Windham Chamber Music Festival

Date: Saturday, May 23, 8pm
Location: Windham Civic and Performing Arts Center, 5379 Main Street, Windham, NY
Tickets: $25 General, $20 Seniors, $15 Contributors, $5 Students
Reservations: (518) 734 3868 or www.windhammusic.com

LARA ST. JOHN, violin
MARTIN KENNEDY, piano

Program:
Beethoven: Sonata no. 8
Bartok: Second Rhapsody
Monti: Czardas Caprice
Sarasate: Zigunerweisen
Ravel: Tzigane
Bizet/Waxman: Carmen Fantasy

Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been called a "high-powered soloist" by the New York Times, while the Los Angeles Times has written, "St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion." She has performed as a soloist with major orchestras around the world, and her recitals have included concert halls in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Ravinia, Washington DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal, and Beijing.

Lara St. John's debut CD, Bach: Works for Violin Solo, has sold over 40,000 copies and received resounding acclaim. The Chicago Tribune described Ms. St. John as having "superb technique and an irresistible vitality," while U.S. News & World Report called the recording "an exquisite performance". Her third recording, Bach: the Concerto Album, appeared in the "strongly recommended" section of Gramophone, and when it was released on iTunes in June 2005 it immediately became No. 1 in the classical category. Lara has also recorded for Sony Classical, and has been featured in People, U.S. News & World Report, on CNN's "Showbiz Today", and NPR's "All Things Considered", Fox News, CBC and a Bravo Special: "Live at the Rehearsal Hall." Her latest recording, Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, described as "awe-inducing" by the Toronto Star, was released exclusively on iTunes in September 2007.

Pianist and composer Martin Kennedy received his doctorate in composition from The Juilliard School where he studied with Samuel Adler and Milton Babbitt. He has received numerous awards, including the BMI Student Composer Award, five ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, the 1999 ASCAP Raymond Hubbel Award, and the Indiana University Dean's Prize in composition in both 1998 and 2002. His compositions have been featured by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra, and he regularly performs with members of the St. Louis Symphony. He has also toured with violinist Lara St. John and with flutist Thomas Robertello, with whom he recorded "Souvenir: Works by Fauré and Kennedy" in 1999.