Cherry Street Music Presents BEETHOVEN & THE BEATLES PT. 2 April 14 At The Allen Center
Beethoven and the Beatles, Part 2 continues exploration which began during December's Part 1.
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 28, 2024
Cherry Street Music will present Beethoven and the Beatles, Part 2 on Sunday, April 14th, at The Allen Center in Newton, MA.
Beethoven and the Beatles, Part 2 continues exploration which began during December's Part 1 concert of the connections between one of the most revered figures in classical music, and the band that changed popular music forever.
"Putting together these Classical with a Twist concerts, I've been musing on the connections between Beethoven and the Beatles," said Eldredge. "Both popularized musical genres of their day-Beethoven was the bridge between Classical and Romantic periods and the Beatles were the band to popularize the Rock music genre in the 1960's.
“And both have staying power,” she continued. “Beethoven is still the most popular and iconic composer of the Classical Music idiom, and the Beatles remain incredibly relevant more than 50 years after their last album. Last month's announcement that director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, 1917, Skyfall) is making four separate feature films about John, Paul, George, and Ringo was big news.”
The “classics” on the program are two pieces for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. Allison Eldredge and Max Levinson will perform both 12 Variations for Cello and Piano on "See the conqu'ring hero comes" from Händel's Judas Maccabaeus, and Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major Op. 69.
"Beethoven was bold, moving away from the classical traditions of his predecessors like Mozart and Haydn using daring key changes to travel far from the home key as opposed to the subdominant like Mozart often chose,” said Eldredge. “He was creating greater tension, dissonance, and riveting drama that you almost forget where you started. That's very similar to what you hear happening in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
The “twist” features the Beatles' “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Lady Godiva,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Penny Lane,” Michelle,” as well as “Got to Get You into My Life,” and “Ticket to Ride.” Joining Eldredge on cello and Levinson at the piano, will be guitarist Andres Guerra, and vocalist Donna McElroy.
Recipient of the Andrew Wolf Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and first prize in the 1997 Dublin International Piano Competition, Newton resident Max Levinson has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber and Boston Pops orchestras, as well as the St. Louis, Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Oregon, Indianapolis, Colorado, and Utah symphony orchestras. He has performed in chamber music concerts with Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Stoltzman, Tokyo, Vermeer, Mendelssohn, and Borromeo Quartets and has appeared at major music festivals, including the Santa Fe, Marlboro, Tanglewood, and Mostly Mozart. Levinson is on the faculty of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee and The New England Conservatory of Music.
Award-winning vocalist Donna McElroy is a performer, vocalist, and arranger. She arranged and sang on gold and platinum releases by Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Amy Grant, BeBe and Cece Winans, and many others. She received a Grammy nomination for her own pop-gospel album, Bigger World, and won a Dove Award for her contribution to the inspirational compilation album, Songs from the Loft. She has appeared on The Tonight Show and the Grammy Awards and taught at Berklee College of Music for 24 years.
Venezuelan composer, arranger and not-so-classical guitarist Andres Guerra is a New York City-based concert artist who aims to break down the stigmas of classical music and to shed a new light on the classical guitar. He graduated with a summa cum laude, dual-major bachelor's degree in Film Scoring and Performance from Berklee College of Music where he was awarded a Tuition Scholarship, as well as a Gifted Tuition Scholarship by the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. He also was awarded the William Leavitt Achievement Award by the Guitar department at Berklee, one of the most prestigious awards the institution offers its students since it's based on anonymous nominations.
About Cherry Street Music Artistic Director and The Allen Center Artist in Residence, Allison Yoshie Eldredge
Since winning the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant at 19, cellist Allison Yoshie Eldredge has been performing at the foremost music centers of the United States, Canada, Europe, Far East, and Latin America. Allison has performed as soloist with many of the world's great orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, and the Royal Philharmonic and performed with such distinguished conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Krzysztof Penderecki, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Hans Vonk and Jaap van Zweden. In addition to serving as Cherry Street Music, Allison is the Allen Center's Artist in Residence and a resident of Newton.
Tickets
Tickets and information are available at newtonculture.org. The program, curated by Cherry Street's Artistic Director, renowned cellist Allison Yoshie Eldredge, is part of Cherry Street's Classics with a Twist season-long focus.
About The Allen Center
The Allen Center (TAC) is an Arts & Cultural Center in West Newton, MA, owned and operated by the Newton Cultural Alliance (NCA). The Allen Center's historic facility is the beacon of arts and culture in the City of Newton, a unique space dedicated to the creative community. The renovation of the facility was completed spring of 2021, and, as with the case of many performance venues, has slowly been expanding its programming over two years. Since that time the offerings of TAC have broadened. In the Fall of 2022, the NCA established an Artist in Residence and invited Allison Yoshie Eldredge, international concert cellist, to fill the position.
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