March 16, 2008, The Equinox Concert

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Save the Date for our upcoming 88 Keys Concert Series at Hawthorne Valley’s Equinox Concert on Sunday, March 16, at 3:00. This will be a very special event with Jonah Thomas HVS ’04 and Julian Muller HVS ’11 playing with Gili Melamed-Lev and Jonathan Talbott. The group will play pieces by Haydn, Beethoven, Bach, and Thomas (a piece that Jonah has composed specifically for this group of musicians). This concert brings together the talents of two Hawthorne Valley School cellists – alumnus Thomas and current ninth grader Muller – and two professional musicians whose careers have landed them in Columbia County – violinist Talbott and pianist Melamed-Lev. Please explore these very fine musicians’ biographies below to learn more about them and their work.

The March 16 concert welcomes the attendance of children and students. For reservations and additional information please call Amy Flaum at 518 672-7092 ext. 114 or email aflaum@hawthornevalleyschool.org. This event is made possible, in part, with public funds from the Decentralization Program of the NYS Council on the Arts, administered in Columbia County by the Columbia County Council on the Arts through the Twin Counties Cultural Fund.

Jonah Thomas
Jonah Thomas currently studies at the Juilliard School in New York majoring in cello performance with Bonnie Hampton and studying composition with Vivian Fung and Dr. Phillip Lasser. From 2000-2004, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College. While there he studied cello under the direction of Marion Feldman and became principal cellist of each of the three orchestras, the Repertory, Symphony, and the Philharmonic. Jonah began his composition studies at Manhattan School of Music and with Lawrence Wallach of Simon’s Rock College of Bard. He is a graduate of Hawthorne Valley School, class of 2004.

Master classes include an international videoconference performance with Orion String Quartet Cellist Timothy Eddy and a performance master class with Violinist Peter Winograd of the American String Quartet. Mr. Thomas’ original compositions have been performed at the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, Simon’s Rock College of Bard and by the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. Jonah was a founding member of the New York based Francis Trio and the Riley-Wu-Thomas Trio.

Awards include, the Associated Music Teachers’ League’s New York Scholarship Competition, the Regina Rubinoff Strings Scholarship Competition, the Conrad Strasser Fellowship and the South Mountain Conernt Series Scholarship. Performance highlights include Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Bargemusic Brooklyn, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the New Juilliard Ensemble under the direction of Joel Sachs, and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra directed by James DePriest at Lincoln Center. In December of 2007, Mr. Thomas performed with the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of James Conlon in a collaborative performance with the Juilliard Dance Division. In the Summer of 2006, Mr. Thomas performed at the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Courmayer, Italy, and in 2007 he traveled to Paris to compose and perform at the L’Ecole Normale Musique with the European American Musical Alliance. Most recently, Jonah performed solo cello in Berlin at the Willy-Brandt-Haus, celebrating the life and work of artist and photographer Henri Ries.

Julian Muller
Julian Muller started playing the cello at age five. At age six he started his formal studies with cellist Jay Shulman and later with Helene Annas. He is currently studying with conductor and cellist Ronald Feldman. He joined the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s String Ensemble at the age of 10 and is now in his third year with the Empire State Youth Orchestra and was principal cellist for their last concert at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The Youth Orchestra is going to tour Europe ( Salzburg, Prague, and Eisenach) this spring. Julian has performed with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Fisher Center at Bard, the Palace, Proctors and repeatedly at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The orchestra’s season includes eight concerts, fundraisers and a three day weekend retreat.

He has been part of the cello section of the Amadeus Chamber Players 2, performing Mozart’s last three piano concertos under the direction of Findlay Cockrell in the fall of 2006. He attended the junior and senior session at Kinhaven Music School in Vermont in the summer of 2006, and 2007.

Over the last three years his repertoire has included Brahms Sonata No. 1, Shostakovich Sonata, Elegy by G. Faure, Gamba Sonata by Bach, several movements from Bach’s unaccompanied Suites for Cello, Mendelssohn Sonata No. 2, Popper Etudes (High School) the Saint Saens Cello concerto No.1, Boccherini Cello Concerto in Bflat Major, Schumann Phantasy pieces, Liebesleid by Fritz Kreisler and the Swan by Saint Saens.

Julian has worked with pianist Gili Melamed-Lev (a graduate of Juilliard) on the sonatas and concertos he has studied in his lessons. He is a carrying member of the high school orchestra and sings in the high school chorus at Hawthorne Valley School.

Gili Melamed-Lev
Gili Melamed-Lev is one of the Hudson Valley’s leading pianists. Her virtuoso performances as a soloist and with fellow artists in chamber groups have made her a much sought-after professional. Melamed-Lev’s special interest is to bring artists of different disciplines together to achieve a rich and full artistic experience. Currently she is a Musician-in-Residence at the Steiner Institute, an adult education learning center where her performances integrate daily studies with artistic presentation. She performs regularly with the Music Coalition of Columbia County, New York and is completing her second CD.

Melamed-Lev’s career began in her native city, Jerusalem where she studied at the Rubin Academy under masters such as Bracha Eden and Susan Cohen-Zwilich. In 1985, she moved to New York City where she graduated from the Juilliard School of Music where she studied with Sacha Gorodnitsky, Georgy Sandor, and Miyoko Nakaya-Lotto.

She later settled in Spring Valley, NY where Melamed-Lev worked as Artist-in-Residence with Eurythmy, Spring Valley for eight years. While working with the group, she toured and performed in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, England, and Canada, plus many cities across the US. During these years she also taught music as a faculty member of Sunbridge College.

Many children and adults seek her out at her studio in Ghent, New York where she works with students, artists, musicians, vocalists, and fellow teachers in pursuit of artistic achievement and the sheer joy of music.

Jonathan Talbott
Jonathan Talbott is a self-taught composer who has written music for productions of BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER, THE SNOW GOOSE, DAEMONS, TAMING OF THE SHREW and HAMLET, the collaborative production between Walking the Dog Theater, The Actor's Ensemble, and ShakespeareAlive!. He studied with Joan Tower among others. He formed the Music Coalition of Columbia County as a forum for local composers to concertize their music. Talbott had his quintet HEARTS FOR THE JAGUAR performed by the internationally acclaimed chamber ensemble The Da Capo Players, and in April a collection of his arrangements of Astor Piazzolla's tangos were presented in two concerts titled From Django to Tango. Most recently he wrote the music for Walking the Dog Theatre’s one man performance of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Jonathan plays violin in swing bands and classical groups and is often found at the Hawthorne Farm Store Deli for his meals, without which he would possibly have perished by now.

November 17, 2007, The Snow Goose

The next concert in the 88 Keys series will be presented on November 17 at 7:30 in the Hall at Hawthorne Valley School. An original, multi-media production of The Story of the Snow Goose will be offered. The work includes theater, visual art, and live music. This unconventional, life-affirming story has special meaning in today’s world. It unites generations through the power of love that endures even the tragedies brought on by war. It is set in the past, but in many ways, it couldn’t be more relevant today. The main character is a man of great warmth and affection, but his physical deformities (a hunched back and a clawed hand) make him an outcast. His status causes him to live in isolation in a remote location surrounded only by the migratory birds. He is visited by a young girl who requests his help in saving a wounded bird. They work together to heal the creature, and a friendship is developed.

Three, local Columbia County residents, have joined to create this production. They are especially qualified to transform the piece from “simply a play” to a singular experience of theater, music, and visual arts in a unified production which will give a single voice to these three artistic disciplines Audiences of differing backgrounds and ages feel the poignancy of this tale and sense its transformative power. The 88 Keys Concert Series offers students and adults an opportunity to encounter live classical music in an affirming atmosphere where high culture is respected and validated. The performance will be followed by a reception with the artists.

The piece has already been presented in Vermont and other New York State locations.

For more information about the series or to reserve tickets, please call the Hawthorne Valley School Development Office at 518 672-7092 ext. 105 or email cgeisler@hawthornevalleyschool.org.

Snow Goose Artists Biographies

John McManus
John McManus grew up on a sheep and cattle ranch in the Australian Outback. After receiving training in speech and drama at the Harkness Studio in Sydney, he traveled to New York to study eurythmy (a modern art of movement). Since 1989 John has worked as an actor, director, and teacher. Recent theater roles include Prospero in The Tempest, King Cymbeline in Cymbeline, Duncan in Macbeth (Shakespeare Alive!, Hudson, New York), The Snow Goose (solo performance), and Rumi With a View (Columbia Chamber Players). Currently, McManus teaches eurythmy at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School in Massachusetts. During the summer he directs productions for Shakespeare Alive!.

Gili Melamed-Lev
Gili Melamed–Lev is one of the Hudson Valley’s leading pianists. Her virtuoso performances as a soloist and with fellow artists in chamber groups have made her a much sought-after professional. Her ardent passion is to bring musicians of all description and skill levels together to achieve a rich and full artistic experience. Melamed-Lev performs regularly with the Music Coalition of Columbia County, New York, in a concert series dedicated to contemporary music. She is artistic director of the 88 Keys Concert Series.

Her career began in her native city, Jerusalem, where she studied at the Rubin Academy under masters such as Bracha Eden and Susan Cohen-Zwilich. In 1989 she graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with Sacha Gorodnitsky, Georgy Sandor, and Miyoko Nakaya-Lotto.

Currently Ms. Melamed-Lev teaches piano in her home and performs and tours nationally and internationally.

Martina Angela Muller
Martina Angela Muller was born in Korbach, Germany, in 1962 and studied art and English at Emerson College in Sussex, England, as well as at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. She also/then attended the Waldorf Institute for Education in Witten, Germany. Currently she is living in upstate New York, where she teaches art to all age groups. She is an internationally published children’s book illustrator, and her paintings are in numerous private collections in this country and abroad.

March 4, 2007: Ashley Bathgate

November 19th, 2006: Chamber Music from The Juilliard School

Tickets: $15.00 Adults, $5.00 Students, Children under 7 Free. Information: (518) 672-7092 ext. 114. Directions: Hawthorne Valley School is located 2 miles east of the Taconic State Parkway at Exit Rt. 217 Harlemville-Philmont. Or 6 miles west of Rt. 22 on Rt. 21C.

May 8, 2006: Mother’s Day Concert

On May 8TH at 3:00 pm in the Assembly Hall, the Hawthorne Valley School will present the first of three concerts celebrating arts education. Performers will include Gili Melamed-Lev, Hawthorne Val-ley’s renowned concert pianist, plus Larry Glatt, Lydia Chernicoff, Kaori Washiyama, Ron Gorevic, and Anne Legêne. The program will include the Schumann Quintet and other pieces dear to the hearts of the performers. The Quintet is a bravura and exciting piece, well known, but seldom played because of the large number of performers needed. Larry Wallach, composer and Chair of the Music Department, Simon’s Rock College, is writing a piece for violin and viola especially for this concert.

Performers (left to right) are: Lydia Chernicoff, violin (seated); Gili Melamed-Lev, piano (standing), Ron Gorevic, violin; Karoi Washiyama, viola (seated), and Anne LeGene, cello. Not pictured, but also featured will be guest musician and composer Larry Wallach and guitarist and composer Larry Glatt.

Suggested admission is $5 for faculty, $10 for individuals. Students and Keyholders – series financial supporters – are admitted free of charge. Seating is first-come, first-served, and tickets go on sale one hour before the performance. Reservations are suggested. Please call 413-528-6270 or 518-672-7092, ext. 114. Please join us for this exciting musical event!

November 20, 2005: Thank You Concert