Pianist Jennifer Heemstra along with Kathryn Brown, the head of Piano Department and Keyboard Division at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and her 15-year-old violinist daughter Julia Schilz recently performed at Kolkata Classics Club’s Spring Spectacular, presented by t2, in a packed Regency Ballroom at Hyatt Regency.
Each performance was prefaced by short introductions by the artistes. Paintings appropriate for each piece were projected on a screen for an immersive experience. So French artist Edgar Degas’ Ballet Dancers accompanied German composer Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1, and Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night was put up alongside a nocturne by Polish composer Frederic Chopin.
Kathryn and Jennifer performed a sonata for piano four-hands by Austrian composer Mozart, a lively turn of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango and all three movements of Sonata for Piano Four Hands by French composer Francis Poulenc.
Young Julia wowed the audience with Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1 and Meditation from Massenet’s opera Thais, and Czardas by Vittorio Monti.
“It’s great to see Jennifer back in town and we are very pleased to be associated with Jennifer and Kolkata Classics,” said Hyatt Regency general manager Birgit Holm.
Text: Rushati Mukherjee
Pictures: Pabitra Das
