Explorers Lifelong Learning Institute at the Center for Creative and Performing Arts
Pre-concert lecture with Peter Sheckman begins at 2:30pm
March 22nd: Cello and Piano
Ella Blake
Rasa Vitkauskaite
April 19th: Trio Oko
Charles Overton
Emma Powell
Mina kim
Concerts are free, but space is limited. Please register at right. (Limit of 2 tickets per person.)
About the musicians:
Ella Blake:
Eleanor Blake is a cello soloist, orchestral player, chamber musician and teacher. Currently a member of Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, and The Cape Symphony, Eleanor Blake has played under the baton of international conductors like James Levine, Bernard Haitink, and Raphael Frühbeck De Burgos, and has worked with international soloists like ‘cellist Yo-Yo Ma, soprano Renée Fleming and violinist Joshua Bell. In addition, she performs regularly with Boston Lyric Opera, Albany Symphony, Odyssey Opera, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Eleanor is a member of the La Bella Musica String Quartet, Blackstone Valley String Quartet, and performs in the popular Candlelight chamber music concerts throughout New England. Eleanor has also been seen performing with Celtic Woman and she was selected as a member of the orchestra used in the opening ceremony of the 2015-2016 NFL season at Gillette Stadium on NBC. Recently Ms. Blake studied at the Boston Conservatory and has participated in many summer festivals around the world including Tanglewood Music Center (Lenox, MA), the Festival de Violoncelle des Cote des Isles (Normandy, France) and the American Institute for Musical Studies (Graz, Austria). She has been a guest artist with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Her websight can be found at www.eleanorblakecellist.com.
Rasa Vitkauskaite:
Internationally acclaimed multiple prize-winning Lithuanian pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite has been hailed for “artistry of poetic and observant sensitivity” (Gramophone) and dubbed as a “Beethoven interpreter of penetrating insight” (Fanfare). Her recent CD including Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D Minor and Beethoven Concerto No. 3 in C Minor was praised as comparable to Rudolf Serkin and the New York Philharmonic. Rasa has performed in over 30 countries and was recently named a Steinway Artist.
Current season highlights Rasa’s recording of Mendelssohn Double Concerto with Tchaikovsky Gold Medal violinist Ilya Kaler. Last season featured a solo recital on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in the Chicago Cultural Center that was broadcast live on WFMT radio and hundreds of affiliated stations nationwide.
She is also the long-serving, critically acclaimed pianist of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and the founder of the largest piano studio in Cambridge, MA, where she also teaches conservatory and college students.
For more information, please visit: https://rasapiano.com
