The Buzzards Bay Musicfest is proud to present 4 outstanding soloists in this year’s concert series. On Wednesday, July 10 at 7:30 pm, Cynthia Raim will be performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15. Ms. Raim was unanimously chosen as the First Prize winner of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition and has been acclaimed for her concerto and recital appearances throughout the United States and abroad. In summing up the performance that won Ms. Raim the coveted Clara Haskil prize, La Suisse (Geneva) noted that “Miss Raim showed a musical nature that has gone far beyond technical mastery: Without affectation, without useless bravado, Cynthia Raim has imprinted herself on us and cannot escape our admiration.” Le Monde (Paris) called her “a new Clara Haskil.” She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Jennifer Gunn, flute, was appointed to the position of Piccolo with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Maestro Daniel Barenboim in 2005. She has also performed with various other orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Gunn made her debut as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in May of 2008 playing Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major RV 443. Ms. Gunn will be the soloist in the Mozart Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C Major K. 299/297c on the BBMF’s concert, Sunday, July 14 at 2:00 pm. The other soloist on that piece will be harpist Rita Costanzi. Ms. Costanzi graduated from the Eastman School of Music and furthered her studies with Bernard Zighera, Marcel Grandjany and in France on an ITT International Fellowship with Jacqueline Borot. Costanzi was twice winner of the American Harp Society’s National Competition and recipient of the Lily Laskine Award for the most outstanding solo harp recital. The Sunflower Festival hosted the World Premiere of Costanzi’s Theater Piece – Woman On A Ledge, with the support of a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. Winner of the 2020 Hershey Felder Presents Arts Prize Competition, Costanzi wrote, performed and directed her short documentary film “Moonlight in the Bronx”, captivating viewers around the world with her memorial to Ludwig van Beethoven and the victims of the Corona Virus. Her latest CD with oboist, Alex Klein, entitled “Amoroso,” has received over two million streams. She has performed this concerto many times in Canada and the CBC throughout her solo career.
Also performing on the BBMF’s concert, Sunday, July 14 at 2:00 pm is David Allen Wehr. Mr. Wehr has made over 1,300 concert appearances in 30 countries as soloist with orchestra (London, Houston, Chautaqua, New Zealand, National Symphonies, all major Spanish and Latin American orchestras), recitalist (Queen Elizabeth Hall, Kennedy Center, Salle Gaveau Paris, 92nd St. Y New York) and chamber artist (Sartory Trio, Wigmore Hall). He won the Gold Medal at the 1987 Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, the 1983 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Award, and the 1975 Chopin-Kosciuszko Prize in New York City. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he studied with Sequeira Costa. Wehr serves as the Dean of the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he holds the Jack W. Geltz Distinguished Piano Chair. Since 2007, he has served as Principal Pianist at the Buzzards Bay Musicfest and the Sunflower Music Festival. Mr. Wehr will be playing César Franck’s Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra, M.46.
All concerts free admission and will be in the Fireman Performing Arts Center at Hoyt Hall on the campus of Tabor Academy, 245 Front St., Marion, MA 02738.
Please visit www.buzzardsbaymusicfest.com/ for more detailed information.