June 22, 2011
It is with great pleasure that The Perlman Music Program (PMP) announces its 2011 summer season on the East End of Long Island. This season marks PMP’s 17th summer in residence on Shelter Island, and will feature the Summer Music School, the Chamber Music Workshop, the Alumni Concerts Festival, the Annual Summer Benefit, and two Tutti Suonare chamber music concerts.
The Summer Music School (SMS) is an intensive six-week educational residency that takes place annually on Shelter Island. This program includes extensive coaching and performance opportunities for gifted string players ages 12 through 18. While focused on solo playing (every student has weekly private lessons and practices individually for four hours each day), students also immerse themselves in chamber music, orchestra, and chorus rehearsals on a daily basis. The Perlman Music Program offers these young musicians a place where they feel comfortable exploring their artistic ideas, where their musical talent is developed in a noncompetitive fashion, and where concern for the whole person is paramount. At the heart of this philosophy is the belief in highly personalized and intimate learning experiences for students. For this reason, enrollment is kept below 40 students per session, allowing for a student to faculty/staff ratio of better than 2:1.
Weekly student performances, called Works in Progress concerts, are an important part of the Summer Music School. These informal concerts give students the opportunity to polish and perform pieces they are currently studying, in a supportive and nurturing environment where they are free to take artistic risks without feeling the pressure associated with a formal recital. The Perlman Music Program’s summer season begins with a kick-off reception and Works in Progress Concert on Friday, June 17, at 7 p.m. Works in Progress concerts are held on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the Summer Music School and are open to the public. This summer’s Works in Progress concerts will be held on July 28, and July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Shelter Island Campus.
On Saturday, July 23, The Perlman Music Program will present its Annual Summer Benefit, hosted by Dorian and Gary Fuhrman and chaired by Kristy and James H. Clark and Sidney and Morgan Stark, in East Hampton. This special event will celebrate The Perlman Music Program’s 17th summer season with an alfresco cocktail reception, festive dinner, and performances by The Perlman Music Program String Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Maestros Itzhak Perlman and Patrick Romano. For more information about the Annual Summer Benefit or to purchase tickets, email specialevents@perlmanmusicprogram.org or call 212-877-5045.
On Friday, July 29, the students of the Summer Music School will perform a chamber music concert at Greenport High School in Greenport. The Summer Music School curriculum includes rigorous study of the chamber music repertoire, and this culminating performance allows students to share their studies with the North Fork community. This chamber music concert honors PMP’s tradition of community outreach, and is open to the public.
The Program will present the seventh annual Chamber Music Workshop (CMW) from August 8 through August 22. CMW is an intensive two and a half-week workshop focused entirely on the study and performance of chamber music and literature for young artists ages 18 through 30. The Chamber Music Workshop offers open masterclasses led by CMW Artist-Faculty on August 15, August 16, August 17, August 18, and August 19 at 7 p.m. The final Chamber Music Workshop concerts will take place on Saturday, August 20 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 21 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. All of these events are open to the public. Recently, The New York Times hailed alumni of the program as “a parade of superb young chamber music players.”
PMP will present the fifth annual Tutti Suonare Weekend of chamber music concerts this August. The first concert will be held on Friday, August 12 at 7 p.m. at the historic Old Whalers’ Church, located at 44 Union Street in Sag Harbor, and the second concert will be held at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons at 44 Woods Lane in East Hampton, on Saturday, August 13 at 8 p.m. The concerts will feature esteemed CMW artist-faculty Paul Katz, Merry Peckham, Itzhak Perlman, Roger Tapping, Don Weilerstein, and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as well as all of the CMW’s young artists.
The Perlman Music Program’s summer season will come to a close with the 2nd annual Alumni Concerts Festival, a series of performances by outstanding alumni of the Summer Music School and Chamber Music Workshop. This new program invites alumni to return to the Shelter Island Campus as seasoned performers and professional artists, in order to receive coaching from PMP faculty and to present full-length recitals to the East End community. These Alumni Concerts Festival performances will take place on Saturday, August 6, Saturday, August 27, and Friday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the Shelter Island Campus, located at 73 Shore Road in Shelter Island.
About The Perlman Music Program Founded by Toby Perlman 17 years ago, The Perlman Music Program offers unparalleled musical training to young string players of rare and special talent. With a world-class faculty led by Itzhak Perlman, the New York City and Shelter Island, based program seeks to develop the future leaders of classical music, all within a nurturing and supportive musical community.
The Perlman Music Program has quickly developed an international reputation as a leader in the field of classical music training institutions. Television coverage has included “60 Minutes,” “Live from Lincoln Center”, and “Perlman in Shanghai,” a documentary on PMP’s 2002 tour to China aired frequently on PBS. In addition, The New York Times featured PMP in a three-day front page series in 2002.
For more information about joining the Benefit Committee for the Annual Summer Benefit, please contact Maureen M. Nash, Director of Development at 212-877-3230, or by email at mnash@perlmanmusicprogram.org. For more information on concerts, and for directions to the Shelter Island Campus, visit www.perlmanmusicprogram.org or call 212-877-5045.
