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originally published: 03/22/2022

(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- The MOZAIKA Concert Series at Raritan Valley Community College, presented by the College’s Arts & Design department, will offer two benefit concerts in April. Ticket proceeds go to the RVCC Applied Music Fund to help the College’s music majors pay for private lessons on their primary instruments. 

The first concert, “Uncovered Treasures of America,” will be presented Friday, April 8 at 7:00pm in the Nash Theatre at RVCC’s Branchburg campus. Featuring soprano Chantal Freeman and pianist Alla Milchtein, the concert will include music by African-American artists. The works of many of these composers were undervalued and even “hidden” from history until their recent rediscovery. 

The series will continue Sunday, April 10 at 2:00pm in the Nash Theatre, with “Treasures of Jewish Art Music: the St. Petersburg School and Beyond,” a matinee concert featuring clarinetist Louis Arques and pianist Milena Zhivotovskaya. The program will include music by Leonard Bernstein, Alexander Krein, Solomon Rosowsky, Pesach Lvov, and Milena Zhivotovskaya.  

Soprano Chantal Freeman is originally from Chicago. After relocating to Philadelphia, she performed as part of the Amici Opera Company, Main Line Opera Guild’s Concert Series, and as a studio artist at the Russian Opera Workshop. In 2019 she was a finalist in the NANM Marian Anderson Vocal Award Competition and was the 3^rd-place winner in Harlem Opera Theater’s Vocal Competition. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Theology from Fordham University and completed her Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes School of Music. She also was awarded the prestigious Richard F. Gold Career Grant by the Shoshana Foundation. She received her Master of Music Degree from the Butler School of Music of the University of Texas.

Pianist Alla Milchtein, a vocal coach in New York City, is staff pianist at Juilliard School of Music and Mannes College New School for Music. She also has been part of the accompanying staff at the Rotterdam Conservatory (The Netherlands), Scuola di Musica di Fiesole (Italy), and Jalisco State Choir (Mexico). Milchtein has performed at festivals throughout Europe, Mexico, and the United States. She served as a staff pianist at prestigious competitions and also worked as coach/repetiteur for various Opera programs. Milchtein received both a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance and Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Chamber Music from Rotterdam Conservatory and a Professional Studies Diploma in Collaborative Piano at Mannes College New School for Music.

 

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Louis Arques is a clarinet virtuoso, saxophonist, singer, and conductor. He plays classical and contemporary music, as well as Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and jazz music, and early music on period instruments. As a soloist, Arques performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Empire State Symphony; the Debussy Clarinet Rhapsody with Camerata New York; and the Zych Bass Clarinet concerto with Paris Ostinato Orchestra. A sought-after chamber music partner, Arques has engaged in multiple collaborations, including with the internationally acclaimed Quintet of the Americas and the players of the Metropolis Ensemble. He recently joined the Bridget Kibbey’s Bach to Brazil Trio on its U.S. concert series and university residencies.

Ukrainian-born Milena Zhivotovskaya is a New York-based pianist, composer, and collaborator. She has been a prizewinner at the American Fine Arts Festival, The Young Artist Piano and Composers' Competition, the ASCAP Young Composers' Competition, and the Composition in the Arts Program. Zhivotovskaya has performed at such sites as Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, and Colston Hall (UK). She holds Bachelor’s and Master of Music degrees from Mannes College. She studied with Eteri Anjdaparidze at NYU Steinhardt, where she was a member of the adjunct piano faculty. She teaches piano at Lucy Moses School and music theory at Mannes Preparatory Division.

The MOZAIKA Concert Series is designed to promote multicultural dialogue through the performance of music from the classical canon through the 21st Century.

Both concerts also will be streamed lived on the RVCC Music Program's Facebook Page.

A post-performance discussion with the artists will follow both concerts, which will be available for viewing online after the initial performance dates. General admission tickets cost $15 each; admission is free of charge for students and seniors. For advance ticket reservations, contact the RVCC Theatre Box Office at 908-725-3420. For information, call the Arts & Design department at 908-218-8876.

The MOZAIKA Concert Series is made possible by funds from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey.