Music with a View presents Sheridan Solisti Trio

Music with a View presents Concert #10:

Sheridan Solisti Trio

Susan Merdinger, piano

Alex Koffman, violin

 Martine Benmann, cello

Sunday June 13, 2021 2pm CDT

Livestreamed on IN.LIVE

https://in.live/event/details/eimPBQC5EH

Sheridan Music Studio is pleased to announce the upcoming Music with a View Concert featuring Sheridan Solisti Trio. Performers include Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger, Alex Koffman, violin and Martine Benmann, cello on Sunday June 13, 2021 at 2pm CDT. The concert will be professionally recorded and livestreamed exclusively for IN.LIVE. In-Person seating is available in the studio for a LIVE audience- tickets are also purchased on IN.LIVE. The program will be a Ghost-themed concert featuring Beethoven’s Ghost Trio, Op. 70. No.1, and the World Premiere of Grammy-nominated composer, Ilya Levinson’s new Dybbuk Trio (2021), dedicated to Susan Merdinger.

American Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger has been internationally acclaimed in prestigious newspapers and journals for her concert performances and recordings. Performing her sold-out solo piano recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall at age twenty-four, Merdinger has continued to grace the stages of some of the world’s best concert halls, including Chicago Symphony Center, Scottish National Orchestre Center, Diligentia Hall, Merkin Concert Hall. She has appeared as piano soloist with orchestras such as the Chicago Philharmonic, and The State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, and has been a frequent Visiting Artist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with members of the Chicago Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and renowned international soloists and conductors. In 2021, Ms. Merdinger was awarded the Lorin Hollander Piano Concerto Award of The American Prize, for her pandemic live-streamed performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the Northbrook Symphony, under direction of Mina Zikri. Merdinger’s live performances and CD recordings have been broadcast on radio and television, traversing repertoire from the 18th through 21st centuries. Merdinger is a winner of The Dewar’s Young Artist Award in Music, two Gold Medals in the Global Music Awards, Artists International Young Musicians Competition and Distinguished Alumni Award, The American Prize in Chamber Music, Honored Artist of The American Prize (2019), Best Classical Album Award of the Clouzine international Music Awards, and Two First Prizes in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition (Solo and Duo). Ms. Merdinger is a Voting Member of the NARAS, and has recorded and/or produced twelve CD albums to date.  Merdinger is an Artist Faculty of the Summit Music Festival in New York and InterHarmony Music Festival in Italy. Merdinger is Founder and Artistic Director of Sheridan Music Studio and is an Artistic Advisor for IN.LIVE.

Alex was born in Minsk, USSR in a musical family where his grandfather taught him Jewish folk music.  Alex received his Master’s Degree from the Conservatory of Minsk, and, when drafted into the Red Army, conducted a military orchestra. After immigrating to America in 1990, Alex studied with Albert Igolnikov of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He then joined Maxwell Street Klezmer Band and soon became its violinist, Musical Director, and arranger.

Alex’s creative arrangements and compositions combine the traditional klezmer style with classical, jazz and contemporary influences. Since the 1990s, Alex has recorded five CDs and performed across the world with Maxwell Street, with highlights including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Theatre in London, and the Vienna Mozart Hall. In 2008, Alex was the featured soloist in the world premiere of “Klezmer Rhapsody'' by Ilya Levinson, which he reprised in Symphony Center in 2014 with Chicago Sinfonietta.  In 2015, Alex was a featured performer in Lyric Opera of the first klezmer opera, “The Property.” In 2019, Alex was Musical Director of "The Dybbuk," an original setting of a folktale, at DePaul Theatre School. As an educator, Alex teaches klezmer musicians of all ages and levels, Alex conducts three grassroots synagogue bands and mentors young musicians in the Junior Klezmer Orchestra. In 2019, Alex was featured as a soloist and teacher at “Litvak Klezmer Festival,” Minsk’s International Jewish music festival.   In 2020, during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Alex was selected as a soloist in a virtual worldwide event, “Beregovski's Musical Treasures: 35 Klezmer Fiddlers: 12 Countries, 158 Nigunim.”  Alex’s other musical credits include the Chicago Music Consortium, the David Rothstein Orchestra, the Bill Porter Orchestra, the Steppenwolf Theater, and movie and commercial soundtracks.  

Martine Benmann is an active free-lance performer and teacher.  She has performed with various chamber ensembles in Europe, Russia and the United States.  She has collaborated in a number of new productions, including instrumental, theatrical pieces and film scores. Martine is a member of the Lincolnwood  and Bach and Beyond chamber orchestras. She has performed with the CUBE Ensemble, Ars Musica Chicago, Syntagma, and has served as principal cellist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.  She regularly collaborates with colleagues, performing at the University of Chicago,  Sherwood Music School, Blackstone Public Library, Montgomery Place, Self-Help Home, PianoForte"Schubertiades"and PianoForte Salon Series broadcasts on WFMT. Martine  Benmann is an Artist Diploma graduate from Roosevelt University. She received  an Advanced Certificate in Cello Performance from the Moskow Conservatory of Music (Russia), a Master Degree from the American Conservatory of Music (Chicago), and a Bachelor Degree (Kuenstlrische Abschlusspruefung) from the Folkwang Hochscule (Essen, Germany).

In.Live’s mission is to empower artists and their fans to create immersive moments together through the power of live digital experiences. Artists can leverage the best of live streaming technology to create captivating shared moments through the power of live music, in real-time. The team at In.Live is led by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists, who above all else love music and the creative process and who have held senior leadership roles at companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Ticket Master and Yahoo! The CTO and Founder, Eswar Priyadarshan, is one of Silicon-Valley’s most respected entrepreneurs and developers who has leveraged his love of music into a company that benefits not just musicians, but all performing arts organization and media producers from radio stations to film studios, to educational institutions and more.

Sheridan Music Studio LLC is the newest performing arts venue and teaching studio of Artistic Directors and Steinway Artists Susan Merdinger and Svetlana Belsky. Sheridan Music Studio offers premium private instruction, serves as a recording and performance venue. They also host an Annual Young Artist Competition and Festival, three Concert Series- Music with a View?, Blue Skies Concerts? and SummerMusic?, as well as two Livestream Talk Shows, Merdinger’s Musings? and Steinway Sundays with Susan and Svetlana?, making them one of the most comprehensive and active music studios in the Chicago area. 

Watch the livestream here on Sunday June 13, 2021 at 2pm Chicago CDT:

https://in.live/event/details/eimPBQC5EH