Music Mountain Presents THE SHANGHAI STRING QUARTET This Fall

Music Mountain, America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, continues its blockbuster 87th Anniversary Season with the brilliant Shanghai String Quartet presenting two unique programs on Saturday, September 3 (6:30PM) and Sunday, September 4 (3PM). Guest artist Gilbert Kalish, Piano joins the quartet for the Labor Day Benefit Concert & Reception on September 4! The Music Mountain summer is coming to a close with final concerts scheduled for September 11. Don't miss out on "The Summer Shrine of the String Quartet" (The New Yorker)!

Saturday evening welcomes the Shanghai String Quartet with Jonathan Yates, Piano offering the following program: Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F Minor, Opus 80; Zhou Long: Song of the Ch'in; and Brahms: Piano Quartet in C Minor, Opus 60.

The Shanghai String Quartet returns Sunday afternoon for Music Mountain's Labor Day Benefit Concert & Reception. The afternoon program will begin with a special piano 4 hands played by Pianists Gilbert Kalish and Jonathan Yates, Music Mountain's Musical Director; they will perform Schubert: Lebenssttürme in A Minor for Piano 4 Hands, D.947. The Shanghai Quartet follows with Beethoven: String Quartet in C Minor, Opus 18 # 4; and Brahms: Piano Quartet in A Major, Opus 26, featuring guest artist Gilbert Kalish, Piano.

Renowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique and multicultural innovations, the Shanghai String Quartet has become one of the world's foremost chamber ensembles. Formed at the Shanghai Conservatory in 1983, the Quartet has worked with the world's most distinguished artists and regularly tours the major music centers of Europe, North America and Asia. The Quartet has a long history of championing new music and juxtaposing traditions of Eastern and Western music. The Shanghai Quartet currently serves as Quartet-in-Residence at the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, New Jersey, Ensemble-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and visiting guest professors of the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in Beijing.

The profound influence of pianist Gilbert Kalish as an educator and pianist in myriad performances and recordings has established him as a major figure in American music-making. In 2006 he was awarded the Peabody Medal by the Peabody Conservatory for his outstanding contributions to music in America. He is a frequent guest artist with many of the world's most distinguished chamber ensembles and is noted for his partnerships with other artists, including cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnick, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and, perhaps most memorably, his thirty-year collaboration with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. Mr. Kalish's discography of some 100 recordings encompasses classical repertory, 20th Century masterworks and new compositions.
A distinguished professor at SUNY Stony Brook, Mr. Kalish has been an Artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006.

Jonathan Yates, pianist, is the fourth Musical Director of Music Mountain in its eighty seven year history. He is also Music Director of both the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and the Norwalk Youth Symphony. He has collaborated with many of the country's most respected musicians, including Midori, Kim Kashkashian, David Finckel, Gilbert Kalish, Ida Kavafian, Colin Carr, Paul Neubauer, Joseph Lin, and Anthony McGill. Mr. Yates made his professional orchestral conducting debut at 23, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a Millennium Stages Concert, and made his Carnegie Hall debut (Stern Auditorium) as a pianist in the following year. He has also served on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College.

Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring you to GorDon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. Food, locally baked cookies and brownies, coffee, tea, lemonade, and spring water are available for purchase.

Music Mountain is supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission On Culture & Tourism.

The Music Mountain Season concludes with Jive By Five and Amernet String Quartet with Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet (September 10 & 11).

All tickets for the Labor Day Benefit Concert & Reception featuring Shanghai String Quartet with Gilbert Kalish, piano and Jonathan Yates, piano on Sunday, September 4 are $75 and include a voucher for any regularly priced 2017 concert.

The 87th season will continue to offer two ticketing options to complement their established family friendly ticket prices! Concert goers will be able to reserve their favorite seat(s) in advance for a one-time payment of $60 per seat, per season. For information on how to reserve a seat and specific seat availability, please call 860-824-7126. Music Mountain also continues its popular Gold Pass program. Major Gold Pass benefits include: Admission to all concerts; Priority Reserved Seating (subject to availability); $20 price for one guest per Gold Pass. Cost for Gold Pass Memberships: Individual: $780; Pair: $1,500. For a list of other benefits and more information, please call 860-824-7126. All Gold Passes are transferable.

Chamber Music Concerts are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Twilight Series Concerts are $30 at the door/$27 in advance. Pre-concert dinners are $70 and include admission to Saturday evening concert. Children under 18 are admitted FREE for ALL CONCERTS when accompanied by a ticket holder. Saturday Twilight Concerts are at 6:30pm. Sunday afternoon Chamber Music concerts are at 3pm. Group rates and pre season ticket plans are available. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

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