Tuesday, April 4, 2022
SHERYL STAPLES
Principal Associate Concertmaster
of New York Philharmonic
with
Anna Polonsky, Piano
PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata in A Major for Violin & Piano, Op. 12, No. 2
Lili Boulanger
Cortège
Nocturne
D’un Matin de Printemps
César Franck
Sonata in A Major
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ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Violinist Sheryl Staples joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Associate Concertmaster, The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair, in September 1998. She made her solo debut with the Philharmonic in 1999 performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, led by Kurt Masur. She has since been featured in numerous performances, playing concertos by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Haydn, Bach, and Vivaldi with conductors including Philharmonic Music Directors Jaap van Zweden, Alan Gilbert, and Lorin Maazel, as well as with Sir Colin Davis, Jeffrey Kahane, and Kent Nagano. In addition, she has performed as soloist with more than 45 orchestras nationwide, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego and Richmond Symphony Orchestras, and Louisiana Philharmonic.
The New York Times wrote that “she is a perceptive musician, who plays with great rhythmic integrity and a lucid sense of phrase structure. ... she draws a wonderful array of vibrant and luminous colors ... interpretive honesty and unmannered elegance.” The Los Angeles Times said she has a “tantalizing mix of qualities. ... refinement and boldness, polish and fire. ... big, rich, sweeping tone, lacking nothing in warmth and evenness.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer praised her “aristocratic artistry coupled with violinistic mastery ... pinpoint accuracy and daring that took the breath away.”
Ms. Staples frequently performs chamber music in the New York area, including at David Geffen Hall, Merkin Hall, 92nd Street Y, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has also appeared throughout the United States, Europe, and Central and South America, including in events hosted by US Ambassadors in London, Paris, Berlin, Beijing, and Hong Kong. She was a founding member of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, with which she toured the US and South Korea. Her summer appearances have included La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Boston Chamber Music Society, Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Santa Fe, Mainly Mozart, Seattle, Aspen, Sarasota, Martha’s Vineyard, Strings Music, and Brightstar Music chamber music festivals. She appears on three Stereophile recordings with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Sheryl Staples is a native of Los Angeles, where she developed her love for ensemble work at an early age. She began studying the violin at age five, and her major mentors were Robert Lipsett and Heiichiro Ohyama. Before finishing studies at the USC Thornton School of Music, Ms. Staples was appointed concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and other professional ensembles in Los Angeles. She then became concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony in 1994 while enjoying a varied career consisting of solo appearances, chamber music, teaching (at the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School of Performing Arts), and Hollywood studio recording work for major motion pictures.
At the age of 26 Ms. Staples joined The Cleveland Orchestra as associate concertmaster, a position she held for three years. In addition, she taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Encore School for Strings, and Kent/Blossom Music Festival, and she was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio.
Currently Ms. Staples is on the violin faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard Pre-College, and serves on faculty of The Juilliard School in orchestral studies.
Ms. Staples and her husband, percussionist Barry Centanni, often perform together. Their collaborations include two works written for them: William Kraft’s Concerto a Tre for piano, violin, and percussion, premiered at Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society’s summer festival (available on Albany Records), and David Sampson’s Black River Concerto for solo violin, percussion, and orchestra, premiered with the Montclair State University Symphony.
Ms. Staples performs on the “Kartman” Guarneri del Gesù violin, ca. 1728, previously on loan from private collector Peter Mandell and now in the collection of the New York Philharmonic.
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Anna Polonsky is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared with the Moscow Virtuosi, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and many others. Ms. Polonsky has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion, Daedalus, and Shanghai Quartets, and with such musicians as Mitsuko Uchida, Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Arnold Steinhardt, Peter Wiley, and Jaime Laredo. She has performed chamber music at festivals such as Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle, Music@Menlo, Cartagena, Bard, and Caramoor, as well as at Bargemusic in New York City.
Ms. Polonsky has given concerts in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls, and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A frequent guest at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, she was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two during 2002-2004. In 2006 she took a part in the European Broadcasting Union's project to record and broadcast all of Mozart's keyboard sonatas, and in the spring of 2007 she performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium to inaugurate the Emerson Quartet’s Perspectives Series. She is a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.
Anna Polonsky made her solo piano debut at the age of seven at the Special Central Music School in Moscow, Russia. She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Music diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of the renowned pianist Peter Serkin, and continued her studies with Jerome Lowenthal, earning her Master's Degree from the Juilliard School. In addition to performing, she serves on the piano faculty of Vassar College, and in the summer at the Marlboro and Kneisel Hall chamber music festivals. Beginning in 2018, Polonsky performs in a trio with clarinetist David Shifrin and cellist Peter Wiley. Ms. Polonsky is a Steinway Artist.