Paderewski Festival 2018 – Cultural Exchange Students Showcased in Recital

by Lyn Bronson
November 5, 2018

Piotr Lara, Luke Kim, Antón de la Fuente and Małgorzata Machowska

The closing event of the Paso Robles 2018 Paderewski Festival took place this year at the Halter Ranch and Vineyard, a fairly long, but very beautiful 11-mile drive from downtown Paso Robles. We were hearing the six Cultural Exchange Students (Bohdan Terłetskyy and Małgorzata Machowska are missing from the above photo because my wide-angle lens wasn’t wide enough) perform for us on the beautiful “Tiffany” Steinway B that has played such an important role in events during the Festival this year. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Piano, Youth

Youth Music Monterey County (YMMC) Presents Eclectic Delight

by James Neiman
November 5, 2018

Cello Soloist Katrina Yang Bauer & Conductor Farkhad Khudyev

On a beautiful and warm Sunday afternoon, November 4, Sunset Center was filled to capacity with enthusiastic friends and supporters of YMMC, which is a 501c3 organization that has provided high-caliber music education and ensemble-playing opportunities for young people throughout Monterey County for many years. Music Director and Conductor Farkhad Khudyev led YMMC’s Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras in this special 30th anniversary event, which lived up to the organization’s goal of enriching the lives of students and their communities and facilitating greater appreciation of music through preparing and sharing superior music performances.  Read full story →

Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Chamber Music Monterey Bay, Orchestral

Chamber Music Monterey Bay presents Music from Copland House at Sunset Center

by Jordi Faxon
November 4, 2018

On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018, we were treated to a truly spiritual and breathtaking performance by Music from Copland House. The concert contained four works spanning neo-romanticism to more contemporary styles, all with their own entrancing narratives and emotional undertones, and all referencing the principal theme of the night’s concert — A Journey. The members of the ensemble, violinist Curtis Macomber, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach and pianist Michael Boriskin, were playing Shostakovich’s very first Piano Trio in C Minor and Fauré’s very last Piano Trio in D Minor, as well as two commissioned works where clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein was added to the mix: one by Chamber Music Monterey Bay (Puts’ Living Frescoes) and one by Music from Copland House (Lam’s Fragrance of the Sea).  Read full story →

Archived in these categories: 20th Century, 21st Century, Chamber music, Chamber Music Monterey Bay

Paderewski Festival 2018 – Gala Recital by pianist Kate Liu

by Lyn Bronson
November 3, 2018

Image result for kate liu, piano - images

Last night we had the pleasure of hearing the exciting young pianist, Kate Liu, in an astonishing performance that combined blazing virtuosity with a rare subtlety of expressive magic that drew us into her world and held us spellbound for the better part of two hours. Since the occasion was the Gala Artist Recital in the Ballroom of the Paso Robles Inn that closes the Paderewski Festival every year, it was no surprise that the opening work on her program was a work by Paderewski, the Mélodie, Op. 16, No. 2. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Classical Era, Piano, Romantic Era

Paderewski Youth Competition 2018 — Awards Concert

by Lyn Bronson
November 3, 2018

Noelle Hadsall, Andy Shen, Suri Kim, Simon Liu & Max Afifi

A large audience was on hand Saturday afternoon in the Grand Ballroom of the Paso Robles Inn to hear the young winners of the Paderewski Youth Piano Competition. Joel Peterson acknowledged the donors and benefactors of the festival and introduced the Consul General of the Republic of Poland, Jarosław J. Łasiński. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Classical Era, Piano