Photo Flash: PREFORMANCES with Allison Charney Presents CHAMBER MUSIC: THEN AND NOW

PREFORMANCES with Allison Charney presented its matinee concert: "Chamber Music: Then and Now" on Monday, March 11th at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center with a plethora of chamber music luminaries, including the Neave Trio, cellist Susan Salm and pianists Reiko Uchida and Benjamin Loeb, performing together with series founder, soprano Allison Charney and collaborative pianist, Craig Ketter.

The afternoon began with Ms. Uchida's stylishly lyrical interpretation of Schubert's A-Major Sonata followed by Ms. Charney's masterful performance of Elisabetta's heartwrenching aria, "Tu che le vanita" from Verdi's Don Carlo, accompanied with grace and sensitive power by Mr. Ketter. Salm gave a charmingly evocative United States premiere of Austrian composer Wolfgang Florey's "Intermezzi" for solo cello, taking full advantage of the license given to her by the composer to alter the order of the piece's four movements. The Neave Trio also presented a premiere with their exuberant and dramatic reading of Lisa Heffter's "From Deep Space with Oxygen of Love" along with their thrilling performance of Jennifer Higdon's "Piano Trio". Pianist Benjamin Loeb - an audience favorite - rounded out the afternoon with his playful renditions of two tangos by Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth. As always, Ms. Charney ended with her show-stopping signature closing piece, "Zueignung" by Strauss.

The Tenth Season of PREFORMANCES with Allison Charney concludes on Monday, May 6th at 1:00pm at Merkin Concert Hall when host and soprano Allison Charney welcomes her guests New York Philharmonic cellist, Ru-pei Yeh, Metrolopolitan Opera countertenor, Jeffrey Mandelbaum, flutist Marya Martin and pianists Helen Huang, Donna Weng Friedman and Craig Ketter.

A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales supports the cutting-edge cancer research of the Basser Center for BRCA. To learn more, visit www.preformances.org