A photo from the trio’s 40th anniversary: Sharon Robinson, cello, and Jaime Laredo, violin and Joseph Kalichstein, piano
Cincinnati’s Linton Chamber Music Series lost an important friend last week. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein died on Thursday, March 31 of pancreatic cancer. He was 76. Known to all affectionately as Yossi, he was revered by Cincinnati audiences, who had the joy of hearing him annually perform with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.
His colleagues of more than 45 years, Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson, are the series’ co-artistic directors.
Mr. Kalichstein was to have performed on Sunday with the trio. But when he became too ill to perform, the excellent pianist Ran Dank, a CCM faculty member who studied with him at Juilliard, stepped in on a week’s notice. The program was dedicated to his memory.
The Linton Series dedicated its program to Joseph Kalichstein’s memory. Photo thanks to Noriko Matsui
The concert included piano quartets by Mozart (E-flat Major, K. 493) and Brahms (No. 1 in G Minor), with Nokuthula Ngwenyama elegantly performing on viola. The centerpiece of the program was the world premiere of Ngwenyama’s “Elegy,” a commission of the KLR Trio and the Linton Series.Read More »
The historic Austin Pipe Organ at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church
Covenant-First Presbyterian Church in downtown Cincinnati is inaugurating its first annual organ festival in partnership with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, March 3 and 4 at the Elm Street church.
The church will host a free recital at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, with renowned organist Andrew Henderson. A public master class will follow on March 4.
Currently director of music and organist at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, Dr. Henderson is chair of the organ department at the Manhattan School of Music and organ instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also the associate organist at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El, one of the world’s largest Jewish houses of worship.
The native of Thorold, Ontario, received degrees from Cambridge, Yale University and Juilliard.
“Andrew Henderson is an acclaimed organist who works as a performer, teacher, conductor, and musician of churches and synagogues in many of Manhattan’s most distinguished venues. His diverse program will highlight the color, depth and power of the organ at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church,” said Michael Unger, professor of organ and harpsichord at CCM. “He is an engaging, dynamic and thoughtful musician.”
Organist Andrew Henderson
Henderson will perform on the church’s historic, century-old Austin Pipe Organ. Built by the Austin Organ Co. of Hartford, Connecticut and installed in 1915, it was considered one of the largest organs in this part of the country, with 51 stops and more than 3,100 pipes.
His program –music of J.S. Bach, Bruhns, Sowerby and Mulet — includes works by composers with connections to his current post at New York’s Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.
On Monday, 10 a.m. to noon, March 4, Henderson will lead a masterclass/workshop that will showcase the talents of CCM students in Unger’s studio. The event will focus on topics for church musicians.
Both events are free and open to the public at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm Street, downtown.
The church will also sponsor a dinner at Moerlein Lager House for Dr. Henderson, Dr. Unger and CCM organ students.
The Austin Pipe Organ was given by Mrs. W. W. Seely in memory of her husband, Dr. William Wallace Seely. Following a fire in April, 1960, the organ was completely restored by Charles D. and James Hildreth and has since been updated and renovated in 1974, 1999, and 2000.
For more information, visit covfirstchurch.org; 513-621-4144.
