Currently in its sixth season our SOIREE SERIES is for some, their favorite among all of the Artist Series presentions. Each musical program is presented in a private home or other unique setting and includes beverages and light refreshements as well as an opportunity to be meet the artists personally and to enjoy the performances in much the same way they were enjoyed in the "Golden Age" centuries ago.
Seating is typically limited to approximately eighty persons. Driving directions will be furnished to guests as tickets are purchased.
FOR SOIREE TICKETS - PLEASE CONTACT THE ARTIST SERIES DIRECTLY AT 941-388-1188. Tickets are $40 each.
Sunday, October 11 & Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Michael Gay, piano
BachPrelude and Fugue No.5 in D major
ChopinWaltz in C# Minor, Op. 64, No.2
ChopinEtude in C Minor (The Ocean) Op. 25. No.12
MozartSonata K 576 in D Major
SchubertImpromptu No. 1 in F minor
Young Michael Gay began studying piano in 1998 at the tender age of 3½.One year later he was in the United States studying with Loretta Mento and preparing for competitions with brother and sister Steven and Loretta Mento.
He is a prize winner of several competitions both here and abroad, including the Marco Fortini Competition in Bologna, Italy; Europefest in Romania, Jeunesse Musicale in Romania, and the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey. Mr. Gay played in the Bay-Atlantic Symphony piano masterclass, which was aired on CBS in 2008.
Sunday, November 29 & Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Mandy Milliot, cello
Lee Dougherty Ross, piano
De FallaSiete Canciones populares Espanolas
FaureElegy
SchumannThree Fantasy Pieces, Op 73 (Fantasiestücke)
RachmaninoffVocalise Op. 34, No. 14
PiazzollaLe Grand Tango
Born in Seminole, Florida, Mandy Milliot began studying the cello at age 10. Since then she has won numerous competitions and performed with orchestras and chamber music groups throughout the United States as well as Italy, Austria and France. She was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2007-2008 Ruth Eckerd Hall Young Artist Scholarship. Internationally-renowned cello soloist and recording artist Andres Diaz said of Miss Milliot, “She has a mastery of intonation and musicality far beyond her years…Such a great energy! She’s like…the sun.”
Sunday, April 11 & Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. Sejoon Park, piano Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2, B-flat minor, Op. 36 Liszt/Volodos Hungarian Rhapsodie, No. 13, in A minor Glinka/Balakirev“The Lark”
Sejoon Park was born in 1990 in Seoul, Korea. He began piano studies there at the age of six. His early accomplishments include his orchestral debut with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea at age ten. He moved to the United States in 2001 and studied for five years at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C.. Mr. Park has won prizes at numerous piano competitions including the Oberlin Conservatory International Piano Competition, PianoArts National Competition, Eastman International Piano Competition and Southeastern Piano Concerto Competition. He was awarded the First Prize in the 2007 Aspen Music Festival Piano Concerto Competition and performed with the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He has played in many venues in the Washington, DC area, including at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Millennium Stage. Mr. Park is now at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the Johns Hopkins University.
Sunday, April 25 & Tuesday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. Faith Sherman, mezzo-soprano Joseph Li, piano Rossini Tanti affetti from La Donna del lago Handel Scherz infida from Ariodante
Acclaimed by the New York Times as a “luminous mezzo-soprano” and praised by Opera News for her “admirable evenness of tone,” Faith Sherman has enjoyed success on both the operatic and concert stages. The 2008–09 season at Houston Grand Opera featured Miss Sherman as Beatrice in Berlioz’ Beatrice et Benedict. In her recent debut with the English National Opera she was declared “the hit of the night.” Miss Sherman was featured as soloist in the World Premiere of The Refuge at Houston Grand Opera. She performed Mozart’s Requiem for the 9-11 Memorial Concert at Carnegie Hall, “Songs of Peace and War” with the New York Festival of Song at Juilliard. She returned to Wolf Trap Opera Company to sing in Die Zauberflöte. Miss Sherman received her A.D. from the Juilliard School, her Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman School of Music and did graduate work at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She was a semi-finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Auditions.
