Cello Recital in Cortland

Cellist Elinor Frey returns to Cortland for a recital at 8:00pm on Friday March 25, 2011 at the United Presbyterian Church, 25 Church Street. The program will feature Baroque and contemporary works, mostly Italian, including a Bononcini Sonata performed by Frey and Ithaca College student Daniel Frankhuizen. Admission is free.Frey, who gave an outstanding Cortland recital in 2008 (you can find recording excerpts on CortlandMusic.org), will return to present music of Italian composers. Italian cellist-composers contributed some of the most original and celebrated Baroque works for the instrument. Dall’Abaco, Scipriani, and Gabrielli have each written cello music that is charming, sumptuous, and captivating. Their modern Italian counterpart, cellist Giovanni Sollima, has penned Lamentatio, combining rock-style riffs with a Sicilian lament that the cellist must sing while playing! Toronto-born composer Chris Paul Harman studied the cello as a young man and has recently written a remarkably intense and demanding solo work, his Sonata for solo cello commissioned in 2006. As an outcrop of a Baroque workshop to be given at Ithaca College, Elinor will be joined by cello student, Daniel Frankhuizen, for a lovely sonata by Giovanni Bononcini, the Bolognese composer who was a famous rival of Handel in London.

Hailed as an “Impeccable cellist” by Montreal’s La Presse, “A superb cellist” by the Syracuse Post-Standard, and an “unquestionable and robust talent” by the Giornale di Brescia, Elinor Frey’s recent accolades include the 2009/10 Fulbright Grant to Italy, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship, and a Canada Council for the Arts grant facilitating her work on Italian baroque and modern unaccompanied cello music. Recognized for presenting dynamic and personal performances for her audiences, the 2010-11 seasons will bring Elinor to both North America and Europe, such as performing Bernstein’s “Three Meditations” with the Grand Junction Symphony, Colorado, Schumann Cello Concerto with the Rogue Valley Symphony in Ashland, Oregon, recitals and master classes at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, and, as a baroque cellist, concerts with Ensemble Caprice, Ensemble Masques, and Jefferson Baroque. Her debut album, Dialoghi, was released in 2008 on the Yarlung Records label.Daniel Frankhuizen is currently a cellist at Ithaca College where he is a member of the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra. His performance experience with the Symphony has included concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Barton Hall. Daniel is also a member of the Trio di Orvieto, a piano trio which met during the Orvieto Musica Chamber Festival in Italy. Aside from the Trio di Orvieto, he is also involved in several chamber groups at Ithaca College including piano and clarinet trios as well as a string quartet. Daniel’s musical expression extends beyond the classical realm. His cello playing was recorded with John Brown’s Body on their latest album, Amplify, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Reggae Chart. His own experimental pop music group, Beat the Grid, has been hailed as “an indefinable sonic sensation” by Cake Magazine. If you’re looking for advice on how to buy a cello or how to choose a cello that is right for you, check out the Yamaha cellos post on nt-instruments.

This event is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Grant Program, a State Agency, and the Cultural Resources Council, a Regional Arts Council. Additional support was obtained from the Ralph R. Wilkins Foundation. For further information, see the website Classical.CortlandMusic.Org or email John Sikora at mail@cortlandmusic.org. (607) 758-3670.