Schubert Club Concerts

Courtroom Concerts

Thursday, November 16, 2006 Program

Jay Krasnow

Jay Krasnow has studied piano with David Deveau, Marianne Williams Tobias, Paul Schoenfield, and Glenn Jacobson; composition with Robert and Victoria Sirota at the Tanglewood Institute; and tonal theory with Peter Westergaard at Princeton University. At the age of sixteen, he performed from memory a recital of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volumes I and II for amplified piano, and (separately) Liszt's Sunt Lachrymae Rerum. He plays a variety of instruments in addition to piano, and has been active through the years in additional roles of composer, arranger, and independent record producer. Most recently he has formed a 'progressive gypsy music power-duo', performing on the lap steel guitar and cumbus (12-string fretless Turkish banjo-lute). A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, he has lived in Cleveland, Ohio since 2004.

Belladonna

Belladonna was formed in 1993 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has since performed around the globe.  With its lively interpretation of early music, Belladonna creates an extraordinary chemistry on stage that the Boston Globe calls “as fresh as jazz,” “fantastically colored and just plain hot,” while the Mittlebayerische Zeitung describes them as “shimmering stars.”  Featured on the nationally syndicated radio programs Harmonia and Performance Today, the quartet also has been aired on the National Public Radio stations WHBH-Boston, KSJN-St. Paul and WCAL, as well as stations in Germany and Brazil. In 1998 the ensemble was a finalist in the Early Music America-Dorian CD competition.

Belladonna has appeared to critical acclaim at distinguished American venues such as the Seattle Early Music Guild; The Schubert Club Early Music Series, St. Paul; Indianapolis Early Music Series; the Renaissance and Baroque Society, Pittsburgh; Music in the Park Series, St. Paul; The Arizona Early Music Series; the San Diego Early Music Society; the Shrine to Music Museum (SD); Early Music Now, Milwaukee; and the Boston and Bloomington Early Music Festivals.

Belladonna has the honor of being the first and only ensemble in residence at The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, whose support made possible a New York City debut at Merkin Hall.  Belladonna made its first appearance in Europe performing at the Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany and at the Chateau-Abbaye de Cassin in Bardou, France.  The quartet has also toured Brazil three times, always with acclaimed reviews, and has recorded for the Ten Thousand Lakes and Dorian Labels. More information is available on their website, www.belladonna-baroque.com.