SSC'S Duxbury Music Festival Welcomes Back Founding Faculty

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is not only the title of the Norman Jewison comedy of 1966 in which a Soviet sub runs aground off New England, but also the back story of South Shore Conservatory’s Duxbury Music Festival 10th anniversary season.

Founding faculty of the Duxbury Music Festival (DMF), pianist Oxana Yablonskaya and her son conductor/cellist Dmitry Yablonsky, return to Duxbury after an absence of eight years. More than ten years ago, Yablonskaya, along with South Shore Conservatory and community friends came together with the belief that live performance was essential to the development of young musicians, and that Duxbury was the perfect place for a summer chamber music festival. Thus, Duxbury Music Festival was formed. Since then, DMF has offered life-changing experiences for the next generation of musicians, and outstanding musical performances for Festival audiences and friends.

A decade later, DMF is now recognized as a premier chamber music festival unique to all of New England.

Yablonskaya and her son waited more than two years to obtain a visa permitting them to emigrate from the former Soviet Union to the United States. Their success in obtaining visas in 1977 was due, in part, to a petition organized by American composers, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. It is fitting that the first performance of the DMF 2015 season, on July 17, is a musical revue of their masterful music

Summer 2015 features performances by Yablonskaya and Yablonsky, as well as Yablonsky’s wife, Janna Gandelman, former concertmaster of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Yablonskaya, world-renowned pianist, began her studies at the Moscow Central School for the Gifted and, subsequently, studied with Alexander Goldenweiser and Tatiana Nikolayeva at the Moscow Conservatory. She returns to Duxbury Music Festival this summer to perform at its opening concert on July 19, and again at a private-home concert on July 21. Yablonskaya will also conduct a piano master class, open to the public, on Friday, July 18 at the Ellison Center for the Arts in Duxbury.

Yablonsky, celebrated conductor and cellist, studied at The Juilliard School and Yale University with Lorne Munroe and Aldo Parisot, respectively. He will conduct Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and John Adams’ Shaker Loops and will perform on cello, with his mother and other DMF faculty, Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57 at the Festival’s Opening Concert. Yablonsky will also perform at the private-home concert on July 21 along with Yablonskaya and Gandelman. Together, Gandelman and Yablonsky conduct a string masterclass on July 20 at the Ellison Center for the Arts.

Duxbury Music Festival, a program of South Shore Conservatory, runs from July 17 through July 31, with daily concerts and events open to the public. For complete program, ticket and event information, visit www.duxburymusicfestival.org, call 781-934-2731, ext. 23, or follow Duxbury Music Festival on Facebook.
About Duxbury Music Festival

Duxbury Music Festival (DMF), entering its 10th season, is a celebrated program for solo and chamber instrumental performance unique to all of New England. Founded with the knowledge that music enriches the human spirit and upon the belief that this enrichment endures, DMF is an intensive 15-day program of chamber music, bringing world-renowned pedagogues and performers and aspiring young artists together in one of New England’s most beautiful bayside villages, Duxbury, thirty-five miles south of Boston and twenty miles north of Cape Cod. For nearly three weeks each summer, Duxbury is abuzz and alive with chamber music whether it be chamber coachings and student recitals or festival competitions and faculty concerts. For a little more than a fortnight chamber music abounds perfectly complementing this picturesque historic town’s cultural diversity. Both Festival faculty and students perform in concerts in public and private venues, from the Duxbury Town Green and The Ellison Center for the Arts to beautiful seaside homes and venues. DMF has tremendous community support, involving over 200 volunteers and over 2500 patrons each season. DMF headquarters are located at South Shore Conservatory’s Duxbury campus at the Ellison Center for the Arts, 64 St. George Street, Duxbury, 781-934-2731. Duxbury Music Festival is a program of South Shore Conservatory. For more information, follow Duxbury Music Festival on Facebook or visit www.duxburymusicfestival.org.

In keeping with SSC’s inclusive mission to provide access to quality education in the arts for all, the Conservatory offers programs for all segments of the population to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, geography, and financial means. Furthermore, South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.