Sparkill Concert Series Presents an All-Rachmaninoff Program

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Please Note:

– Capacity will be limited so purchase tickets now!

– Concerts take place on the second floor of the Arts Center, a fully renovated 100-yr old building without ADA access.

– Reserve your table for dinner downstairs at Roost after the concert** - Call 845-359-6700

**Union Arts Center is now the home of the highly acclaimed Roost Restaurant, a casual American bistro providing elevated fare and an inventive cocktail list.

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Artists' Bios

CELLIST DANIEL GAISFORD

 American cellist Daniel Gaisford enjoys a career that has expanded over 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher.  Hailed by the New York Times as “transfixing,” and The Philadelphia Inquirer as “remarkable." 

After hearing Gaisford perform, the Senior Editor at the National Review and Critic for The New Criterion Jay Nordlinger wrote...  

"Gaisford is an American cellist and not well known. Why this is so is a mystery - and it teaches us something about the music business. When I first heard Gaisford in Philadelphia, I was stunned: How could there be so good a cellist I had never heard, or even heard of?  Evidently, not every master is on the covers of magazines, or the covers of CDs; some have unorthodox careers. Gaisford has a formidable technique and a formidable mind.  He can make a hundred sounds : fat, thin, spiky, lyrical, rich, sickly, piercing, warm. "

On the Barge series in New York, Gaisford played with a grave mien throughout.  He gave the impression that he was not merely performing a sonata, but doing something supremely important.  The Chief Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer had a similar reaction, calling Gaisford  "America's greatest unknown cellist."  The New York Times also stated that "Gaisford deserves more recognition."

Gaisford continues to infuse with new life the great works of the past, while fiercely advocating for the music of our own time. As soloist, Mr. Gaisford has appeared with orchestras throughout the United States and Canada; among them the major orchestras of Saint Louis, Seattle, Toronto and Montreal, under the direction of conductors such as Robert Spano, David Zinman and Hermann Michael. Equally active as a recitalist and chamber musician, Mr. Gaisford has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad in cities ranging from New York, San Francisco and Berlin, to Boston, Rome and Tokyo. He has been a featured guest at major festivals throughout the world including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Chautauqua Festival, the Caramoor Festival, and the Davos Festival in Switzerland. Other festivals appearances include the RomaEuropa, New Jersey’s Festival of the Atlantic, Michigan’s Matrix Festival, the Prince Albert Festival in Kauai, the Aspen Music Festival and the Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado. Mr. Gaisford has been a frequent guest on radio programs around the country and his performances can be heard on NPR’s Performance Today series. In 2001, Mr. Gaisford recorded composer Michael Hersch’s Sonata No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello and gave the NY premiere at the Tisch Center for the performing Arts to great acclaim. In 2004, he recorded Hersch’s Sonata No. 2 for Unaccompanied Cello, which was dedicated to Mr. Gaisford. The performance was recorded on he Vangaurd Classics label and selected by The Washington Post as one of the most important recordings of 2005 by chief critic Tim Page.  In 2015, Last Autumn was released on Innova Records.

New releases also include the Bach Suites for Solo Cello and the Piatti Caprices for Solo Cello.  Daniel Gaisford grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah where he studied with Richard Hoyt and Gayle Smith. Further studies took him to the University of Southern California where he studied with Gabor Rejto and Ronald Leonard. Gaisford continued his studies with Harvey Shapiro and Channing Robbins at The Juilliard School of Music in New York. While at The Juilliard School of Music, Gaisford was principal cellist of the symphony orchestra and was the first prize winner of the Shostakovich Cello Competition which resulted in his Lincoln Center debut.  

Mr. Gaisford’s recordings can be found at the iTunes store and on his website, as well as many other online music vendors.

Gaisford has an online cello class of talented students and professionals and is currently in video and recording projects soon to be released.  

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VIOLINIST FILLIP POGADY

Pogády has performed in some of the most renowned concert venues in the world including Lincoln Center (New York), Rudolphinum (Prague), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Tel Aviv Opera House, Lotte Hall (Seoul), and Seoul Arts Center.

He also makes TV appearances, including guest starring on Louis CK’s “Louie”.

As a firm believer that music should be available to everyone, Pogády joined Yehudi Menuhin’s “Live Music NOW!” Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing music to orphanages, nursing homes, prisons and hospitals. Pogády has played over 30 recitals for “Live Music NOW!”. Pogády decided to take this concept to the next level and has been performing the Sonatas and Partitas by J.S. Bach in the New York City subway throughout his studies at the Manhattan School of Music until present. “Most of these people have never heard this kind of music before, and yet it touches them on a basic human level, because this music is just SO good,” he says.

Pogády gave his solo debut with orchestra at age 11 at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna after winning the 1st prize at the Tsusuki Violin Competition as the youngest contestant.

He participated three times at Austria’s nationwide music competition “Prima La Musica” and won the 1st prize each time. He was also honored with special prizes by the Austrian String Society and the Raiffeisen Bank for extraordinary results at this competition.

Pogády earned his Master’s Degree in Violin Performance under the tutelage of Maestro Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music, where he was awarded a full scholarship.

Born in Bratislava (Slovakia), Pogády moved with his family to Austria as a child and began his violin studies at age 7. Just one year later he was admitted to the Bruckner Conservatory Pre-college in Linz. He gave his first recital at age 10.

Pogády resides in New York City.

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OXANA MIKHAILOFF

Oxana Mikhailoff was hailed in a recent review by Jon Sobel as “a titan of the Romantic Piano Literature.” Of her playing, Vladimir Feltsman said “…(Oxana Mikhailoff) is a mature and accomplished musician…Her playing has character, imagination, and is poetic. She has a strong personality and stage presence.”

Oxana has performed throughout Russia and Europe as a recitalist, concert soloist and chamber musician. Her United States debut took place at Carnegie Hall in 1999. She later returned to Carnegie Hall to play an all-Chopin recital on the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Oxana maintains an active teaching studio in Westchester County less than one-half hour from New York City. Along with Vassily Primakov, Oxana is co-Artistic Director of the Sparkill Concert Series and the Midland Music Series in Bronxville, NY.

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VASSILY PRIMAKOV

In recent years, Vassily Primakov has been hailed as a pianist of world class importance. In 1999, as a teen-aged prizewinner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Primakov was praised by Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “How many pianists can make a line sing as the Moscow native did on this occasion? Every poignant phrase took ethereal wing. Elsewhere the music soared with all of the turbulence and poetic vibrancy it possesses. We will be hearing much from this remarkable musician.”

Vassily Primakov has released numerous recordings for Bridge Records that include works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, Arlene Sierra and Poul Ruders.

In 2011, Mr. Primakov, along with Natalia Lavrova established a new and vibrant record company, L.P. Classics, Inc. Their first release was Anton Arensky: Four Suites for Two Pianos. Most recently, they released Primakov’s Live in Concert Album that includes works by Medtner, Schumann, Brahms’ Handel Variations and Ravel’s La Valse. www.lpclassics.net

In March 2012 Vassily Primakov became a Yamaha Artist.

Vassily Primakov is Artistic Director of Sparkill Concert Series since 2018 together with Oxana Mikhailoff.