Bethel Woods & Shandelee Music Festival Collaborate To Bring The Neave Piano Trio

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is pleased to announce The Neave Piano Trio featuring mezzo-soprano and Metropolitan Opera singer Carla Jablonski performing the music of Astor Piazzolla on Sunday, April 14 at 3:00 PM in the magnificent, indoor Event Gallery at Bethel Woods. Part of the PLAY: The Classics series presented in collaboration with Shandelee Music Festival, the goal of this series is to encourage and foster young talented emerging artists, help to build and cultivate a younger audience and increase attendance of all ages.

Reserved tickets go on-sale Friday, November 2 at 10:00 AM at www.BethelWoodsCenter.org, Ticketmaster, and the Bethel Woods Box Office. Tickets for each performance are $37.00 for general reserved seating and tickets for individuals age 17 and under, or students with a valid college ID, are available for $17.00 at the Bethel Woods Box Office only.

Darlene Fedun, Chief Executive Officer at Bethel Woods explains, "In addition to attracting traditional classical enthusiasts, PLAY: The Classics has specific emphasis on reaching young adults in Sullivan County to introduce a love and appreciate of classical music to new audiences and youth. The program's aim is to keep the live classical music experience vital, stimulating, and alive at Bethel Woods, and to reach out to Sullivan County youth to encourage them to experience and enjoy performances of the highest quality."

Daniel Stroup, President of Shandelee Music Festival adds, "Our goal is to present an unparalleled concert series and inspire young people, who will be our future audience, with live classical concert experiences. PLAY: The Classics encompasses our vision. Together, we bring world-class artists from around the world to present concerts for all ages. PLAY: The Classics also includes a Youth and Outreach Program to connect with, engage and inspire young adults in Sullivan County."

Since forming in 2010, Neave Trio - violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura - has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. WQXR explains, "'Neave' is actually a Gaelic name meaning 'bright' and 'radiant', both of which certainly apply to this trio's music making." The Boston Musical Intelligencer included Neave in its "Best of 2014" and "Best of 2016" roundups, writing, "it is inconceivable that they will not soon be among the busiest chamber ensembles going," and "their unanimity, communication, variety of touch, and expressive sensibility rate first tier."

Neave has performed at many esteemed concert series and at festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center/La Jolla Music Society, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Chamber Music Series (United Kingdom), and the Samoylov and Rimsky Korsakow Museums' Chamber Music Series in St. Petersburg (Russia). The trio has also appeared frequently as soloists for Beethoven's Triple Concerto with orchestras across the country and held residency positions at Brown University, ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Festival, San Diego State University as the first ever Fisch/Axelrod Trio in Residence, and the Banff Centre (Canada), among many other institutions. In the fall of 2017, the Trio joined the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College as Alumni Artists, Faculty Ensemble-in-Residence.

Neave Trio strives to champion new works by living composers and reach wider audiences through innovative concert presentations, regularly collaborating with artists of all mediums. These collaborations include performances with the Blythe Barton Dance Company; projection artist Ryan Brady; the interactive concert series "STEIN2.0," with composer Amanuel Zarzowski; Klee Musings by acclaimed American composer Augusta Read Thomas, which was premiered by Neave; the upcoming premiere of Eric Nathan's Missing Words V, sponsored by Coretet; and an upcoming short film based on the tango music of Astor Piazzolla.

Neave released their latest album, French Moments, on Chandos Records in June 2018. The album showcases works by Debussy, Fauré, and Roussel, and was featured on WQXR's list of "The Best New Recordings of 2018 (So Far)." Of the album, WQXR wrote, "The up-and-coming Neave Trio makes a compelling case for these lesser-known piano trios by Roussel, Debussy, and Fauré, coloring them with exquisite phrasing and delicate touch." Neave's 2016 debut album, American Moments, was released to critical acclaim on Chandos Records, and features works by Korngold, Foote, and Bernstein. In fall 2018, the ensemble will release an album of all new arrangements of Piazzolla's works for piano trio and voice by Argentine arranger Leonardo Suarez Paz. The album will be released on Azica Records and will feature mezzo-soprano and Metropolitan Opera singer Carla Jablonski.

Highlights for the 2018-19 season include residencies at MIT and the University of Virginia, and concerts at Chamber Music Corvallis, Valley Classical Concerts, Fort Bragg Center for the Arts Music Series, Northeastern Illinois University's Jewel Box Series, Rochester Institute of Technology's Performing Artists Concert Series, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Friends of Music of Stamford, and Leaf Peeper Concert Series, among many others. For more information, visit www.neavetrio.com.

Carla Jablonski's vocal versatility has captivated audiences on opera, concert and jazz stages across the globe. She has sung with The Metropolitan Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Wolf Trap, Heartbeat Opera, Opera Santa Barbara and Chautauqua to name a few. Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Jablonski made her Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall singing Five Songs by Charles Ives arranged for orchestra by John Adams, followed by her Carnegie Hall debut as the alto soloist in Handel's Messiah. She also has been a featured soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, New York Festival of Song and Caramoor International Music Festival among others. She holds a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music and is a recipient of a Drama Desk Award.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Shandelee Music Festival, is pleased to announce the third annual return of PLAY: The Classics in the magnificent Event Gallery at Bethel Woods. The goal of this series is to encourage and foster young talented emerging artists, help to build and cultivate a younger audience and increase attendance of all ages

In addition to support from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and the Shandelee Music Festival, PLAY the Classics is funded in part by a grant from the Rea Charitable Trust.
For more information about Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, please visit www.BethelWoodsCenter.org or call 1.866.781.2922. Be sure to download the Bethel Woods App for up-to-date information and special pre-sale codes.