Edward Arron & Friends Perform at the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County Part II of the 2015 Chamber Music Series

CAMDEN, SC – The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County (FAC) is pleased to bring Edward Arron & Friends to Camden for the second concert of the three-part Chamber Music Series on Monday, February 9. The concert will begin at 7:00 p.m., immediately following a cocktail hour beginning at 6:00 p.m. The concert will feature selections by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Weber and Debussy . Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 the day of the concert, with a student ticket for $15. The 2014-15 Chamber Music Series is sponsored by The Frederick S. Upton Foundation, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch-Kohn Spring Group, Tom & Virginia Ann Mullikin and Kennedy Insurance Agency. There will also be an opportunity to enjoy Lens of Time the current exhibition in the Bassett Gallery with an exciting interactive photo booth and more during the reception.

• About Edward Arron & Friends
Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

In 2013, Mr. Arron completed a 10-year residency as the artistic director of the critically acclaimed Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert, a chamber music series created in 2003 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Museum’s prestigious Concerts and Lectures series. Currently, he is the artistic director, host, and resident performer of the Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut, as well as the Festival Series in Beaufort, South Carolina and Chamber Music on Main at the Columbia Museum in Columbia, SC. Additionally, Mr. Arron curates a series, “Edward Arron and Friends,” at the Caramoor International Music Festival, and is the co-artistic director along with his wife, pianist Jeewon Park, of the new Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Mr. Arron has performed numerous times at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls, New York’s Town Hall, and the 92nd Street Y, and is a frequent performer at Bargemusic. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, BRAVO! Colorado, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music, Great Mountains, Charlottesville, Telluride Musicfest, Seoul Spring, Lake Champlain Chamber Music, and Bard Music Festival. He has participated in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project as well as Isaac Stern’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters.

Acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova is a young musician with a growing international career as a soloist and recording artist. The Strad has praised, “Every sound she draws is superb,” and The Washington Post noted that she is “a player of impressive power and control.” Recipient of a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Hristova’s 2014-2015 season features a mix of concerto, recital and chamber music performances, as well as educational outreach activities. She showcases her wide-ranging repertoire this season, as she performs 10 different concertos, from Bernstein and Corigliano to Prokofiev and Sibelius, as well as the world premiere of an unaccompanied work by Joan Tower. She performs chamber music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and at the Cactus Pear Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Skaneateles Festival, and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Hristova appears in encore recital performances in the Young Concert Artists Series at Merkin Concert Hall and at the Kennedy Center.

A sought-after chamber musician, Ms. Hristova performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at many music festivals including the Young Concert Artists Festival in Tokyo, the Grand Teton Festival, the Brevard Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, the Mainly Mozart Festival, Music from Angel Fire, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival. She has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio. She made her New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series at Merkin Concert Hall and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and at the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston.

Called a “wanderer between worlds” by the Lucerne Festival, Swiss-born American pianist Gilles Vonsattel is an artist of extraordinary versatility and originality. Comfortable with and seeking out an enormous range of repertoire, Vonsattel displays a musical curiosity and sense of adventure that has gained him many admirers. His performance highlights during the 2013-2014 Season include Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with the Springfield (MA) Symphony, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 with the Quebec Symphony, recital debuts at the Lucerne Festival and in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, as well as recitals in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, Geneva (Switzerland), Frankfurt, and Ludwigshafen (Germany.)

Mr. Vonsattel began touring after capturing the top prize at the prestigious 2002 Naumburg International Piano Competition. He went on to win numerous prizes in major international events such as the Cleveland and Honens competitions, and was the winner of the 2006 Concours de Genève and an Avery Fisher career grant winner. Deeply committed to the chamber music repertoire, Gilles Vonsattel has been an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since the 2012-2013 season, and is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two. He has appeared in concert extensively under the auspices of the Society, in New York and on tour. He is Assistant Professor of Piano at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Gilles Vonsattel is a Steinway Artist.

Clarinetist Todd Palmer has appeared as performance artist, concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber music collaborator, educator, arranger, and presenter in a variety of musical endeavors around the world. He has appeared as soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras in the US and abroad, including those of Houston, Atlanta, St. Paul, Cincinnati, Montréal, BBC Scotland, and has shared the stage with a range of renowned artists and ensembles, including sopranos Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Elizabeth Futral, Heidi Grant Murphy, Dawn Upshaw; and the St. Lawrence, Brentano, Borromeo, Chiara, Daedelus, Lark, Pacifica and Ying string quartets.

Mr. Palmer was the first wind player to be awarded the grand prize in the Ima Hogg Young Artist Auditions and later went on to win the Young Concert Artist International Auditions in NYC. Palmer has appeared as recitalist and lecturer at major performing arts centers and universities in 48 states. He has been a participant for 20 years at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston SC, and was a member of the highly popular touring group Spoleto Chamber Music USA, which was heard around the U.S. for 10 years and on annual NPR broadcasts. In addition to a wealth of chamber music performances, he has also held principal clarinet positions in the Minnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Gotham Opera of NYC, the Grand Teton Festival, and in Lincoln Center’s revival of South Pacific. Moreover, Mr. Palmer has also collaborated with director Robert La Page in The Nightingale and Other Fables at BAM, and choreographers Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, and Mark Morris – for whom he gave the world premiere of Crosswalk in 2013, a new work for clarinet and dance especially created for him in 2013.

To read more about any of the artists, please visit the FAC website at www.fineartscenter.org.

• About the series
The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County’s Chamber Music Series consists of three performances in the FAC’s Wood Auditorium. An annual staple of FAC programming, the series continues to draw attention for its world-class performances. Edward Arron and Friends will perform for students from Kershaw County in the Wood Auditorium Monday morning prior to the evening’s performance. The musicians will engage the young audience members throughout the concert, encouraging them to listen, to think, and to provide feedback for a truly interactive concert experience. This performance is made possible through a partnership with the Kershaw County School District.

For more information or tickets call 803-425-7676 extension 300 or visit the FAC website at www.fineartscenter.org. The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County is located at 810 Lyttleton Street in Camden. Box office hours are Monday through Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and Thursday 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

The Fine Arts Center is funded in part by the Frederick S. Upton Foundation and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding is provided by the City of Camden, Kershaw County, and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina along with donations from businesses and individuals.