June 3-4

Saturday | 6.3.17 | 8:00 PM
Sunday | 6.4.17 | 2:00 PM
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street

Tickets available on Eventbrite for the finale to TCS's 11th season, Flight Paths, featuring Rachmaninoff's brilliant Symphonic Dances and Vocalise for orchestra. Saturday's concert showcases two solo pieces: Michael Blancaflor performs Frank Picarazzi's Keyboard Concerto on vibraphone and Melissa Kritzer performs Fernade Breilh Decruck's Scherzo Fantasque for bassoon. Rebecca Steinberg and Sara Sherman are the featured performers on Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano and Trumpet on Sunday's matinee performance. Both concerts open with "Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty," a world premiere piece by TCS composer Seth Bedford based on the children's book by Pep Montserrat.

Conducted by Nell Flanders, Matthew Aubin, and Mark Seto

Tickets available on Eventbrite:

http://thechelseasymphony.eventbrite.com

Concerts will be held at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street

The DiMenna Center is an ADA compliant facility and wheelchair accessible.

Program

Seth BedfordMs. Rubinstein's Beauty (World Premiere)
Seth Bedford, Composer
Dmitri ShostakovichConcerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35
Sara Sherman, Piano
Frank PicarazziKeyboard Concerto
Michael Blancaflor, Percussion
Fernande Breilh DecruckScherzo Fantasque
Melissa Kritzer, Bassoon
Sergei RachmaninoffVocalise
Nell Flanders, Violin
Sergei RachmaninoffSymphonic Dances, op. 45

Featured Artists

Nell Flanders
Violin

Saturday, 6.3, Sunday, 6.4

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise


Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting …

Melissa Kritzer
Bassoon

Saturday, 6.3

Fernande Breilh Decruck: Scherzo Fantasque


Dr. Melissa Kritzer is an experienced orchestral and chamber musician. Within the New York City area, Melissa has performed with the New Jersey Symphony, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the United States Coast Guard Band, and the Reeds Amis trio. Melissa holds bassoon positions with the Mozart Orchestra of New York and the Binghamton Philharmonic.

In addition to her orchestral and solo playing, Melissa has collaborated with other musicians …

Michael Blancaflor
Percussion

Saturday, 6.3

Frank Picarazzi: Keyboard Concerto


Percussionist Michael Blancaflor is an active performer, educator, and clinician in southern New England and the tristate areas. Originally from Berlin, CT, he received a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. His percussion teachers include Rich Baccaro, Peter Tanner, Thom Hannum, Bill Reynolds, Peter Coutsouridis, Mike Clark, Rosemary Small, and Alexander Lepak.

An active performer, Michael has played with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, the …

Sara Sherman
Piano

Sunday, 6.4

Dmitri Shostakovich: Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35


Sara Leila Sherman is rapidly establishing herself in New York City’s vibrant classical music scene and beyond. An accomplished pianist whose playing has been praised as “deeply satisfying, fresh, and insightful...evidencing both poetry and emotion” (Epoch Times), Sara performs regularly both as a solo artist and in chamber ensembles. In New York, she has taken the stage at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, Yamaha Artist Salon, Center for Fiction, The Living Room, and many other venues large and small. Further from …

Rebecca Steinberg
Trumpet

Sunday, 6.4

Dmitri Shostakovich: Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35


Based in NYC, trumpet player Rebecca Steinberg has a career marked by her warm, inviting sound and stylistic versatility. You can find Rebecca in the pit of New York City’s many theater productions, performing alongside her brass sextet Calliope Brass, and teaching music both privately and in the classroom.

Often heard in staged productions across the tristate area, in 2022 Rebecca held trumpet chairs at The Public Theater’s new musical SUFFS and Paper Mill Playhouse’s Sister Act. Other notable appearances …

Seth Bedford
Composer

Saturday, 6.3, Sunday, 6.4

Seth Bedford: Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty (World Premiere)


Seth Bedford blends the musical idioms of Weimar Kabarett, American Jazz, Tin Pan Alley, French chanson, tango, New Wave, early modern symphonic music and a variety of other musical sources to create a sound that defies categorization. Deeply inspired by musicians like Kurt Weill, Scott Joplin, Sergei Prokofiev and Tom Waits, he's written music for cabaret, theater, film, chamber music and the symphonic orchestra. Most recently, he’s had music premiered by ChamberLab in Reno, Nevada and by Maria Finkelmeier, Angela …

Conductor

A leader in the 21st century orchestral landscape, Dr. Matthew Aubin is constantly reaching new audiences through innovative performance formats and creative initiatives both on and off the podium.

The 2022-23 season kicks off Dr. Aubin’s inaugural year as Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and serves as Artistic Director of The Chelsea Symphony. In his role at TCS, he has led highly visible collaborations with partners such …

Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting …

Mark Seto leads a wide-ranging musical life as a conductor, scholar, teacher, and violinist. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music at Brown University, where he directs the Brown University Orchestra and teaches courses in music history, theory, and conducting. Highlights of his 2023-24 season include performances with violinist Itzhak Perlman, violinist Randall Goosby, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, and the inauguration of The …