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Press Releases
The Mount Vernon Virtuosi Announce 2019-2020 Season Concerts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katy Salomon | Morahan Arts and Media
katy@morahanartsandmedia.com | 863.660.2214
The Mount Vernon Virtuosi Announce
2019-2020 Season Concerts
A Chamber Orchestra Dedicated to Launching the Careers of Recently Graduated Music Students
Presenting Four Engaging and Interactive Programs Throughout the DC Area
Watch the Mt. Vernon Virtuoso Perform Tchaikovsky’s Serenade: http://bit.ly/2M0pL0e
Purchase the Mount Vernon Virtuosi’s Debut CD, Mozart Live
Washington, D.C. (August 14, 2019) — The Mount Vernon Virtuosi (MVV) today announce their 2019-2020 season, led by Grammy-nominated conductor, cellist, and pedagogue, Amit Peled. The season includes five engaging, informal programs performed throughout the greater DC area: A Festive Opening featuring music by Barber, Vivaldi, Montgomery, and Shostakovich with violinist Nikita Borisevich; Mozart in Jeans featuring internationally acclaimed pianist Alon Goldstein; When Bach Met Bloch, a special candlelit concert of Bach and Ernest Bloch; a Beethoven 250th Anniversary Extravaganza featuring pianist Daniel Del Pino; and From Haydn to Hollywood, a program featuring Haydn’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra paired with Hollywood favorites. The Mount Vernon Virtuosi concerts feature educational elements and engagement with the audience to make classical works more accessible and to teach the orchestra’s members effective audience interaction. The MVV have newly released their debut CD, Mozart Live, available now on Amazon and CTM Classics!
Amit Peled founded The Mount Vernon Virtuosi in 2018 to serve as a platform to nurture, support, and advise recent conservatory graduates through the pitfalls of starting a professional music career. Peled describes his inspiration, “Throughout my career as a performer and educator, I have felt that the gap between college studies and landing a first job is a sort of musical vacuum. When students are engrossed in the demanding musical life of a conservatory and then ‘thrown out' into the real world, it creates a certain fear and sense of loss for many young talented performers. That is where The Mount Vernon Virtuosi come in. The orchestra’s main goal is to serve as an artistic base that provides a launchpad for those young performers to continue their musical journey on stage and maintain the trajectory of their artistic growth, while getting ready for the tough auditions ahead.” New this year, MVV has added special concerts for children and their parents free of charge on select Sundays at the Bender JCC. Families are invited to join the orchestra on an exploration into the mind, heart and soul of each composer presented. Each forty-five-minute presentation will end with a pizza party for the musicians, children, and their families.
The MVV season opens with A Festive Opening on Saturday, September 7, 2019 at 4:00pm at Spencerville Adventist Church in Silver Spring, MD;Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 2:00pm at Bender JCC of Greater Washington in Rockville, MD; Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 5:00pm at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA; and Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 2:00pm at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC. The program includes Barber’s Adagio for Strings; “Spring” from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons featuring violin soloist Nikita Borisevich; Jessie Montgomery’s Strum for String Quartet arranged for string orchestra; and Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8 in C-minor, Op. 110. MVV also presents a version geared for children on Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 11:00am at Bender JCC.
Mozart in Jeans on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 4:00pm at Spencerville Adventist Church and Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 2:00pm at Bender JCC of Greater Washington features internationally acclaimed pianist Alon Goldstein in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major paired with Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A Major. MVV also presents a version geared for children on Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 11:00am at Bender JCC.
The season continues on Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 4:00pm at Spencerville Adventist Church and Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 2:00pm at Bender JCC of Greater Washington with When Bach Met Bloch, a program featuring selections from Bach’s iconic Cello Suites and Ernest Bloch’s From Jewish Life. MVV also presents a version geared for children on Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 11:00am at Bender JCC.
The Mount Vernon Virtuosi celebrate the legendary composer Ludwig van Beethoven with Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Extravaganza on Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 4:00pm at Spencerville Adventist Church and Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 2:00pm at Bender JCC of Greater Washington. The program features an exciting arrangement of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Daniel Del Pino and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. MVV also presents a version geared for children on Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 11:00am at Bender JCC.
The season closes with From Haydn to Hollywood on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 7:00pm at the Candlelight Concert Society in Columbia, MD and Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 2:00pm at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington. MVV conductor Amit Peled is the featured soloist in Haydn’s Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra, paired with famous works from Hollywood movies such as John Williams’ Schindler’s List and Charlie Chaplin’s Smile. MVV also presents a version geared for children on Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 11:00am at Bender JCC.
Program Information
A Festive Opening
Saturday, September 7, 2019 at 4:00pm
Spencerville Adventist Church | 16325 New Hampshire Ave | Silver Spring, MD
Tickets: Free, no RSVP required.
Children’s Concert: Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 11:00am
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 2:00pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 5:00pm
Grace Episcopal Church | 6507 Main Street | The Plains, VA
Tickets: $25 General Admission, $15 Students
Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 2:00pm
Dumbarton Oaks | 1703 32nd Street, NW | Washington, DC
Tickets: $54
Link: https://www.doaks.org/events/
Program:
Barber – Adagio for Strings
Vivaldi – “Spring” from The Four Seasons
Nikita Borisevich, violin
Montgomery – Strum for String Quartet
Shostakovich – Quartet No. 8 in C-minor, Op. 110
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Mozart in Jeans
Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 4:00pm
Spencerville Adventist Church | 16325 New Hampshire Ave | Silver Spring, MD
Tickets: Free, no RSVP required.
Children’s Concert: Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 11:00am
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 2:00pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Program:
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, KV 503
Alon Goldstein, piano
Mozart -- Symphony No. 29 in A Major, KV 186a
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When Bach Met Bloch
Saturday February 1, 2020 at 4:00pm
Spencerville Adventist Church | 16325 New Hampshire Ave | Silver Spring, MD
Tickets: Free, no RSVP required.
Children’s Concert: Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 11:00am
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 2:00pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Program:
Bach – Selections from the Six Cello Suites
Bloch – From Jewish Life
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Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Extravaganza
Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 4:00pm
Spencerville Adventist Church | 16325 New Hampshire Ave | Silver Spring, MD
Tickets: Free, no RSVP required.
Children’s Concert: Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 11:00am
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 2:00pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/concerts
Program:
Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 2
Daniel Del Pino, piano
Beethoven – Symphony No. 1
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From Haydn to Hollywood
Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 7:00pm
Candlelight Concert Society | Smith Theatre at the Horowitz Center | 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway | Columbia, MD
Tickets: $40
Link: https://www.
Children’s Concert: Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 11:00am
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/
Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 2:00pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Rd | Rockville, MD
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Link: www.benderjccgw.org/
Program:
Haydn – Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra
Amit Peled, cello
Selections from Hollywood movies such as John Williams’ Schindler’s List and Charlie Chaplin’s Smile
About Amit Peled
Israeli-American cellist, conductor, and pedagogue Amit Peled, a musician of profound artistry and charismatic stage presence, is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. At 6'5" tall, Peled started life as a basketball player and was called "larger than life" and "Jacqueline du Pré in a farmer's body" when he enveloped his cello. Peled strives to break down the barriers of the concert hall, about which The Baltimore Sun wrote, “His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we’ll need more of if classical music is to survive.” From 2012 through 2018, Peled performed on the Pablo Casals 1733 Goffriller cello, which was loaned to him personally by Casals’ widow, Marta Casals Istomin. Musical America named him one of the Top 30 Influencers of 2015. Peled has been named Music Director for CityMusic Cleveland for the 2019-2020 season.
Peled won conducting competitions while studying with Maestro Shinik Hahn at Yale University and the late Maestra Tamara Brooks at New England Conservatory, planting a seed in Peled’s heart for what has become a combined love of sharing music with the public from the conducting podium as well as from the soloist riser. Peled’s conducting engagements this season include his debut with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and leading the second season of his own Mount Vernon Virtuosi, an orchestra Peled established to nurture young artists and to present free concerts in Maryland and Virginia. A debut conducting CD exploring the music of Mozart is slated for release in 2019 on Peled’s label CTM Classics.
In 2017, Peled published a children’s book, A Cello Named Pablo, written by Marni Fogelson and illustrated by Avi Katz. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, it follows Peled’s journey from the basketball courts of rural Israel to the world’s great concert halls playing one of the most famous instruments of all time and continuing the legacy of Pablo Casals.
The Amit Peled Cello Gang is composed of students from Peled's studio at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where he has taught since 2003 and was one of the youngest professors ever hired by a major conservatory. The students in the Amit Peled Cello Gang range in age from undergraduate freshmen to second year master's students, and the group comes together often to perform works written or arranged for cello ensemble. Peled and the Cello Gang also record in professional studios and tour regularly around the country, performing cello concerti, cello choir repertoire, and more in an effort to give the conservatory students practical experience as professional touring artists. Peled is also the founder, conductor, and artistic director of the Mount Vernon Virtuosi, a chamber orchestra dedicated to launching the careers of recently graduated music students, which this year performs a five-program season in Silver Spring and Rockville, Maryland.
Peled’s extensive discography includes critically acclaimed CDs on the Naxos, Centaur, CAP, CTM Classics, and Delos Labels. His release Casals Homage, which features the legendary 1915 Pablo Casals program, topped the iTunes charts in 2016. Peled and the Amit Peled Cello Gang released a cello ensemble album on Peled’s own label CTM Classics in October 2017. His recording, To Brahms with Love… From the Cello of Pablo Casals, features Brahms’ Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 performed with pianist Noreen Polera and was released on CAP Records in June 2018. The album was described by AllMusic as “[likely] composer approved, more so than almost any other contemporary recording.” Peled released a recording of Bach’s iconic Cello Suites Nos. 1-3 on the Casals cello in February 2019, which The Classic Review described as “a superb performance, warm-hearted, knowledgeable, and deeply felt” and AllMusic called “an important new statement in the history of these works.” Upcoming album releases include a recording of the Cassado cello sonatas for Naxos and the second installment of the Bach Suites for CTM Classics.
As an active chamber musician, Peled is a founding member of the famed Tempest Trio with pianist Alon Goldstein and violinist Ilya Kaler and the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio with Alon Goldstein and clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.
Raised on a kibbutz in Israel, Amit Peled began playing the cello at age 10. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and children and performs on the only known copy of the “Servais” Stradivarius by Vuillaume ca. 1865.
For more information, visit www.amitpeled.com.
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