Go Beyond the Notes with Violinist Sarah Whitney

February 3, 2017: 7:30pm
51 Walden Performing Arts Center
51 Walden St.
Concord, MA 01742

Violinist and Concord native, Sarah Whitney, has built a career changing the perception of chamber music and how it is presented. Sarah will return to her hometown of Concord, where she has created a very successful unique and interactive concert experience, Beyond the Notes. After two years of sold out concerts, she will present her third annual Beyond the Notes concert on February 3 at 7:30pm at the 51 Walden Performing Arts Center.

Sarah has performed around the world and recognizes that the needs and desires of audiences are evolving and changing, just like everything else around us. Research shows that people now have a shorter attention span than ever, largely due to the surge of the digital age. Sarah has found interesting ways to keep audiences engaged and involved in the concert experience. At Beyond the Notes, musical performances are combined with conversational vignettes as well as a chance for the audience to submit questions that are answered at random throughout the evening.

"Beyond the Notes is more than just a concert," says Whitney. "My goal is to create an evening where people can contribute and be involved in their concert experience unlike any other."

For the February 3rd concert, Sarah will be joined by New York City pianist Natalia Lavrova for a program of duos and solos including works by Brahms, Corigliano, Rachmaninoff, Bolcom and an exciting world premiere of "Hello" by Jessica Meyer for violin and loop pedal. Sarah is known for her eclectic programing and you will not be disappointed! Ticket info at www.gobeyondthenotes.bpt.me or call 1-800-838-3006.

Sarah, an alumna of Concord-Carlisle High School, studied violin in the preparatory divisions of the New England Conservatory and was concertmaster of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra before continuing her musical studies at the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her parents still live in Concord, and Sarah frequently returns to the Boston area.

24 HOUR TICKET HOTLINE: 1-800-838-3006

ONLINE TICKET SALES: www.gobeyondthenotes.bpt.me

TICKETS: $25 General Admission/$15 Students

LOCATION: 51 Walden St, Concord, MA 01742

GENERAL INFO: www.gobeyondthenotes.com

ARTISTS BIOS:
Praised by the Washington Post for her “marvelous violin acrobatics”, violinist Sarah Whitney is known for her musical versatility and has been heard worldwide across stages in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and the United States. She is recognized as a performer, teacher, entrepreneur and advocate for bringing fresh new ideas to classical music.

Based in New York City, she is a member of the acclaimed string quintet SYBARITE5, one of the fastest-rising chamber-music ensembles in the United States. SYBARITE5 is the first string quintet to win the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, giving their Carnegie Hall debut in 2012. SYBARITE5, whose album ‘Disturb the Silence’ reached the top ten on the Billboard Charts, has also performed at Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Aspen, Caramoor, Chautauqua and Ravinia Festivals, and on the CBS Early Show. Additionally, SYBARITE5 premiered the world’s first concerto for string quintet and orchestra by Dan Visconti with three orchestras last season.

Sarah is recognized as a pioneer in changing the perception of classical music and the way it is presented; in 2015 she founded Beyond the Notes, an innovative concert series that breaks down the boundaries between the audience and the performers. Sarah also performs regularly in the Seeing Double Duo with acclaimed violinist Julia Salerno, having been featured on the Rochester Chamber Music Society, New York City House Concerts and the First Parish Concert Series. Sarah is co-founder of the Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra that has been featured on Mashable, Perez Hilton, Revolt TV, as well as with the rapper NAS in Johannesburg, South Africa. Additionally, Sarah has collaborated with the Alvin Ailey and Jose Limon dance companies, as well as featured on-stage with Adele, Ellie Goulding, the Transiberian Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Anne Murray, Andrew Wyatt, Tommy Lee, and with Father John Misty on The Late Show with Dave Letterman.

Active as a recording artist, Sarah has performed on albums with Darlene Love, Josh Ritter, Stephen Kellogg, Mark Geary and Etienne Charles and can be heard on William Bolcom's Grammy-winning album ‘The Songs of Innocence and Experience’. She has performed electric-violin with renowned DJ’s Doug E. Fresh and DJ Spooky, as well as opening for Jennifer Hudson and Diana Ross.

Sarah has extensive teaching experience and regularly gives master classes and workshops to students of all levels. She has given guest master classes at University of Arizona, Grinnell College, Ohio University, University of North Florida, the Walnut Hill School, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, among others, and has been guest artist in residence at Eastern Washington University. She is currently a Music Coach for Lincoln Center Stage and a teaching artist for the Bridge Arts Ensemble. She has served on faculty at Music in Chappaqua, The Music School of New York City and the Walla Walla Suzuki Institute. Her Suzuki training was under the leadership of pedagogue Kimberly Meier-Sims and she was named co-director of the Sato Center Outreach Group at the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies in Cleveland, leading the group in concerts throughout the city. Her reputation and devotion to sound practice techniques led STRINGS magazine to feature Sarah in an article, ‘The Art of Mindful Practice’, in February 2015. She has also served on the New York State Presenters Network Panel in discussions about progressive programming and innovation.

Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Michigan School of Music, as well as Master of Music and Professional Studies degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has been a scholarship student at many music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Music Academy of the West and the Meadowmount School of Music. Her teachers include Paul Kantor, William Preucil, Kathleen Winkler, Aaron Berofsky, Cyrus Forough, Stephen Shipps and Irina Muresanu.

Pianist Natalia Lavrova is a highly regarded performer of multi-faceted artistry, whose sincerity of interpretation and beguiling charm upon the stage has won the hearts of audiences around the world. Ms. Lavrova enjoys a diverse career upon the international platform, and additionally holds substantial positions in the worlds of arts administration and pedagogy.
Solo and orchestral performances have taken Ms. Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, Peru, Chile, South Africa and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall. Ms. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Ms. Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round. In her repertoire, she has over 30 concertos and extensive solo recital programs, as well as substantial chamber music repertoire, including an ongoing partnership with her duo partner, pianist, Vassily Primakov. Her repertoire includes works of Arensky, Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Schubert, Liszt, Debussy, Milhaud, Godowsky, Saint-Saens, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Corigliano, Liebermann, Barber and many others.
Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow. She entered the prep division of the Moscow Conservatory at the age of five, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin. Ms. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.
Ms. Lavrova is the founder and president of a very successful private school, Music School of New York City and together with Vassily Primakov, she is the co-founder and partner of LP Classics, a record label dedicated to unearthing rare, never-before released recordings and live performances of celebrated artists and emerging stars.
Natalia Lavrova is a Yamaha Artist in Education.