Great Barrington — Close Encounters With Music (CEWM) will conclude its 33rd season on June 8 with a program themed around romantic love, highlighted by the world premiere of a new clarinet trio by composer Seth Grosshandler titled “L’Amour Toujours; Miniatures on 853-4542.” Immediately following the concert, CEWM’s annual Gala Dinner will take place at the Stockbridge Golf Club.
Performing Grosshandler’s piece—along with Schubert’s “Shepherd on the Rock” and Brahms’ Clarinet Trio—will be clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, associate professor and chair of the Woodwinds Department at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Born in Belarus in 1977, Fiterstein immigrated to Israel at age two and later pursued his musical education in the United States, attending the Interlochen Arts Academy and graduating from the Juilliard School. His principal teachers included Charles Neidich and Eli Heifetz.
Fiterstein won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition, subsequently receiving an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras worldwide, including the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center. An avid chamber musician, Fiterstein has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Mitsuko Uchida, and Pinchas Zukerman. He has been a member of the Chamber Music Society II of Lincoln Center and has participated in such festivals as Marlboro Music and Music@Menlo. He has premiered works by composers including Mason Bates, Samuel Adler, and Paul Schoenfield.
CEWM patrons will be familiar with the wonderfully capable collaborative pianist Max Levinson. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and first prize in the 1997 Dublin International Piano Competition, Levison has performed as a soloist with many major orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has also given recitals in major concert halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. He has recorded several critically acclaimed albums, including a complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
Soprano Danielle Talamantes has performed as a soloist with major orchestras and opera companies in the United States and abroad, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras. She has also performed with such opera companies as the Washington National Opera, the Virginia Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Virginia.
Bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson has performed on opera, oratorio, and recital stages. Described by The Washington Post as an “exuberant” performer with the “amber tone of a lyric baritone and the imposing weight demanded by Handel’s low-lying writing,” Wilkerson is known to audiences throughout the United States and Europe. He is an adjunct applied faculty member (baritone) at George Mason University’s Dewberry School of Music. Additionally, he and his wife co-operate the Talamantes Wilkerson Voice Studio (TWVS) in Oakton, Va.
Close Encounters founder and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani joins the ensemble on cello. Mr. Hanani has performed with leading orchestras worldwide. Born in Jerusalem, he studied under Leonard Rose at Juilliard and Pablo Casals and came to the United States at age 19 under the sponsorship of Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern.
On June 8 at 4 p.m., Close Encounters With Music concludes its 33rd season at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, with a program of romantically themed works. The performance features pianist Max Levinson, clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, soprano Danielle Talamantes, baritone Kerry Wilkerson, and cellist Yehuda Hanani, and includes the world premiere of a new clarinet trio by composer Seth Grosshandler. A gala dinner will follow at the Stockbridge Golf Club (6 Main Street, Stockbridge). Tickets and more information are available here.
