(PRINCETON, NJ) -- On Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3:00pm, Westminster Conservatory of Music will present Music for Two Pianos and Friends, a recital featuring the Barton & Lehrer Piano Duo, Westminster Conservatory clarinetist Kenneth Ellison and guest artist Alexei Yavtuhovich, violin. The concert will take place in Bristol Chapel (101 Walnut Lane) in Princeton. Admission is free.

Music for Two Pianos and Friends will include Ferruccio Busoni's Duettino Concertante nach Mozart; Nuages and Fêtes from Ravel's arrangement of Debussy's orchestral work Nocturnes; and the Concerto in C Major for two keyboards by J.S. Bach. Johannes Brahms' Sonata in D minor for Piano and Violin, op. 108 and the Sonata for clarinet and piano by Francis Poulenc complete the program.

Born in Santiago, Chile, pianist Ena Bronstein Barton began her career in South America, touring her native continent. She has received many honors throughout her career, including a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant that resulted in a solo recital at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and the 1996 Distinguished Artists Piano Award by Artists International. Her partnership with pianist Phyllis Alpert Lehrer spans over thirty-five years. Barton has served as head of the piano department at Westminster Conservatory and as a member of the piano faculty of Westminster Choir College of Rider University for many years.

Lehrer is known internationally as a teacher, performer, clinician, author and adjudicator. She has given master classes and workshops, and has enjoyed an active concert career as a soloist and collaborative artist worldwide. She is a professor emerita of piano at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and continues to serve on the faculty of Westminster Conservatory. Lehrer received a bachelor’s with a concentration in music from the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, and a master’s in piano from the Juilliard School of Music.

Ellison has performed internationally with many ensembles, including the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Riverside Symphonia, the Greenville Symphony and the American Fine Arts Festival. He is an adjunct professor of clarinet at Kean University, and teaches clarinet and saxophone at Westminster Conservatory of Music. Ellison's recorded collaborations include Bread of Life with the Tim Keyes Consort, On Course by Laurie Altman, Pictures at an African Exhibition by Darrel Yokley and more. He holds degrees from Furman University and Arizona State University.

Yavtuhovich was born in Belarus, where he earned a bachelor’s degree at Sokolovsky’s Musical College and a master’s degree in violin performance from the Belarusian Academy of Music in Minsk, Belarus. At age 17, Yavtuhovich became a winner of the Republic of Belarus National Young Violinists competition. As a member of the Belarus State Concert Orchestra, the Belarus State Chamber Orchestra and the Belarus String Quartet, he has performed in several European countries.

Since his immigration to the United States in 1996 Yavtuhovich has devoted himself to a range of activities. In 2015 he restarted his artistic career, performing with multiple organizations in the tri-state area and touring in Belarus as soloist with Gomel Chamber Orchestra. He founded the Collegium Musicum in Keyport, New Jersey, in 2018 and serves as the organization’s president and artistic director.

Established in 1970, Westminster Conservatory of Music is the community music school of Rider University. Welcoming young musicians of all ages, skill levels, instrument preferences and economic backgrounds, Westminster Conservatory provides focused one-on-one lessons. In addition, the Conservatory offers a wide range of classes and performing ensembles to engage every student, from the beginner to young maestros, regardless of age. Westminster Conservatory of Music is a nationally recognized institution, maintaining active membership in the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

 

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