CityMusic Cleveland's Holiday Concert Series
Conductor: Joel Smirnoff Violinist: Kyung Sun Lee Soprano: Chabrelle Williams

Vivaldi: Four Seasons
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings, Op.48
Handel: Excerpts from the Messiah

Wednesday, December 8 - 7:30pm Fairmount Presbyterian Church, Cleveland Heights
Thursday, December 9 - 7:30pm Elyria High School, Elyria
Friday, December 10 - 7:30pm Shrine of St. Stanislaus, Slavic Village
Saturday, December 11 - 7:30pm United Methodist Church, Willoughby
Sunday, December 12 - 2:30pm St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, Cleveland

    Conductor and violinist Joel Smirnoff has been a member of the 4 time Grammy Award winning Juilliard Quartet since 1986, and the ensemble's leader since 1997. In 2008 he was appointed president of the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2000 Mr. Smirnoff made his American conducting debut with the San Fransisco Symphony. He has conducted the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, is a frequent guest of the New World and Tanglewood Symphony orchestras, the Juilliard Symphony & Juilliard Orchestra. In Europe he conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and led a European tour with the Basel Sinfonietta.

    Violinist Kyung Sun Lee captured sixth prize in the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, a bronze medal in the 1993 Queen Elisabeth Competition, first prizes of the Washington and D'Angelo International Competitions, and third prize in the Montreal International Competition, where she also won the Audience Favorite and the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work prizes. Subsequent to winning these awards, she has enjoyed ever-increasing popularity as a performer. She has received high critical acclaim: "Exceptional tonal suavity and expressive intensity in equal measure," commented The Strad. "Godard's 'Concerto Romantique' could not have had a more outstanding soloist than Kyung Sun Lee," proclaimed Harris Goldsmith in the New York Concert Review.

    Soprano Chabrelle Williams most recently made her debut as Pamina in Oberlin Opera Theater's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Other engagements include soprano soloist in the "Easter Hymn" from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Hip-Hopera presented and performed by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Art Sanctuary and New Freedom Theatre. Ms. Williams currently attends the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studies with professor Salvatore Champagne.
   
Apollo's Fire - Handel's Messiah - December 14-19
Meredith Hall, soprano Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano Ross Hauck, tenor Jeffrey Strauss, baritone

Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell have delighted audiences around the country with their joyful presentation of Handel’s masterpiece as the theatrical entertainment the composer intended. The four soloists become “visionary storytellers” (THE PLAIN DEALER) in this dramatic interpretation. A new CD recording, captured in 2008, will be released at these concerts.

For more information visit the Apollo's Fire website.

For more information visit CityMusicCleveland.org

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