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Virtual Benefit Concert

Originally aired on August 4, 2020, this Virtual Benefit Concert supports The Longy Fund to ensure incredible programs such as Sistema Side-by-Side and Music as a Healing Art continue.

Performances showcase faculty, alumni, students, and a special guest. In addition to raising funds for Longy, the Concert begins with a call to action to support Violence In Boston, Inc., a Boston-based social justice organization. Living Longy’s mission of music equity for social change, we will continue to amplify diverse voices from our School’s community.

We are thrilled to share this concert with you! Please enjoy the recording and share these stories and music far and wide.


Thank You!

52 donors gave $16,380

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Performer Biographies (in order of appearance in Virtual Benefit Concert)

DANNY RIVERA (born January 4, 2001) is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and thoughtful advocate for social impact, equity, and empowerment. A recent graduate from the Boston Arts Academy, Rivera is constantly reimagining what it means to be a musician as he explores new heights as a musician, educator, and social activist.

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His musical roots lie squarely in the church, but experience performing and directing classical and contemporary choral music as well as possessing sonic ties to R&B & Pop allow him to effortlessly create music that breaks generational barriers and defies genre.

Danny’s following began to expand in 2018 following the release of his debut single “Gravity”. The single, which showcased his rich “Baritenor” voice and thoughtful songwriting propelled him towards the release of his first full EP “The Requisite,” which is currently available on all media outlets.

In addition to studio work, Danny has performed at such venues as The White House, Fenway Park, The TD Garden, House of Blues Boston, and many other venues. His work has been featured on NPR Radio, 103.3 AMP Radio, Mix 104.1, WCVB Channel 5, and Amazon Prime TV where his song was submitted for an Emmy Nomination. In 2019, Danny wrote and released a campaign song for U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley.

Danny currently attends Longy Music School of Bard College where he majors in vocal studies, but remains busy traveling internationally as he continues to expand his reach while creating and occupying space for young artists to express their creativity to the fullest degree.

KRISTIN LAWLER, soprano, is excited to be embarking on the world as a graduate of Longy’s Masters program in Voice Performance. As the Nancy Peery Marriott Scholar Kristin spent much of her time at Longy onstage. In the year of 2019 alone Kristin performed in four staged opera productions. During her degree she had the opportunity to exercise her craft not just through an educational setting but also with professional companies such as: Emmanuel Music, Opera del West, and Boston Opera Collaborative. 

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Kristin plans to continue studying with Carol Mastrodomenico, a pillar of Longy’s voice department staff and a mentor for her Vocal Pedagogy study.  

Plans after graduation include maintaining her private voice studio in Downtown Boston and continuing to find ways to fuel her passion for making music with the incredible colleagues that surround her. She believes in investing her time and energy into not only making art but helping those around her find their artistic outlet. She is ready to make the most of her time in Boston and cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her.

Translation of "Canción al arbol del olvido"

NEAVE TRIO–violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura–has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances, since forming in 2010, Neave. WQXR explains, “‘Neave’ is actually a Gaelic name meaning ‘bright’ and ‘radiant,’ both of which certainly apply to this trio’s music making.” The Boston Musical Intelligencer included Neave in its “Best of 2014” and “Best of 2016” roundups, writing, “it is inconceivable that they will not soon be among the busiest chamber ensembles going,” and “their unanimity, communication, variety of touch, and expressive sensibility rate first tier.”

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Neave has performed at many esteemed concert series and at festivals worldwide, including Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 92nd Street Y, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Chamber Music Series (United Kingdom), and the Samoylov and Rimsky Korsakow Museums’ Chamber Music Series in St. Petersburg (Russia). The trio has also appeared frequently as soloists for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with orchestras across the country and held residency positions at Brown University, University of Virginia, San Diego State University as the first ever Fisch/Axelrod Trio-in-Residence, and the Banff Centre (Canada), among many other institutions. Neave Trio was also in residence at the MIT School of Architecture and Design in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Richard Colton. In the fall of 2017, the Trio joined the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College as Alumni Artists, Faculty Ensemble‑in‑Residence.

Neave Trio strives to champion new works by living composers and reach wider audiences through innovative concert presentations, regularly collaborating with artists of all mediums. These collaborations include performances with the Blythe Barton Dance Company; projection artist Ryan Brady; the interactive concert series “STEIN2.0,” with composer Amanuel Zarzowski; Klee Musings by acclaimed American composer Augusta Read Thomas, which was premiered by Neave; the premiere of Eric Nathan’s Missing Words V, sponsored by Coretet; Leah Read’s Cloud Burst for piano trio and electronics; Dale Trumbore’s Another Chance; and a music video by filmmaker Amanda Alvarez Díaz of Astor Piazzolla’s “Otoño Porteño.”

Neave Trio’s album Her Voice, includes trios by Amy Beach, Rebecca Clarke, and Louise Farrenc, and was released in September 2019 on Chandos Records. Celebrating Piazzolla was released on Azica Records in November 2018 and features mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski. It captures the composer’s rich legacy through arrangements by one of Piazzolla’s long time colleagues, José Bragato and by a younger protégé, Leonardo Suárez Paz, as well as an original work by Paz. Gramophone described their recording of The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires as “thrilling,” having “wild energy,” and “electrifying,” while Classics Today writes, “the energetic edginess, the snap, the rhythm sound convincing, totally invigorating, and authentic.” Celebrating Piazzolla was included on The Arts Fuse’s list of the Best Classical Recordings of 2018.

Neave Trio’s other recordings include French Moments (Chandos Records, 2018) which includes the only known piano trios by Debussy, Fauré, and Roussel. French Moments was featured on WQXR’s list of “The Best New Recordings of 2018 (So Far).” According to BBC Music Magazine, “The performances balance passion with sensitivity and grace,” while The Strad praises the trio’s “eloquent phrasing and deft control of textures.” Neave’s 2016 debut album, American Moments, was released to critical acclaim on Chandos Records, and includes works by Korngold, Foote, and Bernstein.

NATHAN MELTZER, violin, is hailed as a rising star, offering a compelling combination of technique and musicianship. A protégé of Itzhak Perlman, Nathan performs on the Ames-Totenberg Stradivarius violin. Nathan has been a soloist with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, and the Bloomington, Evansville, and Muncie orchestras, among others, performing in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and across the US.

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Built in Cremona in 1734 by Antonio Stradivari, the Ames-Totenberg Stradivarius was purchased by Longy director Roman Totenberg in 1943. For 37 years, maestro and instrument were companions in concert halls around the world—until the violin was stolen from his office at Longy in 1980.

We are thrilled to welcome Nathan and the violin back to celebrate its storied homecoming at this special Longy event.

“Our father would have been so pleased to hear Nathan, a gifted young violinist, breathe life back into the violin.” —Jill Totenberg

“The Ames-Totenberg Stradivarius is on loan from Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.There are rare, perfect moments in chamber music where minds meld and hearts coalesce in beautiful synergy. Violinist Nathan Meltzer and pianist Evren Ozel … attended to every contour of the music with care, crafting a longform melodic idea that flowed effortlessly from phrase to phrase and movement to movement. It was a privilege to witness.”
ClevelandClassical

“I was most impressed…by the only-19-year-old American Nathan Meltzer, already a violinist of great stature with unobtrusive technical brilliance, a very individual musicianship, and a supple tone.”
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten

Youngest ever to win the Windsor Festival International String Competition, Nathan has been a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Aalborg, Adelphi, Berlin, Concepción, Evansville, Indianapolis, Medellín, and Pittsburgh orchestras, among others, performing in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and across the US.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Nathan has performed at ChamberFest Cleveland, Giardini La Mortella, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Moritzburg Festival, the Musical de l’Orne, the Perlman Chamber Workshop, and the Verbier Festival Academy. He has been a concert artist with Omega Ensemble since 2016.

​Nathan’s 2020-21 season, soon to be announced, includes the launch of his debut CD with Rohan De Silva.

Nathan studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at Juilliard. He performs on the “Ames, Totenberg” Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona 1734, generously on loan from Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.

WAYMAN CHIN is piano faculty and Dean Emeritus of the Conservatory at Longy. He has performed widely throughout the United States, Asia, and the United Kingdom. His playing has been described as, “transcendental, long lines spun like glorious gold thread,” “ferociously concentrated, intense, focused, and musically astute” (Boston Herald), “vividly characterized and atmospheric,” (Stamford Mercury, U.K.) and “sheer magic….every note is colored.” (Freeman, Philippines).

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An advocate of new music, Wayman Chin has premiered several works by noted composers, including those of Scott Wheeler, Marti Epstein, Jeremy Van Buskirk, John McDonald, and Paul Brust; he has also introduced several works of Aaron Jay Kernis to Boston audiences. Of Chin’s performance of Kernis’ Valentines, with soprano Karyl Ryczek, David Cleary of 21st Century Music wrote, “Wayman Chin traversed the formidable challenges of the piano part with conspicuous success. His highly demonstrative performing style excellently suited the work’s forthright nature.”