Beethoven to Bartok

New City, NY – New York City-based duo, violinist Akiko Kobayashi and pianist Eric Siepkes will perform a classical chamber music benefit concert at the Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church at 323 South Main Street, in New City, NY, on Sunday, May 20 at 3pm, which will celebrate the release of their debut CD, as well as benefit St. Paul Lutheran Church and Rockland Family Shelter.

The program will feature a multinational program chronicling music from a wide range of periods: starting with Mozart and Beethoven, two strikingly different representatives of the First Viennese School of composition; continuing with Schumann, a dreamer plagued by mental instability, weaving fanciful daydreams in his Fantasiestücke, a set of three pieces representative of high Romanticism; and ending with energetic folk dances by Bartok.  As researcher and collector of folk melodies in his native Hungary, Bartok compiled and transcribed these peasant melodies into a more classical format, creating an earthy and rich sound world.

The concert is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10.  All proceeds will benefit St. Paul Lutheran Church and Rockland Family Shelter.  Call 914.434.0573 for more information or visit www.akikokobayashi.net.