Cellist Amit Peled to Guest Star with Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Festival Orchestra

Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Festival Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Jun Nakabayashi, performs its annual Finale Concert, on Saturday, June 11, 2016, at 8:00 p.m. "Sounds of the Baltic," a concert featuring the works of composers from nations bordering the Baltic Sea, will be held in the Recital Hall at the Purchase Theatres, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, New York.

Amit Peled, one of today's most electrifying cellists, will be the guest soloist, performing Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" using the historic Goffriler ca. 1733 cello that belonged to legendary cellist Pablo Casals. Peled was loaned the instrument after Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin, the widow of Pablo Casals, heard him play. Casals played and recorded on this instrument almost exclusively from 1913 until his death in 1973. When presented with the cello, Peled found himself unable to speak "there were no words, it was overwhelming, like winning the lottery."

The program will also include Carl Nielson's rarely heard "Helios Overture" and Sibelius' "Symphony No. 2 in D Major."

There is a suggested admission of $18. Students may attend free of charge. For additional information, call 914-723-1169 or visit www.hbms.org.

From the United States to Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Israeli American cellist Amit Peled, voted by Musical America as one of the most Influential Music Professionals of 2015, is acclaimed as one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the concert stage today. During the 2015-16 season, Mr. Peled continues to share the sound of the Goffriler ca. 1733 cello of Pablo Casals with audiences around the world. Some of his upcoming performances with the historic cello include the culmination of a 20 city U.S. recital tour at the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington D.C., a recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra, an extensive tour with his two chamber music groups, The Tempest Trio and the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio, and return engagements with the Tucson Symphony and Phoenix Symphony. As a continuing advocate for new music, Mr. Peled will be premiering "La suite dels ocells," a work written especially for him by composer Lera Auerbach.

Mr. Peled has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and in the world's major concert halls including: Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, New York; Salle Gaveau, Paris; Wigmore Hall, London; Konzerthaus, Berlin; and Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium. The New York Times praised his "glowing tone, seductive timbre and emotionally pointed approach to phrasing that made you want to hear him again," after his Alice Tully Hall debut.

Amit Peled has been featured on television and radio stations throughout the world, including NPR's "Performance Today," WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Deutschland Radio Berlin, Radio France, Swedish National Radio and TV, and Israeli National Radio and TV.

One of the most sought after cello pedagogues, Mr. Peled is a Professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.

Music Director Jun Nakabayashi is the dynamic director of the Hoff-Barthelson Festival Orchestra and the well-regarded Taconic Opera. Active in symphonic and operatic music for the past twenty-five years, he has conducted the Bay Shore Lyric Opera, the South Bay Chamber Ensemble, Vox Artis Zenei Festival 2002 in Hungary, and the Alea II Contemporary Music Ensemble. He is committed to his work with young musicians, and has taught and conducted at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute at San Jose State University.

The Festival Orchestra is a full symphony orchestra reserved for high school students at the highest level of technical ability and musical artistry. Lauded as one of the finest high school orchestras in the United States by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Festival Orchestra presents five full symphonic concerts each year. Selected by the New York Philharmonic as a partner in its new Philharmonic Academy Jr. Program in 2014, Hoff-Barthelson is the only music school in Westchester County and the tri-state area to hold this honor. Students in the Festival Orchestra benefit from this special partnership through coachings by Philharmonic members and special access to rehearsals and events.

One of Westchester County's most cherished and active cultural resources, Hoff-Barthelson Music School has achieved national recognition as a premier community music school for its unsurpassed leadership in education, performance and outreach for more than half a century.

The Festival Orchestra's Finale Concert is made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with support from Westchester County Government, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Photo Credit: Amit Peled by Melissa Golden

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