Piatigorsky Foundation concert at WVC Oct. 9

Media Contact: Stacey Lockhart, WVC Foundation executive director, 509.682.6415, or Kathleen LeBlanc, Piatigorsky Foundation, 212.971.5309

September 17, 2015

Violinist Qing Li and pianist Vladimir Valjarevic will perform at the Oct. 9 Piatigorsky concert.

 

The Wenatchee Valley College Foundation will present a Piatigorsky Foundation concert on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. in The Grove Recital Hall, Music and Art Center. The concert features violinist Qing Li and pianist Vladimir Valjarevic.

A light reception starts at 6 p.m. The event includes a musical performance and comprehensive commentaries by the musicians.

The concert is free and open to the public. RSVP to 509.682.6410. Seating is limited to 150.

Qing Li brings great warmth, poise and insight to her music making. Li was born in Beijing, China, and began violin studies at age four with her father, Zhen-Kun Li. At age 12, she was accepted to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She was discovered there by Berl Senofsky, who took her to Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory. After graduating from Peabody, she studied with the legendary Joseph Gingold and won fellowships at major music festivals.

Li is currently the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's principal second violin and is frequently featured as a soloist. She is also a much sought after recitalist, chamber musician and guest concert master. She is currently assistant concert master at Eastern Music Festival as well as a faculty member. She has also taught at the University of Delaware, the Festival Internacional de Inverno Compos do Jordão Winter Festival in Brazil and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Vladimir Valjarevic is a dedicated chamber musician and soloist praised by Fanfare magazine for his "caressing legato" and "silk-on-velvet seductiveness." All Music Guide has praised his "beautiful lyricism and...wide variety of tones and colorings, perceptively applied with care." His performances have taken him throughout America, Europe and Asia and received critical acclaim. Valjarevic has collaborated with numerous contemporary composers in various projects, including commissions, recordings and world premiers. He has recorded with Labor Records, Romeo Records, Centaur Records and MSR Classics.

Valjarevic studied in his native Bosnia at Mannes College The New School for Music, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and at Geneva Conservatory in Switzerland, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is now a piano faculty member at Mannes College and Mason Gross. He teaches piano pedagogy and piano literature at Mannes and Rutgers.

Evan Drachman established The Piatigorsky Foundation in 1990 in honor of his grandfather Gregor Piatigorsky, who deeply believed in the healing and inspiration power of classical music. Through his sizzling artistry and charismatic personality, Piatigorsky thus enlivened his mission by performing for millions of people around the globe. The Piatigorsky Foundation is committed to carrying on Piatigorsky's noble aspiration by evoking cultural curiosity through educational and accessible live performances.

This performance is made possible through the support of Wilfred and Kathy Woods and the Piatigorsky Foundation.