St. Tim’s concert to feature music by Schubert for strings & piano

Valrie Kantorski

From ST. TIM’s DISCOVERS SERIES

Musicians from the Toledo Symphony are featured in the next concert of the St. Tim’s Discovers Series. Scheduled for next Sunday March 15 at 3 p.m., the Zin Quartet and pianist Valrie Kantorski will present music of Schubert.

The recital opens with the Schubert String Quartet in a minor, popularly called the “Rosamunde” quartet. Featuring a traditional string quartet instrumentation of two violins, viola and cello, the quartet is named for its association with a play.  Written by Helina von Chezy, Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus featured the themes of the second movement of the quartet.

After a brief intermission, the Zin Quartet will be comprised of one violin, viola, cello and double bass.  The “plus one” will be the addition of Ms. Kantorski at the keyboard of the St. Timothy’s Steinway grand piano. Schubert’s Piano Quintet, “the Trout” is a grand, masterful work for this combination of musicians. Audiences will recognize one of the main themes, as it has appeared in other media, including the 1969 film The Trout, in which an all-state cast including Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Jacqueline du PréDaniel Barenboim and Zubin Mehta performed it.  

Valrie Kantorski is a Steinway Ensemble Artist and has been the primary keyboard musician for the Toledo Symphony for more than 30 years.  Currently, she holds the Jonathan F. Orser Chair for keyboard. As a member of the Kantorski-Pope Piano Duo, Ms. Kantorski is a three-time recipient of the First Prize in the Graves Duo Piano Competition. She has an extensive career as a piano soloist, accompanist and ensemble performer.

Founded several years ago by Merwin Siu, principal second violin of the Toledo Symphony, the Zin Quartet appears in various combinations of musicians. Sunday’s performance includes Siu and Cheryl Trace, violins; Kalindi Bellach, viola, Renee Goubeaux, cello and for today’s performance, Jack Henning, double bass. All of the performers are current or past members of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

The Zin Quartet has performed previously on the St. Tim’s Discovers Series, most notably in performances of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ and last year’s performance of the music of Shostakovich  and Beethoven. Valrie Kantorski also is a veteran of the St. Tim’s Series, who, with her duo partner Ann Pope, performed the dedicatory recital of the St. Timothy’s Steinway piano in 2016.

Beginning at 3:00 PM, the concert will be held in the sanctuary of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 871 East Boundary Street, Perrysburg, Ohio.  St. Tim’s Discovers is dedicated to bringing classical music to communities throughout Northwest Ohio. The performance is free and open to the public; doors open to the public at 2:30 PM.  St. Timothy’s is fully accessible with plenty of convenient parking. Information on all upcoming events in the series is available at www.saint-timothy.net.