Great Barrington — The Szabo Chamber Music Society will open its 2025–26 season with a concert featuring violinist Susan Heerema and pianist Sandor Szabo at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, at the First Congregational Church. The program includes violin sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Franck.
Heerema and Szabo have performed together as a duo for more than two decades at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center, and in concert halls and churches throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.
The program for October 4 is as follows:
- Mozart — Violin Sonata in E minor, K. 304
- Beethoven — Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, No. 3
- Franck — Violin Sonata in A major
Here are Dr. Szabo’s program notes for Oct. 4:
The evolution of sonatas for piano and violin begins with Mozart, giving more prominence to the violin, whose role previously had been primarily accompanying and optional in the early classical keyboard sonatas.
The late sonata in E Minor by Mozart (the only work in this key in all his works) is a serene and sorrowful expression, a testament to his mother’s passing.
In complete contrast is the wistful Sonata by Beethoven which is characterized by a joyful and vigorous “concertante” style, where the violin and piano are equally prominent partners.
The program will end with the epic and sublime sonata by Franck which is perhaps the most beloved violin and piano sonata of the late 19th century. Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano (1886).
Violinist Susan Heerema began performing as a soloist at age nine and as a concertmaster at 11. She earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, and Stephen Clapp, and later with Richard Simon of the New York Philharmonic.
She has appeared as soloist and concertmaster with the Spectrum Symphony of New York, the Society of Musical Arts, the Long Island Concert Orchestra, and other ensembles. Recent solo performances include Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Bloomfield Symphony, Haydn’s “Sinfonia Concertante,” and Vivaldi’s “Winter” from “The Four Seasons.”
Heerema served eight years as concertmaster with the Berkshire Opera Company and later performed with the Berkshire Opera Festival. She has also appeared with the national tour of “Phantom of the Opera,” taught music at Indian Hills Regional High School in Oakland, N.J., and recorded with such artists as Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett.
Dr. Sándor Szabó is active as a conductor, organist, pianist, and harpsichordist, with performances across Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. He studied in Yugoslavia, earning a diploma as “Academic Musician in the Piano Art” from the University of Novi Sad and a master’s degree from the University of Music Arts in Belgrade, where he won prizes in the Belgrade and Zagreb Young Pianists National Competitions. From 1983 to 1988, before immigrating to Canada, he performed widely, accompanied at the University of Music Arts, and worked as assistant conductor at the Serbian National Opera.
Szabó later completed master’s degrees in organ performance and sacred music at Westminster Choir College, where he received the Currin Scholarship, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at Boston University. He holds the Fellowship Certificate (FAGO) from the American Guild of Organists and is a member of Phi Beta Delta and Pi Kappa Lambda honor societies.
He has served as music director and organist at churches in Canada and the United States and currently directs music at Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Pompeii in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and the Oratorio Society of New Jersey. He is also artistic director of the Szabó Chamber Music Society.
Hear violinist Susan Heerema and pianist Sandor Szabo perform violin sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Franck at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, at the First Congregational Church, 251 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA. More information is available here.
