Sheffield — In its first event of the year, Lich Gate Concerts presents a chamber music recital at the First Congregational Church of Sheffield (known to locals as the glorious sun-lit Old Parish Church) on February 17 with violinist and Artistic Director Jorge Avila, cellist Eliot Bailen, and pianist Adrienne Kim.
The program on the 17th includes violin and piano sonatas by J.S. Bach and Sergei Prokofiev, cello and piano sonatas by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3 in F-minor, Op. 65.
One of the most memorable gigs violinist and Sheffield resident Jorge Ávila ever played was serving as concertmaster to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, in a televised Mass held at Yankee Stadium. Ávila won the Omar del Carlo Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center and First Prize at the 2001 Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Competition. He is concertmaster of the Ridgefield Symphony, Distinguished Concerts International New York, and the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series. Before becoming a U.S. citizen, the Honduras-born Ávila received his green card in the “extraordinary talent” category. Jorge has recorded for Centaur, Naxos, Nonesuch, and other labels. Having performed with many prominent chamber musicians such as David Finckel, Wu Han, and the Salem Chamber Orchestra, Jorge’s repertoire includes all of the major violin concertos.
Principal cello of the New York Chamber Ensemble, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Orchestra New England, New York Bach Artists, Teatro Grattacielo, and the New Choral Society, Eliot Bailen received his Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University and is on the cello and chamber music faculty at Columbia University and Teachers College.
Pianist Adrienne Kim has performed in New York’s Alice Tully Hall; Merkin Hall; Weill Recital Hall; Bargemusic; Boston’s Symphony Hall; Washington, D.C.’s Phillips Gallery; and Ravinia’s Rising Stars series in Chicago. She has appeared as soloist with the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of Beijing, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Richmond Orchestra. Ms. Kim’s most recent album comprises solo and chamber music works of the Finnish composer Ilari Kaila, recorded with the Aizuri Quartet and Isabel Lepanto Gleicher.
The First Congregational Church’s website explains the meaning of “lich gate”:
A lich gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to an English-style churchyard. They say it marks the transition from the secular world into the sacred. This concert series seeks to transport us from the humdrum of ordinary life and into the realm of music, which has the power to speak directly to our souls.
Hear Lich Gate Concerts’ presentation of violinist Jorge Ávila, cellist Eliot Bailen, and pianist Adrienne Kim performing a program of Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Dvořák on Saturday, February 17, 2 p.m., at First Congregational Church of Sheffield, 125 Main St. Tickets are available here.
