Spencerville Evensong Concert Series

May 17, 2006 – Cellist Amit Peled and Students

On May 17, at 4 p.m., cellist Amit Peled and select students from the Peabody Institute presented a "Cellobration" featuring works for solo cello, and pieces for cello ensemble by Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Ligeti, Bloch, and more. This was Amit Peled's third Evensong performance in as many years and to each performance he brings something new and exciting to share. Already an established solo performer Mr. Peled appears regularly in solo performance around the world. This concert highlighted the other facet of his career, that of teacher.

Children's Chorus of Washington - April 5

The concert on Saturday, April 5, at 4 p.m. featured the combined choirs of the Spencerville Church and Columbia Union College, along with our special guests, the Children's Chorus of Washington. The highlight of the program was performance of John Rutter's Mass of the Children. This is among the more recent, large-scale works by John Rutter, first performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, in February 2003. It is scored for adult mixed choir, children's choir, soprano and baritone soloists and orchestra or instrumental ensemble. We performed the version for instrumental ensemble, with organ. Choral music, performed by the Columbia Collegiate Chorale, and by the Children's Chorus of Washington, rounded out the program.

Pianist Mark Di Pinto - March 15, 2008

Pianist Mark Di Pinto presented the Evensong concert on March 15, 2008, at 4 p.m. His program included a transcription of J.S. Bach's Passacaglia in C minor, Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano by John Cage, Adagio in B minor by Mozart and Goyescas by Enrique Grandados. Mark Di Pinto began studying piano when his parents were missionaries in Malaysia and Singapore. After moving to Silver Spring, Maryland, Mark began studies with Douglas Guiles, with whom he won several top awards in various local and state-level competitions, including the Henri Carol Memorial Competition, the Miriam Shields Gottlieb Young Pianists Memorial Competition, the Yardumian Ensemble Competition, and the MSMTA Festival Competition.  In addition Mark was chosen three times as piano soloist for the GLMTA Concerto Competition.

Mark attended Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he was piano soloist with the New England Youth Ensemble.  Mark has performed with them all across North America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Russia, South Africa, and the Middle East in venues including Carnegie Hall, Capetown City Hall, and the Sydney Opera House.  In 2005 Mark premiered Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse's African Suite for two pianos and orchestra in Carnegie Hall.

Mark completed his master's degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2003, and is completing his doctoral studies with Nelita True this semester.  He currently lives and teaches in Loma Linda, California where his wife, Katia Tomenko, is in dental school.

March 1, 2008 - Pianist Sara Daneshpour

On Saturday, March 1 pianist Sara Daneshpour performed a program including three sonatas by Scarlatti, works by Frederic Chopin, Variations on a theme of Corelli by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and the Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major by Sergei Prokofiev.

Sara Daneshpour is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music studying under Leon Fleisher, and presently studies under the direction of Dr. Oleg Volkov. At 20, she has performed not only in her native city of Washington DC, but also in New York, Philadelphia, Russia, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden. Ms. Daneshpour has been heard on stages of such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She has also been featured nationwide on 160 public radio stations, including the venerable WGBH in Boston.

She has received many awards in international competitions, including 2nd prize at the 2007 William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland, 1st prize, Gold Medal, and the Audience Award at the 2007 6th International Piano Competition in San Jose, California, and a medal at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona.

Ms. Daneshpour's performances have earned high accolades of audiences and critics alike. The Washington Post wrote of her performance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra "...she created transfixing poetry. And she found delightful details in passagework and incidents that other pianists treat as routine." The Baltimore Sun stated that Sara "delivered a powerhouse account of Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 producing enough tone for two pianists in the process.", while The Mercury News called  her performance "...sensational. Strength, finesse, passion; it was all there."

February 16, 2008 - Soprano Karla Rivera

On Saturday, February 16, at 4 p.m., soprano Karla Rivera presented a program of sacred vocal chamber music. The varied program included two movements from J.S. Bach's Cantata 51 for solo soprano, strings, and trumpet, a cantata for solo soprano by Dietrich Buxtehude, and the first movement from Exsultate Jubilate by Mozart, among other works. Ms. Rivera was accompanied by a string quartet, solo trumpet, organ and harpsichord and was joined for several works by tenor Javier Gonzalez who appeared on our Evensong series last season.

October 20, 2007 - Organist Jonathan Moyer

Organist Jonathan Moyer opened the 2007/2008 Concert Season last October 20 with an excellent recital. His program emphasized the contributions of two of the most prolific composers for organ, J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen. Messiaen can be a challenge for audiences who are underexposed to contemporary musical language and Mr. Moyer's warm spoken introductions to the music provided both the background of the music and the reason to listen. The second half opened with two chorales by J.S. Bach, both settings of the same tune, Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (Glory to God in the Highest) from the Leipzig Collection. Though based on the same tune, these chorales demonstrated the creative variety of Bach's genius; the first setting, with its rich polyphony and intricate, French ornamentation contrasting with the clear trio texture of the second setting. Mr. Moyer closed his recital with César Franck's Chorale No. 1 in E Major. The interpretation was solid, thoughtful, clean and expressive.