Witness Boston's brightest young performers delve into the most inspiring aspects of music-making as conductor and renowned educator Benjamin Zander brings his musical interpretation expertise to an intimate and dynamic workshop setting.
"I am very excited about the first class in the series at the Boston Public Library," said Maestro Zander. "We will work on a movement of one of the Bach cello suites for viola, two heavenly Mahler songs and a brilliant show piece for cello with three fabulously gifted young performers. I guarantee that we will all walk out at 12 with our spirits lifted and our hearts opened, in the way that only great music can. And of course it’s free! Bring a youngster, so that we can explore the magical world of classical music."
MAHLER
Ich Atmet Einen Linden Duft & Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen
Praised as a "soaring soprano", Nataly Wickham is quickly earning a reputation as an outstanding young soprano. Most recently, she made her Boston debut with North End Music Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) at Leonore in Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. In the summer of 2016, Ms. Wickham made her Chicago debut with Chicago Summer Opera performing Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring. Ms. Wickham is a recent graduate of New England Conservatory’s prestigious Artist Diploma program. Performance credits during her residency at New England Conservatory include: Lisak (The Fox) in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Madame Lidoine Dialogues of the Carmelites, Helwige Die Walküre, Magda Sorel The Consul, Fortuna L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito. She made her Des Moines Metro Opera main-stage debut as Sister Catherine in Dead Man Walking and was a member of the Apprentice Artist program during the 2014 and 2013 seasons. She currently resides in Boston, MA.
CASSADO
Requiebros
Zachary Fung, 16, is a member of Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He started learning the piano at age 4 and cello at 9. He has been studying the Cello with Eugene Kim and Thomas Kraines. He was the winner of 2015 Bucks County Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition, First Prize winner of 2016 Caprio Young Artists Competiton, 2016 International Music Competition London Grand Prize Virtuoso and 2016 Old York Road Symphony Young Artists Competition. Zachary is also a Finalist of Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. He has attended Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC, Harpa International Music Festival in Iceland and Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, ME. He has performed in masterclasses for Christian Poltéra and Zuill Bailey.
BACH
Prelude from the C Major Cello Suite
Julia McLean 20, born in Paris, France, is an undergraduate student at Tufts University studying both viola with Rictor Noren and Biopsychology. Ms. McLean won the New Philharmonia Orchestra Emerging Talents Competition in 2014 and the Tufts Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2015. Ms. McLean studied with Masao Kawasaki at the 2016 Aspen Music Festival & School and participated in the 2016 New York String Orchestra Seminar. Ms. McLean was Principal Violist in the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s November 2016 concert in Symphony Hall, with which she has also performed with in venues including NYC’s Carnegie Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional. This spring, Ms. McLean studied abroad in Vienna and studied viola with Mathias Maurer.
Boston-based pianist Dina Vainshtein is known for her sensitive and virtuosic collaborations with some of the most promising musicians of recent years. Dina, a longtime Faculty Pianist for the Heifetz Institute, is the daughter of two pianists, and studied with Boris Berlin at the prestigious Gnessin Academy in Moscow. While there she received the Special Prize for the Best Collaborative Pianist at the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Competition. She came to the United States in 2000 to attend the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she worked with Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and her husband, Donald Weilerstein.
Her talents vaunted her to numerous performing opportunities, from Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York City, to the Caramoor Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the Music Academy in the West at Santa Barbara, not to mention tours of Japan, China, Europe and Russia. To this day, Donald Weilerstein regards her as “an extraordinary collaborator. She is an extremely fine musician and one of the most empathetic, dynamic and supportive chamber players I know.” For nearly a decade Dina has been affiliated with the New England Conservatory and the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts.
We are pleased to have her on staff as our piano accompanist for this series.