Winner of the Pro Musicis International Award (2022), Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant (2020), Astral Artists National Auditions (2019), National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Young Artist Competition (2019), New York International Artists Association Competition (2017), Schadt String Competition (2016), Hellam Young Artists Competition (2015), and the Luminarts Classical Music Fellowship (2016).
at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts
8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Rd. (in Upper Ojai)
Ojai, CA 93023 Detailed map and directions
Program
Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 for solo cello – Johann Sebastian Bach
'moon music' for solo cello – Alexander Hersh
'Microsuite' for solo cello – Paul Wiancko 'Lamentatio' for solo cello – Giovanni Sollima
Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, L. 135 – Claude Debussy
Sonata for Cello and Piano in D major – Felix Mendelssohn
A reception was held on our patio immediately following the performance.
Cellist Alexander Hersh and Pianist Dominic Cheli
at the patio reception after their performance. Photo: Christine Gregory
BIOGRAPHY
Alexander Hersh, Cellist (Photo by Dario Acosta)
Having already performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and the Boston Pops, cellist Alexander Hersh has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile talents of his generation. He has received top prizes at competitions worldwide including the: 2022 Pro Musicis International Award, 2020 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, 2019 Astral Artists National Auditions, National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Young Artists Competition, New York International Artists Association Competition, Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra, Ima Hogg, Schadt, Artist Concerts Series National Solo Competition, Luminarts Classical Music Fellowship, Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, Hellam Young Artist Competition, Boston Pops/New England Conservatory Competition, Jefferson Symphony International Young Artists Competition, Society of American Musicians, Saint Paul String Quartet, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music competition.
Recent and upcoming concerto engagements include the Houston Symphony, Boston Pops, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, Jefferson Symphony orchestra, Symphony Parnassus, Saint Paul Civic Symphony, and the Dupage Symphony Orchestra.
Webern Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (1899) — I. Langsam
Alexander Hersh, cello with
Victor Asunción, piano
Webern Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (1899) — I. Langsam
Alexander Hersh, cello with
Victor Asunción, piano
The Musiq3 critics of the RTBF Belgian Radio company gave Hersh’s performance at the inaugural Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition in Belgium in 2017 a rave review: "With his scenic presence and charm, Hersh has everything to become the darling of the public."
A passionate chamber musician, Hersh has performed the complete string quartets of Béla Bartok and Alban Berg and much of the rest of the chamber music canon at music festivals worldwide including: Marlboro, Caramoor, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Music@Menlo, I-M-S Prussia Cove, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Amsterdam Cello Biennial, Kneisel Hall, Lucerne, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Domaine Forget, and the Meadowmount School of Music.
Hersh is co-artistic director of NEXUS Chamber Music, a collective of international artists committed to stimulating interest in serious chamber music. NEXUS presents a two week chamber music festival across the city of Chicago each August, featuring new and obscure works alongside standard works of the chamber music canon. NEXUS plays to unusual and intimate venues with the mission of breaking down the barriers that often separate performers from audience members.
Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor — Prologue
Alexander Hersh, cello
with Victor Asunción, piano
A 4th generation string player, Alexander’s parents, Stefan and Roberta, are both active professional violinists. His grandfather, Paul Hersh, is professor of viola and piano at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and his great grandfather, Ralph Hersh, was a member of the WQXR and Stuyvesant String Quartets, and principal violist of the Dallas and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.
Raised in Chicago, Alexander Hersh began playing the cello at the age of 5. He studied with Steve Balderston and Hans Jørgen Jensen, and attended the Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. Hersh received his B.M. from New England Conservatory (with academic honors) where he was a student of Laurence Lesser and recipient of the Clara M. Friedlaender Scholarship. In May of 2017, he received his M.M. from New England Conservatory where he studied under the tutelage of Paul Katz and Kim Kashkashian. Hersh was a recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe fund for studies in Berlin during the 2017 - 2018 academic year where he studied with Nicolas Altstaedt at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule for Musik Berlin. He plays a G.B. Rogeri cello on generous loan from a sponsor through the Guarneri Hall Affiliate Artists program and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins in Chicago, IL.
Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor — Sérénade
Alexander Hersh, cello
with Victor Asunción, piano
Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor — Final
Alexander Hersh, cello
with Victor Asunción, piano
BIOGRAPHY
Dominic Cheli, Pianist (Photo by Dario Acosta)
“You can tell that his interests extend not just to playing the piano, but to being an artist citizen.” - Ohio News
Able to “devour the piano – play anything” Cheli’s playing (is) “spontaneous yet perfect. It was the best of how a young person can play.” - Symphony Magazine
Pianist Dominic Cheli transfixed the audience. This young man was mesmerizing — his fingers were one with each key. - The LA Times
From shy ingénue pre-play, to barnstorming Goliath in performance, Cheli’s huge hands flew over the keyboard in lithe contradiction to their presumed gravity; sundry complexities flowing from Prokofiev’s pen were neatly turned to velvet submissions, in this pianist’s intelligent dissection of fact from froo-froo. - Santa Barbara Voice Magazine
Dominic Cheli embraces the role of an artist-citizen in his multifaceted career as performer, educator, composer, and director. He is described as an “inspired keyboardist” (artsfuse) whose playing is “spontaneous yet perfect, the best of how a young person can play.” (Symphony Magazine). His rapidly advancing career included his Walt Disney Concert Hall Debut with the Colburn Orchestra where Dominic was “mesmerizing, (he) transfixed the audience.” (LA Times). He gave his Carnegie Hall Recital Debut in 2019 and has had a busy performing and recording career ever since. He recorded his 2nd CD on the Naxos label of the music of Liszt/Schubert, and was a performer/producer/editor on a 3rd CD of the music of Erwin Schulhoff for the Delos Label featuring his collaboration on Piano Concerto no.2 with Maestro James Conlon. He also recently completed work as a composer, audio editor and performer on the documentary Defying Gravity (2021).
Brahms: Intermezzo in A major op.118 no.2
Pianist Dominic Cheli
A native of St. Louis, Dominic has performed with orchestras all across the country and abroad including the San Diego Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Adrian Symphony, and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (Germany). He has worked with conductors such as James Conlon, Gerard Schwarz, Valery Gergiev and many others. Dominic debuted at several major festivals across the United States including the Ravinia Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Virginia Arts Festival. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Seattle Symphony, a debut at Alice Tully Hall, and his 4th appearance at Carnegie Hall.
As a recording artist, Cheli’s albums have been met with acclaim. Musicweb-international hailed Cheli’s 1st album, featuring the music of Muzio Clementi, as “definitive performances” and his 2021 album, Liszt: Schubert transcriptions, as “utterly brilliant”. Also in 2017, Dominic was named 1st prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City.
With a fascination and appreciation for the benefits of technology especially in our new virtual age, Dominic was appointed LIVE Director of Tonebase Piano in 2021. As a result, he is the host and presenter of numerous virtual lectures, performances and workshops each month to the 5,000+ subscribers on the platform. His mission is to share personal knowledge and invite guests to democratize high-level music education, allowing everyone to learn from and be inspired by the best!
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 (1st movement)
with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Gerard Schwarz
Pianist Dominic Cheli
Committed to engaging with his surrounding community, Dominic regularly performs and brings curated programs/educational residencies to schools and retirement homes. He has performed as an artist for Project: Music Heals Us, a non-profit organization that presents interactive classical music performances to diverse audiences in order to provide encouragement, education, and healing with a focus on elderly, disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated, and homeless populations. He also performs with Street Symphony, an organization centered in practices of relationship, renewal, re-entry, and recovery, presenting musical programs in Skid Row built on sustained relationships and partnerships with Skid Row organizations and community individuals.
Dominic has received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the Colburn School studying with Zena Ilyashov, Andre-Michel Schub, Peter Frankl, and Fabio Bidini.
Mr. Cheli is a Yamaha Artist and recently appointed faculty member of the Colburn Community Music School.
In his spare time, Dominic enjoys cooking and training for Ironman triathlons.
The Musiq3 critics of the RTBF Belgian Radio company gave Hersh’s performance at the inaugural Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition in Belgium in 2017 a rave review: "With his scenic presence and charm, Hersh has everything to become the darling of the public."
