Dear Music Lovers,

We are very happy to welcome pianist Jonathan Biss and the Mendelssohn String Quartet to Bargemusic this Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm.

You may have heard Jonathan recently at the Kennedy Honors, where he played Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in honor of pianist Leon Fleischer. Jonathan performs extensively as a soloist with major orchestras and presents recitals around the world. This concert at Bargemusic is a rare opportunity to hear him play chamber music in a unique and intimate setting.

In Jonathan’s first performance here at Bargemusic about five years ago, I had the pleasure of playing the Brahms A Major Piano Quartet with him. This time he will be joined by the Mendelssohn String Quartet, which, like Bargemusic, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The quartet’s first violinist is the legendary Miriam Fried, who also happens to be Jonathan’s mother. The second violinist, Nicholas Mann, a most thoughtful musician, is a colleague of mine from my Juilliard days. The violist, Daniel Panner, is a great colleague with whom I have performed many times. The cellist, Marcy Rosen, with whom I played in the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, is a most generous musician.

I hope to see you at the concerts this weekend.

Lots of Love,
Mark Peskanov

Dear Music Lovers,

I am very happy to welcome cellist Colin Carr and pianist Tom Sauer to Bargemusic this Saturday, February 2nd at 8 pm and Sunday, February 3rd at 4 pm, in their concerts of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano.

Colin and Tom have been playing together a lot recently. I met Colin years ago in Amsterdam. He had just performed at the venue where I was to perform. I arrived at the place where I was supposed to stay just as he was leaving. It was a little guest house inside of a garden. I remember looking at him; he was sitting on a bed smiling, with his cello. There was no floor, just soil. There were bugs on the ground, and it was cold. I took one look at Colin in my so-called future place, and then I ran out of there. For the next few hours I looked for a hotel room. It was early morning. I found an old, simple hotel on the water. Late that evening, as I was practicing the second movement of the Tchaikovsky concerto, I saw from my window two beautiful white swans floating on the water in the darkness. I will always remember that.

The next time I saw Colin, we were both performing at a festival in the States. I heard him play, and I remember very clearly the very deep tone of his lower strings on the cello. Since then we have played together here and also in England. I always have great fun playing with him in different combinations. He’s been performing frequently at the Bargemusic venue. After every concert he always leaves something — his shirt, his shoes… Let’s see what he will leave this time.

This Friday, February 1st at 8 pm, our “Here and Now: American Contemporary Music Series” features the music of Lowell Liebermann. I met Lowell years ago at a chamber music party. I was trying to read his piano trio or his sonata for violin and piano. But whichever it was, I found it very pleasing. I enjoyed sight reading my part. Later on I had the pleasure of performing Mozart sonatas and Irish songs by Beethoven and Maria von Weber with Lowell and the wonderful Irish tenor Robert White (although he’s American). I think this Friday’s feast of Lowell’s music should greatly satisfy our appetites.

Lots of Love,
Mark Peskanov

On Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, members of the Vertigo Quartet perform Brahms and Mozart quintets with guest artists Mark Peskanov and Mark Holloway.

Dear Music Lovers,

This week’s and next week’s programs feature a host of gifted young musicians, all of whom I have had the pleasure of introducing to the Bargemusic audience over the past several years while they were still in school. They are now increasingly becoming an important part of the music scene.

This week I will be playing with the violist Mark Holloway and the members of the Vertigo Quartet, which has been chosen as this year’s Bargemusic quartet in residence. Five years ago I invited the cellist Nicholas Canellakis and violist Mark Holloway to join me and the great pianist Yefim Bronfman in back-to-back performances of the Schumann piano quintet at Bargemusic.

In the development of a young musician there is no substitute for this type of experience. Isaac Stern was the greatest example of this for me; I will always remember the invaluable experience I had playing concerts with him over the years. Whether it was the Brahms or Mozart quintets, which we will be playing this week, or duos for two violins, the special feeling of the time I spent with him, rehearsing over a period of weeks, and the concerts themselves, created for me a great expansion in my musical awareness and understanding. A rapid acceleration would take place (perhaps something like playing football with the New York Giants!)

Lot of Love,
Mark Peskanov

This Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, Bargemusic presents violinist Mark Peskanov, cellist Carlos Prieto and pianist Doris Stevenson in a program of pieces by Martinu, Dvorák, Smetana and Samuel Zyman.

Dear Music Lovers,

Mexico City was always and still is one of my favorite places to perform: I love its great audiences, beautiful concert halls, very fine orchestras and conductors, and parties after the concerts with great food and sangritas.* It’s a very multicultural, cosmopolitan place, and the musicians of its orchestras come there from all over the world. It was there that I heard of Carlos Prieto and of his very unique contributions (he has commissioned over 80 works by composers from Mexico, Latin America, Spain, and other countries). Since then I have invited him to play at Bargemusic. I enjoyed spending time with him, and had great fun reading his book “The Adventures of a Cello.”

It was most natural for this weekend to invite stellar performer/pianist Doris Stevenson, who has collaborated on numerous occasions with some of the finest cellists, such as Piatigorsky (who has hailed her as “an artist of the highest order”), Paul Tortelier, Stephen Kates, Misha Maisky, and many others. She has toured with Carlos Prieto as well and has made some recordings with him.

The Smetana trio is one of the most heartfelt trios I know. I am looking forward to a special collaboration with those artists, as well as to being an audience member when Carlos performs the U.S. premier of Samuel Zyman’s “Suite for Cello Solo,” which was written for him.

Lots of Love,

Mark Peskanov

*Not to be confused with sangria. To have sangritas, squeeze a few pieces of fresh lime in your mouth, and add some spicy tomato juice and a shot of tequila.

This Thursday at 8 pm, Bargemusic presents Jazz Night with Jeff Newell’s New-Trad Trio. Friday at 8 pm, pianist Boris Berman plays an all Prokofiev program (see below for artist comments). This Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, cellist Steuart Pincombe plays the complete Bach Cello Suites (see below for artist comments).

Dear Music Lovers,

Over the last few years we at Bargemusic became very good friends with P.S. 8, an elementary school which is located just a few blocks away from the Barge. I have met very special people connected to that school, like David Goldsmith, a P.S. 8 parent who has been our great ambassador and liaison; Seth Phillips, the principal of the school; teachers, parents, and of course the kids themselves, who never cease to amaze us with their questions, their smiles, and their great enthusiasm. So last April when the PTA asked us to hold a special benefit on the Barge, we were happily obliged. It was a very exciting event.

As a part of it, Jeff Newell played saxophone with his trio (his daughter attends the school). They sounded beautiful. Later Jeff mentioned to me that he had written a jazz composition that was 20 or 25 minutes long. When I asked him how many times he had performed it, he said it was not very easy to schedule it in jazz venues because of its length.

I had an “Oprah-like” light bulb moment! Bargemusic is a magical floating concert hall that goes with the tide and against the tide – so I invited Jeff to perform his composition. This, as well as joining Dick Hyman to play his own compositions earlier that year inspired me to start a jazz series on the Barge. Since then, many wonderful jazz musicians have come on board – and they and the audience are creating a unique floating jazz experience in a concert setting.

Lots of love,

Mark Peskanov

This Wednesday and Friday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm flutist Julie Scolnik, violinist Mark Peskanov, violist Maurycy Banaszek and cellist Adrian Daurov play works by Mozart, Beethoven and the world premiere of “Fountains of Fin” by Behzad Ranjbaran. This Thursday at 8 pm Bargemusic presents Jazz Night with the Ted Rosenthal Trio. This Saturday at 8 pm the Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Cristina Ortiz play works by Faure, Greg Sandow and Franck.

Hello Music Lovers,

Just a few words about this week’s premier. I met Behzad Ranjbaran officially about two and a half years ago. Unofficially I had met him in the late 1970’s; he was in the audience at Kennedy Center when I performed (with Rostropovich conducting the National Symphony) the Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Beethoven Triple with Yo-Yo Ma and my brother Alexander.

Fast forward to 2006—B.R. was in the audience again, this time at Bargemusic. His cello concerto had just been played a few days earlier by the Buffalo Philharmonic, with Yo-Yo Ma as the soloist. Coincidentally, Yo-Yo happened to be in the audience on the Barge that same day. (I always love to see Yo-Yo. He is one of those rare individuals who brings a great warmth and light.)

Later that week B.R. gave me a live recording of his violin concerto performed by Joshua Bell and the Toronto Symphony. I enjoyed it very much and I asked him to write a piano trio for Bargemusic, which we premiered later that year.

This will be the second work that Bargemusic has commissioned from Behzad Ranjbaran. Looking forward to it.

Lots of Love,
Mark Peskanov

This Thursday at 8 pm, Bargemusic presents Jazz Night with Josh Roseman’s Water Surgeons. On Friday at 8 pm, the Here and Now: American Contemporary Music series features the Williams Chamber Players presenting pieces by Osvaldo Golijov, David Kechley, William Bolcom, and Felipe Lara. On Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, cellist Amy Sue Barston, and pianist Olga Vinokur play pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert.

Dear Music Lovers,

I often get asked the question, “How do musicians get selected to perform at the Bargemusic concert series?” This weekend reminds me of one of the ways.

Admission-free concerts, which I started at the Barge about five and a half years ago, are a way to showcase gifted artists of all ages and to give them the opportunity to perform before a live audience with the possibility of future engagements on the Bargemusic concert series. The admission-free concerts are an exciting event for people in the audience, since they do not know the names of the performers, their instruments, or programs until an hour before the concert (I guess the audiences have learned to trust us; those concerts are always very well attended). Usually these concerts last for an hour without an intermission. Except in the case of Olga Vinokur—when she played her admission-free concert it lasted more than two hours. She shared the concert with another pianist/composer who is in her late 90’s, who started the concert and played Chopin with a lovely imagination, except that her tempi were quite slow. So after an hour and a half, when Olga Vinokur came on the stage and played for about forty minutes, the audience was very excited. Since then Olga Vinokur has been a frequent guest artist at the Bargemusic series; the audience always responds favorably to her passionate playing in both lyrical and virtuosic repertoire.

The cellist Amy Sue Barston, one of the other two players this weekend, was actually an audience member at one of the other admission-free concerts in which another cellist was playing. At the end of the concert, she introduced herself to me. I believe she knew the cellist who performed, so I suggested to her that she take the opportunity to go on stage and play a few notes on the cello. She obliged. She played in her mini-audition with an impressively strong, big tone and projected great confidence . I invited her right on the spot to return to Bargemusic—first she returned to Bargemusic to play some unaccompanied Bach suites, and then to perform with her Corigliano String Quartet.

Over the last five and a half years we have presented close to 80 admission free concerts. Probably hundreds of the musicians involved were invited back to perform on Bargemusic’s concert series.

In the case of violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, I heard her on some recordings and thought that she, Amy Sue Barston, and Olga Vinokur would be a good fit. So let’s welcome all three of them this weekend. Happy Easter!

Lots of Love,
Mark Peskanov

This Wednesday at 8 pm, mandolinist Carlo Aonzo and guitarist Rene Izquierdo play pieces by Filippo Gragnani, Raffaele Calace, Katsumi Nagaokoa, Bartolomeo Bortolazzi, Carlo Aonzo, Handel, and Enrico Marucelli. On Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, the Shanghai Quartet with violinist Mark Peskanov and pianist Doris Stevenson present pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, and the world premiere of Daniel Ott’s “Blue Water for Violin, Piano and String Quartet.”

Dear Music Lovers,

For me it all began in 1979 when I received a call to fly to Minnesota to play the Wieniawski second concerto on a days notice with conductor Leonard Slatkin. The few hours on the plane served as my debut in the sky where I had a very attentive audience as I vigorously practiced the concerto.

It was my debut with the Minnesota Symphony and my introduction to Maestro Slatkin. Over the years Leonard became a good friend and a major force in my musical development. In 1981 he invited me to do the world premiere of the John Williams violin concerto at Carnegie Hall with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the first recording at the Abbey Road Studios. This was especially thrilling for me to record in the same studio as the Beatles, since as a young boy their music made me want to explore a new freedom of expression. Leonard Slatkin continued to inspire me to investigate new music and new composers. He continues to be one of the greatest advocates for new music. There is nothing more exciting than to take a new musical work and to collaborate with the composer—I wish for every musician to experience this personal connection, particularly through the preparation and rehearsal, which creates an intimate and unique involvement with the music.

That is what will be taking place this weekend at Bargemusic. It is my pleasure to introduce to our audience a Bargemusic commissioned work by Daniel Ott. This is our sixth of six commissioned works awarded to us by the New York State Music Fund established by the New York State Attorney General.

I just want to say how excited, proud, and grateful we are to be part of this experience. Cheers to the six composers—Yotam Haber, Alexandra Du Bois, Dick Hyman, Russell Platt, Behzad Ranjbaran and Daniel Ott—who created such wonderful works, which I hope will be performed for many years to come. Some of these pieces I cannot wait to program again and again. Thank you to the New York State Music Fund for funding this project, and to the musicians who, with their great passion, commitment and dedication, brought those beautiful compositions to life.

Lots of Love,

Mark Peskanov

This week Bargemusic presents a mini-International festival. The concerts feature a violinist from Prague, a violinist from England, a pianist from Germany and a chamber orchestra from Montreal. On Thursday at 8 pm, Jazz Night features pianist Don Friedman. On Friday at 8 pm, violinist Ivan Zenaty plays all six of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin. On Saturday at 8 pm, Yuli Turovsky conducts I Musici de Montreal in a program of pieces by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. On Sunday at 4 pm, violinist Helena Baillie and pianist Julian Riem play pieces by Tommaso Vitali, Mozart, Schumann, Prokofiev, Pärt and Debussy.

Dear Music Lovers,

Last night Barbara Walters did a special on ABC about living to be a 150 year old. She noted that there are 84,000 Americans who are 100 years or older. Today is Olga’s birthday. She turns 89, so she has a long way to go. This week in her honor, Friday’s program contains all of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin, which she practices herself religiously every morning. So tutti bravi, Olga!

Lots of Love,
Mark Peskanov

This week Bargemusic presents four concerts that feature the Bargemusic Quartet in Residence, the Vertigo Quartet.* On Wednesday and Friday at 8 pm, the Vertigo Quartet will perform works by Haydn, Wolf and Britten. On Thursday at 8 pm, Jazz Night features The Michael Marcus Quartet in a “Tribute to Tony Scott.” On Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 4 pm, the Vertigo Quartet will perform works by Mozart, Dvorak and Bartok.

*The Bargemusic Quartet in Residence is partially sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Dear Music Lovers,

The cellist Nicholas Canellakis of the Vertigo Quartet, in residence at Bargemusic this week, is the son of conductor Martin and pianist Cheryl. Years ago, when I was a student, Martin invited me to perform concertos with his orchestras. I remember fondly the way he used to drive me to the rehearsals and concerts. Six years ago, when they were students at the Curtis Institute, Nick and his sister, violinist Karina, came to my house to play chamber music. I was happy to engage these gifted young artists at Bargemusic. Eventually, Nick put together a quartet with fellow students at Curtis and asked me to listen to their recording. I thought they would benefit greatly from having an opportunity to perform many concerts of different repertoire. Subsequently, they have been very well received both by Bargemusic audiences and the critics.

It’s great to see this continued tradition in classical music from generation to generation. This Friday morning, the Vertigo Quartet will join me at P.S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights to play and talk to several hundred young students in the first through fifth grades as part of Bargemusic’s commitment to continuing this tradition.

Lots of love,

Mark Peskanov