Menu
Weinsteins to open Faculty Select Series
If ever two performers were "champing at the bit" to present a program, it's this one says DePauw University faculty pianist Anthony Weinstein.
The much-anticipated occasion is the season opener for the DePauw School of Music's Faculty Select series at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26 at the Green Center for the Performing Arts. Weinstein will also be performing with a very special guest in Thompson Recital Hall, his sister, the Ukrainian-born mezzo-soprano Yana Weinstein.
For this concert, the artists have chosen a program of personal favorites ranging from Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -Leben, one of his most frequently performed song cycles, to Edvard Grieg's hauntingly beautiful classic Haugtussa (which should be performed far more than it is!); from the lush textures and impeccable craftsmanship of Nikolai Medtner's irresistible Russian songs to the musical genius of the French songs of the IU Jacobs School of Music professor Emile Naoumoff, the last disciple of the formidable Nadia Boulanger.
All four composers are Romantics: Schumann, of that overwhelming original generation; Grieg, of the later, more mature and full-bodied Romanticism; Medtner, the knight errant, with his fearless Quixotic challenge to the cynicism of the 20th century; Naoumoff, another Romantic spirit, stirred and stirring in similar ways, creating responses to the same questions, now in this 21st century.
As for Professor Weinstein, in addition to his activities as a solo recitalist, he, too, holds his own as an avid collaborative pianist and chamber music partner -- in much demand as accompanist and vocal coach, with his special emphasis on Russian lyric diction. He also performs in piano duo with his wife Karina Avanesian as well as piano-cello duo with Israeli cellist Yotam Baruch.
The mezzo-soprano, who grew up with Tony surrounded by a family of musicians, began studying voice and piano at the age of five. Shortly following her graduation with her first degrees in voice and choral conducting, the family immigrated to the United States, where she has been living for more than 20 years and has appeared in such roles as Cherubino in "Le Nozze di Figaro," Gherardino in Gianni Schicchi, Suora Zelatrice in "Suor Angelica" and as Julia Childs in Lee Hoiby's "Bon Appetit!"
General admission to Faculty Select Series concerts is $10. Tickets for seniors, children and all students are free. To obtain tickets online, visit the school's website at music.depauw.edu.
The Green Center box office will be open for purchasing tickets in person beginning one hour prior to every performance. All-Access season passes are also available for a special price of $85 per person or $120 for two, through Sept. 10.