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JCA 2017-18 Concert Lineup Announced

The Jamestown Concert Association has announced the lineup for its upcoming 2017-18 concert season, which will commence with the Friday, Oct. 13, performance of award-winning harpist Katherine Siochi, pictured. Submitted photo

Along with a changing of the leaves, the oncoming autumn brings with it a new season of the Jamestown Concert Association’s annual concert series aimed at bringing world-class musicianship to the heart of Jamestown.

The 2017-18 season, which officially kicks off Friday, Oct. 13, will feature a monthly series of six concerts in total before wrapping up in May.

The theme of the season is “Transcending Borders,” underscoring music’s accepted nature as a universal language that knows no boundaries. This theme is exemplified by the artist lineup, which hail from countries such as Russia, Germany and Syria; as well as several U.S. states including Montana, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts and New York.

The first concert of the 2017-18 season will commence with the Friday, Oct. 13, performance of award-winning harpist Katherine Siochi. Having earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the prestigious Juilliard School, Siochi went on to become the 2016 gold medalist of the 10th annual USA International Harp Competition — only the second American to do so since 1989. She is now the newly appointed principal harpist of the Sarasota Orchestra. For more information, visit katherinesiochi.com.

The second concert will feature pianist Nikita Mndoyants of Russia on Friday, Nov. 3. Coming from a family of professional musicians, Mndoyants began to play piano and compose music at a very young age. He gave his first public recital at age 8, and recorded his first CD — of a live performance in Helsinki — at age 10. Mndoyants received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, where he studied composition with Professor Alexander Tchaikovsky and piano with Professor Nikolay Petrov and Professor Alexander Mndoyants.

Nikita Mndoyants

As a composer, Mndoyants received first prize at the 2014 Myaskovsky International Competition of Composers in Moscow, and 2016 Prokofiev International Competition of Composers in Sochi. Most recently, he has performed at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels and the Luxembourg Philharmonie. He also made his debut recital in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and performed in the Salle Cortot and Auditorium du Louvre in Paris. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in June. For more information, visit mndoyants.com.

The first half of the season will conclude with a Wednesday, Dec. 6, performance by the Western New York Chamber Orchestra in its annual holiday pops concert. Headquartered in Fredonia, the ensemble is comprised of 15-40 members including faculty at the Fredonia School of Music at SUNY Fredonia and professional musicians from the Buffalo, Rochester and Erie areas. The Dec. 6 concert in Jamestown will feature classic holiday tunes at the height of the holiday season. For more information, visit wnychamberorchestra.com.

Following a three-month break, the second half of the season will commence with the Friday, March 23, performance of the German vocal quintet Calmus. Now one of the most successful vocal groups in Germany, the musicians are tireless in their quest to discover new repertoire. Shaped by the centuries-old tradition of great German boys’ choirs, they are naturally at home in the vocal music of the Renaissance, the Baroque and the Romantic. However, the music of our own time is also a real passion. They revel in singing pop, folk and jazz, as well as chansons and golden oldies from the 1920s. For more information, visit calmus.de.

On Friday, April 20, the Carpe Diem String Quartet will perform its penchant for Gypsy, tango, folk, pop, rock and jazz-inspired music, alongside the traditional string quartet repertoire. The quartet is dedicated to community engagement, and regularly performs programs specifically designed to relate to audiences of all ages and establish chamber music’s relevance to their lives. For three consecutive years, Carpe Diem was the only quartet in America chosen to receive the prestigious PNC Foundation’s ArtsAlive Awards, and they have received rave reviews. For more information, visit cdsq.com.

The final concert of the 2017-18 JCA season will be held Friday, May 18, featuring clarinetis Kinan Azmeh and his accompanist, Jean Schneider, on piano. Born in Damascus, Syria, Azmeh has more than just technical talent. His utterly distinctive sound across different musical genres has gained him international recognition as clarinetist and composer.

He has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, Marcel Khalife, Aynur, Daniel Barenboim and Jivan Gasparian. Most notably, he is also a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble with whom he was awarded a Grammy this year. For more information, visit kinanazmeh.com.

All concerts will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 410 N. Main St. in Jamestown, and will begin at 8 p.m. — with the exception of the Dec. 6 Western New York Chamber Orchestra concert, which will be held at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m.

Individual and season tickets for the performances can be purchased by contacting the Jamestown Concert Association at 487-1522, or the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts box office at 484-7070. Season memberships are also currently available. For more information, including a complete listing of performances, visit jamestownconcertassociation.org.

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