Free piano recital Monday, August 19th at noon

The 16th annual free Summer Noontime concert series concludes this Monday, August 19th, with a performance by pianist Mo Xu.  The program includes Beethoven: Sonata No. 6, Op. 10/2; Robert Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2; and the towering and monumental Sonata in B Minor of Franz Liszt.

New to our series, Mo Xu has performed at many prestigious venues, including Weill Recital Hall at the Carnegie Hall, Benzanson Recital Hall, Kemp Recital Hall, ISU Center for the Performing Arts and Sweeney Concert Hall. 

Mo received second prize at the American Protégé International Concerto Competition, second prize at the "Golden Classical Music Awards" International Competition and honorable mentions at the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition and the Paderewski International Piano Competition in Connecticut.

free violin and viola duo recital

The 16^th annual Summer Noontime concert series continues with a performance by violinist Emily Kalish and violist James Bergin.The program features music by Morley and Mozart, as well as new works written for the duo by Gary Philo and Amy Reich. 

Emily Kalish has performed annually on the St. John's Summer Noontime Concert Series since its inception in 2004. She is a member of the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She produces chamber music concerts for and performs with the Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra dedicated to engaging audiences with issues related to racial and social justice.

James Bergin is a member of the Berkshire Symphony, founder and conductor of the Community Intergenerational Action Orchestra (CIAO!) based in Williamstown, MA, a composer, and the executive director of the Boston Microtonal Society. He directs the music program at the Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter School (BART) in Adams and is a teaching artist with Eighteen Degrees/Kids 4 Harmony in North Adams. He co-directs the Williamstown Orchestra Workshop (WOW) with Emily Kalish

free viola recital

Michael Strauss, violist, is on the faculty of the Doylestown Community Conservatory and maintains private teaching studios in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and Chestertown, Maryland. For the last six summers, he has taught chamber music and ear training at the renowned Philadelphia International Music Festival. 

Mr. Strauss has performed professionally as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, Israel, and Mexico. From 1999 until his 2009 move to Philadelphia, he was Principal Violist and Director of Education and Outreach for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, director of the Washington College String Orchestra, the Kent School Strings, and “Classical Advantage,” a musical day camp, and founded the Mariner String Quartet. 

He received a BA from Yale, majoring in English Literature, then, from the New England Conservatory, a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Performance. His most influential teachers were Eugene Lehner, George Neikrug, Benjamin Zander, and Karen Tuttle.