Pianist David Korevaar and Violinist Charles Wetherbee Present Virtual Recital, “American Tales” November 20

  

Award-winning pianist David Korevaar and acclaimed violinist Charles Wetherbee will present “American Tales,” their latest virtual recital from the University of Colorado Boulder's Grusin Hall on Friday, November 20, at 7:30pm Mountain Time. The program, including commentary on the music by the artists, will be live streamed at:

 

 

The program features Arthur Foote’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor, Op. 20, Marion Bauer’s  Up the Ocklawaha, Pastorale and Intermezzo by H. Leslie Adams, William Bolcom’s Violin Sonata No. 2 and Samuel Gardner’s From the Canebrake.  

 

Boston composer Arthur Foote (1853-1937) was part of a group of American Romantic composers known as the “Boston Six.” The violin sonata, composed in 1889, is a passionate and romantic work, flavored by the composer’s obvious affection for Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. Marion Bauer (1882-1955) was a path-breaking American composer and pianist. She composed the evocative and moody tone poem “Up the Ocklawaha” for her friend the violinist Maud Powell, whose words inspired the piece. H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932) is a widely performed composer, best known for his vocal works. These two beautiful violin pieces, written in the 1950s, show off the intrinsic lyricism of his style. William Bolcom (b. 1938) composed his second violin sonata in 1978 in memory of the great jazz violinist Joe Venuti. In Bolcom’s inimitable way, the languages of blues and jazz are combined with modernism into a remarkable and effective work. Samuel Gardner (1891-1984) immigrated to the United States from Russia with his family when he was a child. Winner of the Pulitzer prize for his string quartet in 1918, he is best-known today for “From the Canebrake,” popularized by many violinists (including Heifetz) as an encore piece.

Korevaar and Wetherbee, both faculty members of the esteemed University of Colorado Boulder College of Music, have a long history of concertizing and recording together. The duo recently released two recordings including an album dedicated to the works of Iranian-American composer Reza Vali, which AllMusic praised as "an important release in the field of 20th century chamber music" and a disc of three violin sonatas by Russian/German composer Paul Juon in which American Record Guide recognized the duo as "expert, sensitive, and committed performers who bring this forgotten music to vivid life."

 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip America's concert halls and live concert remain a thing only to be dreamed of, Korevaar has embraced the virtual recital format. In March, Korevaar set a goal of posting home YouTube recordings of the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in 60 days and 41 days into the project, all 32 were up and running. As he found himself in the position of being able to expand his Beethovenian horizons-learning some new non-Sonata works, and revisiting some old friends, especially among the variations sets, he has added  a series of the composer's Bagatelles, Variations, the Fantasy and Polonaise.

Visit  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiJdVWd0JNsLBoajLNTVG_omFYfvQF4r  for his daily installments.

 

As part of the 2020 Virtual Colorado MahlerFest  earlier this year, Korevaar performed Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat, D. 960 which can be viewed at: https://mahlerfest.org/mahlerfest-online/korevaar-and-schubert/

 

Hailed for his “wonderfully warm, plaint, spontaneous playing” by the Washington Post, award-winning pianist David Korevaar is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborator.  His active career includes appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Japan's Shonan Chamber Orchestra, Brazil's Goiania Symphony, and with acclaimed conductors including Guillermo Figueroa, Per Brevig, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Jorge Mester.  A passionate and committed collaborator, Korevaar is a founding member of the Boulder Piano Quartet, currently resident at The Academy in Boulder. He is a regular guest with the Takács Quartet, and recently performed with them on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center in New York. Korevaar's most recent addition to his extensive discography of over 50 titles is a highly praised disc of world premiere recordings of piano music by the largely forgotten Italian impressionist composer Luigi Perrachio.  He returned to the recording studio earlier this year to record Richard Danielpour's The Celestial Circus for two pianos and three percussionists with pianist Angelina Gadeliya.  

 

Praised as "a consummate artist...with flawless technique" by the Washington Post, Chas Wetherbee has performed throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. A native of Buffalo, New York, and a graduate of Curtis, he made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic under Symon Bychkov, and since then has performed with the National Symphony, the Japan Philharmonic, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota (Columbia), the National Repertory Orchestra, the Orchestra Nacional de Mexico, and the Virginia Symphony, among others. A devoted chamber musician, Charles is the first violinist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, with whom he tours and performs regularly. Wetherbee also serves as the Artistic Director of the Keystone, Colorado based Snake River Music Festival.

 

More information, including hi-res images of David Korevaar and his collaborations with Charles Wetherbee, may be found at davidkorevaar.com

 

For interview requests, please contact Genevieve Spielberg at 908-608-1325, or e-mail genevieve@gsiartists.com