St. Francis College's Concerts at Half-Past Twelve returns for the fall 2019 season with Art of the Keyboard, a three-concert series showcasing masterpieces written for harpsichord, piano, and organ from the 18th through the 20th century.

Now in its twentieth year, Concerts at Half-Past Twelve has built a loyal following among St. Francis College and Brooklyn Heights communities, where it is considered a signature live musical event. Each season focuses on a different genre or musical category, and features recitals by renowned musicians at the top of their craft.

"We're thrilled to welcome old and new friends for our fall 2019 season, which should be one of our most memorable," said Suzanne Forsberg, chair of the SFC Department of Foreign Languages, Fine Arts, and International Cultural Studies. "For twenty years we've invited our St. Francis College colleagues and Brooklyn neighbors to enjoy world-class musical entertainment right in our own back yard. Our doors remain open to music aficionados and everyone who appreciates a mid-day musical respite."

Concerts at Half-Past Twelve are free and open to the public. They take place in Founders Hall at St. Francis College (180 Remsen St., Brooklyn Heights) except as noted below.

The Art of the Keyboard schedule is:

Monday, September 23 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Masters of the Harpsichord: Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Ludwig Krebs

Performers:

Brooklyn Baroque with the New York Classical Quartet and Taya König-Tarasevich, flute

Program:

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach
Italian Concerto, Johann Ludwig Krebs

Brooklyn Baroque debuted in the fall of 2000, when cellist David Bakamjian joined the long-standing duo of baroque flutist Andrew Bolotowsky and harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky. Now core members Pechefsky and Bakamjian frequently collaborate with the finest early-music specialists in the New York area, including the New York Classical Quartet. Their CD Northern Lights, with German Baroque music (Quill Classics 1005), was released in 2005, and their companion CD of French Baroque music, The Pleasures of the French (Quill Classics 1007) appeared in 2007. Brooklyn Baroque is currently in residence at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, Manhattan's oldest house.

The New York Classical Quartet brings together four individuals with extensive experience in period-instrument performance and in chamber music of all eras. Founded in 2013, they have performed at the LaGrua Center in Stonington, CT, Midtown Concerts in New York City, the King Manor in Queens, NY, and Museum Concerts in Providence, RI, among others.

Taya König-Tarasevich, a Siberian-born flutist, is based in New York. She enjoys playing both baroque and modern flute as a soloist and orchestral performer, as well as chamber musician. Taya is co-founder of the baroque group Terpsichore. She has performed throughout the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Brazil, as well as in the flute section of the Freiburger Barockorchestra and the American Bach Soloists Academy. Taya studied at conservatories in St.Petersburg, Karlsruhe, and Freiburg, and at the University of Michigan with Valentin V.Cherenkov, Renate Greiss-Armin, Mathias Allin, Karl Kaiser, and Amy Porter. She gained further inspiration in working with Philippe Bernold, Pirmin Grehl, Kersten McCall, Grigory Mordashov, Christoph Krueger, Rachel Brown, Sandra Miller, and Barthold Kuijken.

Monday, October 28 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Poet of the Piano: Celebrating 200 Years of Clara Schumann

Performer:

Yelena Grinberg

Yelena Grinberg, a Russian-born pianist, is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the most vibrant poetic young artists on the classical music scene.

As a winner of the Artists International Competition (2005), Dr. Grinberg performed her sold-out New York Debut recital of the Baroque Reflections program at Carnegie's Weill Hall and was highly acclaimed for her "grand performance in a grand tradition" (NYCR).

Dr. Grinberg is an Adjunct Professor at Fordham University where she teaches Music History and coaches piano and chamber music. She is also on the piano faculty at the Crestwood Music Education Center in Eastchester, New York. In addition, she maintains an active private piano studio on the Upper West Side.

Dr. Grinberg is the founder and the artistic director of the Grinberg Classical Salon Series – a unique series of intimate and enlightening home salon concerts on the Upper West Side, in which she has presented such renowned artists such as Jerome Lowenthal, Oxana Yablonskaya, Madeline Bruser, clarinetist Julian Milkis, mandolinist, Joyce Balint, and NYU's Professor of Music, Dr. Michael Beckerman.

Monday, November 18 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m, First Unitarian, Brooklyn Heights

Masters of the Organ: Bach and Beyond

Performer:

Michael Kaminski, DMA

Michael Kaminski is adjunct assistant professor of organ at Brooklyn College and senior adjunct lecturer of music at St. Francis College. He is director of music ministries at Saint Francis Xavier Church and associate organist at Our Lady of Angels Church, both in Brooklyn, New York. He earned bachelor and master of music degrees from the Juilliard School and a doctor of musical arts degree from the Catholic University of America. His teachers have included Rollin Smith, Vernon de Tar, Leonard Raver, Peter Marshall, Russell Saunders, and Delbert Disselhorst.

Kaminski performed at the Region II Convention of the American Guild of Organists in July 1999 and has played for national conventions of the Organ Historical Society and the Music Teachers' National Association. In 1990 he performed the six organ symphonies of Louis Vierne in a series of recitals in Washington, D.C. Twice a finalist in the Chicago National Student Organ Competition and the Flint International Organ Competition, Kaminski has won prizes in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. His concerts have taken him to 37 states, Canada, and Mexico. He has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Morelia International Organ Festival, and the International Organ Festival at Guadalajara. He has been heard on the National Public Radio program, Pipedreams, Radio Mexico, as well as numerous regional radio broadcasts. In 2020 he will be performing the complete organ symphonies of Vierne in concerts throughout the United States.

For more information about Concerts at Half-Past Twelve, email Dr. Suzanne Forsberg at [email protected].