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Saint Vincent College Concert Series

The Saint Vincent College Concert Series presents world-class performances by internationally-acclaimed artists during the academic year. The series emphasizes the traditional classical chamber music repertoire, but occasionally jazz and folk music groups and dance ensembles have been featured as well.

Concert Series performers have won some of the top prizes in the world, including the:

  • International Tchaikovsky Competition
  • International Chopin Piano Competition
  • Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
  • Queen Elisabeth Music Competition
  • ARD International Music Competition
  • Young Concert Artists International Competition
  • Concert Artists International Competition
  • Cleveland International Piano Competition and
  • other national and international competitions throughout the world

2019-2020 Season

  • Yoonah Kim and Kevin Ahfat

    Yoonah Kim, Clarinetist and Kevin Ahfat, Piano

    7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7
    Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center

    Yoonah-KimClarinetist Yoonah Kim is earning recognition as a young artist of uncommon musical depth and versatility, performing works ranging from Johannes Brahms to Jorg Widmann. Winner of the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, this Korean-Canadian artist is the first solo clarinetist to win the award in three decades. Born in Seoul and raised in British Columbia, Kim holds a master of music degree from The Juilliard School and a bachelor of music degree from the Mannes College of Music at the New School, where she studied clarinet under Charles Neidich.

    Her program is titled “Dear Clara” and will include Schumann: Fantasiestuck Op. 73 (11); Clara: Selections from Clara Schumann Songs; Schumann: Sonata in A minor (transcribed by Yoonah Kim) (16). Following intermission she will play Clara: Three Romances (12); and Brahms: Sonata no.2 in Eb Major (26).

    Kevin-AhfatYoonah Kim will be accompanied by pianist Kevin Ahfat, who completed principal studies at the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Joseph Kalichstein and Stephen Hough and recently finished his time in-residence as a Rebanks Fellow at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.  He is a grateful recipient of a 2019 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award.

    A Canadian, Ahfat gave the North American Premiere of Saint-Saëns’ Third Sonata for Cello & Piano, recently published by Bärenreiter-Verlag.  In anticipation of this, he filmed and produced a mini-documentary titled Soirée pour Camille, a short film documenting the historical context of the work, the artistic partnership of Ahfat & Herlin, and their joint exploration of French music.  Continuing his dynamic exploration of music in-tandem with film, he recently partnered with Riddle Films to release a cinematic performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition filmed live at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. 

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  • Jeanne Cotter, Pianist, Composer, Storyteller

    Jeanne Cotter, Pianist, Composer, Storyteller

    7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19
    Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center 

    Jean-CotterJeanne Cotter is a singer-songwriter and liturgical composer who has performed throughout the United States and Canada with original piano works, inspirational songs, and heartwarming and often humorous stories about growing up in an Irish-Catholic family in southern Minnesota. Called “one of Catholic music’s most gifted liturgical musicians” by Catholic Faith & Family Magazine, for more than two decades Cotter has inspired and taught audiences throughout the United States and abroad.

    She holds a bachelor of arts degree in music (piano and vocal performance) and theology from the University of Saint Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota and has completed advanced studies in songwriting, contemporary vocal pedagogy and music business from the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. She has numerous recordings and music collections published by both GIA Publications, Inc., and her own company, Mythic Rain Productions. Her CDs include Tender Hearted, Amber, The Old Gravel Road, and What Child Is This.

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  • Benjamin Baker and Daniel Lebhart

    Benjamin Baker, Violin and Daniel Lebhart, Piano

    7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9
    Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center

    Benjamin-BakerViolinist Benjamin Baker, a New Zealand native, and pianist Daniel Lebhart, of Hungary, are fresh off engagements at London’s Wigmore Hall and in Galway and Dublin, Ireland.

    Benjamin Baker won First Prize and additional performance prizes at the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Baker’s first U.S. tour included recital debuts on the Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, sponsored by the Peter Jay Sharp Prize. In 2015 he released his first CD for Champs Hill Records which immediately went to No.12 in the Classical Charts. 

    Baker studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music where he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Rose Bowl.  He was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust in 2013 and in the same year won 1st Prize at the Windsor International Competition. He plays on a Tononi violin (1709) on loan from a private individual.

    Daniel-LebhartLebhardt won First Prize at the 2014 Young Concert Artists Auditions in Paris, and then won YCA’s International Auditions in New York, where he was also awarded the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and four concert performance prizes. Among his many other accolades, Lebhardt won First Prizes at the Russian Music International Piano Competition in California, Citta di Gorizia International Piano Competition in Italy, Kosice International Piano Competition in Slovakia, and Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition in Romania.

    Lebhardt started piano lessons at the age of six, and from the age of nine attended the Special School of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, studying with István Gulyás and Gyöngyi Keveházi. He attended the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher Elton, and the studio of Pascal Nemirovski. He has played in master classes for Alfred Brendel, Leslie Howard, Ferenc Rados and Mikhail Voskresensky.

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  • Nathan Lee, Piano

    Nathan Lee, piano

    2020 Bronder Prize for Piano

    7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25
    Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center

    Nathan-LeeAt the age of 15, Nathan Lee won First Prize in the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, as well as fourteen special prizes. Lee, of Seattle, began playing the piano at the age of six and made his orchestral debut at the age of nine. His engagements this season include his Kennedy Center debut on the 39th Young Concert Artists Series in Washington, DC, recitals at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Center, Rockefeller University, on the Harriman-Jewell Series (MO), at the Port Washington Library, and as soloist with the Seattle Symphony in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle in Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5.

    Lee participated in Musicfest Perugia in Italy and the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland. He has already been heard with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on NPR’s From the Top, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, and he shared the stage with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Lang Lang on the Seattle Symphony’s Gala Evening. He has given recitals in Korea, for Radio France, and in Perugia, Italy where, to a sold-out audience, he performed in a “Three Generations Concert” featuring his instructor Sasha Starcevich, pianist and his instructor Ilana Vered, pianist.

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  • Pennsylvania Pipes! Three Pennsylvanian Organists in Concert

    Pennsylvania Pipes! Three Pennsylvanian Organists in Concert:
    Donald Fellows, J. Christopher Pardini, Wesley Parrott

    7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15
    Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica

    Fellows-Pardini-ParrottDonald K. Fellows, a native of Glen Cove, New York, is organist and director of music of Saint Paul Cathedral and faculty member of the Department of Music of the University of Pittsburgh providing organ instruction. He is past chair of the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians, an organization in which he has been active since 1984. He is a former dean of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and a former director of that organization’s Organ Artists Series. He earned the bachelor of music degree and master of music degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1980 and 1987, respectively.  He pursued further studies in Cambridge, England in 1985 in the Cambridge Choral Studies Institute.

    J. Christopher Pardini maintains an active concert schedule as a concert organist both in the United States and abroad. Serving as organist and director of music at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg, Pardini earned the bachelor of music degree in sacred music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was an organ student of Donald McDonald and Eugene Roan. He also earned the master of music degree in organ performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he was a student of David Higgs. The first-place winner in the 1998 San Marino Organ Competition, in San Marino, California, Pardini has also studied organ with Kenrick Mervine and Gavin Black, and organ improvisation with Gerre Hancock. In addition, he has studied voice with Paulo Faustini and Tracy Chebra, and choral conducting with James Jordan and Andrew Magill. He is also a lecturer of music at Saint Vincent College.

    Wesley Parrott currently serves as organist at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, and as liturgical musician at Saint Francis De Sales Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia. He is also a regular assistant organist performing on the Macy’s Grand Court Wanamaker Organ, Philadelphia.He holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia; The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee; and Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, New York; and has been the winner of three U.S. national organ competitions. He has performed in such places as Longwood Gardens; Ocean Grove, New Jersey; The Kennedy Center; Washington National Cathedral; The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; Chartres Cathedral, and major churches and Cathedrals in England during choir tours given by The University Choir (The University of the South). His recordings are available through the Organ Historical Society.

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  • A Night of Intimate Chamber Music and Conversation

    Christopher Wu, violin; Susanne Park, violin;
    Andrew Wickesburg, viola; Anne Martindale Williams, cello

    A Night of Intimate Chamber Music and Conversation Featuring Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Musicians

    7 p.m. Saturday, March 14
    Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center

    Wu-Park-Wickesburg-WilliamsViolinist Christopher Wu enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral and chamber musician, teacher and soloist. Wu joined the first violin section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1988, and holds the Nancy & Jeffery Leininger First Violin Chair. An active chamber musician, Wu has played with a wide range of artists including Nancy Wilson, Joshua Bell, and the Muir String Quartet.

    Susanne Park joined the PSO’s first violin section in 2006. She studied violin performance with Peter Zazofsky of the Muir String Quartet before joining the San Diego Symphony. She came to Pittsburgh in 1996 and was assistant concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestras until 2001. Park has won numerous violin competitions, including grand prize at the Mid-America Violin Competition.

    Violist Andrew Wickesberg has been a member of the PSO since 2007-08. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, he earned his bachelor of music in viola and violin in 2003 from Indiana University and a master of music in viola performance from New England Conservatory. Prior to joining the PSO, Wickesberg held a position with the New World Symphony.

    Anne Martindale Williams has been principal cellist of the PSO since 1979. She has often been featured as soloist both in Pittsburgh and on tour in New York at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. She was soloist with the PSO in the Pittsburgh premier of The Giving Tree conducted by the composer, Lorin Maazel. She also teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, and performs throughout the world.

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  • Tickets

    SEASON TICKETS are $117 per person. Season ticket holders receive premium seating at each concert.

    FLEX PASSES are $125 each. A flex pass is good for any six admissions.

    SINGLE TICKETS are $26.  

    STUDENTS from Saint Vincent, other colleges and universities, and middle school and high school are admitted free with school ID. Children 12 and younger are admitted for free with adult supervision. 

    GROUP RATES are available for groups of 10 or more. Please call 724-805-2177.

    DONATIONS are crucial for maintaining the exceptional caliber of performers we bring to the Saint Vincent stage and for providing free admission for all students. Donations are tax deductible, and donors are listed in all Concert Series programs. Please consider making a gift in celebration: 

    ENCORE CLUB

    $1,000+

    CONCERTO CLUB

    $750-999

    SONATA CLUB

    $500-749

    MOTET CLUB

    $250-499

    PRELUDE CLUB

    $100-249

    FRIEND OF MUSIC

    Gifts up to $100

    All Sales Final. No Refunds.
    Programs and artists are subject to change.

About

Aletheia TrioThe Saint Vincent College Concert Series presents world-class performances by internationally acclaimed artists during each academic year. The series emphasizes the traditional classical chamber music repertoire, and artists of other genres have been featured as well.

Performers have won top prizes in national and international competitions and have performed on many of the world’s greatest stages.

The Saint Vincent College Concert Series was founded by Rev. Joseph Bronder, O.S.B., in 1971 and guided by his vision until his retirement. In 2007, Br. Nathan Cochran, O.S.B., was named artistic director. After seven years of faithful leadership, Br. Nathan passed away in 2014. Currently Thomas Octave serves as Concert Series Director.

BronderIn 2008, to recognize Fr. Joseph Bronder’s many contributions as a concert pianist, piano teacher and classical music presenter, a prize for piano was named in his honor. Each season, the Bronder Prize for Piano is awarded to an exceptionally talented young pianist at the beginning of his career. The honoree is selected to perform in the Concert Series, and receives a prize consisting of a trophy and cash performance award.

Past Recipients

2007/2008 Benjamin Moser, German
2008/2009 Daria Rabotkina, Russian
2009/2010 Ran Dank, Israeli
2010/2011 Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, Americans
2011/2012 George Li, Chinese-American
2012/2013 Andrew Tyson, American
2013/2014 Ji, Korean
2014/2015 Yun-Chin Zhou, Chinese
2015/2016 Fei-Fei Dong, Chinese
2016/2017 Tomer Gewirtzman,Israeli

 

We welcome questions and comments at:

The Saint Vincent College Concert Series
Saint Vincent College
300 Fraser Purchase Road
Latrobe, PA 15650

724-805-2177