Community Performance Series to Present Jason Vieaux and Yolanda Kondonassis on April 7
Community Performance Series will conclude its 29th Guest Artist Series with a matinee performance featuring Grammy-nominated harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux. The duo will perform music from their 2015 album “Together” on Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. Thanks to the generous support of The Cania Family Endowment, Vieaux and Kondonassis will be the fourth Cania Visiting Artists to be presented by CPS.
“Conversing with an almost rapturous sense of cohesion.” - Gramophone
“…perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his [Vieaux’s] generation.” - NPR
“Kondonassis's colorful harp playing is smooth, resourceful, ever-musical.” - Los Angeles Times
Since 2012, Kondonassis and Vieaux have performed together to critical acclaim in cities across the United States. Their “NPR Tiny Desk Concert” was unprecedented in that it was both artists’ second time performing on the series. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has praised the duo as “a joy from top to bottom,” adding that “Kondonassis and Vieaux deserve to be termed magicians for the way they shaped phrases with natural fluidity, grace and, when required, fiery drama.” The Buffalo News describes, “Their diverse expressive capabilities and intimate sonorities suggest that they are interchangeable parts of one whole . . . it was difficult to hear where one instrument ends and the other begins - the mystical effect of one great intangible apparent throughout the program: the intuitive synchronicity of Kondonassis and Vieaux.”
Kondonassis is celebrated as one of the world’s premier solo harpists and is widely regarded as today’s most recorded classical harpist. With “a range of colour that’s breathtaking” (Gramophone), she has been hailed as “a brilliant and expressive player” (Dallas Morning News), with “a dazzling technique unfailingly governed by impeccable musical judgment” (Detroit News). She has appeared around the globe as a concerto soloist and in recital, bringing her unique brand of musicianship and warm artistry to an ever-increasing audience. Also, a published author, speaker, professor of harp, and environmental activist, her many passions are woven into a vibrant and multi-faceted career.
Jason Vieaux has performed as soloist with over 100 orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. Additional recent and future highlights include performances at Caramoor Festival as Artist-in-Residence, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the National Gallery of Art, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York's 92Y, Ravinia Festival, and many other distinguished series. A first-rate chamber musician and programmer, he frequently collaborates with artists such as the Escher Quartet, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, and accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro. His passion for new music has fostered premieres by Jonathan Leshnoff, Avner Dorman, Jeff Beal, Dan Visconti, David Ludwig, Vivian Fung, José Luis Merlin, and more. Vieaux’s latest CD release is a performance of Jeff Beal’s “Six Sixteen” Guitar Concerto with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (BIS). He has upcoming releases on Azica and Naxos, and recent recordings include Infusion (Azica) with accordionist/bandoneonist Julien Labro; Ginastera’s Guitar Sonata, which is featured on Ginastera: One Hundred (Oberlin Music) produced by harpist Yolanda Kondonassis; and Together (Azica), a duo album with Kondonassis.
For more information about the artists, and to watch their NPR Tiny Desk Concert, visit www.yolandaharp.com, www.jasonvieaux.com, http://bit.ly/YolandaJasonNPR.
Tickets for this performance can be purchased by visiting the CPS Box Office, located in the lobby of SUNY Potsdam's Performing Arts Center, by calling (315) 267-2277 or by visiting https://www.cpspotsdam.org. Single tickets can also be purchased in-person at Brick & Mortar Music in downtown Potsdam.
Ticket prices for this concert range from $16 to $35, with discounts for seniors, SUNY Potsdam faculty and staff, and college students.
For more information about CPS, visit http://www.cpspotsdam.org, or the CPS Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/cpspotsdam.
About the Community Performance Series:
The Community Performance Series is a college-community partnership presenting distinctive and renowned performing artists and arts education opportunities in Northern New York. This rich mixture of programming links communities, classrooms and audiences of all ages and preserves access to the performing arts for future generations. For more information, visit http://www.cpspotsdam.org.
About SUNY Potsdam:
Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of only three arts campuses in the entire SUNY system. SUNY Potsdam's arts curriculum offers the full palette: music, theatre, dance, fine arts and creative writing. No matter the discipline, people from all backgrounds can find their creative compass at Potsdam, with myriad arts immersion experiences available for both campus and community. To learn more, visit http://www.potsdam.edu.