SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 AT 4:00PM
BENNEWITZ QUARTET &
ARSENTIY KHARITONOV
ST. PAUL’S BY-THE-SEA EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Bennewitz Quartet and Asentiy Kholodenko team up for a great concert, including the phenomenal Dvořák Piano Quintet in A Major.
“The Bennewitz Quartet is downright wonderful, with a perfect balance of warmth and objective clarity…” (Gramophone)
Kharitonov: His “sumptuous tone, technical mastery, broad dramatic range, and elegant phrasing place him in the top ranks of keyboard players today.” (Fanfare Magazine)
Jakub Fišer, violin
Štěpán Ježek, second violin
Jiří Pinkas, viola
Štěpán Doležal, violoncello
Arsentiy Kharitonov, piano
The Bennewitz Quartet is one of the top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by their victories in two prestigious competitions (Osaka in 2005 and Prémio Paolo Borciani, Italy in 2008) but also by the acclaim of the critics. As early as 2006, the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: “… the music was remarkable not just for its clarity of structure, but for the beautiful tonal palette and purity of intonation in its execution. Only very rarely does one experience such skillfully crafted and powerful harmonies… Great art.”
The ensemble has received various awards on the Czech music scene as well. In 2004 the quartet was awarded The Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society and in 2019 the four musicians won the Classic Prague Award for the Best Chamber Music Performance of the year.
The quartet currently performs at major venues both in the Czech Republic and abroad (Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Berlin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris, The Frick Collection New York, Seoul Art Center, Rudolfinum and others), and is regularly invited to festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, Luzerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, and the Prague Spring.
The group has had the privilege of working with these outstanding artists: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Veronika Hagen, Andreas Ottensamer, José Gallardo, Alexander Melnikov, Vadim Gluzman, Pietro de Maria, Reto Bieri, Danjulo Ishizaka and others. The Bennewitz Quartet especially enjoys playing and performing on the Czech domestic music scene. Particular highlights have included their cooperation with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Jiří Bělohlávek for a performance of Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra.
The group has made a recording of both quartets by Leoš Janáček for Czech Television in the unique space of Villa Tugendhat in Brno. The Czech Radio regularly records major concerts of the quartet. The members of the quartet put a lot of stress on the inspiring and sometimes challenging choice of their concert repertoire. In 2012 and 2015, the ensemble performed in a sole evening Bartók’s six string quartets in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and in Swedish Upsala. In 2014, the four presented a premiere of The Songs of Immigrants by Slavomír Hořínka in Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2019 the quartet added a new CD in its discography featuring the music of the persecuted Jewish composers H. Krása, V. Ullmann, E. Schulhoff and P. Haas on the Supraphon label.
In the upcoming season, the Bennewitz Quartet will embark on a rich program with appearances at major European festivals and venues, including the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Concentus Moraviae, and a return to Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle. The ensemble will once again be featured at the Dvořák Prague Festival, this time in collaboration with leading Czech soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, and at the Prague Spring Festival, where it will present one of its programs devoted to late string quartets across different musical epochs. The quartet will also join forces with prominent Czech musicians for performances of Beethoven’s Septet and Schubert’s Octet within the chamber music series of the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK). A highlight of the season abroad will be an extensive United States tour, including concerts in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, with a recital at the prestigious Cosmos Club, marking another significant milestone in the ensemble’s growing international career.
Since 1998 the quartet bears the name of the violinist and director of a music conservatory in Prague, Antonín Bennewitz (1833-1926) who contributed greatly to the establishment of the Czech violin school. The most significant musicians who count among his disciples are Otakar Ševčík and František Ondříček and above all Karel Hoffman, Josef Suk and Oskar Nedbal who, under Bennewitz’s influence, formed the famous Bohemian Quartet.
Arsentiy Kharitonov
Hailing from St. Petersburg, Arsentiy Kharitonov is the first-prize winner of the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition (US). After also winning the Rachmaninov Competition (Russia), he began his concert career with engagements throughout Europe including appearances at the Philharmonic Hall, and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, at the Royal Conservatory, Stockholm, and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, followed by Asian tours with performances in the major halls of, among others, Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul.
In the Americas, he has appeared—among others—at the Music and Beyond Festival in Ottawa, at the National Gallery of Art and Catholic University of Washington, DC, in Dallas, Los Angeles, with orchestra at the Tabernacle at Temple in the Square, Salt Lake City, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Steinway Hall, the Frick Collection, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NYC.
The Observer wrote of the latter concert, “…his style is unlike any of his contemporaries and harkens back to earlier times. The dynamic range had an astonishing breadth, and the lyric passages were especially captivating.”
The artist’s recordings for Toccata Classics include the complete piano works of Leo Ornstein and the chamber works of Robert Kahn. Masterpieces by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin can be heard on the Hartshorn Classical label. Kharitonov’s recordings for Sound Atlas include piano works by Bach, Schubert, Mussorgsky, and Kharitonov’s own set of Concert Études.
Shupp Artists Management
Erica Shupp
631-928-1531
concerts@shuppartists.com
mshupp@shuppartists.com
SIGNATURE CONCERT SPONSOR
KATHY AND DON WALLIS
VISUAL ARTIST
MARY JOAN HINSON
POST-CONCERT ARTIST
DINNER SPONSOR
VENUE
St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
465 11th Avenue North
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Doors open at 3:15PM
SUNDAY, NOV. 8 AT 4:00PM
BENNEWITZ QUARTET & ARSENTIY KHARITONOV
ST. PAUL’S BY-THE-SEA
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Bennewitz Quartet and Asentiy Kholodenko team up for a great concert, including the phenomenal Dvořák Piano Quintet in A Major.
SIGNATURE CONCERT SPONSOR
KATHY AND DON WALLIS
“The Bennewitz Quartet is downright wonderful, with a perfect balance of warmth and objective clarity…” (Gramophone)
Kharitonov: His “sumptuous tone, technical mastery, broad dramatic range, and elegant phrasing place him in the top ranks of keyboard players today.” (Fanfare Magazine)
Jakub Fišer, violin
Štěpán Ježek, second violin
Jiří Pinkas, viola
Štěpán Doležal, violoncello
Arsentiy Kharitonov, piano
Bennewitz Quartet
The Bennewitz Quartet is one of the top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by their victories in two prestigious competitions (Osaka in 2005 and Prémio Paolo Borciani, Italy in 2008) but also by the acclaim of the critics. As early as 2006, the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: “… the music was remarkable not just for its clarity of structure, but for the beautiful tonal palette and purity of intonation in its execution. Only very rarely does one experience such skillfully crafted and powerful harmonies… Great art.”
The ensemble has received various awards on the Czech music scene as well. In 2004 the quartet was awarded The Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society and in 2019 the four musicians won the Classic Prague Award for the Best Chamber Music Performance of the year.
The quartet currently performs at major venues both in the Czech Republic and abroad (Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Berlin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris, The Frick Collection New York, Seoul Art Center, Rudolfinum and others), and is regularly invited to festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, Luzerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, and the Prague Spring.
The group has had the privilege of working with these outstanding artists: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Veronika Hagen, Andreas Ottensamer, José Gallardo, Alexander Melnikov, Vadim Gluzman, Pietro de Maria, Reto Bieri, Danjulo Ishizaka and others. The Bennewitz Quartet especially enjoys playing and performing on the Czech domestic music scene. Particular highlights have included their cooperation with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Jiří Bělohlávek for a performance of Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra.
The group has made a recording of both quartets by Leoš Janáček for Czech Television in the unique space of Villa Tugendhat in Brno. The Czech Radio regularly records major concerts of the quartet. The members of the quartet put a lot of stress on the inspiring and sometimes challenging choice of their concert repertoire. In 2012 and 2015, the ensemble performed in a sole evening Bartók’s six string quartets in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and in Swedish Upsala. In 2014, the four presented a premiere of The Songs of Immigrants by Slavomír Hořínka in Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2019 the quartet added a new CD in its discography featuring the music of the persecuted Jewish composers H. Krása, V. Ullmann, E. Schulhoff and P. Haas on the Supraphon label.
In the upcoming season, the Bennewitz Quartet will embark on a rich program with appearances at major European festivals and venues, including the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Concentus Moraviae, and a return to Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle. The ensemble will once again be featured at the Dvořák Prague Festival, this time in collaboration with leading Czech soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, and at the Prague Spring Festival, where it will present one of its programs devoted to late string quartets across different musical epochs. The quartet will also join forces with prominent Czech musicians for performances of Beethoven’s Septet and Schubert’s Octet within the chamber music series of the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK). A highlight of the season abroad will be an extensive United States tour, including concerts in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, with a recital at the prestigious Cosmos Club, marking another significant milestone in the ensemble’s growing international career.
Since 1998 the quartet bears the name of the violinist and director of a music conservatory in Prague, Antonín Bennewitz (1833-1926) who contributed greatly to the establishment of the Czech violin school. The most significant musicians who count among his disciples are Otakar Ševčík and František Ondříček and above all Karel Hoffman, Josef Suk and Oskar Nedbal who, under Bennewitz’s influence, formed the famous Bohemian Quartet.
Arsentiy Kharitonov
Hailing from St. Petersburg, Arsentiy Kharitonov is the first-prize winner of the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition (US). After also winning the Rachmaninov Competition (Russia), he began his concert career with engagements throughout Europe including appearances at the Philharmonic Hall, and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, at the Royal Conservatory, Stockholm, and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, followed by Asian tours with performances in the major halls of, among others, Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul.
In the Americas, he has appeared—among others—at the Music and Beyond Festival in Ottawa, at the National Gallery of Art and Catholic University of Washington, DC, in Dallas, Los Angeles, with orchestra at the Tabernacle at Temple in the Square, Salt Lake City, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Steinway Hall, the Frick Collection, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NYC.
The Observer wrote of the latter concert, “…his style is unlike any of his contemporaries and harkens back to earlier times. The dynamic range had an astonishing breadth, and the lyric passages were especially captivating.”
The artist’s recordings for Toccata Classics include the complete piano works of Leo Ornstein and the chamber works of Robert Kahn. Masterpieces by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin can be heard on the Hartshorn Classical label. Kharitonov’s recordings for Sound Atlas include piano works by Bach, Schubert, Mussorgsky, and Kharitonov’s own set of Concert Études.
Shupp Artists Management
Erica Shupp
631-928-1531
concerts@shuppartists.com
mshupp@shuppartists.com
VISUAL ARTIST
MARY JOAN HINSON
POST-CONCERT ARTIST
DINNER SPONSOR
VENUE
St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
465 11th Avenue North
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Doors open at 3:15PM