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Friday, May 1, 2015

NJ INTERGENERATIONAL ORCHESTRA CONCERT HIGHLIGHTS SYMPHONIC DANCES AND PIANO PRODIGY

Photo 1 - The New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra in concert – photo by Carolyn Whitaker

SYMPHONIC DANCES

WHEN: Sunday May 3, at 3 PM
WHERE:
Summit High School, 125 Kent Place Boulevard, Summit
ADMISSION: Free

The New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra (NJIO) will present a free concert, Symphonic Dances.  Artistic Director and Conductor Warren Cohen leads the NJIO Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Gavin Davies leads the Intermezzo Orchestra. 

Photo 2 - The concert features 17-year-old Carmen Knoll, winner of numerous international competHighlighting the program is 17-year-old Carmen Knoll (left) on piano, performing Frederic Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in E minor. A student in the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School studying piano with Veda Kaplinsky, Ms. Knoll has won over 25 international competitions. She has been featured in solo recitals in the Juilliard School and Lincoln Center in addition to solo performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. This past year, she was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award after her performance on From The Top, the preeminent nationally broadcast showcase for young musicians, heard by over a million listeners a year. In 2014 she was awarded first prize at the Piano Arts North American Biennial Piano Competition and in 2013, Ms. Knoll performed at the 68th International Duszniki Chopin Festival in Poland.  

As part of a year-long series of concerts revolving around the theme of Music in Motion, this musical program continues the theme with Edvard Grieg’s Symphonic Dances.  The Symphonic Dances are a series of four pieces based on themes inspired by actual Norwegian folk melodies, colored with Grieg’s distinctive harmonies. The tunes are brilliantly scored and give each section of the orchestra an opportunity to shine. 

The classic Concerto No. 1 by Frederic Chopin will be impressively captured by the talented Ms. Knoll.  This piece was actually written by a 20-year-old Chopin as a vehicle for his own formidable technique as a pianist.  It quickly entered the repertoire and was taken up by many other pianists, even during his own lifetime. The three movements present a varied series of great tunes, dramatic episodes and brilliant virtuosity.