Cellist Astrid Schween Continues College Concert Series with March 25 Performance

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The 60th season of the Washington College Concert Series hosts cellist Astrid Schween accompanied by pianist Gary Hammond in a Sunday concert March 25. The performance will take place at 4 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Gibson Center for the Arts on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

Tickets to individual concerts ($15, or $5 for youth ages 18 and under) and season tickets ($50 for all five concerts) can be purchased at the door or in advance. Washington College students are admitted free with a valid ID. There are no reserved seats. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, please call 410-778-7839 or email concert series director Kate Bennett at kbennett2@washcoll.edu.

The former cellist for Lark Quartet, Astrid Schween now enjoys a busy international concert career as a soloist, in recital with Hammond, and with piano trio Mirepoix. Recent activities include recitals in Europe and California and a solo CD released by Arabesque Recordings. In 2010, Ms. Schween commissioned and premiered “Music for Electric Cello and Electronics,” by Gordon Green, which features the cellist on a Yamaha SVC210 Electric Cello as soloist with an “electronic orchestra.”

Ms. Schween received her training at the Juilliard School, where she was twice awarded the Cello Prize. After performing as soloist with the New York Philharmonic as winner of their Young Peoples’ Competition, she was selected by Zubin Mehta to study in London with Jacqueline du Pré. She has collaborated with many celebrated artists including Joshua Bell, Branford Marsalis, Edgar Meyer, and choreographer Bill T. Jones. She teaches cello at the University of Massachusetts and holds a senior faculty position at Interlochen as a Valade Fellow. For more: http://astridschween.com/.

Pianist Gary Hammond is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Juilliard School and now serves on the faculties of Hunter College, City University of New York; CUNY; New Jersey City University and Sewanee: University of the South. Hammond partners with violinist Ray Dotoratos to donate school performances across the country, promoting an understanding and enjoyment of a diversity of music. 
For more on their outreach program: http://www.dotoratos-hammond.com.

The March 25 concert will include Robert Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces Op. 73, Franz Liszt’s La Lugubre Gondola, Alberto Ginastera’s Pampeana No. 2 Rhapsody for Cello and Piano, Op. 21, and Cesar Franck’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major.

On Saturday, April 14, the final concert in the series brings mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato, accompanied by flutist Peter H. Bloom and pianist Mary Jane Rupert, to Hotchkiss Recital Hall for a performance that will begin at 8 p.m. For more on the series, visit http://www.washcoll.edu.