Cellist Owen Young and pianist Alan Murchie to perform in West Hartford, February 24

WEST HARTFORD, CONN. (February 6, 2019) — Concerts at St James’s is pleased to present a recital by cellist Owen Young and pianist Alan Murchie on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at 4:00pm at St James’s Episcopal Church, 1018 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford.

Cellist Owen Young, who has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1991, is highly sought after as a soloist and chamber musician. Praised for “playing with insight and virtuosity,” he has been a featured concerto soloist with orchestras across the country.

Alan Murchie, well-known across the region as a pianist, organist, and conductor, has been praised for playing with “relaxed mastery and a lovely singing tone.”

Together, the two musicians, who have given many concerts together, will present a wide-ranging program of evocative music by Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Maurice Ravel, and Camille Saint-Saëns.

Brahms’ Cello Sonata No.1 in E minor (Op. 38), composed as he was achieving musical maturity, was his first published duo sonata. The music is an homage to Johann Sebastian Bach, and echoes of Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue) may be heard within Brahms’ distinctively lush Romantic style.

On a visit to England, Felix Mendelssohn stayed at the home of a family friend, where he was inspired by the beauty of the three daughters to compose three pieces for solo piano, one for each girl. The pieces were published as Trois fantaisies ou caprices in Vienna in 1829.

Widely acknowledged as his first great work, Maurice Ravel’s elegant Pavane pour une infante défunte was composed when he was just 24 years old and still a student at the Conservatoire de Paris. Though the title translates to “Pavane for a dead princess,” it is not an elegy to any particular princess; rather, Ravel intended to recall the graceful dances of the old Spanish court.

Though perhaps best known today for his symphonies and concertos, Camille Saint-Saëns composed many chamber works, among which the sonatas are considered superior. His Cello Sonata No.1 in C minor Opus 32, composed in 1872 in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, is by turns lyric, brooding, searching, tempestuous, and virtuosic.

Admission to the concert is $20 for adults and $10 seniors and students. Tickets will be sold at the door.

Also coming up from Concerts at St James’s:

Saturday, March 9, 2019, 7:00pm – “Hear My Prayer” – Choral Music of Felix Mendelssohn, performed by the Choir of St James’s Episcopal Church with members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. No tickets are required.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 7:00pm – The Vienna Boys Choir in concert - a rare Hartford-area appearance! Tickets are on sale now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vienna-boys-choir-in-concert-tickets-51362481565?aff=eac2

Friday, May 31, 2019, 7:00pm – Vaughn Mauren, organist, in recital to re-dedicate the recently rebuilt and enlarged Austin Organ, with a program of “Grand Organ Music of Great Britain.” No tickets are required.

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Interviews: For more information, or to schedule an interview with Vaughn Mauren, Artistic Director of Concerts at St James’s, please contact Sarah Hager Johnston at concerts@stjameswh.org or 860-676-2228.

Photos of Owen Young and Alan Murchie follow.

Cellist Owen Young has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1991. A frequent collaborator in chamber music concerts and festivals, he has also appeared as concerto soloist with numerous orchestras. He has appeared in the Tanglewood, Aspen, Banff, Davos, Sunflower, Gateway, Brevard, and St. Barth's music festivals and is a founding member of the innovative chamber ensemble Innuendo. Mr. Young's performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, WQED in Pittsburgh, WITF in Harrisburg, and WGBH in Boston. He has performed frequently with singer/songwriter James Taylor, including the nationally televised concert “James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theatre” in New York City. Mr. Young was formerly on the faculties of the Boston Conservatory, the New England Conservatory Extension Division, and the Longy School of Music; is currently on the faculty of Berklee College of Music; and is active in Project STEP (String Training and Education Program for students of color). From 1991 to 1996 he was a Harvard-appointed resident tutor and director of concerts in Dunster House at Harvard University. His teachers included Elinor Osborn, Michael Grebanier, Anne Martindale Williams, and Aldo Parisot. Mr. Young holds both bachelor's and master's degrees from Yale University. He was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1986 and 1987. After winning an Orchestra Fellowship in 1987, he played with the Atlanta Symphony in 1988 and with the Boston Symphony in 1988-89. He was a member of the New Haven Symphony in 1986-87 and of the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1989 until he joined the BSO in 1991.

Pianist Alan Murchie is a versatile musician whose performance schedule includes regular appearances as a solo pianist, organist, conductor, chamber musician and lecturer. Concert performances include piano and organ concerti with The Knights, a live performance on WGBH Boston with BSO cellist Owen Young, and summer festival performances at the Maverick Festival in Woodstock, NY. As a solo pianist, Alan has toured Morocco and has performed in Vienna, Berlin, Edinburgh, Venice and Florence. In 2016, Alan traveled to the UK for cathedral residencies in Edinburgh and Lichfield; organ recital venues include the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City. Alan Murchie recently graduated with the degree Master of Divinity cum laude from the Yale Divinity School, where he was Louise H. Maclean scholar. During his time in New Haven, Alan was Organist and Choirmaster at Berkeley Divinity School and Choirmaster for the Episcopal Church at Yale. In 2007, as Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport, Alan founded the Southport Summer Music Festival, which was noted in 2010 by the New Yorker as “an elegant new series” and recommended for its outstanding collaborating artists. Alan's musical career began early, at age 10, when he joined the renowned St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. He appeared as treble soloist on St. Thomas' 20th Century Services. He was graduated summa cum laude from Yale College, where he was named “most promising and gifted composer.” His Paean for brass and woodwinds was chosen to open a concert dedicating the new Yale School of Music campus. After college, Alan returned to St. Thomas as Organ Scholar and as a member of the Choir School faculty. Alan was Organist and Choirmaster for seven years at St. James' Church, Madison Avenue and for ten years at Church of the Advent Hope, both in New York City. He is now Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, Nichols in Trumbull, CT and Lecturer in Music History at Fairfield University, where he also coaches chamber music.

Concerts at St James’s presents musical performances of the highest caliber for the refreshment and enrichment of the West Hartford community. Highlights of recent seasons include performances by violinist Colin Jacobsen and concert organist Greg Zelek. The generous acoustic of the sanctuary, a Steinway A grand piano that has been called “the new best piano in town,” and a newly restored and re-voiced three-manual 1962/2018 Austin Organ make St James’s an in-demand performance space for local ensembles. Annual concerts by the combined choirs of St James’s Episcopal Church have included the Requiems of Brahms, Duruflé, and Fauré, with musicians of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. In spring 2019, Concerts at St James’s will present the Vienna Boys Choir (April 2), a recital by cellist Owen Young and pianist Alan Murchie in recital (February 24) a program of choral music of Felix Mendelssohn, performed by the Choir of St James’s Episcopal Church with members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (May 9); and a recital by Vaughn Mauren to re-dedicate the recently rebuilt and enlarged Austin Organ (May 31).