Hotchkiss Summer Portals
Summer Concert Series
For the past 15 years, Summer Portals, a nonprofit program under the auspices of The Hotchkiss School, has offered intensive training in a variety of specialized subjects, including the two-week Piano Program, to gifted students in the sixth through 12th grades from around the world.
Piano Portals program accepts young pianists solely on the basis of merit from 15 countries across North and South America, Asia, and Europe. At the end of the season a free concert series is presented to the public, a mix of performances by world-renowned musicians and student performances.
Sunday, July 16, at 4PM, Boris Berman, known to audiences in 40 countries on six continents, takes the stage in the Katherine M. Elfers Hall, Esther Eastman Music Center, playing Brahms. He is followed on July 19 at 7:30PM by world-renowned pianist and teacher Luiz de Moura Castro playing sonatas, four mazurkas and two waltzes.
These world-class performers represent the full fruition of musical talent, but the future of classical music lies in the hands of its up and coming performers. Some of these talented future performers will show off their potential July 22nd at 7:30PM in the Summer Portals Piano Program’s fifth-anniversary gala performance in the Katherine M. Elfers Hall, Esther Eastman Music Center. The concert features celebrated international pianist and Hotchkiss piano program director Fabio Witkowski and resident piano faculty Gisele Nacif Witkowski.
Joining them will be the Fine Arts Quartet, composed of violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, violist Gil Sharon and cellist Niklas Schmidt.
The series continues Tuesday, July 25th at 7:30PM with Yuri Bogdanov, who started his piano and composition studies at age 4, playing works by Chopin. Thursday, July 27th, at 7:30 PM, Oxana Yablonskaya takes center stage, playing Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninov.
Finally, on Saturday, July 29th, at 7:30PM, Portals presents if Grand Finale Concert with students performing with the guest artists.
Young artist Concerts are planned for Saturday, July 22, 4PM; Sunday, July 23rd, 4 PM; Wednesday, July 26th, 7:30PM (at Fairfield Farm, weather permitting), and Friday, July 28th at 7:30 PM.
For full concert series details please click on the link below.
