New York City’s Congregation Rodeph Sholom
Presents Free Chamber Music Concerts for the Community
in Schnurmacher Chapel

On March 24th at 1 pm, Congregation Rodeph Sholom Chamber Music
Series will present its second concert featuring world class
musicians in the congenial and intimate setting of the Schnurmacher
Chapel. Guest artists Susan Rotholz, flute, Mayuki Fukuhara and
Andrea Schultz, violins, Sarah Adams, viola, and Eliot Bailen, cello
and Artistic Director, will perform works by Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847), Ervin Schulhoff (1894-1942), and Alberto Ginastera
(1916-1983). The free concert is open to the public at Congregation
Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd Street, New York. For more information,
call 212 362-8800, x1337 or email eleder@rodephsholom.org.
The March 24th program features flute and string quartets in works
ranging from the 19th century Classic-Romantic tradition of
Mendelssohn to the Schoenberg influenced 20th century Expressionistic
music. Czech composer and pianist Ervin Schulhoff, who perished in
the Holocaust at the Wurzberg camp, wrote music influenced by the art
and politics of 1930’s Europe, embracing Dada and Jazz while
continuing to express his heritage in the Czech folk music tradition.
Internationally acclaimed composer pianist, Alberto Ginastera, became
renown for modern Neo-Expressionist masterworks and commissions
while, similarly, tapping the rich resources in the rhythms,
melodies, and spirit of the musica criolla of his native Argentina.
Impresiones de la Puna (1934), Ginastera’s popular early composition,
follows the plaintive opening quena, named for the Incan flute, and
poignant second movement, with a vibrant dance in the closing
movement. Five Pieces for String Quartet (1923) by Schulhoff renders
a lively jazz interpretation of a classic Baroque dance suite. Felix
Mendelssohn’s intellectual and artistic passion for chamber music
reached its maturity and personal clarity in String Quartet no. 3 in
D Major, Op. 44, no. 1 (1838) composed in Liepzig at the height of
his career. His talents as composer, pianist, and violinist,
prodigious output for the chamber musician, and international
influence as orchestra conductor and festival organizer propelled
chamber music to the forefront of mid-19th century music and and
helped secure the future of the genre in the repertory.
The RODEPH SHOLOM CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES is presented to bring both the
best of the chamber music repertory to the community and to explore
the Jewish heritage in music. The concerts are free. Please rsvp to
enjoy a light lunch before the concert.
The third and final concert of the season will be May 19th and will
feature Jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal, bass player Thomson Kneeland, and
vocal selections by mezzo-soprano Cantor Rebecca Garfein.
For more information, call 212 362-8800, x1337 or email
eleder@rodephsholom.org.