Nadia Shpachenko at Classical Underground

November Night!
this coming Monday, the 13th @ 8 p.m.

Music & Arts in the Studio @ Alexey Steele Grand Atelier

Acclaimed contemporary pianist and multiple-Grammy nominee Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman returns to CU with the Piano Sonata #6 of Yuri Ishchenko, a key figure of contemporary Ukrainian music. Plus a curious gem by Tchaikovsky contemporary Antonin Arensky: his own transcription of his cantata, The Fountain of Bakhchisaray.

Guitarist and composer Donovan Butez will play a selection of his own works, joined by fellow guitarist Bryan Fasola, violinst Mann-Wen Lo, and Shaul Kofler on cello.

Our wonderful cellist Evgeny Tonkha and the brilliant pianist Alex Slobodyanik get together for Romances of Schubert and Rachmaninoff, and guitarist Omar Torrez joins Evgeny in an arrangement of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata.

Virtuoso clarinetist James Hodges and pianist Hee Jung Ju will play an arrangement of Sarasate’s ever-popular Carmen Fantasy, based on themes from the Bizet opera.

Please RSVP via Paypal through the Classical Underground website by clicking the following link: www.classicalunderground.com

CLASSICAL UNDERGROUND SHOWCASE:
Daniel Pikham

It is a distinct pleasure to showcase a long time close friend, stalwart Classical Undergrounder, and very influential contemporary representational California school painter Daniel W. Pinkham, a.k.a “The Big Pink”.

Dan’s aesthetic influence and reach have few equals. A determined pioneer of the California plein-air revival in the 70s-80s, he was a star student of an important Ukrainian painter who resided in California after WWII, Sergei Bongart. The deep connection to the Kiev school of painting — where I was born and where my Dad spent the most significant portion of his career — was among many things that created a very special connection between Dan and my Dad and me. That, and of course his famous/infamous storytelling!

The painterly beliefs that Dan inherited from Sergei and deftly developed are specific and effective. Sophisticated color harmonization and balancing that comes out of a narrow tonal range replacing more common tonal contrasting, all coupled with simplified, efficient and primal shaping of main color masses. This core approach, combined with seldom seen artificial gimmicking, results in Dan’s unmistakable and authentically personal style of painting.

To achieve this goal, Dan practices the very heart and soul of the plein-air process. He rapidly captures the essence of what he is looking for on location, choosing and extracting what is of most importance to him — all the tonal, coloristic and compositional qualities that lie firmly outside of photo-technological capabilities. He then brings those visual notations of his in-the-moment sensory-cognitive process to the studio, where they are examined, and the ones presenting the greatest opportunities and aesthetic interest are further developed in larger sizes.

In our showcase, CU is presenting examples of Dan’s field studies, as well as a comparison of how one of them is developed into a final work of singular artistic importance.