Part Of Center’s Concert Series
The Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery announced that the Lhevinne Classical Concert Series will return to Celebration Hall at The Center at Maple Grove, located at 127-15 Kew Gardens Rd. in Kew Gardens, on Sunday night, Sept. 22.
Free parking is available on premises. The hour-long program, with a 10-minute intermission, also includes a pre-concert wine and cheese reception scheduled for 7:30 p.m..
This year’s Lhevinne Classical Concert is a Supernova Production and features the sought-after recitalist and chamber musician Steven Graff. Graff made his concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and glowing critical praise. He has performed at Weill, Zankel and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Lang Recital Hall and the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College,
Merkin and Alice Tully Halls in New York City and his performances have been broadcast on New York radio stations WQXR and WNCN, and Chicago’s WFMT.
Since his concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has appeared nine times, the pianist Graff has been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and glowing critical praise. Graff was born in Chicago where he began his musical training.
A string of scholarships led to studies at the Juilliard School where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees as a Petschek scholarship awardee, and a doctorate of musical arts from The Graduate School of CUNY.
Graff has made appearances on the Nickelodeon channel and the QE2 enlightened audiences with his interpretive performances, and recent tours of Norway, Japan, Italy, Israel and in cities across the U.S. have thrilled music lovers everywhere.
A Steinway artist and a champion of new music, Graff has premiered and recorded contemporary works, most recently on the Centaur and Capstone labels. Having studied with Adele Marcus, Beveridge Webster and Herbert Stessin, and performed in master classes for Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler and Misha Dichter, Graff often leads his own master classes at colleges and universities.
He was re-engaged as a featured teacher and performer in Hawaii’s Aloha International Piano Festival where he gave master classes and was presented in a solo recital, as well as appearing in a multi-day festival in Salt Lake City, sponsored by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, where he was heard in recital.
Graff currently serves on the faculty at New York’s Hunter College and at The Macaulay Honors College of The City University of New York.
The Lhevinne Classical Concert Series is named for world-class pianists Josef and Rosina Lhevinne, who are interred at Maple Grove Cemetery. After they immigrated to the U.S., they started their celebrated teaching careers in 1924 at the Juilliard School. Some famous pupils included Van Cliburn and Oscar-winning composer John Williams.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery at 1-718- 523-1876 or visit their website, www.friendsofmaplegrove.org.
