Chamber Music
April 25, 2010 • 3 pm • Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum - 895 Shore Road, Pelham Bay Park

Elaine Comaprone
Elaine Comaprone


Mona Zarina
Mona Zarina



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Elaine Comparone, Harpsichord
Mona Zarina, Cello*

C.P.E. Bach - Trio Sonata in B flat Major for Oboe, Flute or Violin & Basso Continuo
J. S. Bach - Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Clavier in G Major, BWV 1027
Mozart - Trio in B Flat Major for Violin, Cello & Harpsichord
C.P.E. Bach - Quartet in A minor for Flute or Violin, Viola, Cello & Harpsichord
Scarlatti - Two Sonatas for Solo Harpsichord

*2009 Bingham Award Co-Winner, BAE Young Bronx Artist Contest

ELAINE COMPARONE
Since her acclaimed New York recital debut as a Concert Artists Guild award winner, harpsichordist Elaine Comparone has maintained a multi-faceted career as soloist with orchestra and on the recital stage, chamber musician, recording artist, impresaria, choral director, teacher, arranger and collaborator with choreographers, poets and video artists.

Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts into a family of musicians, she began piano studies at age four with her mother. As a child she played violin, flute (with her father as teacher) and pipe organ; but it was not until her student years at Brandeis University that she discovered and fell in love with the harpsichord. Her success with that instrument resulted in a Fulbright Fellowship to study with harpsichordist Isolde Ahlgrimm at the Academy of Music in Vienna.
A recipient of Solo Recitalist and Recording Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, she has given solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, 92nd Street YW-YMHA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dayton Art Institute and the Library of Congress, to name a few. She has enjoyed guest appearances with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony, Washington Chamber Symphony and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra among others. Her collaboration with the New York Virtuosi included an annual series and residency at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. She has taken her harpsichords to performances in every state of the continental US as soloist, artist-in-residence and founder/member of The Queen’s Chamber Band, Trio Bell’Arte and Bach With Pluck. She has performed her unique interpretations of Domenico Scarlatti’s music in France and Italy.

As founder/director of Harpsichord Unlimited, a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulating interest in the harpsichord and teaching audiences about the instrument, its history and its music, she directs and performs in an annual series of chamber music concerts in New York City. The series features The Queen’s Chamber Band, whose performances of early music and newly commissioned works at historic churches, Merkin Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall have enhanced New York City’s cultural life for the past 12 years. Under her direction, Harpsichord Unlimited has commissioned, sponsored and premiered more than 50 new works for harpsichord and chamber ensemble. Her avid interest in contemporary music has led to collaborations with many distinguished composers.

Elaine Comparone enjoys standing at the harpsichord to play. She cites Vermeer paintings as an inspiration along with the fact that she is a member of the rock-and-roll generation. Under her direction, Hubbard Harpsichords, Inc. designed and built a tall, oak stand that elevates the instrument. Affectionately dubbed “the Brooklyn Bridge” by Hubbard technicians, the tall stand accommodates either her Hubbard or her Dowd harpsichord.

MONA ZARINA
Cellist Mona Zarina is a student of Marcy Rosen, and attended the Darzins School of Music in Riga, Latvia and Scuola di Musica die Fiesole in Florence, Italy. She is a first prize winner in the Dombrowsky International Competition and won 3rd place in the Davidoff Cello Competition. Mona has participated in master classes with renowned cellists Mstislav Rostopovich, Natasha Gutman, Gary Hoffman and Bernard Greenhouse. Mona will appear with the Bronx Arst Ensemble on April 25, 2010 at Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.