Fancy French Fiddlework
At RCMS Concert Sunday

Violinist Gerald Elias, and pianist Cynthia Huard, will perform at the Rochester Chamber Music Society concert on Sunday, July 27 at 4 p.m. at the Rochester Federated Church. A pre-concert talk by Larry Hamberlin begins at 3:30 p.m.

Elias has been the Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony since 1988, after serving 13 years as a violinist with the Boston Symphony. In 1989, he joined the faculty of the University of Utah, and in 1993, helped found the Abramyan String Quartet as its first violinist.

Since 2004, Elias has been music director of the Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber music series and has been an annual guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru. This year, he has received a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant to teach and conduct at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima.

Elias has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on five continents and has had his own compositions performed nationwide by symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Huard has appeared in recital as a pianist and harpsichordist throughout the United States and Europe. Devoted to chamber music and collaborative music making, she has performed with the Lark Quartet, cellist Nathaniel Rosen, and with chamber players of several orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the National Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and the Vermont Symphony.

In addition to performing chamber music repertoire, she frequently performs with renowned vocalists. She has been heard on National Public Radio with the vocal ensemble "Counterpoint," with whom she has recorded a CD of South American music.

Most recently she has been presenting contemporary music, including a Vermont premiere of a piece by nationally recognized composer Nico Muhly, commissioned works by Vermont composers Erik Nielsen and T.L. Read, and a piano solo by Tristan Axelrod. She is currently an affiliate artist at Middlebury College.

The Sunday afternoon program will include violin sonatas by Debussy, Franck, and Leclair. The pre-concert talks given by Larry Hamberlin are a popular part of the summer series. Admission is by donation.

For more information call 767-9234 or visit www.rcmsvt.org.

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