Christa’s Birthday Spectacular
UPDATE: Due to icy roads and record snow levels in Portland and for the safety of the performers, hosts, and staff, today’s Thursdays @ Three will now feature a mix of new interviews and historic performances from the T@T archives. Join us for an extended episode with past and never-before-heard performances by Chanticleer, Duo Stephanie & Saar, and Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer Marc-André Hamelin.
February 23, 2023: For her birthday this year, host Christa Wessel wished for a super-sized episode of Thursdays @ Three featuring some of her favorite musicians… and her wish came true!
Join us to celebrate Christa’s special day with an extended 90-minute episode with performances by pianists Duo Stephanie & Saar and vocal ensemble Chanticleer (presented by Friends of Chamber Music).
ABOUT
Pianists Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia collaborate as DUO Stephanie and Saar in dazzling performances filled with visceral excitement, elegance and artistic vision. Recent performances include their Lincoln Center debut with Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; collaboration with Philadelphia’s Orchestra 2001 in a complete performance of Frank Zappa’s The Yellow Shark and Symphony Space’s Wall to Wall Bernstein, a marathon celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th anniversary.
Other peak performance include collaborations with New World Symphony’s Percussion Consort; multiple projects with Miami’s Dranoff Two Piano Foundation including the world premiere of Fantasia de Très Mundos by Cuban-American jazz pianist Martin Bejerano; Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival; Washington DC’s Smithsonian Museum of American Art and sold-out performances at New York City’s (le) poisson rouge.
Learn more at stephsaarduo.com.
The GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling over one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world.
Learn more at chanticleer.org.
Year after year Friends of Chamber Music brings the best chamber musicians from around the world to Portland. The impact of their programming reaches far beyond the concert hall. Each season, they partner with local schools to offer their visiting ensembles in workshops at no charge. Activities range from lecture/demonstrations to informal coaching to formal master classes.
Learn more at focm.org.
“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. He regularly performs around the globe with the leading orchestras and conductors of our time, and gives recitals at major concert venues and festivals worldwide.
Mr. Hamelin has composed music throughout his career, with over 30 compositions to his name. The majority of those works—including the Etudes and Toccata on L’homme armé, commissioned by the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—are published by Edition Peters. His most recent work, his Piano Quintet, was premiered in August 2022 by himself and the celebrated Dover Quartet at La Jolla Music Society.
Learn more at marcandrehamelin.com.
This episode was originally scheduled to include a live performance by gifted pianist Orli Shaham (presented by the Vancouver Symphony). We hope to have her in the studio soon!
Learn more at orlishaham.com and vancouversymphony.org.
