FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:   Leonid Saharovici

Tel:  (901) 751-2036

 

 

  

16-YEAR OLD VIOLIN PRODIGY TO PERFORM AT ARTISTS ASCENDING CONCERT SERIES

Jeremy Stein Cushman to join the University of Memphis Rudi Scheidt School of Music

Chamber Orchestra in free concert

 

            MEMPHIS - (September 25, 2007)  Having traveled the world to display his musical talent, sixteen-year-old violinist Jeremy Stein Cushman will bring the spotlight to Memphis on October 14th as the opening artist of the 41st Belz-Parker Artists Ascending Concert Series.

Free to the public, the concert will be held at 7:45 p.m. in the Belz Sanctuary of the Baron Hirsch Congregation, 400 S. Yates Road.  Cushman’s performance will be accompanied by the University of Memphis Rudi Scheidt School of Music Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Dr. Pu-Qi Jiang.  Piano accompaniment will also be provided by Dr. Karen M. Beluso, who has extensive performance credits and hold bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School. The event will chaired by Leonid Saharovici.  

         “After the retirement of Dr. Joseph Parker, the Founder and long-time Chairman of the Artists Ascending Concert Series, Leonid Saharovici, our dear friend and associate in many community endeavors, enthusiastically agreed to become the Chairman of the Artists Ascending Concert Series.  He and his life partner, Friderica, have worked with their usual boundless energy on the artists and programs.  As a result, we feel that the upcoming concert series will be among the best that we have ever been able to present,” noted Belz Enterprises CEO Jack Belz.

        A child prodigy, Jeremy Cushman made his solo orchestral debut at the age of eight and one year later was featured on the nationally televised CBS Early Show with Bryant Gumbel.  In the few short years since his appearance on the national stage, Jeremy has performed at The White House, the United Nations, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and Carnegie Hall, and for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel in New York before Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  

        At the age of five, Jeremy began studying violin under teacher Yukako Tarumi.  He currently studies violin with Juilliard professor Shirley Givens, viola with Sheila Reinhold and composition with Michael Dadap.  He has been coached on violin by  Boris Garlitsky,  Kyu-Young Kim, Joey Corpus, Albert Markov, and Yuval Waldman, and in chamber music (both in violin and viola) by Yeou-Cheng Ma, the Daedalus Quartet, the Cassatt Quartet and the Pierrot Consort.  Jeremy is the concertmaster of both the Young Symphonic Ensemble and the Elite String Ensemble of the Children’s Orchestra Society.  

An international attraction, Cushman has performed in more than ten countries on four continents throughout the world including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, France, Argentina and the United States.  

        For more than 40 years the Artists Ascending Concert Series has brought to Memphis some of the world’s most promising young classical musicians most of whom have gone on to achieve international recognition, including violinists Itzhak Perlman and Gil Shaham,  conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, pianist Misha Dichter, opera singer Roberta Peters, clarinetist  Jonathan Bliss and many others.

        “The Artists Ascending Concert Series is dedicated to the memory of Philip Belz, a visionary leader and builder whose love of G-d and music is expressed by the performances of the young artists who have participated in the concert series,” noted event chairman Leonid Saharovici.  “Philip, a philanthropist with a warm heart and infectious smile had a great musical talent and magnificent voice.  His love of his faith and synagogue make it appropriate to have the series at Baron Hirsch Congregation, where his memory generates the faith and song that he loved so much.”

        The Artists Ascending Concert Series is sponsored by the Belz Family.   

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