Lenox — One of Emanuel Ax’s favorite backup bands, the Kids 4 Harmony (K4H) Chamber Players, will join the esteemed pianist in Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 25, along with the the Elayne P. Bernstein Ensemble.
If you missed the Gala performance of the Kids 4 Harmony advanced ensemble back in June, you now have another chance to hear this unusual collaboration between K4H and Emanuel Ax (or “The Ax Man,” as the young musicians have nicknamed him). Mr. Ax, an eight-time GRAMMY-winning American classical pianist and teacher at the Juilliard School, made his first concert appearance with K4H six years ago.
The program on Friday includes a piece, “El Último Baile,” composed by one of the K4H students, 16-year-old Davis Albayeros:
- RICHARD MEYER — Festival Rondo
- EVA BELVELIN — A Sunday walk (arr. Per Strandberg)
- CARLOS GARDEL — Por Una Cabeza (arr. Irina Lazaryeva)
- ASTOR PIAZZOLLA — Oblivion (arr. Ignacy Gaydamovich)
- SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR — Danse Négre from the African Suite, Op. 35 (arr. Daniel Bukin)
- FLORENCE PRICE Adoration (arr. James Bergin)
- ANTONIO VIVALDI — III: Presto (from Op. 8, No. 2 in G minor – L’estate (Summer)
- DAVIS ALBAYEROS — El Último Baile
- MOZART — Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478 – III: Rondo
Conducting the K4H players on Friday will be New England Conservatory graduate Jorge Soto, music director of the Sistema Side-by-Side Orchestra at Longy School of Music of Bard College. Mr. Soto is also the Principal Conductor of the New Philharmonia Orchestra and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Massachusetts Symphony. He has worked with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela (where he was a founding member) and with other major orchestras, including the Boston Symphony.
Emanuel Ax, in addition to being an internationally recognized concert pianist who regularly headlines Tanglewood and other major festivals, collaborates with people like Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman and is an active part of the local music scene in Berkshire County. He and Mr. Ma have been known to present free pop-up concerts in the area, like the one they gave in 2021 for Greenagers. Mr. Ax is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorate degrees from Skidmore College, New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University, and Columbia University.
Inspired by Venezuela’s El Sistema, a program that uses classical music as a vehicle for social change, Kids 4 Harmony is a free, intensive classical music program for youth from under-resourced communities in Berkshire County established in 2011 through Berkshire Children and Families, known today as 18 Degrees. The program serves over 60 students at Morningside Community School in Pittsfield and Brayton Elementary School in North Adams, providing access to classical music education, improving academic performance, developing leadership and social skills, and building a sense of community and connection for students.
Hear the students of Kids 4 Harmony in concert with Emanuel Ax performing a program including Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478 (III Rondo) in Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 25. Admission to this Kids 4 Harmony prelude concert includes admission to the 8 p.m. all-Beethoven concert in the Shed with Mr. Ax, Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and possibly Yo-Yo Ma (but only if Mr. Ma gets a negative COVID test this week). Tickets are available here. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
