josef Lhevinne. Robert has a huge and avid Southern California following. He is returning to the Palos Verdes Peninsula where he grew up for his forth appearance on the Sundays At Two series.
Free Admission—Donations Appreciated