Orchestra and artwork on exhibit at WestConn
DANBURY, CONN. — The Danbury Symphony Orchestra will perform a program of all-Russian music coupled with an art exhibition on Sunday, March 16, in White Hall on the Midtown campus of Western Connecticut State University, 181 White St. in Danbury. The art show will open at 2 p.m., and the concert in Ives Concert Hall will begin at 3 p.m. Admission to both events will be free and open to the public.
Music Director Ariel Rudiakov will conduct the Danbury Symphony Orchestra in a program including Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Major. Internationally acclaimed pianist Elena Baksht will join the orchestra in this performance of Tchaikovsky’s famous concerto.
The art exhibit will feature the Candlewood League of Artists, works of art by WestConn faculty and Master of Fine Arts students, and photography by Rick Gottschalk. The concert will conclude with a wine and cheese reception in the Green Room in White Hall.
“It is always exciting to work with Western Connecticut State University on a combined project and I hope there will be many more in the future,” said Nancy F. Sudik, executive director of the Danbury Music Centre and principal horn player in the Danbury Symphony Orchestra. “This particular concert will be a collaboration of art and music, just as Mussorgsky's composition ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ was.”
Ariel Rudiakov has collaborated with Ruth Laredo, Stanley Drucker, the Shanghai Quartet, Eudice Shapiro, Camerata New York, Andre-Michel Schub, Christopher Taylor, the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Ani Kavafian, Sharon Robinson, members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Jaime Laredo, and members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets. He is also the artistic director of the Manchester (Vermont) Music Festival and a violist and on the faculty of Manhattan School Music in the Pre-College Division.
Elena Baksht has appeared in concert halls throughout the world. Her most recent career highlights include appearances with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Lawrence Foster; Miami Symphony; New Philharmonic of New Jersey; Jupiter Symphony; Bartlesville Symphony; Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall with the eminent violinist Dmitri Berlinsky; Carnegie Recital Hall, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts; National Public Radio live broadcast with violinist Vadim Repin; and WQXR Young Artist’s Series.
The concert and art exhibit are sponsored through major funding from Fred and Joan Weisman.
For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486 or the Danbury Music Centre at (203) 748-1716.
