shenson chamber music concerts - National Museum of Women in

ALL FREE!
All Shenson Chamber Music Concerts
are FREE. Reservations are required.
Visit nmwa.org/shenson to register.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
is located at 1250 New York Avenue,
NW, Washington, DC, 20005,
two blocks north of Metro Center.
PAR KI N G
is available at LAZ Parking, 1100 New
York Avenue, NW (entrance on 12th
Street between New York Avenue, NW,
and H Street, NW). Open until midnight.
For more information, visit
lazparking.com/find-parking
For other parking options, visit
nmwa.org/visit/visitor-information
PR EVI O U S PE R FO R M E R S I N TH E S H E N S O N
C HAM B E R M U S I C C O N C E RT S E R I E S:
Ahn Trio, Julie Albers, Elena Bashkirova,
Christine Brewer, Sara Davis Buechner, Wendy
Chen, Claremont Trio, Sarah Coburn, Judy Collins,
Concertante, Sasha Cooke, Sara Daneshpour,
Jeanine De Bique, Simone Dinnerstein, Denise
Djokic, Rina Dokshitsky, Eroica Trio, Ingrid Fliter,
Miriam Fried and Jonathan Biss, Elizabeth
Futral, Jeanne Galway, Caroline Goulding, Sofja
Gülbadamova, Linda Hohenfeld, Sharon Isbin,
Ran Jia, Kim Kashkashian, Olga Kern, Yolanda
PRSRT STD
Kondonassis, Nina Kotova, Jessica Krash
and the
ECRWSS
National Gallery of Art String Quartet, U.S.
LoriPOSTAGE
Laitman,
Lisa-Beth Lambert, Lark Quartet, Yura Lee,
PAID
EDDMMeyers,
RETAIL
Valentina Lisitsa, Tift Merritt, Anne Akiko
Midori, Mary Millben, Monarch Brass Quintet, Joan
Morris and William Bolcom, National Symphony
Orchestra Wind Ensemble, Olga Orlovskaya,
Navah Perlman, Cynthia Phelps, Marina Piccinini,
Rachel Barton Pine, Inbal Segev, Juana
Zayas,STD
PRESORTED
U.S.
POSTAGE
Arianna Zukerman and Eugenia Zukerman,
PAID
Eugenia Zukerman and Anthony Newman
EDDM Retail
WOODBRIDGE, VA
PERMIT NO. 9
Dear Music Lover,
Welcome to the 17th season of the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ concert
series featuring women musicians. The Shenson Chamber Music Concerts
are
PRESORTED
named in honor of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, who were long-time supporters
ofMAIL
FIRST CLASS
U.S. POSTAGE
the museum and lovers of music. Through these concerts, the museum carries
out PAID
WOODBRIDGE, VA
its mission of recognizing and supporting women in all areas of the arts. PERMIT NO. 9
This season we are delighted and proud to present the fast-rising young cellist
Cicely Parnas, acclaimed for her velvety sound and keen imagination, on Wednesday,
October 29, 2014. You will also hear the distinguished and renowned guitarist
Lily Afshar, an innovative talent with an international following, on Wednesday,
April 22, 2015. Our season concludes on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, with the
striking young soprano Julia Bullock, a versatile talent whose expressive breadth,
luminous voice, and stage presence captivate audiences.
FIRST-CLASS MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE
We take pride in presenting these splendid artists and look forward to havingPAID
you
WOODBRIDGE, VA
join us.
PERMIT NO. 9
—Gilan Tocco Corn, Artistic Director
NON-PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
WOODBRIDGE, VA
PERMIT NO.9
1250 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-783-5000 • nmwa.org
PLEASE POST
2014–2015
SHENSON CHAMBER
MUSIC CONCERTS
Gilan Tocco Corn, Artistic Director
S H E N S O N C H A M B E R M U S I C C O N C E RT S 2014– 2015 • G I L A N TO C C O C O R N, A RTI STI C D I R E C TO R
N ATI O N A L M U S E U M O F W O M E N I N TH E A RT S
Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
CICELY PARNAS, CELLO
American cellist Cicely Parnas is recognized for bringing “velvety sound,
articulate passagework and keen imagination” to her performances
(The New York Times).
Winner of the 2012 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age
of 19, she debuted at Merkin Concert Hall and the Kennedy Center to rave
reviews. Ms. Parnas has also appeared at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts
Center, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Vanguard Concerts, and the
Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and participated in the Young
Concert Artists Festivals in Tokyo and Beijing. She has performed with the
Montreal Chamber Orchestra, where she gave the world premiere of Jim
McGrath’s Concertino for Cello. She also captured First Prize in the 2011
Cello Concerto Competition at Indiana University.
In 2012, Ms. Parnas made her Carnegie Hall concerto debut, performing
with the New York String Orchestra under Jaime Laredo. She has
performed with the Vermont Symphony, and toured France performing
with L’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Named an inaugural
Young Artist in Residence on NPR’s Performance Today, Ms. Parnas was
featured in broadcasts and an American Public Media video spotlight.
CHRISTIAN STEINER
Granddaughter of the distinguished cellist Leslie Parnas, Cicely Parnas has
studied with cellists Peter Wiley and Ronald Feldman, and earned an Artist
Diploma from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she worked
with Sharon Robinson. Ms. Parnas performs on a 1712 Giovanni Grancino cello.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
A JUG OF WINE AND THOU:
MUSIC OF PERSIA AND ANDALUSIA
LILY AFSHAR, GUITAR
A true citizen of the world, guitarist Lily Afshar has performed in concert tours
taking her to solo, chamber music, and orchestral performance venues in
North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including Wigmore Hall
in London and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Afshar’s Persian heritage has given rise to some of her greatest
musical innovations. Born in Iran to a musical family, she has drawn from
Persian and Azerbaijani folk music traditions to create arrangements of
works for the classical guitar which are as rich and beautiful as a Persian
miniature. Her recordings are in demand worldwide. Among them, 24
Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195 (1994), composed by Mario CastelnuovoTedesco; A Jug of Wine and Thou (1999), inspired by the famous poem
of Omar Khayyám and featuring arrangements of Persian melodies; and
Hemispheres (2006), which reached No. 7 on Billboard Magazine’s
Chart of Top Classical Albums in 2006 and led to her feature on
National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
A student of Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California,
Ms. Afshar is now head of the guitar program at the University of
Memphis. She conducts master classes worldwide and has released
seven instructional DVDs. Ms. Afshar has won a top prize in the
Guitar Foundation of America Competition and Grand Prize in the
Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
JULIA BULLOCK, SOPRANO
Soprano Julia Bullock is an “impressive, fast-rising soprano…poised
for a significant career” (The New York Times). Equally at home with
opera and concert repertoire, she has been hailed for her versatile
talent. As First Prize Winner of the 2012 Young Concert Artists
Auditions, she was presented in debut recitals at the Kennedy Center
and Merkin Hall, where she “demonstrated both profound artistry and
impressive originality” (Opera News). She also won First Prize at the
2014 Naumburg International Vocal Competition.
Ms. Bullock has performed the title roles in the Juilliard Opera productions
of Massenet’s Cendrillon and Janác̆ek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, to
rave reviews. She has toured South America as Pamina in Peter Brook’s
award-winning A Magic Flute; and toured China, singing with the Bard
Music Festival Orchestra. Other opera roles include Susanna in Le Nozze
di Figaro, Monica in The Medium, and the title role in L’Enfant et les
Sortilèges. In 2013, she made her San Francisco Symphony debut in West
Side Story, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; an album of the concert
is available on the orchestra’s label. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote:
“The evening’s most remarkable showstopper Julia Bullock appeared out of
nowhere to deliver a full-voiced stunningly paced account of ‘Somewhere’—
for just a moment, it seemed as though nothing Bernstein ever wrote was
quite as magical as that one song.”
Ms. Bullock is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School.
CHRISTIAN STEINER
Shenson Chamber Music Concerts are partially
supported by generous gifts from Fred M. Levin
and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation,
in memory of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson.
Additional support is provided by Washington
Marriott at Metro Center and Sofitel
Washington D.C. Lafayette Square.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N , V I S I T N M W A . O R G / S H E N S O N O R C A L L 2 0 2 - 7 8 3 - 5 0 0 0 .
Thursday, October 30, 2014, 6:30 p.m.
SAVE THE DATE—FALL BENEFIT 2014
CABARET EVENING WITH KAREN AKERS
Karen Akers, one of America’s most arresting and successful concert and
cabaret stars, has performed throughout the United States, Europe and
the former Soviet Union. She has appeared in many prestigious venues
worldwide including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, New York’s
Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, and London’s Pizza on the Park. Her
career also includes three performances at the White House.
The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner says of her sound, “It’s a great voice, an
instrument with the power of Streisand’s, the dark passion of Piaf’s and the
lean irony of Dietrich’s, but a voice uniquely her own, because it’s coupled
with an intelligence that creates moments of riveting theatricality.”
Tony® Award nominee Ms. Akers has starred in two of her own PBS specials
and performed in PBS musical tributes to Ira Gershwin and Duke Ellington.
Individual Ticket: $350
Table Sponsor: $5,000
Honored Donor: $10,000
Special Supporter: $25,000
For additional information about the Fall
Benefit, please contact Emily McHugh,
Development Events Manager, at
[email protected] or 202-266-2815.
Ms. Akers’s film roles include the femme fatale in Mike Nichols’s
Heartburn opposite Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, and Woody Allen’s
The Purple Rose of Cairo and Vibes.
Please join NMWA for a delightful evening of music to support the
Shenson Chamber Music Concerts, the museum’s education programs,
and groundbreaking exhibition Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea, on
view December 5, 2014–April 12, 2015. The evening’s festivities include
cocktails, dinner, and a performance by Karen Akers, 2014 recipient of
the NMWA Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts.