The event’s title says it all, with selections “From Bach to Broadway” on the program on Saturday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The concert will feature works for violin and piano or harpsichord, and will be performed by violinist Dr. Mihai Craioveanu, professor of music at Hope, and Dr. Irina Kats of the piano faculty at Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. Works will include “Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in E minor, BWV 1023,” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Sonata for Violin and Piano in C minor, No. 3, Op. 45,” by Edvard Grieg”; and popular Broadway selections arranged for violin and piano from “Yankee Doodle,” “Porgy and Bess,” “West Side Story” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
While on campus, Kats will also speak with students about her professional experiences.
Craioveanu has performed in concert and at major international music festivals throughout the world to great acclaim, and has been hailed by the prestigious magazine The Strad as “stunning… brilliant.” His interest in contemporary music has led to world-premiere performances of several works written for him by American composers, and his compact disc “Introducing Violinist Mihai Craioveanu” was released during his highly acclaimed concert tour of Spain. He has given guest concerts and masterclasses at several major music schools, and has been invited to present lectures, concerts, master classes and judge competitions at regional and national conferences of the American String Teacher Association and Music Teacher National Association. Craioveanu was educated at the University of Music in Bucharest, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He also received fellowships to study at the International Summer Music Institute at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar, Germany, and the International Youth Music Festival in Brussels, Belgium.
Irina Kats enjoys a career as a piano soloist, chamber musician and teacher. The Washington Post has described her as a “splendidly able accompanist with considerable emotional powers.” Her music education started in her native Russia where she graduated with honors from Astrakhan Conservatory, studying with the renowned pianist and pedagogue Vasily Pavlov. She completed her studies at the Kazan Conservatory post-graduate program, receiving a doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy. She then joined the faculty at Astrakhan Conservatory and performed extensively in Russia as a soloist and chamber musician, including television appearances, and radio broadcasts. Since joining the Levine faculty in 1998, she has continued her performance career in the United States, appearing numerous times as a soloist and collaborative artist in Washington D.C., at Kennedy Center, Embassy Series and Corcoran Gallery, as well as Carnegie Hall in New York City. Since 2011, Kats has also been a faculty member at the Illinois Chamber Music Festival, where she performed a broad chamber repertoire in addition to coaching talented young musicians.
The concert has received support through the Hope College Patrons for the Arts.
The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.