Great Barrington — The Berkshire Bach Society announced early this year that their new artistic director would be Eugene Drucker. A founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, Drucker has been involved with the Society for many years, most notably through their annual “Bach at New Year’s” concerts. The Emerson retired in 2023, freeing Mr. Drucker to focus on his new role with Berkshire Bach and to appear with his friends in performances to benefit the Society, as he will do on Saturday, August 3, 5 p.m., at the Kellogg Music Center on the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
Joining Mr. Drucker on Saturday will be cellist Roberta Cooper and pianist Renée Anne Louprette.
The program for August 3 is as follows:
- Bach: Partita No. 2, BWV 1004: Sarabanda
- Mozart: Piano Trio in G Major, K. 496
- Haydn: Piano Trio in G Major, Hob. XV25
- Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 78
A graduate of Columbia University and the Juilliard School, Eugene Drucker served as concertmaster and in solo roles with the Juilliard Orchestra, making his New York debut as a Concert Artists Guild winner in the fall of 1976. A founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, Drucker has appeared as a soloist with orchestras of Jerusalem, Omaha, Richmond, Montreal, Hartford, Brussels, Antwerp, Liege, and the Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as with the the Aspen Chamber Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and American Symphony Orchestra. A nine-time GRAMMY and three-time Gramophone Magazine Award winner, Drucker has recorded the complete works of Bach for unaccompanied violin (on Parnassus Records); all of Bartók’s sonatas and duos (on Biddulph Recordings); and, with the Emerson Quartet, a staggering number of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon of works ranging from Bach and Haydn to contemporary repertoire. He has taught at Stony Brook University for 21 years and recently joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
Cellist Roberta Cooper’s Carnegie Hall debut came after winning the Artists International Competition. She toured the U.S. and Europe as a member of the Walsh-Drucker-Cooper Trio and is assistant principal cellist of the American Symphony Orchestra. Cooper is a member of the American Composers Orchestra and the Westchester Philharmonic. Ms. Cooper was a scholarship student at the Juilliard School, studying with Lorne Munroe and Harvey Shapiro and earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as the William Henderson Prize for outstanding achievement.
Renée Louprette holds a Diplôme Supérieur in organ performance from the Centre d’Études Supérieures de Musique et de Danse de Toulouse. Since 2019, she has been assistant professor of music at Bard College, where she directs the Bard Baroque Ensemble and serves as the college organist. She has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Hartford, and at Montclair State University. In her two-decade career as a choral conductor, Louprette has directed music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Trinity Wall Street, Unitarian Church of All Souls, the Church of Notre Dame, and various other professional choirs in the greater New York City area. But New York is just her home base. She has performed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, including at Westminster Abbey, and in 2018 made her solo debuts at the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. She has made European festival appearances in Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and France and performed Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia. Louprette’s own commissions include works by George Baker and David Briggs.
The Berkshire Bach Society is the oldest continuing member-based nonprofit music organization in Berkshire County. It specializes in live performances of works from J.S. Bach and his mentors, peers, offspring, and followers. Programs range from solo recitals and chamber music to choral and orchestral works.
Hear violinist Eugene Drucker perform works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Brahms on Saturday, August 3, 5 p.m., at the Kellogg Music Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, MA. All Seats: $80 in advance. A reception will follow the performance. Tickets are available here.
