Preview
by Sharon Webb
On Sunday afternoon, July 13, 3 PM, Smithfield Church in Amenia will host 3 CELLO FELLOWS. All three performers are acclaimed NYC orchestral/chamber musicians: Arthur Fiacco, Robert Burkhart, and Alberto Parrini. This unusual cello concert features compositions by Luigi Boccherini, David Popper’s Requiem for 3 Cellos, Bela Bartok duos, and a cello suite by J.S. Bach.
Arthur, Alberto, and Robert have been playing for years at New York City’s most illustrious venues, with distinguished regional orchestras and ensembles. Their combined experiences include performances with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and appearances with Sting, Barbara Streisand, Metallica, and other luminaries. The Bang Family Concert Series at the Smithfield Church is pleased to present these three talented cellists together for a memorable afternoon of music in a beautiful country setting at 656 Smithfield Valley Road.
Arthur Fiacco is hailed as a “distinguished chamber musician of impressive virtuosity” by Consort Magazine. He is the principal cellist of the Musica Sacra Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York, the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He is also a member of the renowned Orchestra of St Luke’s.
Mr. Fiacco has performed at the Caramoor, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Music Mountain, and Lincoln Center Festivals. Arthur Fiacco is known to Smithfield audiences as occasionally performing with Kent Tritle at the annual Tritle organ recitals over the past 14 years. As a soloist, he has appeared with Patti LuPone, harpsichordist Igor Kipnis, Meredith Monk, Kent Tritle, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Recordings by Mr. Fiacco of the late Mozart Symphonies in Hummel’s piano quartet transcription garnered praise as “first rate” and “definitive” by the New York Times. Mr. Fiacco plays a cello made by Venetian master Carlo Tononi, dated 1730.
Robert Burkhart combines a deep commitment to the existing cello repertoire with what The New Yorker magazine calls an “adventurous” spirit in new music. With performance credits at Alice Tully Hall, Bargemusic, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and The Rose Studio at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Robert has also appeared as a soloist throughout Japan as a member of the New York Symphonic Ensemble and had been featured in recital on WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase.”
At the center of new music in New York, Robert has performed with the American Modern Ensemble, Argento New Music Project, Fireworks Ensemble, Newspeak, and SONYC. Robert has taught at Juilliard Pre-college, Mannes Prep, Syracuse University, and the Music Conservatory of Westchester and has been artist-in-residence at Yale University and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. His recent CD 20/21: Music for Cello and Piano from the 20th and 21st Centuries features pianist Blair McMillen and the premiere of a work for cello and piano by composer Andrew Waggoner.
Alberto Parrini is an associate musician with the Metropolitan Opera and a member of the American Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He is a member of the Salix Piano Trio and performs regularly with Lenape Chamber Ensemble, Lighthouse Chamber Players, Richardson Chamber Players, New Jersey Symphony, and The New York Philharmonic. As principal cellist of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic (2007 -2023), he was a featured soloist in concertos by Brahms, Haydn, Saint-Saens, and Tchaikovsky. With the Zukofsky Quartet, he has given performances of the complete string quartets of Milton Babbitt in New York and Chicago. He performed throughout the U.S. with the American Chamber Players (2004-2010), was the cellist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet (2002-2003), and spent one season as assistant principal with the Richmond Symphony.
Mr. Parrini is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, has taught at Stanford University (2002-2003), The College of New Jersey (2017-2022), and served as co-director of the Adult Chamber Music Workshop at Kinhaven (2014-2024). Since 2012, Alberto teaches cello and chamber music at Princeton University.
There are no tickets for the concert in this historic church with excellent acoustics, yet donations of $20 or more are collected at the door to defray some of the cost of the concert. The elevator entrance is at the rear door of the Church.
