Connecticut Virtuosi "American Influencers" Concert

News release

Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra to Perform "American Influencers" Concert with Works by Hindemith, Schoenberg and Brahms

"We The People" Series Celebrating American Immigrants to Feature Cellist Zachary Sears in Hartford on Feb 4 and New Britain on February 11

Hartford, CT…Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, under the artistic direction of Maestro Adrian Sylveen, presents the seventh installment of the orchestra's ongoing We the People series of concerts celebrating the American Immigrant experience. The We the People VII: American Influencers concert program featuring works Hindemith, Schoenberg and Brahms will be performed at the intimate First Presbyterian Church (136 Capitol Avenue, adjacent) in conjunction with The Bushnell in Hartford on Sunday, February 4 at 3pm and at the New Britain Museum of American Art on Sunday, February 11 at 3pm.

The performances will feature the music of legendary and influential German and Austrian composers that helped establish 20th-century American musical heritage: Hindemith by teaching at Yale University, and Schoenberg at universities in California. The concert includes Paul Hindemith’s “Trauermusik” and Arnold Schoenberg’s “Verklarte Nacht”. Also on the program is Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello featuring Zachary Sears, principal cellist of the Virtuosi in his debut as a soloist, and Maestro Sylveen on violin.

Sylveen states, "The We The People concert series highlights the contributions of immigrants like myself. Hindemith and Schoenberg both created a legacy that resonated across two continents during their lifetimes. It is our hope that this program will illustrate that music is the universal language that connects us across borders and breaks down boundaries."

About the Soloist

Zachary Sears, a recent graduate of DePaul University and The Hartt School of Music, Zachary Sears has studied and performed across the United States and Europe. He is a cellist with the American Institute of Musical Studies Orchestra in Graz, Austria, a Principal cellist at the 2018 Texas Music Festival in Houston, Texas, and a chamber music fellow at the 2017 Duxbury Chamber Music Festival. Zachary has also performed with the York Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, and UConn symphony, and has served as principal cellist for the Hartt Orchestra. He is the winner of the 2020 Moshe Paranov Concerto Competition and Chamber Music competition at the Hartt School where he studied with Mihai Tetel. Zachary is also passionate about teaching and has worked as a private instructor, coach, and mentor in both New England and Chicago. During his time at DePaul University, he held the Teaching Artist position, working with young musicians in the Chicago Public Schools system. Zachary began his cello studies at age 6 at the UConn Community Music School, and his early teachers include Boris Kogan and Astrid Schween. In 2019 he completed an M.M. at Depaul University with former CSO cellist Stephen Balderston.

About the Series

Connecticut Virtuosi's “We The People” concert series funded in part by an Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. From 2021 to 2024 the Virtuosi will introduce audiences to the rich and diverse cultural threads woven by America’s immigrants into 20th and 21st-century music. Each concert features an immigrant composer and/or musician, whose music reflects inspiration from a distinct culture or group of cultures. Each concert includes written and/or spoken word pieces by writers who are themselves immigrants from the culture(s) being highlighted. When words fail, music speaks. The series explore connections between cultures, languages, and people.

Tickets for the Hartford engagement of We the People VII on Sunday, February 4 at 3pm at First Presbyterian Church (directly adjacent to The Bushnell) are $44.50 and can be purchased via Bushnell.org or calling (860) 987-5900. Tickets for the New Britain Museum of Art performance on Sunday, February 11 at 3pm are included with museum admission. For more information, visit NBMAA.org.