Mt. Vernon Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra Performs BACH'S AIR

The Mount Vernon Virtuosi (MVI), a Baltimore based chamber orchestra founded and led by acclaimed cellist Amit Peled will perform a  free “Cellobration”  featuring  the groups six cellists performing Bach, Sibelius and other famous composers. The chamber orchestra will begin with Bach's Air. The movement is probably one of the most tranquil that Bach wrote. But It was used as a gruesomely effective point/ counterpoint in the  James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me,' where the  piece is played as the villain feeds his disloyal employee to a shark.

The concert is performed on Sunday, March 16 at 3pm at the St. Ann Catholic Church in Washington.  The church is at 4001 Yuma St. NW one block south of the Tenleytown Metro Station.

The six featured cellists are: Amit Peled, Natalia Vilchis, Mafalda Santos, Adrian Bostian, Lindsey Choung and Marlon Florez. The program is: J. S. Bach Air; Boccherini Sonata for Two Cellos: Allegro,; Jean Sibelius Valse Triste; Tania León Four Pieces for Cello;  Gulda Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra, arr. for six cellos

Amit Peled, conductor, founded the orchestra in 2018 as a place for young artists to grow professionally.  In a recent interview with Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodericks, Peled said while describing the purpose of MVI, “So when you leave the Music House, eventually, you will go to Iowa City or to Oklahoma City and work instead of being depressed that you're not Yo-Yo Ma.”

There are seventeen string players in the MVI who work and perform during their two year residency.  They regularly  perform in inner city schools, prisons, the Pratt Library, hospitals and the Bender Jewish Community Center in Rockville.