For Immediate Release
Contact: Katie Boone
Phone: (818) 433-7600
Email: press@etmla.org
Website: www.etmla.org
Los Angeles, CA – On September 9, 2018, acclaimed violinist and educator Martin Beaver and pianist HyeJin Kim gave an intimate recital of Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Ravel at the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church in Glendale to raise funds for Education Through Music-Los Angeles. Mr. Beaver is currently Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where Ms. Kim studied and earned her degree.
Two ETM-LA alumni students from Providencia, Diego Mejia and Rogelio Maya, began the evening with a violin duet of “Go Tell Aunt Rhody.” They were accompanied by Gary Shields, ETM-LA’s Director of Community Affairs and Partnerships. Mr. Beaver and Ms. Kim followed with superb performances of Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major Op. 30 #1, and Ravel’s Sonate pour violon et piano. The duo treated the enthusiastic audience with a heartwarming rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise as an encore. A meet & greet reception with the artists concluded this special event.
ETM-LA Board Members Nancy Smith and Yukiko Kojima remarked, “Martin Beaver and HyeJin Kim’s concert last Sunday benefiting Education Through Music-Los Angeles and Project Dominicana was quite simply extraordinary. The audience was spellbound by Martin and HyeJin’s virtuosic performances. The students’ playing was an added bonus—including a short piece by Beethoven that Mr. Beaver confessed he played along with off-stage. Martin and HyeJin generously volunteered their time and talents in support of ETM-LA’s mission to provide music education as part of the core curriculum to students in disadvantaged schools throughout Los Angeles County, and to help raise funds for La Crescenta Presbyterian Church’s annual mission trip to improve the lives of Haitian families living in poverty in the Dominican Republic. All in all, it was truly a memorable night.”
As former first violinist of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Beaver appeared to critical and public acclaim on the major stages of the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Berliner Philharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Sydney Opera House. Additionally, Mr. Beaver is proud to be a founding member of the Montrose Trio with pianist Jon Kimura Parker and cellist Clive Greensmith. Ms. Kim has received numerous awards including third prize in Italy’s prestigious Busoni Competition, and prizes at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, Toronto International Piano Competition, and Steinway & Sons Advancement Award Competition.
In addition to promoting and raising funds for nurturing students’ academic, creative, and overall development through ETM-LA, the evening’s concert also benefitted La Crescenta Presbyterian Church’s Project Dominicana mission to repair and improve homes of families living in poverty in the Dominican Republic, as well as conducting mobile health care clinics in rural villages.
View photos from the event here.
Now in its 13th year, ETM-LA has expanded from 2 schools and 800 children to 35 schools and approximately 15,000 schoolchildren with weekly music as part of the core curriculum in such diverse communities as Burbank, Compton, Chinatown, Downtown LA, East Los Angeles, Pacoima, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, South Central, and West Los Angeles.
Education Through Music-Los Angeles is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit with the mission to provide music in disadvantaged schools to enhance students’ academic achievement and creative and overall development. ETM-LA partners with inner-city schools to provide yearlong music instruction for every child in the school and is based on the ETM® model (New York, 1991). For more info: www.etmla.org