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Special Performance by One of the Classical Music World’s Great Personalities

Adds to Celebratory Nature of

North Shore Chamber Music Festival’s 2012 Season Opening Concert

Henry Fogel makes rare appearance as Guest Narrator in Ridout’s Ferdinand and the Bull

January 6, 2012 – North Shore Chamber Music Festival Executive Director, pianist Angela Yoffe and Artistic Director, violinist Vadim Gluzman, today proudly welcomed Henry Fogel, renowned administrator, writer, teacher, radio producer/host and arts consultant, as a special guest in the June 6, 2012 Season Opening Concert.  Mr. Fogel, who currently serves as Dean of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, will make a rare appearance as guest narrator in Ferdinand the Bull, Alan Ridout’s charming musical adaptation of one of the bestselling children’s books of all time, “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf.

Ferdinand the Bull for violin and narrator tells the 75 year-old children’s tale of a gentle bull who would rather sit under a tree and smell flowers than fight in the bull ring. Narrated by Mr. Fogel, and sign narrated by actress Kirsten Moomey Merilo, with Mr. Gluzman performing the violin part, the work highlights the dual nature of the Festival: to contribute to the artistic enrichment of the community through carefully designed programs presenting first-rate artists in concerts offering a rich variety of classical chamber music, and contributing to the community through collaborations with local area organizations and schools. One of this year’s local organizations is the International Center on Deafness and the Arts through Education (ICODA), which strives to educate, enrich and empower deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children and adults through quality artistic and educational experiences.

In making the announcement, Ms. Yoffe stated, “Known and admired in a variety of roles, from a most charismatic and knowledgeable radio host to his extraordinary tenure as President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Henry Fogel is one of the few truly great personalities in the world of music today. It gives us great pleasure to welcome him as a part of the 2012 North Shore Chamber Music Festival!”

Alongside the blockbusters of the chamber music repertoire like Mendelssohn’s Octet, Franck’s Piano Quintet and Brahms' Piano Trio, audiences will be treated to introductions of lesser known works - Alfred Schnittke’s Moz-Art for 2 Violins and Osvado Golijov's “Tenebrae” for Soprano, Clarinet and String Quartet.

Vadim Gluzman said, “Based on Mozart's unfinished excerpt (KV416), Moz-Art is a sardonic, humorous, and at the same time, sad, short piece that incorporates some very original violinistic (and not so violinistic) tricks such as whistling and scordatura - cross-tuning of the violin using pegs to change the pitch.

‘Tenebrae’ by Golijov is one of the most beautiful and haunting pieces written in the last decade. In the words of the composer himself: "...Tenebrae could be heard as the slow, quiet reading of an illuminated medieval manuscript in which the appearances of the voice singing the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet (from Yod to Nun...) signal the beginning of new chapters, leading to the ending section, built around a single, repeated word: Jerusalem."

Performed by true musical poets - clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and soprano Hyunah Yu, this performance will surely ring for a long time in our hearts and souls.”

The North Shore Chamber Music Festival continues its original evening concert format and has expanded the pre-concert event portion to include all three evenings, and will include presentations by students from ICODA, students from The Betty Haag Academy of Music, and Stradivari Society of Chicago Chairman Geoffrey Fushi. 

North Shore Chamber Music Festival

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2012

6:00 PM Pre-Concert Performance*                       

ICODA ON STAGE

Presentation by young artists from the International Center on Deafness and the Arts through Education

7:30 PM OPENING NIGHT                                           

“FROM DUO TO OCTET”

Bartok, Rhapsody No.1 for Violin and Piano, Sz. 86, BB 94a

Vadim Gluzman, violin

Angela Yoffe, piano

Beethoven, String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132, “Heiliger Dankgesang"

Pacifica Quartet

Ridout, Ferdinand the Bull for violin and narrator

Vadim Gluzman, violin

Henry Fogel, narrator (spoken word)

Kirsten Moomey Merilo, narrator (sign language)

Mendelssohn, Octet for Strings, Op. 20

Vadim Gluzman, violin

Olga Kaler, violin

Sibbi Bernhardsson , violin

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola

Masumi Per Rostad, viola

Mark Kosower, cello

Brandon Vamos, cello

Click on PDF below to read or download complete release, including biography for Mr. Fogel and other details.

NOVEMBER 15, 2011 – Internationally acclaimed musicians violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Angela Yoffe are pleased to announce the details of the second season of the North Shore Chamber Music Festival (NSCMF). The brainchild of Ms. Yoffe, the North Shore Chamber Music Festival brings established and up-and-coming classical musicians to North Shore audiences in a compact series of concerts taking place at The Village Presbyterian Church in Northbrook, Illinois, this June 6, 8 and 9, 2012. The intimate, three-day festival celebrating chamber music offers an exciting mix of traditional and contemporary chamber music performed by some of today’s celebrated classical artists.

In announcing the 2012 season, pianist Angela Yoffe, founder and executive director of North Shore Chamber Music Festival, said, “We are thrilled to have with us this summer such phenomenal talents as the Pacifica Quartet, clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, pianist Adam Neiman, cellist Mark Kosower, and soprano Hyunah Yu in their only Chicago area summer performances, as well as locally based violinist Olga Kaler.”

Festival artistic director, violinist Vadim Gluzman, stated, “The 2012 season offers a variety of classical chamber music for all tastes – ranging from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 and Mendelssohn’s beloved Octet to Alan Ridout’s enchanting work for solo violin and narrator, Ferdinand the Bull, Stravinsky’s moving L'histoire du Soldat and Golijov’s “Tenebrae” for soprano, clarinet and string quartet.”

Following the success of its inaugural season last June, the Festival continues its original evening concert format and has expanded the pre-concert event portion to include all three evenings. The Festival’s opening concert is preceded by a pre-concert presentation on June 6th by young artists from the Northbrook International Center on Deafness and the Arts through Education (ICODA). The Festival looks forward to collaborating with ICODA, which strives to educate, enrich and empower deaf, hard of hearing and hearing children and adults through quality artistic and educational experiences. Back by popular demand, some of the Chicago area's talented young music students present a pre-concert showcase on June 8th. The final pre-concert event takes place on June 9th. Stradivari Society of Chicago Chairman Geoffrey Fushi leads a scintillating, exclusive conversation with Festival artists on some of the world’s most sought-after string instruments. World-acclaimed, The Stradivari Society of Chicago is dedicated to the preservation and pursuit of excellence in classical music by identifying the most promising artists around the globe and uniting them with superb Italian stringed instruments to help them launch and sustain professional careers through instrument loans.

Ms. Yoffe added, “The goal of the NSCMF is two-fold: one, to contribute to the artistic enrichment of the community through carefully designed programs presenting first-rate artists in concerts offering a variety of classical chamber music, and two, to provide educational and performing opportunities for emerging talented young musicians. This summer, we are pleased to announce that violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt is the Festival’s 2012 Haag/Galvin Young Artist. The Festival also strives to contribute to the community through collaborations with local area organizations and schools. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital, one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country according to U.S. News & World Report, and the Betty Haag Academy of Music, a 40 year-old institution based on the Chicago’s North Shore offering musical instruction in violin, piano, note reading and repertoire classes to children of all ages and races. We look forward to our new alliance with the International Center on Deafness and the Arts through Education (ICODA), which strives to educate, enrich and empower deaf, hard of hearing and hearing children and adults through quality artistic and educational experiences. The Festival is also pleased to add to the pre-concert events and performances an art exhibit of works by young artists from ICODA, which will be on display in the lobby of The Village Presbyterian Church throughout the Festival. Several of the works that will be on display are previous “Best of Show” winners in ICODA’s Annual Creative Arts Festival for children across the nation. And included in the exhibit will be examples of De’via Art (Deaf, View, Image, Art) which is an expression of Deaf Culture through arts.”

Chamber music aficionados wishing to support the Festival and to have an exclusive advance preview of the Festival’s offerings can do so at the upcoming festival benefit concert January 8, 2012, featuring Mr. Gluzman and Ms. Yoffe. Those interested in becoming a Festival Supporter should call the Festival office or email office@nscmf.org for more details.

Among the local organizations who are graciously providing encouragement and support for the North Shore Chamber Music Festival are: The Stradivari Society of Chicago and Bein & Fushi; The Betty Haag Academy of Music, Magical Strings of Youth; The Village Presbyterian Church; Pianoforte Chicago Inc.; The Hilton Chicago Northbrook; Prestige Auto Gallery; MB Financial Bank; the Law Office of Margaret Szymansky; Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Glenview; Starbucks Coffee in Glenview; Sunset Foods in Northbrook; Schaumburg Florist & Gifts; Amor Kosher Pizza located in Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook; Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook; and Elita Store in Wheeling.

Click on the link below to view or download the biographies of the 2012 Season Artists.

Photos are available in jpeg format upon request.