Jan 8: Brooklyn, NY

The Knights

Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music - Church of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

Jan 10-15: Cartagena, Colombia

Jessica Rivera

Cartagena Festival

Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos

Jan 11: Chicago, IL

Joshua Roman and Dan Visconti

Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts - Chicago Culture Center

Dan Visconti: Americana

Recital w/Zsolt Bognár + WFMT broadcast

Jan 11: Chapel Hill, NC

Brooklyn Rider and The Knights

University of North Carolina - Memorial Hall

Jan 12: Novi Sad, Serbia

Dan Visconti

Serbian National Theatre - Kronos Quartet

Dan Visconti: Love Bleeds Radiant (European Premiere)

Jan 13-14: Charlotte, NC

Joyce Yang

North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center - Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini , Op. 43

Jan 14: Fort Wayne, IN

Joshua Roman

Andrew Constantine Embassy Theatre - Fort Wayne Phil

Walton: Cello Cto.

Jan 17: Fort Worth, TX
Joyce Yang

Bass Performance Hall

Recital

Jan 18, 19, 21, 22: Toronto, ON, Canada
Kelley O'Connor

Roy Thomson Hall - Toronto Symphony
Mozart: Requiem

Jan 19: Clemson, SC
Joshua Roman and Dan Visconti
Clemson U - Brooks Center for the Performing Arts

Dan Visconti: Americana
Recital w/Andrius Zlabys

Jan 20: Tryon, NC

Stefan Jackiw and Joyce Yang

Tryon Fine Arts Center

Recital

Jan 22: Walnut Creek, CA
Joshua Roman
California Symphony

Elgar: Cello Cto. 

Jan 23-28: San Francisco, CA
Jessica Rivera
San Francisco Performances Educational Residency 

Jan 25: La Jolla, CA

Brooklyn Rider

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Jan 26, 28: Atlanta, GA
Kelley O'Connor
Woodruff Arts Center - Atlanta Symphony
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 w/Nicole Cabell

Jan 26: Sanibel, FL

Joyce Yang

Schein Performance Hall

Recital

Jan 27: Phoenix, AZ

Brooklyn Rider

Musical Instrument Museum

Jan 27: Los Angeles, CA

Joyce Yang

Da Camera Society of LA - Doheny Mansion

Recital w/Augustin Hadelich

Jan 27: San Diego, CA

Brooklyn Rider

Friends of Chamber Music

Jan 28: Palm Springs, CA
Joyce Yang

Rancho Mirage Public Library

Recital w/Augustin Hadelich

Jan 29: Seattle, WA
Brooklyn Rider
Town Hall - TownMusic series

Jan 29: San Francisco, CA 

UCLA - William Andrew's Clark Memorial Library

Chamber Music at the Clark Recital w/Augustin Hadelich

Jan 31: University, MS

Brooklyn Rider

University of Mississippi - Bologna PAC

Jan 31: San Antonio, TX

Joyce Yang

Laurel Heights United Methodist Church

Recital w/Augustin Hadelich

Feb 2: University, MS

Brooklyn Rider

University of Mississippi - Ford Center

Feb 3-5: Kansas City, MO
Kelley O'Connor and Jessica Rivera
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts - Kansas City Symphony

Mahler: Symphony No. 2

Feb 3-5: Milwaukee, WI
Joyce Yang

Milwaukee Symphony

Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto. 2

Feb 4: Milwaukee, WI;

Brooklyn Rider

Pitman Theatre

w/Kayhan Kalhor

Feb 4, 6: Portland, OR
Stefan Jackiw

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall - Oregon Symphony           

Bruch: Scottish Fantasy

Feb 4, 5: Princeton, NJ
Joshua Roman

Richardson Auditorium - Princeton Symphony Orchestra

Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33

Feb 6: Appleton, WI;

Brooklyn Rider
Lawrence University - Harper Hall

w/Kayhan Kalhor

Feb 8: Salt Spring Island, BC Canada

Joyce Yang

Island Art Centre

Recital 

Feb 9, 11: Rochester, NY

Stefan Jackiw

Eastman Theatre - Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

Bruch: Scottish Fantasy

Feb 11: Reading, PA

Joshua Roman

Sovereign Performing Arts Center - Reading Symphony Orchestra

Schumann: Cello Cto.

Feb 11: Washington, D.C.

Dan Visconti

Smithsonian America Art Museum - 21^st Century Consort

Dan Visconti: Fractured Jams  

Feb 11, 13: Vancouver, BC Canada

Joyce Yang

Orpheum Theatre - Vancouver Symphony Society  Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Feb 11, 12: Old Lyme, CT

Brooklyn Rider 
First Congregational Church of Old Lyme

The New Year finds adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider both on the road and in the record store. The quartet is in the midst of a North American tour (see "datebook" for concerts) featuring performances of works from the group's new CD, Seven Steps, its fifth and perhaps its boldest recording to date. Centered around Brooklyn Rider's unique interpretation of Beethoven's colossal String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, the recording also includes a work by New York-based composer Christopher Tignor and Brooklyn Rider's first collaborative composition: the title track, Seven Steps. "Beethoven will forever sound new and revelatory to us," says Brooklyn Rider violist, Nicholas Cords. "We cherish the opportunity to make this amazing piece of music relevant to the present generation of listeners."

Seven Steps is set for digital release on February 21 and in-store release on April 10. In a nod to classical recordings of the past and contemporary ones in the popular music world, Brooklyn Rider will issue Seven Steps on limited edition vinyl LP, offering listeners a chance to hear the music with the medium's warm resonance.

Visit Brooklyn Rider's Kickstarter page for more information and a video about making the Seven Steps recording.

For more information, visit BrooklynRider.com, the group's YouTube channel, or the Opus 3 Artists web site.

Joshua Roman: A San Francisco Treat  

While not technically serving a residency there, cellist Joshua Roman will appear in the Bay Area in a variety of settings this winter. On January 22, he joined the California Symphony for such a fine performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto that the San Jose Mercury News marveled: "The music might have been poured from a silver decanter," from the "tender and noble" adagio to the finale, in which "he seemed to draw a continuous thread through his cello lines, joining the tragic to the valiant."

On January 29, Roman gives a San Francisco Performances recital with pianist Andrius Zlabys at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with a wide-ranging program featuring music by Debussy, Piazzolla, Brahms, and contemporary composer Dan Visconti. Roman returns to the Bay Area on February 17 and 18 for a special engagement with acclaimed American actress, playwright, and educator Anna Deavere Smith at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. There the two will present the world premiere of their new theater piece, On Grace.

For more information, visit JoshuaRoman.com, the artist's YouTube channel, or the Opus 3 Artists web site.

Joyce Yang: Triumph at the Cliburn Foundation Concert Series

When Joyce Yang performed a solo recital at the Cliburn Foundation Concert Series in Fort Worth on January 17 - returning to the same stage where she became the youngest medalist to date at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition - she had no idea that Van Cliburn himself was in attendance that evening. "I can't believe it!" said Yang. "Good thing I didn't know he was going to attend the concert, or that would have been double the freak-out!" Critics praised the way her performance "cast old music in new light," proclaiming Yang "one of the most versatile and thoughtful of the rising pianists of our time," who possesses "the mark of true genius."

Now the pianist looks forward to touring the country with a variety of performances, including solo recitals and chamber concerts with her frequent collaborators violinists Stefan Jackiw and Augustin Hadelich. In February and March Yang explores the music of Rachmaninoff when she performs his Second Piano Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony under Edo de Waart (Feb 3-5), his Paganini Rhapsody with the Vancouver Symphony under Bramwell Tovey (Feb 11 & 13), and his Third Piano Concerto with the Pacific Symphony under Michael Stern (March 1-3).

 Watch Yang performing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Sydney Symphony and de Waart:

For more information, visit the artist's web site or the Arts Management Group web site. 

Vibrant young composer Dan Visconti feels at home writing for string quartet, having originally trained as a violinist. His music is now played by some of today's most exciting string quartets, including the Kronos Quartet, Eclipse Quartet, Aeolus Quartet, Jupiter String Quartet, Jasper String Quartet, Carpe Diem String Quartet, and Corigliano Quartet. On January 27, Kronos will give the UK premiere of Visconti's Love Bleeds Radiant, a work the iconic ensemble commissioned in 2006 as part of its "Under 30 Project" at London's Barbican Centre.

Visconti's Black Bend (2003), a work the composer describes as "transforming the classical ensemble into an amplified blues band trading virtuosic riffs," will be featured on an upcoming Naxos release by the Aeolus Quartet (digital release on March 6, in stores on March 21).

Watch a video of the Aeolus Quartet performing Dan Visconti's Black Bend at the 2011 Fischoff Competition.

For more information, visit www.DanVisconti.com.