American Classical Orchestra Performs Six Baroque Concerti With Violinist Stephanie Chase

On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 8pm, American Classical Orchestra, "the nation's premier orchestra dedicated to period instrument performance" (Vulture), celebrates the virtuosic violin concerti of great Baroque masters at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. The program features acclaimed violinist and expert period instrumentalist, Stephanie Chase, in six concerti: Handel's Concerto Grosso in B-flat Major, Opus 6, No. 7; J.S. Bach's Concerto for Violin in A Minor, BWV 1041; Muffat's Concerto Grosso in G Major, 'Perseverantia'; Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 with Orchestra of St. Luke's concertmaster violinist Krista Bennion Feeney; Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048; and Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor, RV 580 with violinists Krista Bennion Feeney, Theresa Salomon, and Karen Dekker.

This season, American Classical Orchestra has instituted an innovative Concert Preview program that will bring listeners closer to the music. Before conducting the program, Maestro Crawford delivers an introduction, with the full orchestra on-stage performing excerpts from the evening's program. Crawford's engaging narratives, along with the live music, give audiences greater insights into what they're about to hear, resulting in a more enriched musical experience.

The final concert of ACO's 2017-18 season includes a program of works by Brahms, Schubert, and Ries with contralto Avery Amereau and the ACO Men's Chorus on March 24.

Program Information
Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 8:00pm (7:30pm Concert Preview)
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center | 1941 Broadway, New York, NY
American Classical Orchestra

Muffat: Concerto Grosso in G Major, 'Perseverantia'
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
Stephanie Chase and Krista Bennion Feeney, violin

Handel: Concerto Grosso in B-flat Major, Opus 6, No. 7
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Violin in A Minor, BWV 1041
Stephanie Chase, violin

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
Vivaldi: Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor, RV 580
Stephanie Chase, Krista Bennion Feeney, Theresa Salomon, Karen Dekker, violin

Tickets start at $35. To purchase, please call 212.721.6500 or visit www.lincolncenter.org. Visit www.aconyc.org for more information.

Violinist Stephanie Chase garners continuing acclaim for her "elegance, dexterity, rhythmic vitality and great imagination" (The Boston Globe), "stunning power" (Louisville Courier-Journal), "matchless technique" (BBC Music Magazine), and "virtuosity galore" (Gramophone) in performances with more than 170 orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and London Symphony.

Recent and upcoming highlights include performances of violin concerti by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Gade, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi, recitals at prominent venues such as (le) poisson rouge, the 92nd Street Y, UBC/Calgary, New York University, and Bargemusic, and the release of her latest recording on eOne Music (formerly Koch Entertainment) of virtuoso music for violin and guitar by Mauro Giuliani. Her stellar 2017 performances at the acclaimed Newport (RI) Music Festival led to an immediate extended re-engagement for the summer of 2018. Also a highly admired period instrumentalist, Stephanie is a favorite guest of Houston's Music in Context series, returning in November 2017 to play Beethoven on original instruments.

In addition to her skills as a violin virtuoso, her abilities as a music arranger are heard in her sensational arrangements - for solo violin and string orchestra - of brilliant music by Sarasate, which she performed last fall in Boston and San Jose to repeated standing ovations. One of these works - the Habanera movement from Carmen Fantasy, based on Bizet's opera - was featured in December 2016 on a "Live From Lincoln Center" program by violinist Joshua Bell.

Artistic Director and Founder of the American Classical Orchestra, Thomas Crawford is a champion of historically accurate performance styles in Baroque, Classical and Early Romantic music. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with renowned soloists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, André Watts, Dawn Upshaw, Richard Goode, and Vladimir Feltsman; and has produced recordings with great American pianists Malcolm Bilson and Keith Jarrett.

A passionate activist determined to bring the beauty of period music to a wider audience, Crawford has been recognized for the ACO's dynamic music outreach to New York City schoolchildren. He holds a Bachelor of Music in composition and organ performance from Eastman School of Music, where he studied choral and orchestral conducting under Samuel Adler. After graduation, he went on to train with Hugo Fiorato, conductor of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and to earn a Master of Arts in composition from Columbia University.

Described as "simply splendid" by The New York Times, the American Classical Orchestra (ACO) is a leader in the field of historically accurate performance. A period instrument ensemble devoted to preserving and performing the repertoire of 17th, 18th, and 19th century composers, ACO recreates the sound world of the masters using priceless historic instruments, as well as era-specific performance techniques. Comprised of the world's top period instrumentalists, the ACO provides audiences with the opportunity to experience classical music in the specific way it was intended to be heard.

Highlights of the ACO's history include a concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with the Museum's exhibition Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825 - 1861, a debut concert on the Lincoln Center Great Performers Series, a sold-out 25th Anniversary performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and a staged performance of Handel's opera Alceste as part of the ACO's Handelfest 2014.

Founded by Artistic Director Thomas Crawford in 1984 as The Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy in Fairfield, Connecticut, the American Classical Orchestra moved to New York City in 2005, emerging as the City's premier period instrument ensemble.

The ACO is dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of classical music through educational programs, and spreading historically-informed performance practices to new generations. In order to provide audiences with first-hand insight into the music, Music Director Thomas Crawford gives informative concert previews with live musical examples from the orchestra prior to each concert. Through its immersive in-school program, Classical Music for Kids, the orchestra has inspired hundreds of thousands of young students and musicians. For this work, the ACO was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant and Early Music America prize. For more information, visit www.aconyc.org.