Gretna Music closes 2024 season with two matinee concerts

Gretna Music presents Tesla Quartet with Joel Fan, piano on Sunday, September 1 at 3 p.m. and the Manhattan Chamber Players on Saturday, September 7 at 3 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Mt. Gretna Playhouse, 200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Mt. Gretna, PA.

Tesla Quartet and Joel Fan will be performing String Quartet No. 4 by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, Quintet for piano and strings by Sophia Gubaidulina, which pays homage to Shostakovich, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in g minor, a five-movement work.

Manhattan Chamber Player’s program will feature Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. The group will also perform three other works: Adagio by Samuel Barber, Ciaccona (Clarinet Quintet) by Chris Rogerson, and Piano Quintet by Andrea Casarrubios.

About Tesla Quartet and Joel Fan

The Tesla Quartet is known all over the world for their “superb capacity to find the inner heart of everything they play, regardless of era, style, or technical demand” (The International Review of Music). From cutting edge contemporary works to established masterpieces, the Tesla Quartet’s emotive and thoughtful interpretations reveal the ensemble’s deep commitment to the craft and to their ever-expanding repertoire. The quartet recognizes the power of their platform to amplify underrepresented voices and to encourage the proliferation of an equitable and just future for society as well as a hospitable climate for posterity. The group is made up of Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie on violin, Edwin Kaplan on viola, and Austin Fisher on cello.

Pianist Joel Fan is acclaimed as “soaring” (Los Angeles Times), “fantastic” (Washington Post), and possessing a “probing intellect and vivid imagination” (New York Times). Celebrated for his exuberant virtuosity, and a bold repertoire that embraces piano classics and inspired discoveries of contemporary and world music, Fan re-invents the piano recital by illuminating the rare and unexpected–creating, in the words of the Baltimore Sun’s critic Tim Smith, “one of the most satisfying piano performances I’ve heard.” Joel Fan has recorded for Reference Recordings, Sony Classical, Verdant World Records, and Albany Records. He is a Steinway Artist.

About Manhattan Chamber Players

The Manhattan Chamber Players, is a chamber music collective of New York-based musicians who share the common aim of performing the greatest works in the chamber repertoire at the highest level. Formed by Founding Artistic Director Luke Fleming, MCP is comprised of an impressive roster of musicians who all come from the tradition of great music making at the Marlboro Music Festival, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festivals and Perlman Music Program. Many of the group’s members are former students of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, Colburn School, New England Conservatory, and Yale School of Music.

Doors for Tesla Quartet and Joel Fan’s concert will open at 2 pm, as there is a First Listen at 2:15 pm. The First Listen performer will be violinist Mio Amai. First Listen is a series of free 20 minute, miniconcerts by talented, local students that are presented before most of our performances.

Doors for the Manhattan Chamber Players will also open at 2 pm, as there is a First Listen at 2:15 pm. The First Listen performer will be Isabel Morales on cello.

Gretna Music Presents final First Listens of the season!

Gretna Music’s First Listen is a series of pre-concert mini-concerts (about 20 minutes long) by our area’s most talented youth. The series offers students the chance to perform for a friendly audience and to interact with the professional musicians backstage. It is free for all to attend. All concerts take place in the Mt. Gretna Playhouse, 200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Mt. Gretna PA.

Hailing from Clarksville, Maryland, Lydia You is an oboist who will perform before medieval group Concordian Dawn on Sunday, August 25 at 6:45 pm. Lydia is a rising senior at River Hill High School, where she is involved in multiple school ensembles. Outside of school, she is a member of the Peabody Youth Orchestra, Howard County Youth Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra. Lydia was also principal oboist of the Maryland All-State Orchestra this past year, and actively participates in intensives at Interlochen and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She has been a camp counselor at the Ellicott City Band Camp for the past three years. Lydia has received awards from the Howard County Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, Youth Instrumental Music Competition, and was a scholarship winner from the Women’s Symphony Association.

Young violinist Mio Amai will perform prior to Tesla Quartet’s concert with pianist Joel Fan on Sunday, September 1 at 2:15 pm. Mio made her debut as a soloist with the New York Session Symphony at the age of 9, followed by several other orchestras. This past year, Mio won the 1st prize in the 2024 Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition (Belgium), 2024 MTNA National Competition (US), and 2023 Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition (Italy). Mio is also the principal second violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She received a full scholarship from Starling Foundation for 2024 Meadowmount School of Music. Mio currently plays chamber and orchestral music in the Center for Gifted Young Musicians Program at Temple University.

Cellist Isabel Morales will be performing before Manhattan Chamber Players’ concert on Saturday, September 7 at 2:15 pm. Isabel is a senior at Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP) where she is the principal cellist in the orchestra. She is also co-principal cellist in the Youth Chamber Orchestra at the Temple University Center for Gifted Young Musicians and has performed with the group both in Philadelphia and in Iceland. She is a winner of the Old York Road Symphony’s Young Artists’ Competition, the Ambler Symphony Scholarship Award, and the Women’s Symphony Association’s Youth Instrumental Music Competition (Lancaster).

Doors for August 25 will open at 6:30 pm.

Doors for both September 1 and 7 will open at 2 pm.

For tickets and more info, visit gretnamusic.org or call (717) 361-1508. Ticket prices for both concerts range from $5 – $25. The two concerts will have open seating by section. Special pricing for performances includes $5 tickets for ages 18 and under, $5 tickets for adults who bring a young person, $10 tickets for students, half-price tickets for ages 30 and under, 10% off for active and retired military, and Pay What You Will options.

Gretna Music’s mission is to bring excellent musicians to central PA. Established in 1975, primarily as a chamber music festival, the organization now offers jazz, family shows, and other non-classical offerings during the summer at the Mt. Gretna Playhouse. The pavilion-style Mt. Gretna Playhouse offers remarkable acoustics. It is open on the sides for summer breezes, allowing the occasional birds and cicadas to join in while the musicians play. Seating area is covered, as is the stage.