MARLBORO — Marlboro College will present its spring semester series of weekend concerts, starting with acclaimed pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 3 p.m. The series features leading performers in both classical and jazz, from violin and piano duo Andrew Eng and Tae Kim to the big sound of saxophonist David Bindman's sextet.
Other than the opening concert, all performances are on Sundays at 3 p.m.; concerts all take place in Marlboro's Ragle Hall, and are free and open to the public.
Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute has earned critical acclaim throughout the United States and Europe for her powerfully and intricately crafted performances.
Her ability to communicate the essential substance of a work has led critics to describe her as possessing “razor-sharp intelligence and wit,” (The Washington Post), and as “an artist of commanding technique, refined temperament and persuasive insight” (The New York Times).
For the opening concert of the series, Saturday, Jan. 23, Jokubaviciute will be playing music by Mozart, Debussy, Faure, Janacek, and Schumann.
The first Sunday concert will take place March 6, at 3 pm, when celebrated pianist and Marlboro favorite Renana Gutman returns to Ragle Hall.
Praised by the New York Sun for playing “with great vigor and aplomb” and for the “true poetry in her phrasing,” Gutman has performed across three continents as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and collaborative artist. She is in high demand as a chamber musician, and serves as the staff collaborative pianist of Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, where she performs extensively.
On April 3, the David Bindman Sextet will take the stage of Ragle Hall with what has been described by critic Mike Shanley as “a new, forceful strain of jazz.”
Brooklyn-based saxophonist and composer David Bindman creates works that combine many elements, emphasizing improvisation at the core. His new works merge old and new musical forms and incorporate rhythmic cycles and modalities from West Africa, India, and around the globe, and have been described as “smart, fun, and multiculturally funky” (The Georgia Straight).
On April 10, violinist Andrew Eng and pianist Tae Kim will be playing Alfred Scnittke's “Quasi Una Sonata,” Schubert's “Grand Duo in A Major,” Schumann's “Three Romances,” and Debussy's “Sonata for Violin and Piano.”
Eng has gained a reputation playing such diverse genres as baroque, classical, tango, jazz, and contemporary music, and his playing has been noted as “intense and powerfully emotional” (Classical New Jersey). Hailed as a “highly skilled improviser” by The New York Times and “prickly and explosive” by the Montreal Gazette, Kim's rare blend of rigorous execution and whimsical styling creates an interpretation of the classical repertoire all his own.
On April 17, the concert series concludes with the Allos Musica Ensemble of James Falzone, a clarinetist, composer, and improviser who works at the intersection of jazz, classical, and world music traditions.
Featuring clarinet and various ethnic winds, the oud (an ancient Arabic lute), voice, accordion, and percussion instruments from around the world, Allos Musica explores divergent streams of contemporary and traditional music from the Middle East and Europe. The New York Times said, “Mr. Falzone's music is thoughtful and often quiescent . . . but he can play hard to the breaking point.”