Music at the Mansion is an exciting arts and cultural collaboration between Lounsbury House and the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, with the intent of offering chamber music of the highest artistic quality accessibly, while sharing the history and beauty of one of Ridgefield’s most treasured landmarks. See below for upcoming performances in the series.
Purchase tickets to the SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2024 concert.
RSO Steel Drum Trio
featuring Jim Walker, steel drums; Dave Daddario, bass; Lee Caron, drums & percussion
The PERFECT concert for a summer evening! The trio will perform popular steel drum Calypso and Soca songs such as ‘Marianne’, ‘The Hammer’, ‘Yellow Bird’, and ‘Jump in the Line’.
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Purchase tickets to the SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2024 concert.
Julia Choi, Violin & Mika Sasaki, Piano
performing works by Charles Ives, Amy Beach, John Corigliano, Alex Weiser and Reena Esmail
Julia Choi: Violinist Julia Choi joined the First Violin section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2019. Prior to her appointment with the MET, she has performed with various ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Montclair Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as Guest Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Choi has also served as the Concertmaster, Principal Second, and other leadership positions for the Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard Opera, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Music Academy Festival Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia.
A versatile and well-rounded musician, Ms. Choi enjoys a varied musical career of solo, chamber, and orchestral appearances throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Ms. Choi has been praised for her “narrative sweep and involving performance” (NY Times), and “delightful idiosyncrasy” (The Classical Source). Ms. Choi has spent her summers performing at the Verbier Festival, Artosphere Festival, Charles Ives Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Spoleto Festival USA, Great Mountains Music Festival, and Meadowmount School of Music. She is also a prizewinner of competitions including the LISMA International, NJ ASTA, Music Academy Concerto, and Caprio Young Artists Competitions.
A third-generation educator, Ms. Choi is on faculty at Manhattan School of Music’s Pre-College Division, and is part of the Artist-Faculty with Charles Ives Music Festival in Ridgefield, CT. Ms. Choi also teaches violin privately, enjoying a teaching experience of over a decade, with student accomplishments including regional competitions, orchestral auditions, and acceptance to Pre-College programs throughout NYC. For full bio: juliachoiviolinist.com
Mika Sasaki: Praised as a “superb interpreter” (Fanfare) and for her “virtuosity… and sparkling sound” (Times Argus), pianist Mika Sasaki enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed across the U.S. and in the U.K., Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, appearing in notable venues such as the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. Her performances have been broadcasted on WQXR, WFMT, WCRB, KQAC, and Radio Sweden. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Sinfonia of Cambridge, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Orchestra, and more recently, with the InterSchool Symphony Orchestra of New York, performing Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto.
Mika is the pianist of the powerhouse sextet Ensemble Mélange and a newly appointed core member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. As a guest artist, she has performed with the Manhattan Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Connect (alum), Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
She has also taught and performed at pianoSonoma, Rushmore, Omaha Conservatory SoundWaves, Taubman Piano Festival, Charles Ives Music Festival, Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard (Geneva, Switzerland and Orlando, FL) and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. Based in New York City, Mika is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, where she is the Supervisor of Secondary Piano in the College Division and teaches keyboard skills, piano, and chamber music in the College, Pre-College, and Extension Divisions. For full bio: mikasasaki.com
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Purchase tickets to the SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2024 concert.
Rachel Handman, Violin & Keve Wilson, Oboe/Piano
with Justin Rothberg, guitar and Marc Schmied, bass
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Purchase tickets to the SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2024 concert.
Cassatt String Quartet
featuring Muneko Otani & Jennifer Leshnower, violinists
Rosemary Nelis, violist & Gwen Krosnick, cellist
Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment” (Jay Harvey Upstage, 2021), the Cassatt String Quartet has performed across the world to critical acclaim since its founding in 1985, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Tanglewood Music Center, the Kennedy Center, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Centro National de las Artes, Maeda Hall, and Beijing’s Central Conservatory. The Cassatts have performed on the matched quartet of Stradivarius instruments at the Library of Congress; and, as resident quartet at the University of Buffalo, three complete Slee Beethoven String Quartet cycles.
The Quartet’s upcoming projects include major performances, premieres, and recordings of works by Tania León, Dylan Schneider, Shirish Korde, and Daniel S. Godfrey; collaborations with Ursula Oppens, Eliot Fisk, Magdalena Baczewska, Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, Haim Avitsur, David Jackson, and Kyo-Shin-An Arts; hometown concerts in the New York area; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain. Teaching highlights of the CSQ’s 2022-2023 season include masterclasses at Bard Conservatory, Texas Tech University, and College of the Holy Cross; and residencies at Amherst College, Bennington College, and Columbia University’s Music Department and Office of the Core Curriculum.
Alex Ross has named the Cassatt Quartet’s recordings three times in his “10 Best Classical Recordings” feature in The New Yorker Magazine. The group’s discography, which includes over forty recordings, spans the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels. They have been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today,” WGBH Boston, WQXR and WNYC of New York, Canada’s CBC Radio, and Radio France.
The Cassatt Quartet is deeply committed to nurturing young musicians, and has given classes for composers and performers at the American Academy in Rome; the Toho School in Tokyo; the Bowdoin International Music Festival; Columbia, Cornell, Princeton and Syracuse Universities; and the University of Pennsylvania. The CSQ is in residence annually at the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music in Vinalhaven, Maine and at Cassatt in the Basin!, a twice-annual week of community concerts and educational events in West Texas.
Named for the Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, the quartet consists of violinists Muneko Otani and Jennifer Leshnower; violist Rosemary Nelis; and cellist Gwen Krosnick. cassattquartet.com/.
For individual musician bios, click HERE
The Cassatt Quartet’s program for December 2024 is to be announced.
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Past Music at the Mansion Concerts