Paul Katz News

The venerable, Connecticut-based Music Mountain concert series has announced its full 2019 summer season comprising two distinct series. Marking 90 continuous years of presenting outstanding artists and beloved repertoire to East Coast concertgoers, Music Mountain is now the oldest running chamber music series in the nation, which now features the Chamber Music Concerts series and Twilight Series.

Newton's New Philharmonia Orchestra, Francisco Noya, Music Director, will continue its 2018-2019 Season with Masters and Their Masterpieces, the first performance in the Classics series.  The performances will take place on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 848 Beacon Street in Newton Centre.  Tickets for the performances are $10-48 and are now available online at www.newphil.org

Newton's New Philharmonia Orchestra, Francisco Noya, Music Director, will continue its 2018-2019 Season with Masters and Their Masterpieces, the first performance in the Classics series.  The performances will take place on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. andSunday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 848 Beacon Street in Newton Centre.  Tickets for the performances are $10-48 and are now available online at www.newphil.org

The ASPECT Foundation for Music & Arts continues its third New York City season of illuminating performances today, November 1, 2018 at 7:30pm with Beethoven: Intimate Letters at the Italian Academy at Columbia University. The program features the virtuosic Ariel String Quartet in Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 6 and String Quartet, Op. 131, one of the composers first alongside one of his last.

The ASPECT Foundation for Music & Arts continues its third New York City season of illuminating performances on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 7:30pm with Beethoven: Intimate Letters at the Italian Academy at Columbia University. The program features the virtuosic Ariel String Quartet in Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 6 and String Quartet, Op. 131, one of the composers first alongside one of his last.

Heartbreak House celebrated its opening night last night, September 6. BroadwayWorld was there and you can check out all the photos below!

Music Mountain, America's longest running summer chamber music festival, continues its 89th season with another weekend of extraordinary music. The all-female Cassatt String Quartet, with guest artist Paul Katz, cello offer a program featuring Borodin; Shostakovich; and Schubert on Sunday, August 26 (3pm). The weekend music begins with first time guests Amina Figarova Quintet playing her original jazz compositions on Saturday evening, August 25 (6:30pm). Concerts are scheduled through September 23.

Music Mountain, America's longest running summer chamber music festival, continues its 89th season with the St. Petersburg Piano Quartet, offering an afternoon of Beethoven and Brahms on Sunday, August 19 (3pm). First time guest Josh Lawrence & Color Theory fuse the blues and Afro-Cuban music on Saturday, August 18 (6:30pm)! Concerts are scheduled through September 23.

America's longest running summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain, continues its exceptional 89th season! The impressive Amernet String Quartet performs Schubert, Richard Strauss, and Tchaikovsky on Sunday, August 12 (3pm). The weekend gets off to a dancing start on Saturday, August 11 (6:30pm) with The Galvanized Jazz Band playing the best of Dixieland, New Orleans jazz, and swing! Concerts are scheduled through September 23.

Music Mountain, America's longest running summer chamber music festival, continues its 89th season with the Avalon String Quartet performing a program of Beethoven, Mozart, Dohnanyi and Shostakovich on Sunday, August 5 (3pm). The weekend music begins on Saturday, August 4 (6:30pm) with first time guest Jimmy Greene Quartet - bringing his remarkable sound and vibrant jazz to Music Mountain! Concerts are scheduled through September 23.

Music Mountain, America's longest running summer chamber music festival, continues its outstanding 89th season with two returning favorites! Grammy Award winning Harlem String Quartet performs Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms on Sunday, July 29 (3pm). Swingtime Big Band is back on Saturday, July 28 (6:30pm) to thrill audiences with authentic recreations of the timeless music of the swing era! Concerts are scheduled through September 23.

Chamber music aficionados will want to mark their calendars for the start of Music Mountain's 89th Season! America's longest running summer chamber music festival kicks off on June 10th with an extremely rare summer event – the Complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle! The Chamber Music Series will also feature Music Mountain premieres and welcome first time guests and returning favorites! Concerts are scheduled through September 23rd.   

On Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 2pm the Chiara String Quartet (Rebecca Fischer and Hyeyung Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) will give its final major performance presented by MetLiveArts in Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 5th Avenue). This culminating concert, celebrating 18 years together, is centered around the New York premiere of Philip Glass' Piano Quintet “Annunciation,” with pianist Paul Barnes.  The Chiara String Quartet opens the program with Nico Muhly's Diacritical Marks, written for them in 2011, and concludes with Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Op.132—one of the composer's most poignant final works.

The National Philharmonic celebrates the genius of Johannes Brahms at Strathmore with a performance by Grammy and Sphinx Competition award winner, American violinist Melissa White, in "Spirited Brahms." White will perform Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 under the baton of Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski.  Also on the program is Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98, which is stored in its original condition in the U.S. Library of Congress.

The National Philharmonic celebrates the genius of Johannes Brahms at Strathmore with a performance by Grammy and Sphinx Competition award winner, American violinist Melissa White, in "Spirited Brahms." White will perform Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 under the baton of Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski.  Also on the program is Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98, which is stored in its original condition in the U.S. Library of Congress. White is a founding member of the highly acclaimed New York-based Harlem Quartet and a first-prize laureate in the Sphinx Competition, which encourages, develops, and recognizes classical music talent in the Black and Latino communities. She performed on the CD Hot House, that won Grammy Awards in 2013 as well as performing for the Obama's in the White House. The concert will take place Saturday, March 17, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m., at Strathmore's Concert Hall. Audiences will enjoy a members-only encore question-and-answer, and a kids "Meet the Instruments" session that will take place in the orchestra lobby on Sunday from 2-2:30 p.m., allowing young concertgoers a chance to interact with Philharmonic musicians and explore orchestral instruments from different families (string, wood, brass, and percussion).Ticket prices are $23-$76 and are free for young people age 7-17. Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nationalphilharmonic.org or call 301.581.5100.

The Danish String Quartet members describe themselves as 'modern Vikings-perhaps a touch more harmless than our ancestors … simply your friendly neighborhood string quartet with above average amounts of beard.' They have taken the musical world by storm, earning the Carl Nielsen Prize, Denmark's most prestigious cultural award, and reviews applauding them for 'one ravishing performance after another … weaving magic over the full house' (San Francisco Classical Voice).

The 95th season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will continue today, January 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. with 'Classical Echoes,' the second program in this season's series, Inspirations and Tributes - each program exploring how composers influence and pay tribute to each other.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) today announces the appointment of cellist Amos Yang to its collegiate cello faculty, joining faculty members Jennifer Culp and Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Yang, currently assistant principal cello at the San Francisco Symphony, will accept students to his cello studio at SFCM starting in Fall 2018. He currently coaches string players in the Conservatory Orchestra, teaches an orchestral repertoire class, and works with young cellists in SFCM's Pre-College.