August 10, 2012 
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Ten cellists and a singer transform into “Arie’s Angels” in the season-ending student recital from 2 to 3:30 p.m. today in McKnight Hall.
“It’s a cello party,” said chamber music chair Arie Lipsky.
The program features pieces from Heitor Villa-Lobos and Richard Strauss.
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 is Villa-Lobos’s way of giving Bach to Brazil.
“It’s an homage to Bach,” Lipsky said. “If Villa-Lobos has a cellphone, he’d probably have Bach as his ringtone.”
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August 7, 2012 0 Comments
The New Arts Trio will expose a ghost during its closing performance at 4 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. The final program for the season features trios from Beethoven and Brahms.
The scores are also on the New Arts Trio’s past CD, recorded in Chautauqua and which will be available at the faculty artist recital, featuring the trio’s founder and pianist Rebecca Penneys, cellist Arie Lipsky and violinist Jacques Israelievitch.
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July 28, 2012 0 Comments
Entering the 2012 chamber music recital series’ second phase, Oliver Dow, School of Music managing director, looks to do something that has not been done during his 17 years at Chautauqua.
The experimental second phase, which starts with a doubleheader from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Fletcher Music Hall, and 4 to 5:30 p.m. in McKnight Hall, lasts for eight days.
In previous years, the School of Music’s seven-week season was broken down to four weeks of the Music School Festival Orchestra, two chamber music weeks, and one orchestral week. Now, MSFO goes for four weeks, eight days for chamber music, and two orchestral weeks.
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July 19, 2012 0 Comments
“Beauty … and the beast,” violinist Jacques Israelievitch said, pointing to his instrument, and then to his fellow ensemble mate, cellist Arie Lipsky. Rebecca Penneys, pianist, smiled in the background as all three unwound before their morning rehearsal.
The New Arts Trio, featuring Israelievitch, Lipsky and Penneys, will perform in the faculty chamber concert from 4–5:30 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. The self-described low-budget orchestra will play Beethoven’s Piano Trio, Op. 70 No. 2, and Schubert’s Piano Trio, Op. 99.
“It’s very juicy music,” Israelievitch said. “Especially with Schubert, you go on a journey. As you take your time, the audience should feel like they are in an oasis of beauty. And they can forget about everything else for about 40 minutes.”
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July 17, 2012 0 Comments
Welcome to where the setting is intimate, the pairings are unpredictable and the chemistry can make for unforgettable music.
Chamber music is both musical and social. It is an artful balance between musicians and their score. And many young musicians will join in that exchange, during the Student Chamber Music Recital series, beginning at 4 p.m. tonight at McKnight Hall.
“Unlike in an orchestra, where you are pretty much following the conductor and their vision of the piece, you are on your own here,” said Arie Lipsky, School of Music chamber music chair.
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July 2, 2012 0 Comments
A fractured right knee does not keep Rebecca Penneys from the piano. Penneys, piano teacher at the School of Music and founding member of the New Arts Trio, simply pedals with her left foot, an unusual but impressively adaptive technique.
“It’s amazing when you have an injury how quickly the other side just takes over,” said Penneys, sitting outside the Sherwood-Marsh Piano Studios with a soft cast wrapped around her right knee. An accidental slip and fall caused the injury early last week.
The New Arts Trio, made up of Penneys, violinist Jacques Israelievitch and cellist Arie Lipsky, will make its season debut in the Logan Chamber Music Series at 4 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall as scheduled, but with a slight change to the program. Instead of enlisting its standard potpourri of composers, the ensemble has opted for a concert featuring solely Mozart trios.
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August 12, 2011 Comments Off
Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos trudged alone through the heart of the Amazon Rainforest carrying his cello on his back. All of a sudden, a tribe of cannibals surrounded him, jabbing at him and threatening him with their brandished spears.
Villa-Lobos could think of only one thing to pacify the savages, so he took his cello out of its case and began to play. The savages lowered their spears as the cello’s music filled the air and solemnly backed away into the shadows of the jungle.
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July 21, 2011 Comments Off
There are lessons musicians learn while playing chamber music that they don’t learn when playing in an orchestra. Leadership, sacrifice and responsibility make the chamber ensemble one of the most difficult, and most rewarding, experiences.
The Student Chamber Music Recital at 2 p.m. today in McKnight Hall marks the beginning of a summer-long series of daily chamber music concerts for students of the Chautuauqua School of Music.
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Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
