Romantic Russian Symphony To Premiere In Tarrytown With Chappaqua Orchestra

The critically acclaimed Chappaqua Orchestra invites audiences to their next performance, on Sunday, March 8 at Tarrytown Music Hall at 13 Main Street, Tarrytown. at 1:00 PM. The orchestra will open the concert with the joyful symphonic tone poem "For A Beautiful Land," by the American composer and Iowa native Linda Robbins Coleman.

The Chappaqua Orchestra will perform the US premiere of the recently-revived Symphony in B minor (1905), by Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940). This symphony is a work of great musical character, depth and passion After a promising beginning as composer, soloist and teacher, Kashperova's career was disrupted by the revolution, and she was primarily a piano teacher, pupils including a young Igor Stravinsky. The symphony was published in 1905, and the music was bought for Philadelphia's Fleisher Collection in about 1949, where it waited until its 2018 revival in London.

The featured concert soloist is Canadian pianist Marika Bournaki, a musician of brilliance and grace who's in high demand as a performer in New York and internationally, also the subject of Bobbi Jo Hart's award-winning 2012 documentary I Am Not a Rock Star about growing up as a young soloist. Her playing has earned the praise of the Toronto Star: "Marika Bournaki dazzled the crowd" and "A performance of astounding maturity" (Aachener Zeitung).

Bournaki performs Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, which he composed for Clara Schumann, his wife and one of the nineteenth century's leading piano virtuosos. Often performing this concerto, Clara Schumann performed across Europe for several decades, also championing music by Brahms and Liszt.

Music Director candidate Reuben Blundell is guest conductor for this concert. As Artistic Director of the Gowanus Arts Ensemble, he has produced and released two CDs of premieres of string-orchestra works by American Romantic Composers, as well as one with the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra, where he's Music Director. Living in New York, Blundell directs the Riverside Orchestra and is a frequent conductor and violinist with the Chelsea Symphony. Originally from Australia, his violin and conducting career brought him to the USA as a Tanglewood then New World Symphony violin fellow, and he earned a doctorate of conducting at New York's Eastman School of Music in Rochester.

Conductor Reuben Blundell shares, "I enjoy spending time in Chappaqua and Westchester County, and already have several favorite places to visit. As a conductor and chamber musician, I've worked with several of the Chappaqua Orchestra's musicians, and am looking forward to getting to know this outstanding orchestra better. Performing with them at such a storied and beautiful location as the Tarrytown Music Hall is a wonderful musical opportunity. I'm certain this concert will be a highlight of the season!"

Tickets are available via the Tarrytown Music Hall website. Full price tickets are $25, $15 for seniors, and free for students 18 and under (ID may be required).