The Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, New York was the setting for the Catskill High Peaks Music Festival opening night concert: A Night of Trios: Beethoven Trio opus 11 in B-flat and Mendelssohn Trio No. 2 in C Minor featuring pianist James Tocco, violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi, and cellist Yehuda Hanani. There was also a prelude performance showcasing the Sahato Trio, Young Artists In Residence from China, violinist Yu Quia, cellist Chen Pu, and pianist Liang Liang, performing Trio Elegaic by Rachmaninoff.

The Catskills have long attracted artists and musicians with its natural beauty and tranquility, and the Catskill High Peaks Festival - Music with Altitude! presented by the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Partnership with Close Encounters with Music and the Windham Chamber Music Festival was a celebration with internationally renowned performers, special discussions, lectures, films and literary events focused on American Romantic painting and literature, and open master classes with 21 rising young musicians from around the world.

According to Yehuda Hanani, Artistic Director of the Catskill High Peaks Festival, "The idea is to bring young artists from divergent cultures together in a very special place that signifies the best of American history - the idealism of painters and writers." 

A little about the passionate, and highly acclaimed featured artists who have enchanted audiences around the world: American pianist James Tocco began studying the piano at age 6 and made his orchestral debut at the tender age of 12 years; Israeli violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi also started his studies early in life, by the age of 21, he had already won many international competitions, and is revered as "Chamber Music and violin guru"; and Israeli-American cellist Yehuda Hanani, who studied with Leonard Rose at Juilliard and with the legendary Pablo Casals.

The Catskill High Peaks Festival - Music with Altitude! Program (August 27, 2011 - September 4, 2011)

Yu Quia, Liang Liang, and Chen Pu

The evening opened with a Prelude Showcase, Trio Elegiac written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1892, and beautifully performed by the Sahato Trio, violinist Yu Quia, cellist Chen Pu, and pianist Liang Liang, Young Artists in Residents from Beijing, China.

The program continued with Trio No. 4 in B-flat Major, Opus 11, written by Ludvig van Beethoven in 1798, and masterfully performed by pianist James Tocco, violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi, and cellist Yehuda Hanani.

Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Tocco, 
and Yehuda Hanani 

3 movements:

After a short intermission, the exciting program concluded with Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Opus 66 written and composed by Felix Mendelssohn and published in 1845, and performed by pianist James Tocco, violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi, and cellist Yehuda Hanani.

4 movements: 

For information on the Catskill High Peaks Festival - Music with Altitude! or The Catskill Mountain Foundation, please visit the website, www.CatskillMtn.org.

The Catskill Mountain Foundation
7970 Main Street
P.O. Box 924
Hunter, New York 12442
United States
Telephone:         +1-518-263-2000
Ticket Line:        +1-518-263-2063
Fax:                    +1-518-263-2025
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Website:            www.CatskilMtn.org

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