For the first Rendez-Vous Musical of 2018, the musicians in residence and the Harriet Hale Woolley scholars invite you to (re)-discover Debussy, Barber, Bryant …
Program
Claude Debussy
Beau Soir
Sarah Ghandour, cello & John Kamfonas, piano
Samuel Barber
Cello Sonata in C minor
I. Allegro ma non troppo
Sarah Ghandour, cello & John Kamfonas, piano
Alexandra Bryant
The cool breeze across the lake
I. The Open
Will Cravy, double bass & John Kamfonas, piano
Robert Schumann
Cello Concerto in A minor
III. Sehr lebhaft
Christine Lee, cello & John Kamfonas, piano
Musicians’ Biographies
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.
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.
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.
William McClain Cravy graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California where he was a student of David Allen Moore. A tenured member and acting Principal Bass of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Will has played as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Colorado and Culver City Symphonies, and was featured in a 2015 Aspen Music Festival Student-Spotlight Recital. As an orchestral musician, Will has appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), the New World Symphony (Miami), the Las Vegas Philharmonic, the Juneau Symphony, as principal bass of Aspen Opera under Robert Spano and alongside his teacher in the Aspen Chamber Orchestra. Will has performed chamber music with members of the LA Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony and has participated in the Aspen, Lake George, Domaine Forget, Wabass Institute, and Colorado College music festivals.