Cherry Street Music will present Classics with a Twisted West, a variety pops program featuring rising stars and established artists, on Sunday, November 17th at the Allen Center in West Newton, Massachusetts.・Perform Newton Pops.
Cherry Street Artistic Director and international concert cellist Alison Eldridge has designed a cross-cultural and Latin dance music program spanning centuries of chamber music and dance, from Franz Schubert to Stevie Wonder. “Classics with a Twist: West Newton Pops focuses on popular music through a cross-cultural lens,” explains Eldridge. “And it will feature Boston Ballroom®’s Marisa and Peter Kovacs dancing to a musical program with both up-and-coming and well-known musicians.”
The classical elements of the program are represented by Franz Schubert’s “An die Musik”. Two movements from Edouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor, two works of Latin classical music by Astor Piazzolla. Oblivion and Libertango. and Ennio Morricone’s Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso.
This twist includes jazz great Charlie Parker’s “Billy’s Bounce,” Charles Trenet’s “I Wish You Love,” arranged by R&B great Sam Cooke, and the inimitable Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish You Love.” Includes songs such as “Summer Soft,” Latin jazz classics, Queen Serra’s “Sway,” and songs by Rodgers & Rodgers. Hammerstein’s “Shall We Dance” (arranged by Stephen Prutzman).
Like the music they play, the musicians range from established artists such as pianist Max Levinson, cellist Alison Eldridge, and the Cherry String Cello Quartet to up-and-coming artists such as Jeremiah Cossa on piano. It’s wide-ranging. Jacob Koval, accordion player. and vocalist Natalie Levinson. In addition to Eldridge, the Cherry Street Cello Quartet includes cello professors Miriam Borkoski, Julie Lyman, M.D., and Adrian Hartzell Knudsen, managing director of the Allen Center .
Since winning the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant at age 19, solo cellist Alison Eldridge has performed as a soloist in Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, and New York. He has performed with the Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, including Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, He has collaborated with such famous conductors as Krzysztof Penderecki, Evgeny Svetlanov, Hans Vonk, and Jaap van Zweden. His chamber music collaborations include work with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Andre Previn, and Shmuel Ashkenashi. In addition to serving as Artistic Director of Cherry Street Music, Alison is an artist in residence at the Allen Center and a resident of Newton.
Newton resident Max Levinson, winner of the Andrew Wolfe Award, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and first place in the 1997 Dublin International Piano Competition, has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Symphonies in St. Louis, Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Oregon, Indianapolis, Colorado, Utah, and more. He has performed in chamber music concerts with Pinchas Zuckerman, Richard Stoltzman, Tokyo, Vermeer, Mendelssohn, and the Borromeo Quartet, and has appeared at major music festivals such as Santa Fe, Marlboro, Tanglewood, and Mostly Mozart. Levinson is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Boston Ballroom® Director Peter Kovacs is a recognized dance choreographer and dance educator who has appeared in dance films, documentaries, and instructional videos in Latin, Ballroom, Rhythm, and Smooth. He was awarded a Popular Culture Council Grant for his dedication to the arts of dance in the Boston area community. Choreographer and dance educator Marisa Panos Kovacs was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts. She trained in dance at the Boston Ballet School under the direction of E. Virginia Williams, Sidney Leonard, Violette Verdi, Bruce Marks, and Anne Marie Holmes. She performed with Boston Ballet for over 10 years before moving on to Milwaukee Ballet, Kennedy Dancers, International Dance Project, Boston Ballet Theatre, and Boston Dance Company.
Jeremiah Cossa is a versatile pianist who works as a soloist, chamber musician, and band member in a dizzying array of projects. Jeremiah is a featured soloist with the Claremont Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Conservatory Contemporary Music Ensemble. Jeremiah has toured nationally with the acclaimed chamber music/rock crossover group, the Cordis, and has performed locally with rising punk band Nurse Joy and his jazz trio.
Accordionist Jakob Kovar is originally from Slovenia and is currently studying music at Berklee College of Music. He explores all possibilities of playing the accordion in different ensembles and genres: jazz, folk, classical, “gypsy”, tango, etc. His most notable performances include with Mark Pignataro and his septet at the prestigious Regatta Bar Jazz Club and with the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra and soloist Allison at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. There was a collaboration with Eldridge.
Soprano Natalie Levinson grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and graduated in 2021 from Newton North High School and the New England Conservatory Prep School of Vocal Music with Jennifer Carruzzi. Member of Newton North High School Family Singers, Jubilee Singers, and Theater Inc. , and director of Forte Cappella, Levinson studied classical voice, opera, and jazz at Pasadena City College. Levinson recently made her operatic debut as Madame Hertz in Pasadena City College’s production of Mozart’s “Impresario.” In 2023, she appeared as a soloist with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and in 2023 and 2024 she appears as a regular guest artist at the popular Allen Center Pop-Up Lunch. Levinson is the 2023 recipient of the Oboe Foundation Music Scholarship in Classical Voice. Natalie Levinson can be found on YouTube and Instagram (@natalielevinsonvocalist).
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