“Heart of Baroque, Soul of Classical” Performance July 22

Duo Sapphire with Cellist Michal Palzewicz and pianist Chiharu Sai
Cellist Michal Palzewicz and pianist Chiharu Sai

July 22  promises to offer an exciting evening of classical music at Pops. “Heart of Baroque, Soul of Classical” will be performed by DUO SAPPHIRE, which includes . Tickets will be $20. Performance will be at 7:30 pm.

Michal Palzewicz, Cello
Brilliant and versatile, Michal Palzewicz has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and in China, both as a soloist and ensemble player. He has performed to a great acclaim at prestigious venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC and Wigmore Hall in England. He was a member of the Elsner String Quartet and is currently the principal cellist for the Rogue Valley Symphony. His performance is marked by wide range of colors, strong sense of communication, and great depth of musical understanding.

Among many honors that Michal garnered as a member of the Elsner Quartet are the Saunderson Award at the 52nd Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and the Winner Award of the Young Concert Artists Auditions in Leipzig. As a soloist, Michal has performed with the Juneau Symphony Orchestra, and the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in numerous productions at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Michal attended Warsaw Conservatory of Music in Poland and the Manhattan School of Music where his quartet was enthusiastically welcomed as artist-in-residence and on a full scholarship. His teachers and mentors include the members of the Amadeus String Quartet, David Soyer, Michael Tree, Hugh Maguire, Robert Mann, Pinchas Zuckerman, and Isidore Cohen.

Chiharu Sai, Piano
Selected by Japan’s major newspaper, Mainichi Shinbun, as “One of the 100 People in Tokyo to Represent the 21st Century,” pianist Chiharu Sai performs widely as a soloist and chamber musician, both in Japan and the United States.

Her performances have met wide acclaim for their “great verve and refreshing power” (Chopin Magazine). Ms. Sai’s performance highlights include four concerts in 2002-2010 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City including two solo recitals, one chamber music concert with New York Amadeus String Quartet, and one concerto performance with the Carolina Philharmonic conducted by David Michael Wolff.

The renowned critic Harris Goldsmith said of Ms. Sai’s performance of Mozart’s piano concertos, “Ms. Sai proved herself to be a Mozartean of refreshingly unusual potency. She is one of those rarities: an artist who is unafraid to explore the white-hot passion of the Salzburg genius”. Upon hearing Ms. Sai’s performance at Opera City Hall in Tokyo, the music critic Yukiko Hagiya wrote, “This critic wishes that she would cross the Pacific Ocean more often to enthrall the classical music fans of Japan”.

Ms. Sai balances her performance schedule with an active involvement in music education and pedagogy. Since she moved to Mount Shasta from New York City in 2013, she has been teaching both at College of the Siskiyous and Southern Oregon University.

Ms. Sai holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Her doctoral dissertation entitled “The Proportional Function of the Cadenza in the First Movements of Mozart’s Piano Concertos” was published by Lambert in Germany. Her debut CD of Chopin’s 4 Scherzi and 4 Ballades was released on King Records of Japan in the fall of 2008. Of this disc, the critic Yoshiko Ikuma noted Ms. Sai’s “deep identification with their celebrated creator’s genius”.

Program for the Evening:

Sonata No. 8 in A Minor RV44 Antonio Vivaldi

I. Largo
II. Allegro poco
III. Largo
IV. Allegro

Sonata No.1 in G Major BWV1027 J.S. Bach

I. Adagio

II. Allegro ma non tanto

III. Andante

IV. Allegro moderato

Hungarian Rhapsody Op. 68 David Popper

INTERMISSION

Sonata No. 3 Opus 69 in A Major Ludwig van Beethoven

I. Allegro ma non tanto

II. Scherzo: Allegro molto

III. Andante cantabile

IV. Allegro vivace