Around the World with Six Cellos and a Pianist

Continuing our free classical concert series, we welcome back acclaimed cellist and music leader Amit Peled and his Mount Vernon Virtuosi for a robust and joyful concert presenting works from Florence Price to Bach, Queen, and more! The MVV Cello Gang will be joined by virtuosic pianist Martin Labazevitch.

Join us for this free ​program. No tickets required, but it is recommended to arrive early for the best ​seating. ​Invite your ​friends, family ​and neighbors for this delightful concert.

PROGRAM

• Mount Vernon Virtuosi Cello Gang, Florence Price: Andante for Cello Ensemble, Arranged for our Cello Gang (United States)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Air (Germany/Europe)
• Katherine Hu: “Andai”, Written for our Cello Gang (China)
• Paul Desenne: Pájaro Guaracha (Venezuela)
• Sharon Farber: Bestemming for Cello and Narrator (Jewish tradition/Netherlands)
• Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody, Arranged for the Cello Gang (United Kingdom)
• Scott Joplin: The Entertainer (United States)

MVV CELLO GANG
The Amit Peled Mount Vernon Virtuosi Cello Gang brings together outstanding cellists from the studio of renowned cellist Amit Peled at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. The ensemble features talented musicians ranging from undergraduate freshmen to second-year master’s students, united by their passion for performing dynamic works written and arranged for cello ensemble.

The Cello Gang has appeared at major venues and festivals including the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, performances with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and as a resident ensemble in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, as well as concerts throughout Maryland with the Mount Vernon Virtuosi Ensemble.

Celebrating music from around the world, the group also commissions new works for cello ensemble while staying deeply committed to community outreach. Through their program “Every Child Deserves a Voice,” they bring music and mentorship to under-served children across Maryland and Washington, DC.

AMIT PELED, CELLIST
Praised by The Strad magazine and The New York Times, internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. Having performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hallat Lincoln Center in New York, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Konzerthaus Berlin, Peled has
released over a dozen recordings on the Naxos, Centaur, Delos, and CTM Classics labels. A professor since 2003 at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, he has performed and presented master classes around the world including at the Marlboro and Newport Music Festivals and the Heifetz International Music Summer Institute in the U.S., the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove in England, and Keshet Eilon in Israel. Peled performs on a cello made by Carl Becker, Sr., from 1931. He is represented worldwide by CTM Classics. For more information, visit amitpeled.com.

MARTIN LABAZEVITCH, PIANIST
Praised by critics in Europe and the United States for his lyricism, virtuosity and an intensity of performance, pianist Martin Labazevitch appeared in many concert halls and festivals in Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Born in Poland, Mr. Labazevitch studied at the Odessa Conservatory in Ukraine and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2019 he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Rome School of Music, Drama and Art in Washington D.C. He has been a soloist with leading orchestras in Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and the United States. Of his debut album release of the Chopin Concerto with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, ConcertoNet wrote, “. . .he pleasantly refrains from overtaxing Chopin’s conclusive Allegro vivace with shimmering grandeur and eloquent precision that could even rival that of Arthur Rubinstein.”

An enthusiastic educator, Mr. Labazevitch has been sharing his passion for teaching with students at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. He is also the Co-Founder of the Puerto Rico international Piano Festival, in San Juan as well as the Artistic Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition and Chopin Piano Academy in Washington D.C. In 2022 Mr. Labazevitch co-founded The Paderewski Academy, a pioneer hybrid piano academy based in Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Labazevitch is a Steinway Artist.