Two great melodists, two young geniuses in one brilliant evening: Bubbly, like fine Champagne, Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet is one of the most joyous pieces ever written. A landmark of classical music, it weaves a net of enchantment with its catchy melodies and fresh exuberance. This piece has it all-elegance, beauty, and irrepressible good humor; music from the pen of a 22-year-old prodigy inspired by the tragic-comic death of a fish that captures the glories of nature! The program also features Schumann’s miraculous Piano Quintet in E-flat Major-the first work ever conceived and written for this combination of instruments.

An all-star ensemble that joins artistic director Yehuda Hanani includes returning Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Yekwon Sunwoo (“superbly assured pianism”-BBC Music) and violinist Giora Schmidt (“Impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm”- Cleveland Plain Dealer). So ends Season 31 of Close Encounters- bookended by the most sublime output of Franz Schubert.

2022-2023 has featured the world premiere of Tamar Muskal’s ”One Earth” for string quintet, treble chorus, tabla and beatbox artist; a multimedia concert “Pictures at an Exhibition” exploring the common language of music and art; the Berkshire debut of Manhattan Chamber Players in an extraordinary rendition of the original instrumentation of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring (“insane precision”! - Berkshire Edge), the return of the Borromeo and Escher string quartets, and the trademark illuminating and entertaining introductions by artistic director Yehuda Hanani.

A festive dinner follows the performance, with reservations required.
Yekwon Sunwoo, piano;
Giora Schmidt and Helena Baillie, violin;
Michael Strauss, viola;
Yehuda Hanani, cello;
Jeremy McCoy, double bass

Date:
Sunday, June 11, 2023

Time:
4 pm

Location:
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
14 Castle Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230

Tickets:
$52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students; or to reserve Patron Gala Dinner Package ($200) Tickets - Close Encounters With Music

Virtual tickets are also available.

Buy Tickets

Click here for More Information

About The Artists:

London-born Helena Baillie was hailed by The Strad magazine for her “brilliance and poignance,” and stands apart for a rare ease on both violin and viola. American Record Guide praised her “gorgeous singing tone” in an album that “from the opening flourish will be a special recital.” A prizewinner in international competitions including Munich ARD, Banff and Tertis, Helena has performed throughout Europe and the United States, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and “Performance Today” for American Public Radio. She has collaborated in chamber music with Pinchas Zukerman, Midori, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, and the Beaux Arts Trio, with whom she performed in a live broadcast from the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. Her love of chamber music has taken her to the La Jolla Summerfest, Tucson Winter Chamber Festival, and the Kronberg Academy Festival in Frankfurt. Ms. Baillie was honored with a Bard Fellowship from 2010-2015. While a Fellow, her projects included Bach Among Us at Bard’s Fisher Center, which she produced and performed in collaboration with dancers of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. In her continued commitment to outreach and education, she has traveled across the globe to engage new audiences under the auspices of Midori’s Music Sharing Foundation. Ms. Baillie graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied violin with Arnold Steinhardt and viola with Roberto Diaz. At Yale University, she studied violin with Peter Oundjian, and she spent a year in Berlin with the eminent violist Wilfried Strehle. In addition to her work for Bard, she teaches in the violin and viola program at the Hotchkiss School.

Gold medalist of the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he also, in his own words, “strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.” The first Korean to win Cliburn Gold, recent seasons included appearances with Fort Worth and Tuscon Symphonies and the Bucheon Philharmonic and debuts with Washington Chamber Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra and Danish Radio Orchestra as well as a debut appearance at the Vail Festival with the Dallas Symphony, a debut with Orchestra Chambre de Paris and a return to KBS Symphony with Jaap Van Zweden. In previous seasons, he has performed as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Houston Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium, Sendai Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Recital appearances include Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Salle Cortot and performed at Chamber Music of Lincoln Center’s Inside Chamber Music Lectures. In addition to the Cliburn Gold Medal, he took first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award, the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the Verbier Festival, and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition. Born in Anyang, South Korea, he began studying piano at the age of 8 and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode and Bernd Goetzke. In 2017, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017 two weeks after Yekwon was awarded the Gold Medal and included his award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata.

Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm,” violinist Giora Schmidt has appeared as soloist with many prominent symphony orchestras around the globe including Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Canada’s National Arts Centre, Toronto, Vancouver and the Israel Philharmonic. In recital and chamber music, Mr. Schmidt has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Tokyo’s Musashino Cultural Hall. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Santa Fe and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals, Bard Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music and Music Academy of the West. He has collaborated with eminent musicians including Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, and Michael Tree. Born in Philadelphia to professional musicians from Israel, he began playing the violin at the age of four. A graduate of the Juilliard School, his teachers have included Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman, with additional guidance from Pinchas Zukerman. Committed to education and sharing his passion for music, he is currently on the artist faculty at New York University and Orford Musique Academy (Quebec) in the summer. He was previously on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, the Juilliard School and Perlman Music Program. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, The Classical Recording Foundation’s Samuel Sanders award, and was a Starling Fellow at the Juilliard School.

After thirty-five seasons as Assistant Principal double bass of the Metropolitan Opera, Jeremy McCoy continues to enjoy a busy career as both performer and educator. He has been presented in recital by CBC Radio, the International Society of Bassists and at Lincoln Center, and performed as concerto soloist at the National Arts Centre and with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Classical Tahoe, Atlantic Chamber Orchestra and Musica Viva of New York. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of the Arditti, Borodin, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard and Tokyo string quartets and many other distinguished artists. He has performed at Bargemusic and at festivals including Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Banff, Classical Tahoe, Affinis Festival (Japan), Kneisel Hall, Grand Tetons, Bowdoin, Festival Napa Valley, Lincoln Center Festival, Appalachian Summer Festival, Ottawa International Music Festival, Music Festival of the Hamptons and Cooperstown. Mr. McCoy began studying double bass in his native Ottawa, Canada. With the assistance of awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, he continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. At age twenty, he won a position with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and the following season joined the Metropolitan Opera. A founding member of Sequitur and Ensemble Sospeso and frequent collaborator with Speculum Musicae, he has presented many premiere performances and recorded works by eminent contemporary composers such as Elliott Carter, David Del Tredici and Thomas Ades. As a studio session player, Mr. McCoy has performed solo and as section leader on an extensive list of motion picture and television soundtracks and recorded with popular artists including Bruce Springsteen, David Byrne, Lou Reed, Sting and Natalie Merchant. Mr. McCoy serves on the faculties the Manhattan School of Music, Bard, and the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.

Named “one of the most polished performers of the post-Starker generation and a consistently expressive artist.” by The New York Times, Yehuda Hanani’s charismatic playing and profound interpretations bring him acclaim and reengagements across the globe. He has won wide international recognition as soloist, chamber musician and inspiring pedagogue. His concerto appearances have been with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, San Antonio, New Orleans, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, BBC Welsh Symphony, Irish National Symphony, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Taipei and Seoul symphonies among many other orchestras, and he has toured with I Solisti de Zagreb, conducting from the cello. A frequent guest at Aspen, Bowdoin, Chautauqua, Yale at Norfolk, Great Lakes, Casals Prades, Finland Festival, Ottawa, Oslo, Round Top Institute, Manchester, and the Australia Chamber Music festivals, he has collaborated in performances with preeminent fellow musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Aaron Copland, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Itzhak Perlman, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, Dawn Upshaw, Yefim Bronfman, Eliot Fisk, the Tokyo, Vermeer, Muir, Escher, Ariel, Colorado, and Manhattan quartets. His recording of the monumental Alkan Cello Sonata received a Grand Prix du Disque nomination, and on CD and in live performances, he has given premières of works of Nikolai Miaskovsky, Lukas Foss, Leo Ornstein, Paul Schoenfield, Thea Musgrave, Joan Tower, Eduard Franck, Osvaldo Golijov, Lera Auerbach, Tamar Muskal, Virgil Thomson, William Perry and Pulitzer Prize winners Bernard Rands and Zhou Long. In New York City, he has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully, and the Metropolitan Museum. A three-time recipient of the Martha Baird Rockefeller grant, Mr. Hanani’s studies were with Leonard Rose at Juilliard and with Pablo Casals. He has inspired scores of cellists as Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and previously served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory. Artistic director of Berkshire High Peaks Festival, he presents master classes internationally at conservatories and for orchestras, including the Juilliard School, University of Indiana at Bloomington, New England Conservatory, McGill University, Paris Conservatoire, Berlin Hochschule für Music, Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School in London, Tokyo National University, Jerusalem Academy of Music, the Central Conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and the New World Symphony in Miami. In recognition of his distinguished teaching, he was given the title of honorary professor of the Tianjin Conservatory, China. He now is a member of the faculty of the Mannes College of Music in New York City.