Music on the Hill festival begins June 1 in Jamestown

Beginning June 1, Music on the Hill presents its ninth annual chamber music festival. Seven concerts offer a variety of ensembles and solo works, featuring musicians returning to their native Rhode Island. Concerts take place in Jamestown, Cranston and Warwick, all beginning at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at www.musiconthehillri.org, and at BrownPaperTicket.com. Ticket prices are $20 before May 25 (plus fees) or $25 at the door (cash or check). Students with I.D. are admitted free of charge.

“To open the festival, renowned piano virtuoso Joseph Kalichstein returns to combine forces with clarinet virtuoso Daniel Gilbert in Jamestown,” says Artistic Director John M. Pellegrino. “If you love Brahms, Schumann and Chopin, this is the concert for you!”

The festival features many Rhode Island-raised professionals: oboist Anne Marie Gabriele, soprano Diana McVey, violinists Debra Tien Price and Kristen Pellegrino, bassist John M. Pellegrino, bassoonist Steve Vacchi, and cellist Elisa Kohanski, with her Trio Nova Mundi. Others returning to the festival are the Miller-Porfiris Duo, violist Suzanne LeFevre, french horn player Michele Baker, pianist Bonnie Anderson and cellist Trevor Handy. Each plays in multiple concerts in a variety of ensembles.

Music on the Hill’s innovative programs combine highlights of the chamber music repertoire with exciting gems from less familiar composers. Beethoven, Schubert and Dvorak are heard alongside Suk, Ponce, Corigliano and Rhode Island’s own Richard Cumming. Music on the Hill’s festival is unique in performing in five different venues in three towns around the Ocean State, in intimate venues where the audience sits up close to the action.

In his Juilliard days and professionally since then, Artistic Director John M. Pellegrino meets many gifted musicians from the Ocean State who lament the fact that they haven't performed in Rhode Island since high school. He says: "Since rededicating Music on the Hill as a music festival in 2007, I’ve been inspired to be able to offer a wide variety of performers, ensembles and composers to our enthusiastic audiences. We musicians are honored to return to the beautiful Ocean State to concertize as professionals, and to meet Music on the Hill’s listeners and supporters.”


GILBERT & KALICHSTEIN Wednesday June 1st, 2016 7:00 PM

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 87 Narragansett Avenue, Jamestown, RI

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) Ballade No. 2 (dedicated to Schumann)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Kreisleriana Op. 16 (dedicated to Chopin)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Sonata No. 1 in F minor for Clarinet & Piano, Op. 120
Louis Cahuzac (1880-1960) Arlequin
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) 2 Hungarian Dances

Joseph Kalichstein, piano; Daniel Gilbert, clarinet

Tickets and details for all seven concerts: www.musiconthehillri.org