Death’s Draught: Prokofiev’s Romeo at a Funeral of Chopin
Arts Club of Washington
2017 I Street Northwest, Washington, DC, 20006
Friday, October 18, 2024
Reception begins at 6:30pm Concert begins at 7:15pm
EVENT DETAILS
Join violist Erika Gray and pianist Christopher Schmitt in a celebration of the macabre just in time for Hallow’s Eve! Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite memorializes innocence and youth, conflict and injustice, and ultimately the bittersweet embrace of death. Chopin’s four movement “Funeral March” Sonata highlights the poignancy of longing and despair in one of the most widely recognized tropes in all of classical music.
PLEASE NOTE
The price of your ticket includes hors d’oeuvres and drinks from the open wine and beer bar.
PROGRAM
Chopin – Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Op 35, “Funeral March”
Prokofiev - Excerpts from “Romeo and Juliet” Suite
Violist Erika Gray has performed internationally in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Moscow Conservatory, Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Helsinki Music Centre. and joined the National Symphony Orchestra in May 2019 for their performances of Liszt’s Dante Symphony and Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Carnegie Hall. She has appeared at the BBC Proms on the Royal Albert Hall stage with Maestro Valery Gergiev, and performed at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall. She frequently substitutes with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and traveled to Cambodia in December 2019 as a part of Midori’s International Community Engagement Program. Erika is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Roberto Díaz and Hsin-Yun Huang.
Described as "carefully colored" and "sensitive" by The Washington Post, pianist Christopher Schmitt was also hailed as a “formidable talent” and “mature beyond his years” by The Santa Barbara News-Press, regarding his performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Having completed his doctorate at The Juilliard School in 2016, he has been sponsored for concerts by The Chopin Foundation of the United States, The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, and The Embassy Series. He performs at the festival Málaga Clasica in Spain, as well as in July of 2016 in his own concert series in Barcelona, Classics in Catalan. A collaborator with cellist Kian Soltani on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts in March 2019. Dr. Schmitt currently resides in Washington DC, and as pianist of “The President's Own" US Marine Chamber Orchestra, performs regularly in the White House and in concert halls across the Washington DC metropolitan area, leading a multifaceted career as chamber musician, pedagogue, and soloist. In 2024, he founded the Classical Arts Society of Washington, where he hopes to share the Beauty of classical music with the world through engaging public concerts, educational outreach initiatives, and the cultivation of a core community of classical music lovers.
