Hi everybody!

Well it’s finally summertime and I am getting some much needed fun and sun!

Since my last post I have had quite a few performances in and around the city, including another appearance with the Bang on a Can All-Stars on the Look and Listen Festival, a few concerts at Le Poisson Rouge, and some memorable recitals in upstate NY as well.

The concert with Bang on a Can took place at an art gallery in SoHo called OK Harris and featured the works of Paul Lansky, Martin Bresnick (both of whom were at the concert for live interviews), Louis Andriessen, Arnold Dreyblatt and many more. I  enjoyed playing in this space mainly due to wonderful acoustics and a beautiful array of sculpture and artwork surrounding us! The audience was also surrounding us, as opposed to seated in front, which created a much more personal and inclusive feeling that night.

Next were two concerts at Le Poisson Rouge (www.lepoissonrouge.com). If you have not been to this venue, which happens to be on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village, you MUST go immediately! Every night there is something exciting going on, be it a DJ spinning house and hip hop, a Steve Reich premiere or a trendy folk music group jamming from the West Coast.  The idea of this “club”  is to combine the art of music, cuisine and drink. The atmosphere is very retro-chic and the vibe is totally chill.  My first appearance there was with the chamber orchestra SymphoNYC, directed by Paul Haas. The program was a series of short compositions (by Haas) based on Barber’s Adagio for Strings, strategically placed within the Adagio to make one seamless work.  To conclude, we played the Adagio on it’s own without the “flection” pieces. The next concert was with the Canadian Chamber Orchestra of New York with which I have been playing since the fall. No, I’m not Canadian but my Dad is so, close enough. Anyways, this concert was entitled “Opera Trash” and featured the lovely and extraordinary Mezzo-Soprano, Ariana Chris. We basically got to play every beautiful and sexy Aria you can think of, everybody was happy, end of story.

The most recent performance of note was with Yale Alums at the Yale Club in NYC. This was a ‘pilot’ concert, if you will, of what hopes to be an on-going chamber music series at the club. The evenings’ line-up donned an all Ives program (Ives was a student at Yale University) with remarks by professor of composition and theory, Michael Friedmann: Ives Piano Trio ( ME!! Nicholas DiEugenio, violin and Adam Bloniarz,piano) a selection of songs sung by Abigail Nims, another fabulous Mezzo, and The Unanswered Question performed by Ensemble Polifonica, directed by Julian Pellicano. It was a wonderful concert in a wonderful venue. Here’s to many more like it….Souvenir de Florence perhaps?

Lastly, I am pleased to tell you that The Lorien Trio, of which I am a member, received third prize in this year’s international Fischoff Chamber Music Competition which was held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana! Although we will be a bit more scattered geographically next year, the trio will continue and will bring you some wonderful music in the 2009/2010 season! Check out the Audio/Video page for a glimpse at some of our performances this year.

So, that about sums up my spring as far as concerts go. This summer I will be staying in NYC, looking for a new apartment, and practice practice practice! In August I’ll be giving a few recitals in San Juan, Puerto Rico with my pianist friends Theresa Kim and Wei-Jen Yuan! I will also be making an appearance at the Windham Chamber Music Series Gala concert in early July. Stay tuned for more Schedule updates!

Have a great summer! xxxxooooxxxx