String Instrumentalists Take Center Stage at Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival

Amit Peled and The Cello Gang, image by Christian Amonson
2018 Amit Peled & The Cello Gang by Christian Amonson
Amit Peled, cellist

McGRATHPR.com – Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF), Cape Cod’s premiere presenter of summer chamber music, presents three performances during its third festival week across three of the region’s communities.  Germanic Tradition performs on Tuesday, August 14, 7:30 pm, at Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road, Cotuit, and on Wednesday, August 15, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, 650 Main Street, Chatham.  Around the World in Seven Cellos performs on Friday, August 17, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet.

Germanic Tradition lauds three of music history’s most towering composers juxtaposed in a program featuring the CCCMF debut of internationally renowned musicians Orion Weiss, Gary Levinson and Toby Appel, and the return of Festival favorite David Ying, rounding out a stellar cast.

Though each featured composer is undeniably German, their music stands out individually. Mozart’s duo for violin and viola highlights a beautiful variety of melodies and harmonies between the two instruments, including developmental concepts such as variation and canon.

Beethoven’s piano trio, written for Prince Lichnowsky, a Beethoven patron, is considered to be a result of his early period of composition. Not yet suffering from hearing loss, Beethoven was highly influenced by the classical style of Haydn, with whom he studied.

Schumann’s quartet showcases various musical ideas and devices, such as counterpoint in the first movement, syncopation in the Scherzo, and fugue in the finale. In the third movement, Schumann instructs the cellist to tune the C string down to a B-flat, allowing for a pedal tone beneath the violin and viola. Truly an opportunity for an unforgettable performance.

In Around the World in Seven Cellos, Cellist Amit Peled brings his immensely popular “Cello Gang” to the Cape in a concert of entertaining and arresting arrangements for this unique ensemble. One of the most sought-after cello pedagogues, Amit Peled returns to the festival with the next generation of aspiring string musicians. Composed of his students at the Peabody Institute, the Cello Gang tours nationally and internationally, performing cello choir repertoire in addition to orchestral accompaniment with their professor as soloist.

Since its founding by Sam Sanders, the Festival has featured and promoted many young rising stars – including Joshua Bell and Yo Yo Ma.  This is an opportunity to hear fine cellists, who garner rave reviews wherever they perform, at the start of their own bright journey.

Amit Peled

A highlight of the performance is Peled’s appearance with the famed 1733 Matteo Goffriller cello, on loan from the widow of famed Catalan cellist Pablo Casals.  The instrument was played by Casals himself for such important dignitaries as Queen Victoria and John F. Kennedy during his highly successful eight-decade career.  More than 30 years following Casals’ passing, his widow entrusted Israeli-American Peled with the instrument on long term loan.  The opportunity has been a remarkable experience for him, last year celebrating the centennial of a Casal’s 1915 performance at Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University in a duplicate concert performance on the same instrument, where Peled currently serves as professor.

Grammy®-nominated cellist, conductor, and pedagogue Amit Peled’s dynamic career spans the globe performing for captivated audiences.  Founder and Artistic Director of the Mount Vernon Virtuosi, Mr. Peled combines a growing conducting schedule, while continuing a thriving solo career and his professorship at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University.  In his continued quest to make classical music more accessible, Mr. Peled recently published a children’s book “A Cello Named Pablo’ and released a new cello technique method book ‘The First Hour’.

In 2017, Peled recorded the unknown music of Nadia Boulanger, which garnered a Grammy nomination.  As an active chamber musician, Peled is a founding member of the famed Tempest Trio with pianist, Alon Goldstein and violinist, Ilya Kaler.

Ticket orders received on or after July 8: $38 general admission; $15 for college students (with ID); FREE for attendees 18 and under. General admission to three or more concerts: $36 per ticket. Emerson String Quartet concert: $55.

Festival seating is limited to venue capacity, advance purchase is recommended.  Tickets purchased online can be printed at home or picked up at will call at the performances.  Tickets may also be purchased by calling or visiting the box office at 508-247-9400 or at 3 Main Street, Unit 6, North Eastham.  Box office hours are 10 am to 3 pmMonday through Friday.  Phone orders are available until 12 noon on the day of each concert.

For more information about Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival’s 2018 season, performers, mission and venues, visit capecodchambermusic.org, or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival

Hailed by The New York Times as “A Triumph of Quality,” the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) has been a year-round presenter of chamber music and a major contributor to the cultural life of Cape Cod since its inception in 1979. Founded as the Cape & Islands Chamber Music Festival by the late collaborative pianist Samuel Sanders, the Festival continues his legacy. Now entering its 38th season, CCCMF presents four weeks of intensive chamber music programming in a variety of Cape locations in July and August. Throughout the rest of the year, CCCMF presents autumn and spring concerts, a community outreach program, and benefit concerts in New York and on Cape Cod. Hoping to ignite the interest of a younger audience, CCCMF welcomes all youth up to age 18 to attend any regular concert free of charge. The Festival is also host to a Composer-in-Residence program, and features composers with Cape Cod connections. CCCMF is a private, non-profit organization supported by a volunteer Board of Directors with financial support from individuals, corporations, and foundations both local and nationwide. For more information about CCCMF’s programs, schedule or tickets, visit capecodchambermusic.org, call 508-247-9400 or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

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