Maria will present a unique and diverse program of 12 selections corresponding to the 12 months of a year cycle. You will hear works by Schumann, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Ravel Stravinsky, Rebecca Clark, Liszt, Berlioz, and more

*First 10 tickets will receive priority sitting in the 2nd row. If you’d like to reserve a seat, but wish to make your decision later, 3rd row reservations will be available for extra $5 until sold

Maria Schellenberg is a London based mezzo-soprano of Jewish-Armenian background.  She began her international career after winning the Michael Oliver Prize at the London Handel Competition in 2015.  Her recent engagements include Falliero BIANCA E FALLIERO at Oper Frankfurt and Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Dalila (cover) and Bradamante (cover) SAMSON ET DALILA at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tisbe LA CENERENTOLA with the Grange Festival (UK), Isabella L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI at the Opera de Tenerife, Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Centre Lyrique Clermont-Auvergne, Magd in Zemlinsky’s DER ZWERG at Ópera de Tenerife, Ottavia  L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA at the Longborough Festival and Alcina ORLANDO FURIOSO and Aristea in Vivaldi’s L’OLIMPIADE conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli. Upcoming engagements include her role-debut as Mme Arvidson UN BALLO IN MASCHERA for Chelsea Opera Group and 3rd Wood Nymph RUSALKA for Opera de Tenerife.

Recent concert appearances include Berlioz Les Nuits d’Ete at the Festival de Múver (Spain) and Les Noces with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko.

Other roles include Arsace ORMISDA with the London Handel Festival, Bradamante ALCINA for the Lammermuir Festival and Ryedale Festival Opera, Rosmilda in Handel’s pasticcio ELPIDIA at St. Georges Hanover Square, Albino in Johann Hasse I PELLEGRINI AL SEPOLCHRO DI NOSTRO SIGNORE at Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Hall, Moscow, Emirena in Pergolesi ADRIANO IN SIRIA at Cadogan Hall, Mozart Requiem at St. Martin in the Fields and Dardano AMADIGI at the London Handel Festival. Ms Schellenberg has been an Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Festival Opera where she covered the role of Ino SEMELE.  Her professional recordings include “A lullaby for Princess Charlotte” by Dr Olga Thomas produced by the Royal Marines’ Bandmaster and Cruise Bereavement Care as a private gift for Her Majesty the Queen.

Born into a family of musicians, Maria started her professional musical education at the age of six. She studied piano at the Gnessins’ College of Music as a pianist/accompanist with Anna Arzamanova from which she graduated magna cum laude, later undertaking graduade studies at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire in piano and harpsichord studies and subsequently graduating from the Royal College of Music, London with a Master of Vocal Performance and a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance, both with distinction.

Seating is limited, please RSVP below

Tickets are $40/adult, $20/child; under 12 y/o - free

Tickets at the door are $45/adult, $25/child

Seating is limited, please RSVP below

Tickets are $40/adult, $20/child; under 12 y/o - free

Tickets at the door are $45/adult, $25/child

To celebrate 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov we are presenting a concert with our own star soprano Diana Skavronskaya, pianist Irina Behrendt and violinist David Chernyavsky.

Program to include Rachmaninov Songs and other beautiful music for voice, violin and piano.

Gradus Ad Parnassum Music Academy is happy to open its doors to the Bay Area art loving community!

Music and Art have always intertwined as mutually enriching and we are honored and excited that our space may serve in this capacity and can only hope that we will continue to collaborate with many artists in the future!

Thank you to the organizers of the Bay Area Open Art: Black and White, Yulia Garamova and Natasha Makarenko, for choosing our school for the 2023 photo exhibit and welcome, everyone!

Works by J.S.Bach, J. Brahms, P. Tchaikovsky, and A.L. Scarmolin

Piano accompaniment by Irina Behrendt

VLADIMIR TSYPIN

is a world class concert violinist, a veteran of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly a Second Chair of the Second Violin Section. He received his early training in Riga, Latvia, and was a top prize winner in three Soviet competitions for young soloists. Since emigrating to the United States in 1976, Mr. Tsypin has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist in major concert halls on three continents, as well as taught master classes. Using his extensive invaluable New York Philharmonic experience, he developed his own unique style of coaching young violinists for orchestra auditions. Mr. Tsypin has served as Judge of International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria.

World famous jazz violinist Mads Tolling is presenting a solo program of his own arrangements and original compositions for violin and loops!

More info here: www.madstolling.com/solo-mads/

MADS TOLLING is an internationally renowned violinist and composer originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, now living in San Francisco. As a former nine-year member of both bassist Stanley Clarke’s band and the celebrated Turtle Island Quartet, Mads won two Grammy Awards, and he was nominated for a third Grammy in 2015. He was the 2016 winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star Violin Award. Mads has performed with Chick Corea, Ramsey Lewis, Kenny Barron, Paquito D’Rivera, Leo Kottke and Sergio & Odair Assad. Mads is a current member of Bob Weir’s Wolf Bros & Wolf Pack Band.

After graduating Berklee College of Music in 2003, he was recommended by Jean-Luc Ponty to join Stanley Clarke’s band. He has since been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, and his recordings have received rave reviews in Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Strings Magazine and DownBeat Magazine.

Mads has performed for Danish royalty – Prince Frederik & Princess Mary – at the celebration of The Danish Embassy’s 50-year Anniversary. Since 2021, Mads has been a member of Bob Weir & Wolf Bros project as part of the Wolf Pack with tours across the US, including at Red Rocks, The Greek Theatre and Radio City Music Hall. He is featured on Weir’s album Live in Colorado. Mads has written several arrangements of Grateful Dead tunes for the band, some of which are now also part of the Mads Men repertoire.

Mads has twice been commissioned to write violin concertos – for Oakland Symphony and Pacific Chamber Orchestra. He has performed his symphonic works and soloed with orchestras around the US and Japan.

Mads now leads his own groups – Mads Tolling Quartet and Mads Tolling & The Mads Men. His release, Playing the 60s, is a reimagination of classic songs from 1960s film, TV and radio, such as “A Taste of Honey,” “Hawaii 5-0” and “Mission: Impossible.” The album features vocalists Kenny Washington, Kalil Wilson and Spencer Day, and it spent two months on US jazz radio’s top 30.

With his groups, Mads has performed over a thousand concerts around the world, including at The Hollywood Bowl, Library of Congress and at the Bay Area’s Paramount and Herbst Theatres. As a featured Yamaha Artist, Mads leads clinics and masterclasses in the US and internationally.

Seating is limited, please RSVP below

Tickets are $40/adult, $20/child;

Join Leonel Gasso and friends for an afternoon of rich, masterful Argentine Tango. Enjoy a blend of new and Golden Age, performed by seasoned, award-winning musicians who seek to elevate tango to a beautifully connected and meaningful performance for all to experience.

Winner of the 2022 Che Bandoneon International Competition held in Stowe, Vermont, Leonel Gasso is a composer, bandoneonist, arranger, and singer from Montevideo, Uruguay. At the age of 14, Leonel joined the orchestra of his father, Cono Ricardo Gasso, and has since traveled widely to countries in Asia and Europe, including Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Scotland, Thailand, and Italy, among others. 

San Francisco Symphony violin virtuoso Polina Sedukh and pianist Mutsuko Dohi are going to perform a program of favorite violin sonatas and show pieces.

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring”

César Franck. Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano 

Pablo Sarasate. Two Spanish Dances, Op. 21

1. Habanera

2. Malagueña

Sergei Prokofiev/Yascha Heifetz. “Masks” from Romeo and Juliet 

Tickets are $40/adult, $20/child; under 12 y.o. - free

Seating is limited, please RSVP

Born to a family of musicians in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ms. Sedukh is a graduate of the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory and Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA.

Prizewinner of the International Spohr Competition in Weimar, Germany, Ms. Sedukh made her solo debut at the age of seven with the Chamber Orchestra of Liepaya, Latvia, followed by numerous appearances with St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Boston Virtuosi Orchestra, St.Petersburg Capella Symphony Orchestra, Newton Symphony Orchestra and Weimer State Capella Orchestra.

Following her passion for symphonic music, Ms. Sedukh pursued career in major American orchestras, serving as a member of Boston Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony where she is presently serving as a member of 2nd violin section. In 2016 Ms. Sedukh has been appointed Principal Second violinist of Sun Valley Music Festival. 

Frequent soloist with Russian Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Academy Orchestra, Ms. Sedukh’s recent solo engagements included Sibelius Concerto with Ukiah Symphony Orchestra and video presentation of Missy Mazzoli’s “Vespers” for the launch of SFSymphony+ at SoundBox, performance of which was described in SF Chronicle as one of “fierce mastery”. She has also performed thirty four live solo “1:1” concerts for the San Francisco Symphony between 2020 and 2021. Other projects during that time included the video recordings of Mazzoli’s Vespers at the Grace Cathedral and Debussy Quartet at the Kohl Mansion for Sun Valley Music Festival, as well as a video recording of Enescu “Ménétrier” at the Moon Viewing Garden for the SF Botanical Garden gala concert.

Mutsuko Dohi was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. After graduating from Toho-Gakuen Conservatory in Tokyo, she returned to Hokkaido to teach music and perform with musicians of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and other well known groups. In 1997, she moved to Russia to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. In 2000, she placed second in an international chamber music competition in Kiev, Ukraine. Later that year she toured across Russia, performing as a soloist with local orchestras, such as The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Hermitage Chamber Orchestra, Volgograd Symphony, and the Kislovodsk Symphony. In 2001, she received Doctor of Musical Art Degree from the St. Petersburg Conservatory.In 2003, she placed second in an International duo competition in Kazan, Russia. In 2007, as a part of the G8 Hokkaido summit, she was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan to perform at the opening of the Mariinsky Theatre New Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia. She teaches at her studio in Oakland Hills, judges various competitions and performs at the Bay area venues.

MESSAGE FROM THE ARTIST

This free benefit concert is dedicated to the children of Ukraine and all donations will go directly to Neighbors Abroad's Ukrainian Children Relief Fund (https://www.neighborsabroad.org/ukraine-relief-fund.html). The program features a wide variety of solo piano repertoire from all different nations and genres, illustrating the power of music to unify beyond political, cultural, or linguistic divisions. It spotlights the lesser-known Ukrainian composer Boris Lyatoshinsky with a soulful prelude published in 1942, during Nazi occupation of Soviet Ukraine in World War II. I hope that you will join me for this afternoon tribute!

Cash and check donations will be received at the venue; checks should be made out to "Karina Tseng" with "Ukraine Aid" listed in the check memo.

PROGRAM

Mozart: Sonata No. 8 in A minor, KV. 310

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Andante cantabile con espressione

III. Presto

Chopin: Rondo in E Flat Major, Op. 16

Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A Flat Major, Op. 47

--Intermission--

Lyatoshynsky: Prelude, Op. 38, No. 1

Ravel: Jeux D'eau

Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, op. 26

I. Allegro (Sehr Lebhaft)

II. Romanze (Ziemlich Langsam)

III. Scherzino

IV. Intermezzo (Mit Größter Energie)

V. Finale (Höchst Lebhaft)

BIO

Pianist KARINA TSENG is a San Francisco Bay Area native currently studying in Rochester, New York, at the Eastman School of Music. Karina has performed alongside orchestras such as the Palo Alto Philharmonic, New Millennium Chamber Orchestra, and the Golden State Youth Symphony, and played in venues including Weill-Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Leighton Hall, Merrill Auditorium, and the Mondavi Center. She is a top prizewinner of the Kaufman International, Arthur Fraser International, National YoungArts, Pacific Musical Society, Enkor International, Ross McKee, and Junior Steinway competitions, among others. In 2020, Karina was inducted into the MTAC (Music Teachers Association of California) Young Artist Guild through which she is offered semi-professional recital opportunities throughout California. From 2017-2020, she was the pianist of the Fervida Trio, honored as gold medalists of the Junior Fischoff National, Pasadena Conservatory, and Galante Prize chamber music competitions. As an artist who cherishes connecting and engaging with her audience, she continues to build a diverse solo and chamber repertoire throughout her pianistic studies while concurrently studying business information systems as a dual degree student at the University of Rochester. She is presently a student of Alexander Kobrin and previously studied with Olya Katsman and Sujeeva Hapugalle. More information can be found online at karinatseng.com.

WE ARE SOLD OUT FOR THIS EVENT!
IF YOU SIGNED UP BUT ARE NOT PLANNING TO COME, PLEASE LET US KNOW!
IF YOU ABSOLUTELY WANT TO COME, PLEASE EMAIL US AT gradusmusic1529@gmail.com AND WE WILL LET YOU KNOW IF SEATS BECOME AVAILABLE.

BIO

Pablo Estigarribia is a Latin Grammy nominee and world-renowned tango pianist, arranger and composer. Like many artists of this genre, he began his training as a classical musician and soon branched out into the world of tango. He studied at the National Conservatory in Buenos Aires, where he won the Bienal Juvenil National Competition for Young Artists. After graduating, he spent several years on the frenzied performance circuit in Argentina, collaborating with the Congress Chamber Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra, and the Chaco Symphony, among many others. Seeking to broaden his musical horizons beyond the classical realm, Estigarribia took a brief detour through jazz and then discovered tango in 2005. He quickly won the Orquesta Escuela de Tango scholarship and performed with this superb ensemble under the direction of Maestro Emilio Balcarce. Estigarribia continued working with Balcarce shortly thereafter when he first toured Europe.

Estigarribia rapidly established himself as a nuanced and masterful tango performer in Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, Russia, Finland, Canada, the United States and Cuba. He has been featured in over a thousand concerts, joining Argentine tango legends like Maria Graña, Victor Lavallén, Leopoldo Federico, Nestor Marconi, Horacio Cabarcos, Emilio Balcarce and many others. Estigarribia’s album Tangos Para Piano (EPSA) won the prestigious 2015 Gardel Prize for Best Tango Album by a New Artist. After receiving wide acclaim for this album, he earned coveted recognition from the Argentine tango industry as an expert in the art of tango music. He is a recipient of the Argentine Tango Society’s Medal of Honor for his educational forays at the Stowe Tango Music Festival (Vermont, USA) in multiple years. Estigarribia’s ascendancy brought him to Japan in 2016 where he was lauded in the Tokyo press following his performances. He then became sought after in the United States, where he played in New York’s famous Blue Note Jazz Club. He has made performance and interview appearances on NBC, Univision, Telemundo, and The Huffington Post.

After enjoying the privilege of 13 years of mentorship by legendary Osvaldo Pugliese arranger and bandoneonist Victor Lavallén, Estigarribia is proud to assume the role of teacher and transmitter of the tango tradition. He is delighted to showcase and share the beauty of tango's rich lineage, and gladly invites both the experienced and uninitiated to study the unique, seductive flair of tango. New generations of students and seasoned enthusiasts alike can advance their technical knowledge with Estigarribia’s compositions and arrangements. Above all, he seeks to reopen the passage of tango music repertoire to musicians who may not know where to start, so they too can delight in the genre's legacy. With that goal in mind, Estigarribia published his original compositions and arrangements of traditional pieces, Tangos de Concierto, and teaches, judges, and performs regularly at tango festivals and events all over the world.

Estigarribia splits his time between his native Buenos Aires, Argentina, and New York City.

Tchaikovsky Allegretto moderato (1863)

Sibelius String Trio in G minor

Gershwin Three Preludes (Arranged for String Trio by Martin Stegner)

Flanagan Ehrlichia, Rhapsody in Discomfort #6

Mozart Piano Quartet in Eb, K 493

I. Allegro

II. Larghetto

III. Allegretto

Dan Flanagan (violin) currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Concertmaster of the Modesto Symphony, Concertmaster of West Edge Opera, Concertmaster of Opera Paralléle, and Instructor of Violin at University of California, Berkeley. A dedicated orchestral player, Flanagan has performed as Concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, California Musical Theater, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Symphony San Jose, Merced Symphony and Symphony Napa Valley. He performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet and records film, video game, and television soundtracks with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing with Trio Solano, he’s a member of the Eco Ensemble and was a founding member of the Farallon Quintet. His original compositions have been heard throughout the SF Bay Area and were recently featured in the Spread Spectrum Festival Russia and the Hunters Point Shipyard Artists Socially Distanced Video Series.  In October 2022, he will present The Bow and the Brush, premiering 21 solo violin pieces inspired by paintings at Carnegie Hall, followed by a national tour and an album released by Avie Records.  Flanagan plays on a violin made in 1840 by JB Vuillaume, once owned by the celebrated American virtuoso Albert Spalding, and he collects original artwork by French Impressionists and contemporary California artists.

 Paul Ehrlich (viola) is a member of The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra; he also performs frequently with The San Francisco Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. His previous positions have included The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony. A frequent chamber music performer, he is a member of The Sacramento Chamber Music Society and collaborates with several other Bay Area chamber groups. Dr. Ehrlich was educated at The Royal College of Music, London, Cambridge University, and Yale School of Music, where he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. His principal teachers include Raphael Hillyer, Jaroslav Vanecek, and Karen Tuttle.  

 Victoria Ehrlich (cello) studied at Southern Methodist University, the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her teachers included Robert Marsh, Bernard Greenhouse, and Robert Gardner. Prior to joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1984, she played with the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and was principal cellist with the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmondand Phoenix. Ms. Ehrlich has performed with the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Composers Inc., Berkeley Symphony, the Russian Chamber Orchestra, and Lamplighters. She is also an active chamber musician, performing regularly with the Ariel Quartet, resident ensemble of the Sacramento Chamber Music Society; the Bridge Players, who specialize in music by Jewish and Holocaust composers; the Picasso Ensemble, who present concerts in the historic Senon House in Aptos; the International Orange Piano Quartet; and the FathChamber Players, a fixture in Mill Valley.  

Bay Area artist Alla Viksne celebrates her birthday with a retrospective exhibition showing works previously kept secret from the public eye.
The exhibit will also present a few selected works of Alla’s students.

Champagne reception

Live Music

Original painting lottery- proceeds to be donated to humanitarian aid for Ukraine🇺🇦
(lottery tickets will be sold on site)

Select paintings and art prints for sale

tickets $10

Schubert Sonata in G Major, D.894 op.78

Schumann Waldszenen, op.82

Rachmaninov Preludes: op.23 no.5, op.32 no.13

PLEASE RSVP - the sitting is limited!

San Francisco Symphony violin virtuoso Polina Sedukh is going to perform a program of violin solo pieces by J.S. Bach, Eugene Ysaÿe and Fritz Kreisler.

The program is called “Composers: From inspirations to obsessions” and it is going to explore the connection and influence of Bach’s music on the virtuosic violin writing of Ysaÿe and Kreisler.

Seating is limited, please RSVP

Tickets are $30/adult, $20/child; under 12 y/o - free

Melanie Clark and Ella Leppert will perform works by Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Chopin, Schubert, Prokofiev, and Copland.