2023-24 SEASON

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Those of you who joined us lass season had the thrill of experiencing concerts by an array of remarkable young artists, from our opening Gala Awards Concert, featuring performances by last season’s award winners Wei Luo (piano), Chang Pan & Ronaldo Rolim, (cello and piano duo), Josef Spacek & Miroslav Sekera (violin and piano duo), and Rieko Tsuchida (piano), to our annual Holiday Concert at the home of Lewis and Elizabeth Bryden featuring pianist Drew Petersen and the young brother-sister cello duo Sean & Esther Yu, to our New Year’s concert at Yamaha Piano Salon featuring violinist Asi Matathias and pianist Yun-Chin Zhou, to our Spring Song from Japan concert in March at the residence of Japanese Consul General Reiichiro Takahashi featuring The Aizuri Quartet and pianist Mika Sasaki, to our Salute to Poland concert at the Kosciuszko Foundation in April featuring oboist Olivier Stankiewicz, mezzo-soprano Monika Krajewska and brother-sister violin duo Ania & Piotr Filochowski, culminating in our season finale East Meets West in June at the Indian Consulate featuring violinist Ariel Horowitz together with Indrayuddh Majumder, sarod and Dibyarka Chatterjee, tabla. In addition, we wish to thank the distinguished artists, members and guests who generously contributed to the great success of our Gala Benefit Concert on May 10, 2017 at the Nippon Club, with Alan Gilbert as Guest of Honor and performances by the phenomenal Salon de Virtuosi former grant winners pianist Vassily Primakov and harpist Bridget Kibbey and a “sneak preview” of violinist Ariel Horowits in a memorable tribute to Charlotte White. Funds from the Benefit, as well as your membership support, will help to sustain the Salon’s vital mission of supporting and encouraging the most outstanding young musicians and keeping the flame of classical music alive for future generations.

On June 16 we were thrilled to present our annual East Meets West concert at the beautiful Indian Consulate, with the kind support of Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das. The concert featured the remarkable and highly accomplished Aeolus String Quartet, from the West, and Pandit Barun Kumar Pal, renowned disciple of Ravi Shankar, on the Hansaveena, and table virtuoso Dibyarka Chatterjee, from the East. The finale saw East and West come together in a magical and inspiring collaboration revealing our common musical soul! On April 27, 2016 Salon De Virtuosi was delighted to present "A Czech Serenade" at the Bohemian National Hall, with the kind support of Consul General Martin Dvořák of the Czech Republic. The program featured a thrilling  performance by Josef Spacek, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, and Czech pianist Miroslav Sekera. The evening also included a tour of many prized possessions of Antonin Dvořák, housed in a room that is accurately recreated from images of his apartment where he lived when he conducted the New York Philharmonic (1909 -1911).


On March 10, 2016 the Salon De Virtuosi presented our annual “Spring Song From Japan” concert at the elegant residence of the Consul General of Japan. We extend our deepest thanks to Ambassador & Mrs. Reiichiro Takahashi and the Consulate General of Japan for their gracious support. The concert, which was dedicated in honor of the victims and survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake, featured three outstanding young Japanese musicians: pianist Rieko Tsuchida, who is 1st prize winner of the Bradshaw & Bruno International Piano Competition; soprano Hirona Amamiya, who is celebrated for her versatile talents and who embraces a wide range of repertoire and styles; and violinist Ken Hamao, who was acclaimed by The New York Times for his “especially eloquent playing.”


The Salon de Virtuosi opened the New Year with a concert on January 20, 2016 presenting performances by two remarkable young musical talents: clarinetist Narek Arutyunian – an artist who “reaches passionate depths with seemingly effortless technical prowess and beguiling sensitivity,” according to The Washington Post; and the 16-year-old piano phenom Wei Luo, protege of Garry Graffman, whom the Philadelphia Inquirer has compared to her Chinese predecessors Lang Lang and Yuja Wang for her remarkable sonority and power, with “moments when she took you so deep inside the music that your ears left behind previous points of reference.” The concert took place at the elegant Sony Club atop the Sony Building at 550 Madison Avenue, with stunning vistas of the Manhattan skyline.


On December 16, our audience was thrilled by the impassioned performance of the cello-piano duo of Chang Pan and Ronaldo Rolim. Very shortly after their performance for the Salon, they made their Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall, where their performance was hailed for Chang’s “sublime intonation” and the variety of colors he obtains from the cello and Ronaldo’s “consummate elegance ” and texture.

Mr.Sherman, producer and host of The McGraw-Hill Companies' Young Artists Showcase on WQXR, hosted a program

on April 9, 2014 that looks back to Salon De Virtuosi gala concerts from recent years, with live recordings from those private Salon performances.


Performing are cellist James Kim and pianist Larry Weng, pianist Vassily Primakov and saxophonist Ashu who performs the rare 1935 Concertino de Camera by Jacques Ibert, with musicians from the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and conductor Jeff Meyers.

PROGRAM DETAILS



Bach: Prelude and fugue in D Minor - Bridget Kibbey, harp

Liszt: Hungarian Dance No. 2 - Baron Fenwick, piano

Franck: Cello Sonata in A Major - Nathan Chan, cello;

Mika Emily Sasaki, piano

Scarlatti: Piano Sonata in B minor, No. 27 - Sara Daneshpour, piano

Prokofiev: D Minor Toccata, Op. 11 - Sara Daneshpour, piano

Mr.Sherman, producer and host of The McGraw-Hill Companies' Young Artists Showcase on WQXR, hosted a program on January 6, 2016 introducing the 2015 winners of Salon de Virtuosi Grants.

Young Artists Showcase on WQXR

2016 - 17 SEASON

RECENT NEWS

2015 - 16 SEASON

Those of you who joined us last season had the thrill of experiencing concerts by an array of remarkable young artists. Our goal was and continues to be to pay tribute to the extraordinary work of the Salon’s founder and driving force for 28 consecutive seasons, pianist Charlotte White, and to continue supporting the highest quality young performing artists at the start of their careers.


We opened the season with the Salon’s traditional Gala Awards Concert in October, presenting last season’s award winners Drew Petersen, piano; Yun-chin Zhou, piano; Asi Matathias, piano, The Aizuri String Quartet and the Violin Duo Ania and Piotr Filochowski.

In November we presented a special event at the Bohemian National Hall in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic, featuring talented Czech artists Matias Novák, piano as well as Marketa Vokacova, violin and Stanislav Gallin, piano.

We continued the season with our annual Holiday Concert at the home of Lewis and Elizabeth Bryden featuring pianist Karen Hakobyan and the Anderson Twins, a delightful jazz saxophone duo.


We kicked off 2019 with our New Year’s Concert at Yamaha Piano Salon, featuring our grant winner Olivier Stankiewicz and introducing two exciting artists: pianist Daniel Baer and violinist William Wei. In February we invited our members to a bonus Valentine’s Concert at the new Steinway Hall where we presented the thrilling musicians Janice Carissa, piano and Danbi Um, violin. The Musical Soul of Hungary followed in April,

in collaboration with the Consulate General of Hungary, where we featured a return appearance of our alumnus, the extraordinary Hungarian cellist Istvan Vardai, as well as introduced two new artists: Reed Tetzloff, piano and Noemi Sallai, clarinet. Our Spring Song from Japan concert followed in May at the residence of the Japanese Consul General Mr. Reiichiro Takahashi featuring violinist Ririko Takagi and the young Japanese cellist Mari Nagahara. Our season culminated in June with our season finale East Meets West at the Indian Consulate, featuring the Argus String Quartet together with grants winners Indrayuddh Majumder, sarod and Dibyarka Chatterjee, tabla.


In addition, we presented an educational outreach concert at PS 51 and a community outreach event in collaboration with the Consulate General of India at Governor’s Island, both featuring the Salon’s alumna Ariel Horowitz, violin.


We wish to thank the artists, members and guests who generously contributed and helped make our season a great success.

2017 - 18 SEASON

2018 - 19 SEASON

Our 30th Anniversary Season opened with a Gala Concert in Tribute to Charlotte White at the elegant Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. It was a sold out evening and a thrilling experience for us to hear and see some of the most successful Salon alumni on the stage. The audience was treated to performances by the Claremont Trio, Moran Katz, Helen Huang, Paul Huang, Carlos Avila, James Kim, Mika Sasaki, and Vassily Primakov.

The evening was led by longtime Salon friend and renowned musicologist Robert Sherman. Many music luminaries were in attendance as well as many young musicians and other alumni. From November to June we held eight more exciting concerts in spectacular venues around the city, featuring a number of rising stars from around the world. Most of our performances were sold out and received enthusiastic praise from our members, sponsors and special guests from the musical and diplomatic communities.  


Our 2018 Gala Awards Concert at the Kosciuszko Foundation on November 1, featured four of our grant winners: Ririko Takagi, violin, Reed Tetzloff, piano, Janice Carissa, piano and William Wei, violin.

The evening was once again led by Robert Sherman. Excerpts from the concert were broadcast on  WQXR's Young Artists Showcase on January, 3, 2019.


Our Holiday Concert was held at the home of Lewis and Elizabeth Bryden at their elegant Hotel Des Artistes apartment. We featured the young violin prodigy Yesong Sophie Lee, winner of the 2016 International Menuhin Competition, as well as the virtuoso Italian flutist Giorgio Consolati.


At our New Year’s Concert in January we presented the Salon's Prior Family Foundation Career Grant to the sensational pianist Claire Huangci, who performed a selection of Rachmaninoff works from her brand new CD at Yamaha Piano Salon. Also featured on the program were two outstanding young artists: American cellist of Chinese-Bulgarian heritage Zlatomir Fung and the young Mexican pianist Daniela Liebman.


Our February 7 concert, A Valentine’s Piano Extravaganza, was once again graciously hosted by Elizabeth and Lewis Bryden. We featured three extraordinary pianists: Salon de Virtuosi alumnus and world renowned pianist Alessio Bax, who performed with his lovely and equally brilliant wife Lucille Chung. They introduced Alessio's former student, the talented young pianist Yi-Nuo Wang. The audience was thrilled to hear works for solo piano, four-hands, and six hands piano. As a special encore, the Salon's Artistic Director Lora Tchekoratova joined in for a spirited performance of Lavignac's "Gallop" for eight-hands piano.


Our much beloved Spring Song from Japan concert took place on March 1 at the elegant residence of the Consul General of Japan, Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi, with the gracious support of the Consulate General of Japan. This year we presented two gifted young musicians from Japan: violinist Minami Yoshida and pianist Ray Ushikubo who thrilled us with a breathtaking program. As a surprise encore, Mr. Ushikubo performed a solo Bach work on violin after finishing a challenging program as piano soloist.


March was a busy month. In addition to our Spring Song of Japan concert, we also presented our Czech Serenade concert in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic, with the gracious support of Ambassador Miroslav Rames. The concert, which took place in the ballroom of the Bohemian National Hall,

a marvelous architectural jewel, featured the renowned Lobkowicz Trio from the Czech Republic and the rising young American pianist Anna Han performing a program of Czech composers. Our audience was also treated to a tour of the Dvorak Room during intermission and following the concert.


In May and June we presented two concerts in collaboration with the Consulates of Hungary and India. In May we featured a special return appearance of Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant Winner Balasz Fulei, piano together with special guest artist the Georgian-Hungarian pianist , recent winner of the prestigious Honens Competition.

We also presented the Hungarian mezzo-soprano Lina Ferencz. The event was titled The Musical Soul of Hungary and took place at the elegant Consulate General of Hungary with the gracious support of Ambassador Istvan Pasztor.


The Season ended with a grand finale at the Consulate General of India for our acclaimed East Meets West concert, with the gracious support of Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of India in New York. We featured American harpist Madeline Olson in combination with the traditional Indian artists Snehasish Mozumder, mandolin, who has performed as soloist with Ravi Shankar’s orchestra, and Pradeep Chatterjee, tabla.

The evening ended with a thrilling improvisation by Madeline, Snehasish and Pradeep.