Our previous
seasons:
2003-2004
2002-2003
2001-2002
2000-2001
1999-2000
1998-1999
Our 2000-2001 season:
We held a spectacular BENEFIT on May 16, 2001 at the exquisite SONY CLUB, the penthouse atop the Sony Building featuring the now famous and young pianist, HELEN HUANG. A delectable sit down dinner was included.
Support for Grants in the 2000-2001 season were generously provided by the ARTHUR W. DIAMOND FUND, SONY-USA FOUNDATION, the ZIPKIN FOUNDATION, the VALERIE BETH SCHWARTZ FELLOWSHIP FUND, and the BERNHEIM FOUNDATION
On April 24 we once again ended our season with "Sounds of the East and Sounds of the West" at the exciting INDIAN CONSULATE. The great Sarodist Asheesh Khan played ragas with Ray Spiegal on Tabla. Makoto Nakura gave us a remarkable performance on the Marimba. An Indian Buffet supper followed .
LINK TO SNAPSHOTS
On April 3, 2001 once again we presented at the exquisite French Consulate. The Parisii String Quartet, directly from Paris, played BEETHOVEN and RAVEL and the spectacular saxophonist Gary Louie played BENJAMIN BRITTEN, all followed by a charming reception.
LINK TO SNAPSHOTSOn February 28th we presented "International Virtuosi" at Steinway Hall featuring the fabulous South American flautist - Marcos Granados and cellist , Alban Gerhardt. Susan and Sarah Wang, a two paino team and recent winners of the Murray Dranoff Artists International 2 piano competition, also appeared. This was followed by a supper reception. LINK TO SNAPSHOTS
On January 31, 2001, we presented another SPECIAL CONCERT for our Patrons, Sustaining Patrons and Benefactors, at the magnificent residence of Ambassador and Mrs. Kawamura., of Japan. The participating artists were the 1997 VAN CLIBURN gold medal winner, pianist JON NAKAMATSU and harpist MARIKO ANRAKU. An elegant Japanese Supper-Reception followed.
we opened with A GALA "ENCORES 2000", on October 11, 2000, at Steinway Hall where once again we awarded 5 enormous talents with Fellowship Grants, and presented these winners in unforgettable performances, to gift our audience with the opportunity to discover the future Heifetz’s and Horowitz’s.
The grant winners were:
Ori Friedman, pianist, SONY-USA fellowship grant
Alban Gerhardt, cellist, SALON DE VIRTUOSI fellowship grant
Stefan Milankovich, violinist, ARTHUR W. DIAMOND fellowship grant
Daria Robotkina, pianist, VALERIE B. SCHWARTZ fellowship grant
Mikhail Simonyan,violinist, JEROME ZIPKIN fellowship grantOn November 18th, 2000, as a result of the great success of our 1999 "CONCERT SERIES FOR THE YOUNG", we presented once again a program for children from ages 5 through 12, at Rockefeller U.
Our program consisted of a visual as well as aural presentation plus the young winning, performing artists were surely as enticing and fulfilling to all, as our original presentation proved to be. All members were invited to attend and bring as our guests their children and grandchildren. They shared their musical experiences and communicated meaningfully with their next generation!December 14th was our last concert for the year 2000, with our "Hungarian Fantasy", once again at the lovely Hungarian Consulate. It was an all Liszt program played by DMITRI SHTEINBERG, pianist , and Bartok played by PHILIP QUINT, violinist. A Hungarian Buffet Dinner-Reception followed the Concert.
Our GALA "ENCORES 2000" concert was played in full on WQXR, Wednesday evening January 3rd at 9:00pm, hosted by Bob Sherman.
Our final concert of the season was on April 18th, 2000, for one of our most popular programs. "SOUNDS OF THE EAST AND SOUNDS OF THE WEST" presented at the lovely old Astor mansion, now housing the Indian Consulate. The outstanding NEW YORK STRING QUARTET will represented the West with Schubert and Brahms - STEVE GORN the exciting Indian Bamboo Flutist and LEELA RAJA, dancer of the Bharat Natyam school, presented the East. An elegant Indian Buffet Supper followed the concert. LINK TO SNAPSHOTS
March 21st, 2000, was the date for our very special concert held at the elegant and prestigious SONY CLUB, Madison Avenue Penthouse atop the Sony Building. The artists appearing were MIKHAIL SIMONYNAN, the fantastic thirteen year old violin prodigy from Siberia and DARIA ROBOTKINA, the young piano protégé of Vladimir Feltsman. A Buffet Reception followed.
LINK TO SNAPSHOTS
| On March 2nd, 2000, we presented our first concert- event at the gorgeous French Consulate on Fifth Avenue. The program included works by Ravel and Debussy, played by the fine young GAGLIANO STRING QUARTET. MARIKO ANRAKU, the major harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra performed a group of french compositions she has just recorded. MAKINTO, singing ethnic French songs from the Ivory Coast , accompanied himself on fascinating African instruments. A lovely Buffet and Champagne Reception will followed. LINK TO SNAPSHOTS |
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| On February 15th, 2000, we presented "THE MUSICAL SOUL OF POLAND" at the elegant Polish Consulate. Renowned violinist, STEFAN MILANKOWICH with famous ROHAN DESILVA at the piano were our featured soloists. The program included works by Wieniawski, Tchaikowsky, and Paganini. It was followed by a delightful Polish Buffet Dinner. LINK TO SNAPSHOTS |
| We presented A HUNGARIAN FANTASY on January 20th, 2000, at the beautiful Hungarian Consulate. It featured the remarkable young pianist, ORI FRIEDMAN and cellist, BORISLAV STRULEV who replaced Yo Yo Ma in concert last July. Our program included Hungarian folk music played on the cymbalom by Robert Gorcsi. The program included works by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Popper, and Massenet. A Hungarian Supper Buffet followed the recital. |
On January 31st, we offered a special, exclusive event at the magnificent residence of Ambassador Kawamura for our Patrons and Benefactors featuring Jon Nakamatsu, the 1997 Van Cliburn Gold Medal winning pianist and Mariko Anraku the exquisite Metropolitan Opera Orchestra harpist in an unforgettable program. This was followed by a fabulous Japanese supper, including the best of sushi and other delicacies!
A group of "International Virtuosi" were featured at Steinway Hall, on February 28th.2001 when Marco Granados, Venezuelan flutist; Alban Gerhardt, German cellist and former Salon De Virtuosi Grant winner and the Chinese-American 16 year old twins, Sarah and Susan Wang who formed the two piano team, created an evening to remember. A dinner-reception followed.
On April 3rd, 2001 we brought in the great Parisii String Quartet from Paris to perform at the exquisite French Consulate on 5th Avenue as part of a program called "Musique Enchante". Gary Louie, the unique classical saxophonist balanced the program with a charming Suite by Benjamin Britten. This was followed by a delightful Buffet-Reception including French wines and delicacies.
Our traditional "Sounds of the East and Sounds of the West" took place at the beautiful Indian Consulate on April 24th, which officially ended our series for 2000-01. Asheesh Khan, the great Sarod Player performed with Ray Spiegel on the Tabla. Makoto Nakura represented the West with a program including Bach and Gounod on the Marimba. A delightful Indian Buffet Supper followed.
As mentioned earlier, our most successful Gala Benefit took place on May 16th, 2001 at the Sony Club. This wonderful event was sponsored by Sony Corporation of America.
Opening concert ENCORES 1999 was held on October 19, 1999, 7 P.M. at Steinway Hall when we awarded this season’s Fellowship Grants to the winners who performed as well. These included TWO Salon De Virtuosi Arthur W. Diamond Grants and the prestigious Salon De Virtuosi Sony Grant.
At our "ENCORES ‘99" Gala opening the winners of five Grants were selected and were presented with their awards. They were:
CHUAN YUN LI, violinist protégé of Dorothy De Lay. He won the Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship Grant of $5000.
IGOR BEGELMAN, clarinetist: The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: "Taking the clarinet where few have gone." He won the $5000 Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship Grant.
THE JERUSALEM PIANO TRIO, composed of Roy Shiloah, violin, Ariel Tushinsky, cello and Yaron Rosenthal, piano, won the "Arthur W. Diamond Fellowship Grant " of $5000.
DAVID BODEMANN, Music educator and researcher who has developed significant and original materials for the Young was awarded the first Arthur W. Diamond Grant of $5000 for music education.
JOYCE YANG, thirteen-year-old piano prodigy and student of Yoheved Kaplinsky at Juilliard, won the prestigious Salon De Virtuosi SONY Grant, of $5000.
All winning artists performed at this outstanding event at Steinway Hall, on October 19, 1999. A Buffet supper was served following the concert.
On November 13th, 1999 at 2 pm we inaugurated the first of our DIAMOND CONCERTS FOR THE YOUNG. This took place at Caspary Auditorium /Rockefeller University. This was an immensely successful FREE concert for children from ages 5 through 12. The program which included an art exhibit commissioned for the purpose of demonstrating visually as well as aurally an understanding of Moussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" was an immediate "hit" with both the children and their accompanying adults. Our M.C. was the very original and fascinating music educator, Mr."B", who presented Mexican pianist and recent Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship awardee, Alejandro Vela. Shunsuke Sato. Last year's winner of the prestigious SONY Grant, performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto as well.The 1998-99 concerts included:
Our opening ENCORES ’98 Gala in October, when all five Fellowship Award winners received their Grants and performed; followed by a dinner-reception
SOIREE CHINOISE at Steinway Hall in November where we presented the great young Chinese violinist, CHUAN YUN LI and Chinese bamboo flutist, CHEN TAO, followed by a delightful Chinese Buffet Supper.
THE MUSICAL SOUL OF POLAND in December, at the beautiful Polish Consulate featuring pianist ELENA BAKSHT and clarinetist IGOR BEGELMAN followed by a Polish Supper Reception.
On February 25th, THE INTERNATIONAL SEJONG SOLOISTS the outstanding 15 member String Ensemble performed at Rockefeller U. with OLE AKAHOSHI as cello soloist, followed by a dinner catered by Restaurant Associates.
On April 14, our SHALOM ISRAEL concert featured the JERUSALEM PIANO TRIO at Steinway Hall followed by an Israeli Buffet Supper.
On May 11th, STRINGS OF THE EAST and STRINGS OF THE WEST presented at the elegant Indian Consulate, prize winning cellist ALBAN GERHARDT, representing the West; and Sitarist KRISHNA BHATT with Tabla, representing, the East. NewYork City Opera Soprano, INDIRA MAHAJAN created the vocal bridge between the East and West. This was followed by an Indian dinner reception.
A special event on May 18th was offered exclusively to Patrons and Benefactors of the “Salon” .We presented an intimate recital at the lovely Park Avenue residence of Barbara Brookes, where the unique thirteen year old “wunderkind” pianist JOYCE YANG thrilled us with her performance.