Gregory Ewer, violin
Ilya Poletaev, piano and harpsichord
Institute of Sacred Music Great Hall
409 Prospect Street, New Haven
Noted violinist Gregory Ewer will join Ilya Poletaev in a varied program in the Great Hall of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (409 Prospect St., New Haven) on April 14 at 8 pm. The first half of the program will feature Baroque music for violin and harpsichord, while the second half will showcase the Bösendorfer piano donated to the Institute by Bobby Alexander in 2007.
Violinist Gregory Ewer is a native of Houston, Texas. He received a Bachelor’s degree in music performance from the University of Houston, and a Master’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he also worked as a teaching assistant to Professor Sergiu Luca. During his years as a student, Ewer was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, and performed regularly with the Houston Ballet Orchestra. In 2001 he joined the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, with which he has subsequently appeared as a soloist.
An enthusiast of early music, Ewer led the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra in HGO’s 1999 period production of Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, a first of its kind in Houston. He has collaborated with many early music specialists including Monica Huggett, Eric Milnes, John Holloway, and Sergiu Luca. A year before joining the Oregon Symphony, he moved to Portland to help found the Magnolia Chamber Ensemble, a versatile group known for its period performances and commissions of new works. He continues to perform with many of the Northwest’s premiere ensembles, including Portland Baroque Orchestra and Third Angle New Music Ensemble.
Ewer ’s summer engagements have included performances at the Tanglewood Music Center, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Moab Music Festival, and the Montana Baroque Festival. Outside the classical realm, Gregory plays fiddle with the acclaimed Texas bluegrass band, Classical Grass, and the Irish ensemble, The Tulaigh Morh Trio. His recent recordings include the six string quintets of Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi for Cinnabar Records, and a compilation of pieces by contemporary Chinese composer Chen Yi.
Ilya Poletaev joined the Astral Artists roster as a winner of its 2009 National Auditions. He leads a multifaceted career as both a classically trained pianist as well as a performer on early keyboards. As a solo pianist, Mr. Poletaev has appeared with the Toronto and Hartford symphony orchestras as well as with Orchestra Filarmonica “Mihail Jora” di Bacau. He was the First Prize winner of the XX Concorso Sala Gallo piano competition in Monza, Italy, where he also received the Audience Prize, the Bach Prize, and the Orchestra Prize. He also captured First Prize at the 2009 Grieg International Competition, and was a laureate of the 2008 National Stepping Stone Competition in Canada.
As a harpsichordist, Mr. Poletaev was the top prizewinner of the 2007 Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society harpsichord competition, and has been heard in such venues as Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall, the New York City’s Pierpont Morgan Library, the Aston Magna Early Music Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments. As a continuo player, he has performed under such conductors as Andrew Lawrence-King, Steven Stubbs, [Nicholas McGegan], Simon Carrington, Graham O’Reilly, and Helmuth Rilling. As a chamber musician, Mr. Poletaev has performed alongside such distinguished artists as Robert Mann, Donald Weilerstein, Gary Hoffmann, Boris Berman, Paul Hersh, and Susan Narucki. He has also appeared at the Moab, Caramoor, Sarasota, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Banff, the Orford Arts Center, and Stratford Summer Music festivals.
Upcoming engagements include a performance at the Caramoor Festival with renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham [and the orchestra of St. Luke’s], and solo recitals at Italy’s Festival Lago Maggiore, [the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan], and the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, [Poland].
Mr. Poletaev began studying in Moscow at the age of 6, and continued his studies in Israel until he moved to Canada at the age of 14. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, [where he studied with Marietta Orlov (piano) and Colin Tilney (harpsichord)], and Master’s degrees from Yale, where he studied with Boris Berman. Between 2005 and 2007, he served on the faculty of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is currently on the faculty of the Yale Department of Music as a lecturer in early music [and is a candidate for the Yale D.M.A].
The recital is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. There is plenty of free parking. More information is at 203-432-5062.