The Sound of Charleston

Come hear the music that helps define Charleston’s rich history, from gospel to Gershwin. In this 75 minute live concert, you will hear the finest professional artists perform gospel spirituals, music of George Gershwin, such as Porgy and Bess and Rhapsody in Blue, songs of the Civil War, jazz, and light classics heard here by members of the St. Cecelia Society. Show concludes with Amazing Grace, written by John Newton who worshipped and received inspiration for the hymn in our venue, the Circular Congregational Church.

Cost:
Adults. $28
Seniors (62). $26

The Sound of Charleston

Cost:
Adults. $28
Seniors (62). $26

‘CHARLESTON MUSIC FEST’ CHAMBER ENSEMBLE TO PRESENT FUNDRAISER CONCERT OF BEETHOVEN WORKS

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Charleston Music Fest, hosted by the College of Charleston’s Department of Music, presents intimate chamber music concerts featuring College of Charleston faculty, and local and international artists. This season, it will present a fundraising concert of Beethoven works performed by faculty members/professional musicians Yuriy Bekker (violin), Natalia Khoma (cello) and Volodymyr Vynnytsky (piano).
Charleston Music Fest Artistic Director, Natalia Khoma, shares, “Ludwig van Beethoven is one of my favorites. And over the years, I’ve come to love his music more and more. In his music we can find all human feelings — joy, passion, sadness, melancholy, excitement and much more that cannot even be described in words. His music is pure, speaks directly to your heart and teaches you how to be better, kinder, more compassionate. It gives you hope and happiness and brings people together!”
The concert program will feature Variations in E Flat Major from Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte for cello & piano, as well as Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, Archduke Trio.
The concert on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 will take place at 7:30 p.m., in the Sottile Theatre, 44 George St. Tickets are $25 for adults; $15 for CofC faculty, staff, senior citizens, military/veterans; $10 for CofC students and youth (18 & under). Tickets can be purchased through the George Street Box Office online, by emailing gsbo@cofc.edu, or calling (843) 953-4726. (Patrons can find concert info and ticket links at go.cofc.edu/cmf.)

CLAURE-VILLAVERDE PIANO DUO TO PERFORM LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM FOR COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Husband and wife, Latin American pianists William Villaverde and Fabiana Claure will perform “A Piano Journey Through Latin America” for the third concert of the College of Charleston International Piano Series’ 31st Season. Works will include Bolivian Cuecas, Brazilian tangos, Cuban classical and jazz-inspired music, an original Latin-jazz composition, and a four-hands piano arrangement of Piazzolla’s Tango Suite. The performance will also highlight works by Cervantes, Roncal, and Villaverde, among others and will include piano solos, piano duos for four hands, and a paraphrase on “Manteca” for duo pianos. Having been together for 24 years as a couple and on stage, this dynamic duo will engage audiences through piano music and storytelling, taking them through an exciting journey of diverse cultural influences, historical context, and musical reflection. The Claure-Villaverde Piano Duo has earned praise from musicians and critics alike and are no strangers to Charleston, having both graduated from the College in 2004.

The concert will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 at 7:30 p.m., in the Sottile Theatre, 44 George St.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased through the George Street Box Office online, at the door, by emailing gsbo@cofc.edu, or by calling (843) 953-4726. FREE admission for College of Charleston students and employees, as well as youth (18 and under). Free tickets must be secured ahead of the concert by emailing or visiting the box office. Patrons can find info and ticket links at go.cofc.edu/ips.

Villaverde and Claure have been together since 1997 and have pursued their careers both as soloists and duo pianists throughout the United States, Bolivia, Cuba and Spain. As the Claure-Villaverde piano duo, they have been featured as soloists with Meadows Chamber Orchestra at Southern Methodist University (Dallas) and the International Piano Series Chamber Orchestra (Charleston, S.C). They were the national recipients of the 2010 College Music Society’s Yamaha In-Residence Fellowship where they organized and performed in a series of lecture-recitals for children, college students and senior citizens in Miami. They co-wrote an article describing their concert series which was published in the Society’s May newsletter.

They recorded a duo-piano sonata which was released in the album “Serenader: Songs and a Sonata by Celius Dougherty” (2007). As entrepreneurs, they co-wrote a business plan which was awarded second prize, best written business plan, and best entrepreneurial spirit award in the 2011 University of Miami Business Plan Competition. They co-founded Superior Academy of Music in Miami. Their Academy was featured twice on national television, and its students have gone on to win local and state certificates of excellence and have also entered universities under full tuition scholarships. Claure and Villaverde have pursued all their degrees together under full tuition scholarships. They hold Doctorates in Music in Piano Performance from the University of Miami, Masters of Music and Artist Certificate Degrees from Southern Methodist University, Bachelor of Arts in Music from the College of Charleston, and Professional Degrees as Pianists and Piano Teachers from the National School of Music, Cuba.

View a 5-minute promo video of “A Piano Journey Through Latin-America.” More artist information is online at fabianaclaure.com and williamvillaverde.com.

Video Samples of Claure Solo Piano:

Brazilian Tango “Fon-Fon” by Ernesto Nazareth

Bolivian Cueca “La Huerfana Virginia” by Simeon Roncal

Video Samples of Villaverde Solo Piano:

Cuban classical and jazz-inspired piece “Variaciones sobre un Tema de Pablo Milianes” by Andres Alen

Jazz-inspired concert etude by Nicholas Kapustin

Duo Video Samples:

Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca” by Nicholas Kapustin

Piazzolla Tangos

Philip Lipton’s Metamorphasis: A Live Sound Journey

Composer and Clarinetist Philip Lipton will perform his original compositions at a FREE concert that will be recorded live from the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in West Ashley. Philip Lipton is Principal Clarinet of the North Charleston POPS! Orchestra and teaches Clarinet at the College of Charleston. Circular breathing, looping and extended techniques have allowed him to explore fresh new avenues of writing and performance. Collaborators on this new performance include Eastward Music and Lisa Alvarez. Donations will be accepted.

Charleston Music Club – Classical Guitar Concert

The Charleston Music Club will present Ulyana Machneva, a professional classical guitarist virtuoso, composer and Charleston Music Academy faculty member in a free recital on Monday, September 25^th at 7:30pm in the Chapel at Franke at Seaside. A graduate of the Kharkiv State University of Arts in the Ukraine she studied classical guitar with Professor Marc Regnier at the College of Charleston in the Artist Certificate Program. She has won numerous prizes at competitions around the world. See www.charlestonmusicclub.org or email bmusic385@gmail.com for additional information. The performance is followed by refreshments. New members are welcome!

Notes Between the Shadows – World Premiere Ballet with Live String Quartet

Life inspires art and vice-versa. Enjoy a unique performance where you’ll be immersed in a creative web of multiple artistic mediums. Charleston’s poet laureate, Marcus Amaker, joins the collaborative Ballet Evolution team adding his voice and words to the artistic creation of “Notes between the Shadows”. Three new works inspired by the work of Amaker and other authors come to life through movement and music by Ballet Evolution choreographer Jonathan Tabbert and the accomplished artists of Chamber Music Charleston. Exploring light and dark, time and space, love and loss; your interest will be peaked and your heart left inspired. Music by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and J.S. Bach.

Nashville Ballet and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Perform CARMINA BURANA

Carmina Burana will feature 150 singers from The Charleston Symphony Chorus, 60 plus musicians from The Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and three guest vocalists, alongside 28 dancers from Nashville Ballet. Based on a collection of poems written by clergy and theology students in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, Carmina Burana examines love, fortune, and the cycle of life. The ballet is set to the iconic music of German composer Carl Orff written in the 1930s. The opening piece, “O Fortuna”, has made its mark as one of the most recognizable pieces of music in the world.

Nashville Ballet
Nashville Ballet is the largest professional ballet company in Tennessee. Nashville Ballet presents a varied repertoire of classical ballet and contemporary works by noted choreographers, including original works by Artistic Director & CEO, Paul Vasterling.

Charleston Symphony Orchestra
Beginning with its first 30-person orchestra in 1819, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra continues to perform major concert series, including Masterworks, Pops and Chamber Orchestra, offering audiences rich, diverse performances.

Pink Martini

BAKER MOTOR COMPANY
Spotlight Performance Featuring

PINK MARTINI

Featuring China Forbes

Drawing inspiration from music all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop – Thomas Lauderdale founded the “little orchestra” Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for causes such as civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education and parks.

One year later, Lauderdale called China Forbes, a Harvard classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join Pink Martini. They began to write songs together. Their first song “Sympathique” became an overnight sensation in France, was nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards, and to this day remains a mantra (“Je ne veux pas travailler” or “I don’t want to work”) for striking French workers.

Twenty years later, Pink Martini still tours the world, singing in 22 languages at opera houses, concert halls, film festivals, museums, and fashion shows. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Featuring a dozen musicians, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America.

GERSHWIN AND BERNSTEIN TAKE NEW YORK AND TONIGHT, TONIGHT GALA

Gershwin and Bernstein Take New York

Leah Edwards, soprano
Paul Sanchez, piano
Yuriy Bekker, principal pops conductor

George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein captured New York City’s essence and became the iconic musical voices of their time. The CSO is joining orchestras around the world to celebrate Bernstein’s Centennial this season with his Overture to Candide, West Side Story Suite No. 1, and Symphonic Dances. We will then join forces with College of Charleston piano professor, Paul Sánchez, to perform Gershwin’s popular jazz classic, Rhapsody in Blue.

Tonight, Tonight, Annual Fundraising Gala

Presented by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, Inc

Thursday, January 18, 2018
5:30-6:30pm Pre-Concert Cocktail Reception
7:00-8:30pm Gershwin and Bernstein Take New York*
8:30-10:30pm Tonight, Tonight, Gala with silent auction in Grand Ballroom

$165 per person
*(Includes admission to pre-concert cocktail reception and Tonight, Tonight Gala. Tickets to performance of Gershwin and Bernstein Take New York not included and sold separately)

Join the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, Inc. as we continue a magical evening in celebration of the CSO and the music of Bernstein and Gershwin. Enjoy festive foods reminiscent of the streets and neighborhoods of New York City, while mingling with patrons and musicians and browsing unique silent auction items in the Grand Ballroom of the Gaillard Center. A limited and exclusive live auction of select items of interest will cap this very special event. It won’t be just any night….