Hi-Desert Cultural Center Classical Concert Series Continues with Debut of Trio Led by Renowned Pianist, Kanae Matsumoto
JOSHUA TREE, CA – Making their world concert debut, the newly-formed Trio Kanareika shall present “Da? & Oui!” Music for One, Two, Three at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center next weekend on Sunday, February 26 at 2pm! Leading the trio is world-renowned pianist Kanae Matsumoto, with UCLA School of Music’s esteemed Leila Nassar-Fredell on violin and Jonathan Thompson on cello. The trio will perform the passionate music of Russian and French composers for solo, duo, and trio, including Scriabin, Debussy, Kreisler, Rachmaninoff, Honegger, & Arensky.
Pianist Kanae Matsumoto is a renounced solo pianist and chamber musician. She has given recitals in such music festivals as the Third International Conservatoire Week (St. Petersburg, Russia), the Aichi World Expo (Nagoya, Japan), and her recent performances of Beethoven’s complete Violin Sonatas in Toronto and at the Chautauqua Music Festival in New York were described as “unfailingly crisp, warm, and sensitive throughout the fiendishly difficult piano parts…” (showtimemagazine.ca).
Violinist Leila Nassar-Fredell is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at UCLA with Movses Pogossian and Guillaume Sutre. Originally from Ithaca NY, she completed her BM in performance at Eastman School of Music as a student of Timothy Ying. While at Eastman she was a founding member of the Zephyrus piano quartet, which was awarded the Celentano award for excellence in chamber music.
Cellist Jonathan Thomson won the American String Teachers solo competition for Washington State and has performed internationally in England, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea and China. He has played in master classes at the Banff Center under Aldo Parisot and Shauna Rolston as well as in the classes of Raphael Wallfisch, Nathaniel Rosen and Peter Wiespelwey. As a chamber musician Jonathan has formed successful string quartets and piano trios that participated in the Fischoff and Coleman chamber music competitions. While in these groups he received instruction from the Icicle Creek Piano Trio and the Kronos, St. Lawrence, Brentano, Lafayette, and Penderecki quartets. Jonathan is currently working on his DMA degree at UCLA, studying under Antonio Lysy and teaches at Azusa Pacific University.
The concert begins at 2:00 pm on Sunday, February 26th at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s Blak Box Theater at 61231 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree. Tickets are $20 and include complimentary light dessert and coffee.
The Classical Concert Series continues on Sunday, March 25th with another spectacular trio featuring piano, oboe, and bassoon led by Judith Farmer.
For more information and/or tickets, call the box office at 760.366.3777 to talk to a “real” person or purchase tickets online at www.hidesertculturalcenter.com.
PHOTO CAPTION (FROM LEFT): World-renowned pianist Kanae Matsumoto will be performing with Leila Nassar-Fredell on violin and Jonathan Thompson on cello at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s Blak Box Theater Sunday, February 26 at 2pm.