Live concert stream begins in this space at 7pm on 7/7/2020
Concert Program
Kristjon Imperio, organ
| Fanfare for the Common Man | Aaron Copland |
| 1900 – 1990 | |
| arr: Thomas R. Vozella | |
| b. 1963 | |
| Deep River | Jeffery Nall |
| b. 1968 | |
| Variations and Fugue on "America" | Max Reger |
| 1873-1916 | |
| Adagio for Strings , second mvt of String Quartet, op. 11 | Samuel Barber |
| 1910-1981 | |
| arr: William Strickland | |
| 1914-1991 |
Boston-born Kristjon Imperio performs extensively as a pianist, organist, and conductor throughout New England. A highly sought after coach and instructor, he has also served as chamber ensemble clinician with the QX Summer Chamber Music Institute and festival chorus director at Thayer Performing Arts Center (South Lancaster), piano clinician with the Northern New England Music Clinic in Freeport, Maine for over a decade, and choral clinician with the Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Music Clinic in Southern New England on multiple occasions.
As soloist, Kristjon has performed piano and harpsichord concerti of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky, as well as numerous piano and organ recitals throughout the United States. Chamber music being one of his greatest passions, he is also a founding member of the New England Piano Trio, Worcester-based Seele Musicale Chamber Ensemble, and Imperio in Stereo, a piano duo he formed alongside his father in 2014 which performed in major venues including Worcester’s Mechanics Hall.
Kristjon founded Bolton Philharmonic Society, Inc. in 2008 and served as artistic director of the organization’s four community choral and instrumental ensembles until his retirement in 2016. During his eight years with the Philharmonic, he managed and conducted over 30 performances of major works by Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Dvorak, Vierne, Durufle, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, Barber, and Rutter. He also held the position of program director for Thayer Performing Arts Center, managing the organization’s after-school music program and introducing a visual art curriculum to the program’s community offerings.
A Massachusetts resident, Kristjon serves as Minister of Music for First Congregational Church of West Boylston and is Director of Programs and Outreach for Pakachoag Music School of Greater Worcester.
New Hampshire Music Festival Piano Quartet
The performers this evening are Leslie Amper (piano) Sasha Callahan (violin) Christopher Nunn (viola), and Leo Eguchi (cello). They will introduce the works they’re playing during the performance.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Amper took full advantage of a program then current in that city’s schools, through which serious high school musicians were allowed to forego classes for a few hours each day in order to have adequate practice time and to take advantage of performance opportunities.
After two years at Oberlin College, Leslie Amper continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Rudolph Kolisch, Gunther Schuller, and Russell Sherman.
An acknowledged scholar and practitioner of contemporary music, Amper has recorded Andrew Imbrieʼs Short Story for Neuma Records which was chosen for the International radio broadcast, Art of the States. Equally adept at accompanying silent film, she has compiled and performed piano accompaniments for the Harvard Film Archives. As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts solo recitalist grant recipient she presented Messiaenʼs monumental Vingt Regards sur lʼEnfant Jésus in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. Other performances include the musical component for the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition 1934: A New Deal for Artist which toured the United States and the onstage piano performances in Peter Sellars’ production of Chekhov’s A Seagull at the American National Theater. As a founding member of the Jubilee Trio, Leslie along with vocalists Marion Dry and Robert Honeysucker created a program of American Art Song and Spirituals which traced the psychological progression from Struggle, Reaction, Focus, Resolution, to Jubilation. Leslie Amper has been invited to present her multi media piano recitals related to the visual arts at the University of Washington, the National Gallery, New York State, Whatcom, Fort Wayne, and Oklahoma City museums, and in London England. In addition, she was the keynote speaker/performer for the International George Bellows symposium at the Columbus Museum of Art.
Currently teaching at the New England Conservatory Preparatory Department, and Wheaton (MA) College, Leslie Amper has lectured at Boston University and Currier House of Harvard University.
Recent highlights include a sold out run as the violinist for the American Repertory Theater’s revival of Porgy and Bess, a performance as soloist of Brahms Double Concerto, a solo Bach performance at the National Cathedral (D.C.), and performances with the World Youth Orchestra, an international orchestra assembled to present concerts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ms. Callahan can be heard as a member of the Portland (ME) Symphony and Rhode Island Philharmonic, and New Hampshire Music Festival, as well as with the Boston Pops, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, ALEA III, Boston Classical Orchestra, and Boston Lyric Opera, and the Boston Ballet Orchestra. A native of Portland, Oregon, Sasha Callahan received her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Rice University and her Master of Music from Boston University. Principal teachers include Lucia Lin, Sergiu Luca, Denes Zsigmondy, and Carol Sindell.
A native of Michigan, Leo has performed extensively across North America, Europe and Asia. He enjoys an active and multi-faceted performance schedule – Leo can be heard in myriad chamber music settings, including the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival (an innovative summer festival in Oregon Wine Country, which pairs wine and chamber music) and Sheffield Chamber Players; in larger ensembles as principal cellist of the New Bedford Symphony, a member of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival and the Portland Symphony; and in frequent appearances with the Boston Pops and Boston Ballet.
A strong advocate of new music, Leo has premiered dozens of pieces by, and worked closely with, many notable composers including William Bolcom, Bright Sheng, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, Joan Tower, Ken Ueno, Yehudi Wyner, Marti Epstein, Nathaniel Stookey, Gabriela Lena Frank, Evan Ziporyn, Ketty Nez, Michael Daugherty, and Kati Agocs.
Recent performing highlights include several Grammy nominated recording releases from Parma recordings on Navona Records, several concerto appearances, an artist residency and solo performances in Kabul, Afghanistan, and opportunities to share the non-classical stage with the likes of Pete Townshend, Melissa Etheridge, Demi Lovato, Brian Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, C-3P0, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Jennifer Hudson, Nick Jonas, Josh Groban, and Audra McDonald, to name a few.
Degrees include BM (Cello Performance) and BS (Physics) cum laude from the University of Michigan, and MM (cello performance) from Boston University, where he received the String Department Award for Excellence. Leo, along with violinist wife Sasha Callahan and cat-obsessed daughter Freya, live in Boston and spend their non-musical time free time appreciating the outdoors, food and wine. Leo has tasted enough obscure wine grapes to earn a Doppel membership in The Wine Century Club.
