Concert I - Game of Cards
NOVEMBER 12, 2022 (8:00PM)
NOVEMBER 13, 2022 (3:00PM)
Johannes Brahms, Double Concerto
Gioachino Rossini, Barber of Seville Overture
Igor Stravinsky, Jeu de Cartes (The Card Game) Ballet
Stravinsky’s witty, neoclassical masterpiece Jeu de Cartes (The Card Game) was inspired by his favorite game—Poker! It is hilariously filled with quotations from Beethoven, Johann Strauss, Ravel, Delibes, Tchaikovsky, and even Rossini’s Barber of Seville. It is an orchestral tour de force that requires the virtuosity of your orchestra to bring off. Speaking of virtuosity, we are excited to present a family act for you. The Hersh family is Bay Area musical royalty, with cellist Alex recently winning the 2022 Pro Musicis Award, while his father Stefan is one of the nation’s most revered violinists. In this season of commemoration.
It is entirely fitting that we welcome back Stefan, since he served as the Vallejo Symphony’s concertmaster back in the day.
STEFAN HERSH
Violinist Stefan Hersh is active internationally as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral musician, and pedagogue. Hersh serves as the director of String Chamber Music for the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he has been a faculty member since 2003. Mr. Hersh began his career in his native San Francisco Bay Area, where he studied at the San Francisco Conservatory.
ALEXANDER HERSH
Having performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and the Boston Pops, cellist Alexander Hersh has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile talents of his generation. He has received top prizes at competitions worldwide, including the 2022 Pro Musicis International Award. Hersh is co-artistic director of NEXUS Chamber Music, a collective of international artists committed to stimulating interest in serious chamber music.