Lyrical serenity and chocolate for the soul

Shandelee presents Rannali and Jupiter chamber group at 15th annual festival

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — The Shandelee Music Festival will present two concerts over the coming week. On Thursday, August 7 at 8:00 p.m. Mika Rannali will perform solo piano works by Debussy, Liszt, Madetoja, Englund, Scriabin, and Ginastera as well as one of his own compositions. On Saturday, August 9 at 8:00 p.m., the festival will feature the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in an evening of chamber music.

After his highly acclaimed New York debut, Mika Rannali established his position as one of the most extraordinaryartists of his generation. Such descriptions as “phenomenal artist” (Gothenburg Post, Sweden) and “plays with boisterous energy as well as with lyrical serenity” (Birmingham Post, England) have followed his recitals, orchestral and chamber performances worldwide. Rannali played his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in December 1999, and Harris Goldsmith, the critic of The New York Concert Review wrote: “Mika Rannali gave a truly impressive account of himself. Although he is a technically exciting virtuoso, Rannali ‘plays like a composer’ in the best sense… ”

The Saturday concert by the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players is in memory of long-time supporter and friend, Marge Siegel. Paul Huang and Bud and Marlene Wertheim are concert underwriters of this concert. The players are Alessio Bax (piano), Xiao-Dong Wang (violin), Lisa Shihoten (violin), Ara Gregorian (viola), David Requiro (cello), Vadim Lando (clarinet) and Karl Kramer (horn). They will perform works by Prokofiev, Mozart and Dohnanyi.

Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players was created in January 2002 as a tribute to Jens Nygaard, conductor extraordinaire of the orchestra, Jupiter Symphony. Adam Baer of the New York Sun proclaimed it “one of the city’s cultural jewels.” Dedicated to perpetuate the legacy of Maestro Nygaard, founder of the Jupiter Symphony, who died in September 2001, the chamber music group celebrates a legacy that denotes musical excellence, gives performance opportunities to outstanding musicians and imparts a love of interesting and unusual programs of works. Currently, Jupiter’s season comprises 40 concerts at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in New York City. In the words of one of its concertgoers “Jupiter is chocolate for the soul.”

The concert series takes place in the Festival Concert Pavilion on the festival grounds and is wheelchair accessible. Advance reservations are required. Tickets cost $25, $23 for seniors and students. Specialty dessert receptions follow each Sunset Concert.

For more information call 845/439-3277.