September 24, 2002
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Vibrant piano trio Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey
performs at the Four Seasons Biltmore Ballroom

Summary Facts:

• Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey
• One of chamber music’s most exciting young ensembles
• Their program includes works by Lotti, Beethoven, Liebermann and Schubert
• A Chamber Music in Historic Sites® concert
• Ticket includes the Biltmore Hotel’s famous high tea
• Sunday, November 3
• 4 pm / Four Seasons Biltmore Ballroom, 1260 Channel Drive, Montecito
• 3 pm / Meet-the-artists discussion
• General: $60, UCSB students: $40 (limited availability)
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Perlman/Schmidt /Bailey, the charismatic piano trio in its inaugural season, will perform on Sunday, November 3 at 4 pm in the Four Seasons Biltmore Ballroom, 1260 Channel Drive, Montecito. Navah Perlman, piano, Giora Schmidt, violin, and Zuill Bailey, cello, form one of chamber music’s most exciting young ensembles. All three will be familiar to area audiences for their acclaimed appearances at the Music Academy of the West. The group—which originally featured violinist Kurt Nikkanen—was formed in 1998 by three virtuosic artists to combine their strengths as soloists with their love of chamber music. With Giora Schmidt joining the trio in the spring 2002, the group continues to present energetic and passionate performances at major halls, festivals and universities across America. At 4 pm prior to the performance, the Biltmore Hotel will serve its famous high tea in its beguiling garden. The ticket price includes the tea.

The trio’s program includes Antonio Lotti’s Sonata in G Major, Beethoven’s Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost Trio”), Schubert’s Trio in B Flat Major, Op. 99, D898 and Lowell Liebermann’s Trio No. 2 for Violin, Piano and Cello, Op. 77, a work commissioned for the trio.

Navah Perlman has established herself as one of the most poetic and admired pianists of her generation, performing to critical acclaim in major concert venues throughout North America, Europe and Asia. She began her piano studies at age six with Ronit Amir Lowenthal and later attended the Juilliard School and worked with Herbert Stessin. While earning an honors degree in Art History from Brown University, she continued to make orchestral and recital appearances.

Perlman has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, among other orchestras, while maintaining a successful solo career and collaborating with cellist Zuill Bailey and violinist (and her father) Itzhak Perlman.

Zuill Bailey dazzles audiences with his technical and artistic command of the cello. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and The Juilliard School, Bailey is also an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West. He has performed on major stages and at major festivals including Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center. Bailey serves as the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica in Texas, while also having recorded on the soundtrack to television’s Homicide: Life on the Street and having appeared on-screen in several episodes of the HBO series Oz.

Violinist Giora Schmidt is acclaimed for his superb tone quality and pure musicianship. He currently studies with Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School, after having trained at the Music Academy of the West, among other places. Schmidt has performed with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman as soloists with the Israel Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall and garnered numerous awards and prizes, including first prize in the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert Greenfield Competition.

A Pre-Concert Meet-the-Artists Discussion with the trio will be held at 3 pm for ticket holders only. As part of their residency, Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey will hold a Master Class with musicians from the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony on Monday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at Lehmann Hall, Music Academy of the West (a co-sponsor of the event). The class is free and open to public observation.

This concert is the first of three events in UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2002-2003 performing arts season held in local buildings of architectural significance where audiences can experience music in unique and intimate environments. Celesta Billeci, director of Arts & Lectures, says, “We are delighted to begin another season of creative pairings of great music and beautiful architecture. Following the Santa Barbara debut of Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey we look forward to an April concert at The Peppers by stunning soprano Ellen Hargis and master lutenist Paul O’Dette, followed by a May concert in the County Courthouse Mural Room by the stirring Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.”

The Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel was built in 1926-27 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by famed architect Reginald Johnson, who was also the architect for Lotusland. The grand Loggia Ballroom of this venerable hotel features an 18-foot ceiling, crystal chandeliers, a fireplace and French doors opening onto an outdoor patio. The room is sure to be an inspiring setting for dazzling chamber music.

UCSB Arts & Lectures presents its historic sites series by agreement with Chamber Music in Historic Sites®—a nationally licensed series, Dr. MaryAnn Bonino, president and founder. Thanks to the Pearl Chase Society for its support and to Santa Barbara Magazine and the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel for sponsoring this concert. This residency is funded in part by an organizational development grant from the City of Santa Barbara. Tickets are $60 for the general public and $40, but in limited availability, for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.