Principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Jerry Grossman presents a Master Class for Hoff-Barthelson

Series featuring world-class musicians and educators continues March 12, 2023
The 2023 Hoff-Barthelson Music School Master Class Series continues with principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Jerry Grossman on Sunday, March 12, 2023, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. The class will be held at the Scarsdale Library located at 54 Olmsted Road, Scarsdale, and is open to the public to observe free of charge. Reservations are required and can be made by visiting www.hbms.org, e-mailing hb@hbms.org or by calling 914-723-1169.

About the Hoff-Barthelson Music School Master Class Series
Master class coaching by guest artists has been part of Hoff-Barthelson’s curriculum since the School’s founding in 1944. This distinguished tradition continues this season with a roster of world-class musicians and educators including Kelly Hall-Tomkins, violin; Jerry Grossman, cello; Ruth Slenczynska, piano; and Jennifer Grim, flute.

Master classes are an enlightening experience for students and audiences alike. After months of careful preparation, students perform for, and then receive feedback and guidance from a master teacher who challenges the student to think in new and critical ways about the piece they have prepared. The results are inspiring and enlightening and serve as a catalyst for students to reach new heights in their own musical explorations. Yet, the learning is not limited just to the students who perform. Any student—regardless of their level of development, or whether or not they even play the same instrument—can learn a great deal.

About Jerry Grossman
Jerry Grossman has been the principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1986. He has appeared in recital, and with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States. His highly acclaimed New York debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was followed by the American premiere of Kurt Weill’s 1920 Cello Sonata, leading to recording that work, as well as works by Dohnanyi, Prokofiev, Bartok, and Kodaly for Nonesuch Records. He has appeared as soloist in Carnegie Hall and on domestic and European tours with the Met Orchestra playing Don Quixote by Richard Strauss. The performance has also been recorded for Deutsche Gramophone.

A long association with the Marlboro Music Festival, including numerous ‘Music from Marlboro’ tours and recordings, figures prominently in Mr. Grossman’s chamber music experience. He is a former member of Orpheus and Speculum Musicae and has also appeared as a guest artist with the Guarneri, Vermeer, and Emerson String Quartets. He was the founding cellist of both the Chicago String Quartet and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. Before assuming his position at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Grossman was a member of the Chicago Symphony for two seasons and the New York Philharmonic for two seasons.

Mr. Grossman began his music studies in his native Cambridge, Massachusetts. His teachers there included Judith Davidoff, Joan Esch and Benjamin Zander. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied cello with David Soyer and chamber music with the other members of the Guarneri Quartet. Sandor Vegh and Harvey Shapiro were also important influences.

Mr. Grossman has held faculty positions at the Juilliard School, the State University of New York at Binghamton, and DePaul University in Chicago. He currently teaches at the Kneisel Hall Summer Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine.

Photo by Pedro Diaz