Taconic Opera’s First Chamber Concert – PRODIGIES: Schubert, Mendelssohn and Mozart, with Maestro Jun Nakabayashi

Currently in its 18^th season and past recipient of the ArtsWestchester Arts Organization of the Year Award, Taconic Opera will be hosting its first chamber concert in April:  Prodigies:  Schubert, Mendelssohn and Mozart.  For the first time, Jun Nakabayashi, Taconic Opera’s Conductor and Music Director, will emerge from the orchestra pit to conduct the concert which features the Taconic Opera Orchestra.  The program will consist of Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia No. 4 (String Symphony) and also Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major.

As the concert title implies, all three of the composers demonstrated remarkable musical ability from an early age, and their collective works continue to thrill and inspire both young and old musicians and audiences alike.  A musical enfant prodige herself, Kessa Montez will make her Westchester debut as a concert pianist with the Mozart concerto.  Ms. Montez has given several solo recitals and performed in concerts starting at a very young age, and audiences have consistently been brought to their feet by her keyboarding excellence and depth of expression.  You won’t want to miss this extraordinary event.

As both loyal fans and music critics will agree, Jun Nakabayashi is a masterful and charismatic conductor who will shine brilliantly when he brings life to three of the most famous and beautiful chamber music pieces ever written.  Nakabayashi has been active in both the symphonic and operatic fields for almost three decades.  In addition to serving as Music Director of Taconic Opera for the past 16 years, he has conducted for several other opera and orchestral companies in Europe and throughout the U.S., including the Riverside Orchestra (New York) which rose to a level of excellence it had never achieved prior to his placement as music director.  His total repertoire consists of over 100 symphonic works and 30 operas.

Maestro Nakabayashi also currently serves on the faculty of the acclaimed Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale where he conducts the Festival Orchestra and gives classes in conducting.   Under his direction, the Festival Orchestra, consisting of auditioned high school orchestra students of the highest caliber, has experienced an increase in the number of students from less than 30 in 2001 to now nearly 60 members, and it is ranked as one of the top 10 youth orchestras in the nation.  In 2014, the New York Philharmonic selected the Festival Orchestra for a unique partnership called the Philharmonic Academy, Jr., whose goal is to help prepare the next generation of orchestra players as well as develop music-literate audiences for the future.  Only two music academies in the entire metropolitan region participate in this program.

The concert will take place on Saturday, April 30, at 4:00 pm at the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco, 1605 Millwood Road, Mt. Kisco, NY, at 4:00 pm.  Tickets for this event are $27, $20 for seniors and $15 for students and can be purchased at the door, in advance online at www.taconicopera.org, or by calling Taconic Opera’s toll-free number (855) 886-7372.