Editor's pick: Piano and violin concert

From Bach to Gershwin at Shandelee’s Sunset Concert

Thu., Aug. 4 at Shandelee Music Festival, Livingston Manor, NY. Regular tickets $25; Senior/Student tickets $23. 845/439-3277.

This summer’s Shandelee Music Festival Sunset Concert series commences on August 4 with pianist Sara Davis Buechner and violinist Stephanie Chase playing works by composers spanning musical history from Bach and Mozart in the 18th century to Joaquin Turina and George Gershwin in the 20th.

Buechner has won prizes in many of the world’s most prestigious international piano competitions, starting with the gold medal she took at the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has appeared in the U.S. as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis and San Francisco Symphony orchestras, and abroad with the Japan Philharmonic and others.

Buechner’s recording of piano music by George Gershwin was selected as a “Record of the Month” by Stereophile magazine and her 1997 world premiere recording of the Busoni version of Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations was profiled in the “Arts & Leisure” section of The New York Times.

Violinist Stephanie Chase has been a soloist with the world’s most eminent orchestras. Her talents have inspired Newhouse Newspapers to describe her as “one of the violin greats of our era,” and The Boston Globe to hail her playing for its “elegance, dexterity, rhythmic vitality and great imagination.”

In its mission statement, the Shandelee Music Festival describes itself as “a private, not-for-profit organization… [whose] philosophies and goals provide for the further development and nurturing of an individual’s creativity and passion for music while enriching the cultural community of Sullivan County.” In this spirit, each of its Sunset Concerts is followed with a specialty dessert and meet-the-artist reception that allows audience members to share their interest in music both with the performers and with their fellow music enthusiasts. Reservations are required for the receptions.

There will be two more Sunset Concerts during the week: cellist Natalia Khoma and pianist Yong Hi Moon on Saturday, August 6 and The Jupiter String Quartet with Yong Hi Moon on Tuesday, August 9, both at 8:00 p.m.