April 9-10
PROKOFIEV'S CINDERELLA
Saturday | 4.10.27 | 8:00 PM
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street
Sergei Prokofiev’s colorful ballet Cinderella features rich melodies and vivid storytelling. Ulysses Kay’s Of New Horizons, written around the same time, looks ahead to a brighter future after World War II. Each evening features a lush Russian showpiece—Reinhold Glière’s Horn Concerto on Friday, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Saturday. Shuying Li’s In This Breath, a poignant meditation on loss, takes inspiration from a familiar theme from the Rachmaninoff concerto.
Program
In This Breath
Horn Concerto, Op. 91
(Friday only)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18
(Saturday only)
Of New Horizons
Selections from Cinderella
Featured Artists
Praised as “a real talent” (Seattle Times) with “vivid, dramatic” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “enjoyable” (Gramophone) scores and “an incredible span of compositional tool box” (American Record Guide), Shuying Li is an award-winning composer who began her musical education in her native China. In her sophomore year at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, she won a scholarship to continue her undergraduate studies at The Hartt School in Connecticut. She holds doctoral and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and …
Lauded for her “particularly lovely” playing and “boundless creativity”, pianist Candace Chien is an versatile performer and teacher in the New York City area. Comfortable as both soloist and collaborator, Candace’s diverse performing life includes recent recitals with New Jersey Symphony concertmaster Eric Wyrick, Temple University cello faculty Jeffrey Solow. Other performances include chamber music performances at Kimmel Center Perelman Hall and Academy of Music, Trinity Wall Street St. Paul’s Chapel, as well as solo concerto appearances with Chelsea Symphony, …
Conductor
A sought-after leader in today’s orchestral landscape, Dr. Matthew Aubin cultivates musical excellence through an innovative, community-minded, and inclusive approach.
Dr. Aubin serves as Music Director and Executive Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of The Chelsea Symphony in New York City. Through these positions, he has developed a reputation for imaginative programming, organizational leadership, audience engagement, and advocacy for historically overlooked composers.
With The Chelsea Symphony, Dr. Aubin …
Valentina Paolucci is a rising orchestral conductor and violinist currently based in New York City. She has recently graduated from the Juilliard School with a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting under a full scholarship, and was awarded the Robert Craft-Igor Stravinsky Conducting Award upon graduation. Valentina is currently a Conducting Fellow with The Chelsea Symphony, Conducting Fellow with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the NYO-USA Alumni Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Her international conducting engagements have included …