The Music Friends of the Fairfax County Public Library launch their 2008-2009 season of Concerts at the Alden on Sunday, Oct. 12. All performances are held at the Alden Theatre in the McLean Community Center, located at 1234 Ingleside Avenue in McLean. For directions, call 703-790-0123.
This free classical music series, now in its 34th season, features professional musicians who have won international recognition for their artistry, including artists from the National Symphony. The new season’s series also includes three Young Soloists Recitals that will showcase the talents of local school-age musicians.
Opening the fall series on Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. will be the Suzuki Violin/Piano Duo, composed of Hidetaro Suzuki and his wife, Zeyda Ruga Suzuki. During his 25 years as concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Suzuki and his wife have played concerts all over the world and participated in many chamber music festivals. Both artists are graduates of the Curtis Institute of Music. They now reside in Northern Virginia.
A Young Soloists Recital will follow at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. Aiden Kane, 12, is a homeschooled seventh-grader and studies violin with Ronda Cole. Jehshua Karunakaran, 14, is a freshman at the Northern Virginia Christian Academy and studies violin with Olga Khroulevitch. Antonia Stabile, 14, is a freshman at Oakton High School and studies piano with Nancy O’Neill Breth. Alexander Stabile, 16, is a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and studies piano with Nancy O’Neill Breth.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, listen to pianist Natsuki Fukasawa. Fukasawa comes from California as one of the Concerts at the Alden’s distinguished alumni. After earning degrees from The Juilliard School, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Prague Academy of Music, where she became a founding member of the award-winning Jalina Trio. Recently she earned a doctorate from the University of Maryland. She has performed throughout the U.S., Japan, Australia, Europe and Israel, and her performances have been broadcast throughout the U.S.
Violinist Laura Kobayashi and Pianist Susan Keith Gray will perform Sunday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. They have toured throughout the U.S., South America and other parts of the world. Kobayashi has degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale University and the University of Michigan, while Gray holds degrees from Converse College, the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan.
<i>To see the entire 2008-2009 concert series, check the library’s Web site at <a href=http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library>www.fairfaxcounty.gov/librar</a></i>.