From October to May, the Fondation des États-Unis opens the Grand Salon every other Sunday for the Rendez-vous Musical. For those who do not yet know the Rendez-vous Musical, these Sunday afternoon concerts offer you a great opportunity to discover or rediscover classical (and sometimes contemporary) music in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Don’t miss the first Rendez-vous Musical of the year on October 15 at 5pm!
Program
Frederic Chopin
Preludes, op. 28 (excerpts)
John Kamfonas, piano
Georg Philipp Telemann
Fantasy no. 3 in B-flat minor for Solo Viola
Jossalyn Jensen, viola
Max Reger
Sonata no. 1 in G minor for Solo Viola
Jossalyn Jensen, viola
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata in D major, op. 102 no. 2
Christine Lee, cello & Orlando Bass, piano
Jacques Offenbach
“Chanson d’Aristée” from Orpheus in the Underworld
Gregoire Ichou, tenor & John Kamfonas, piano
Claude Debussy
Romance
Gregoire Ichou, tenor & John Kamfonas, piano
Jules Massenet
La nuit d’Espagne
Gregoire Ichou, tenor & John Kamfonas, piano
Carl Maria von Weber
Grand Duo Concertant for clarinet and piano
Jenny Maclay, clarinet & Orlando Bass, piano
Gabriel Fauré
Après un Rêve, op. 7
Sarah Ghandour, cello & John Kamfonas, piano
About the Musicians in Residence
Sarah Clarice Ghandour, an honored recipient of a full five year scholarship, graduated May 2017 from Bard College and Conservatory with a Bachelor of Art in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance, having studied under Cellist Peter Wiley. An avid chamber musician, Sarah has collaborated with artists including Peter Wiley, Peter Serkin, Daniel Phillips, and Dawn Upshaw. As principal cellist of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra, she has performed in New York, Eastern Europe, Russia, and most recently in Cuba, including collaboration with Camerata Romeu, a female Cuban string orchestra. Sarah was a finalist in the 2016 Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition, and in May 2017 had the pleasure of performing the Korngold Cello Concerto with The Orchestra Now. Following her study in the Fall of 2015 at the American University of Paris, and cello studies with Xavier Gagnepain, Conservatoire Boulogne-Billancourt, Sarah had the distinct pleasure of performing the Rachmaninoff Sonata for Piano and Cello, and the Brahms Clarinet Trio, at the Royal Castle of Warsaw, Poland on invitation by Bard Conservatory. Sarah has also delighted in participating in Music at Menlo, Yellow Barn, and Encore String Quartet Intensive Summer Chamber Music Festivals. After her 2017-2018 artist residency at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, France, Sarah will pursue a master’s degree at Stony Brook University, New York, under the tutelage of cellist Colin Carr.
Jossalyn Jensen, American violist, began playing music at the age of four. Her solo debut with orchestra was at the age of 9 and she has since appeared in concert across the United States and in Europe. She completed her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School where she was a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Artist Award. Ms. Jensen continues post-graduate work in Paris, France at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique and as a Fellow at the Fondation des États Unis. She was honored to spend her summer this year in the academies of the Verbier Festival and the Lucerne Festival. She is a laureate of the 2016-2017 Fulbright Grant.
Embracing his penchant for improvisation alongside his passion for the classical and contemporary repertoire, the pianist John Kamfonas has given performances around the world, from Italy to India, Beijing to New York, which have been described as possessing “a grandeur that lifted the music into the sublime…and a delicacy that took one’s breath away.” He was Harriet Hale Wooley scholarship in 2015-2016. John is currently a musician in residence at the Fondation des Etats-Unis and is pursuing a graduate diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris under the guidance of Marian Rybicki and Jean Fassina.
Hailed by the New York Times as a “clear delight,” Christine Lee is an emerging cellist whose performances have taken her all over North America, France, Norway, and South Korea. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Bonnie Hampton, Darrett Adkins, and Richard Aaron, as a recipient of the Irene Diamond Fellowship, and the Satterlee and the Juilliard Alumni Scholarships. She has participated in masterclasses with David Geringas, Gary Hoffman, Jerome Pernoo, and Philippe Muller, has studied chamber music with David Finckel and Joseph Kalichstein. Beyond the realm of classical music, she has also worked with legendary Mark Morris in a collaboration of dance and orchestra. As an orchestral musician, she has lead the Juilliard Chamber and Opera Orchestras as principal cellist for performances at Carnegie, Davies Symphony, Avery Fisher, and Alice Tully Halls, and joined the Juilliard Orchestra on tour with Itzhak Perlman. In the summer of 2016, Christine co-founded a music ensemble named ‘Ensemble Blank,’ which focuses on premiering music of the 20th century and whose concerts are held in art museums in Seoul, South Korea. Equally committed to community engagement, Christine was featured on KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) for her piano trio benefit concert to raise awareness and support for children in foster homes in Korea. Most recently, Christine was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to study in Paris in the fall of 2017. She will be working on a project focusing on 20th century French music with renowned cellist Michel Strauss.
Vandoren Regional Artist Jenny Maclay is quickly establishing her career as a clarinet soloist, recitalist, orchestral player, and chamber musician. Ms. Maclay was the recipient of a 2015-2016 Harriet Hale Woolley Award to study music in Paris, where she attends the Versailles Conservatoire. She has achieved a number of notable musical honors, including selection as a semi-finalist and finalist for such international competitions as Astral Artists and Concert Artists Guild. Her teachers are Philippe Cuper, Mitchell Estrin, and Donald Dowdy.
About the Invited Musicians
Orlando Bass is a student at the CNSMD in Paris since 2013, where he was first accepted in a writing class, then in 2014 in the accompaniment class and in 2015 in the piano and improvisation classes. He obtained in 2014 his prize for harmony and counterpoint, in 2015 the fugue. He already performed in several festivals as a pianist and harpsichordist and also plays jazz and improvised music.
Gregoire Ichou a étudié le chant lyrique au Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris et la musicologie à l’Université Paris-Sorbonne. Il a participé à de nombreux concerts dirigés par Laurence Equilbey et Geoffroy Jourdain (à la Cité de la Musique, la Cathédrale Saint-Louis des Invalides…). De 2013 à 2015, Il s’est perfectionné auprès de grands chanteurs et chefs de chant : à Glasgow avec Iain Paton et Scott Johnson, professeurs au Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ; à Valencia avec Ana Luisa Chova, professeur au Conservatorio Superior de Música de Valencia ; à Florence avec Leonardo de Lisi, Gianni Fabbrini, professeurs au Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini, Filippo Adami et Cristiano Manzoni ; à Vienne (Autriche) avec Daniel Sarge et Gabriele Sima, professeurs au Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität. En 2016, Gregoire a obtenu une Maîtrise d’Histoire de l’art avec la mention Très Bien à l’Université Panthéon Sorbonne. Son mémoire de recherche portait sur « Les Portraits des chanteuses des théâtres privilégiés parisiens dans le 3e quart du XVIIIe siècle ».