Appassionata! Rising Stars

Performances Archives

Rising Stars

Monday, May 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. (Program)

First United Methodist Church (Map)

1338 East Santa Clara Street

Ventura, California

Sarah Daneshpour has earned high accolades of audiences and critics

alike. The Washington Post writes "...she creates transfixing poetry. She found delightful details in passage work and incidents that other pianists treat as routine."

The Baltimore Sun relates, "She produced enough tone for two

pianists in her powerhouse account of Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1."

Ms. Daneshpour has received many awards in international competitions, including 2nd prize at the 2007 William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland, 1st prize, Gold Medal, and the Audience Award at the 2007 6th International Piano Competition in San Jose, California, and a medal at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona.

She has performed not only in her native city of Washington DC, but also in New York, Philadelphia, Russia, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden, appearing in such venerable halls as the Kennedy Center, and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Sara has also been heard nationwide on public radio.

She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Leon Fleisher, and presently studies under the direction of Dr. Oleg Volkov.

Beethoven 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor

Chopin Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op. 23

Rachmaninoff Variations on a theme by Corelli, Op. 42

Prokofiev Toccata Op. 11

The 17-year old Chilean guitarist Gonzalo Arias Contreras was selected as a finalist in the 2006 Parkening Young Guitarist Competition, which honors classical guitarist Christopher Parkening’s lifetime commitment to fostering musical excellence in young artists as demonstrated by his mentor, the great Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia, and is held every four years.

Contreras is currently a student of music at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

J.S. Bach Prelude Fugue and Allegro

Agustin Barrios Un Sueno en la Floresta

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Capriccio Diabolico

Alberto Ginastera Scherzo and Finale from Sonata, Op. 47