Events

Inbal Segev, cello; Yalin Chi, piano

J.S. Bach, Cello Suite No. 4; Schumann, Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70; Shostakovich, Cello Sonata, Op. 40; Segev, Premiere

Inbal Segev is “a cellist with something to say” (Gramophone). Combining rich tone and technical mastery with rare dedication and intelligence, she has appeared with orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Dortmund Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Pittsburgh Symphony, Polish National Radio Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony, collaborating with such prominent conductors as Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Edward Gardner, Kirill Karabits, Lorin Maazel, Cristian Măcelaru, and Zubin Mehta. Committed to reinvigorating the cello repertoire, she has commissioned and premiered new cello concertos from Timo Andres, Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman, Fernando Otero, Victoria Poleva, and Dan Visconti. Recorded with Alsop and the London Philharmonic for Avie Records, Segev’s premiere recording of Clyne’s new cello concerto, DANCE, was an instant success, topping the Amazon Classical Concertos chart. Its opening movement was chosen as one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Songs of 2020,” receiving more than twelve million listens on Spotify. To encourage creative recovery during the early pandemic lockdowns, Segev launched 20 for 2020, a commissioning, recording, and video project for 20 cutting-edge composers, including John Luther Adams, Viet Cuong, and Angélica Negrón, all of whom wrote new works in response to the worldwide crisis. Segev’s previous discography includes acclaimed recordings of the Elgar Cello Concerto, Romantic cello works, and Bach’s Cello Suites, while her popular YouTube masterclass series, Musings with Inbal Segev, has inspired a generation of cellists.

A native of Israel, at 16 Segev was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her cello studies in the U.S., where she earned degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School, before co-founding the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. Segev started composing during the pandemic: her cello quartet, Behold, can be heard on her album 20 for 2020; her cello octet, B Natural, premiered at Yale in 2023; and in 2024 her string trio premiered in Fort Worth and her clarinet trio in Israel. Segev’s cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.

With performances in venues including Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Gardner Museum in Boston, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and ZhongShan Music Hall in Beijing, pianist Yalin Chi has delighted audiences with her “gorgeous tonal coloring” and “masterful and flowing” playing (Leslie Garber, Hudson Valley One). An active chamber musician, Yalin is a founding member of Trio Raconteur and together with pianist Steve Beck performs as the At Once Duo. Yalin has also performed with principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic Joseph Alessi, principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra Philip Cobb, clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein and Charles Neidich, concertmaster of the Seoul Symphony Orchestra Wayne Lin, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Andrew Wan, with the Knights chamber orchestra, and regularly performs with the Albany Symphony and the New Jersey Festival Orchestra.

As a soloist, Yalin has appeared with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Bard Orchestra, the Central Opera Symphony Orchestra, and the West Point Band. Yalin has held the principal keyboard position at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 2014, and has been pianist with the West Point Band since 2008. In 2022 Yalin became Co-Artistic Director of the Chapel Restoration’s Sunday Music Series, in Cold Spring, New York. Originally from Beijing, China, Yalin studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy before earning her bachelor’s and master’s at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Seymour Lipkin and Jerome Lowenthal, and pursued additional studies with Peter Frankl at Yale School of Music.

An Evening of Storytelling and Songs with Andrew Revkin

Longtime journalist, author, educator and performing songwriter Andy Revkin will explore his dual-path journey aimed at connecting the public with ideas, issues and solutions using any means possible.

Revkin, a prominent figure in the Hudson Valley for decades both as a New York Times environmental journalist and musician, now lives in Downeast Maine. But he’s returning for this show to raise funds for the Chapel, which holds special meaning for him because he was married here in October 1996 to Lisa Mechaley.

“Andy, send copies to all the folky mags and all the peacenik mags you know! And send CD’s to radio stations. Keep singing. Keep writing.”

-Pete Seegar

Through his professional life, Revkin has split his time between prize-winning reporting and songwriting, including music featured on NPR and two albums of original songs. Released this year, “Wake Me up Martha” is described by Revkin as a “sonic survival guide for these crazy times.” The album offers a mix of humorous and haunting songs on themes ranging from escaping social media to the travails facing farming families, from a skeptic ending up in heaven to a mountain community grappling with an epic flood. His 2013 album, “A Very Fine Line,” featured guest appearances by some of the area’s finest musicians, including Dar Williams and Bruce Molsky. Pete Seeger helped tweak the lyrics to Revkin’s much-praised song about the space crunch at Arlington National Cemetery.

Revkin’s reporting has taken him from the burning Amazon rainforest to the melting North Pole sea ice. Learn more about his journalism and music on his Sustain What blog on Substack at revkin.substack.com.

Andy Revkin and Pete Seeger along the Hudson River. (Russ Cusick photo)

There’s something special that sometimes happens when inspiration, talent, and a truckload of hard work comes together just right. You can’t always count on it, and you for sure can’t plan on it, but every once in a while the stars align and a timeless piece of art finds its way into the world. Boston quintet Grain Thief have released a series of critically acclaimed records that blur the lines between country music and bluegrass, while building a national audience off the strength of their live performances.

Sheryl Staples, violin; Yalin Chi, piano

Poulenc, Violin Sonata; Debussy, Violin Sonata

Violinist Sheryl Staples joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Associate Concertmaster, The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair, in 1998 and made her solo debut with the orchestra in 1999 performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto led by Kurt Masur. Since that time she has been featured in concertos of Mendelssohn, Mozart, Haydn, Bach and Vivaldi with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Alan Gilbert, Kent Nagano, Jeffrey Kahane and Jaap van Zweden. She has also appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony and San Diego Symphony among many others. The New York Times wrote that “she is a perceptive musician, who plays with great rhythmic integrity and a lucid sense of phrase structure… she draws a wonderful array of vibrant and luminous colors…interpretive honesty and unmannered elegance.”

In demand as a chamber musician, Ms. Staples performs frequently in the New York area with Philharmonic colleagues as well as other esteemed artists including Yefim Bronfman and Emanuel Ax, and has performed for US Ambassadors in London, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong and Beijing as well as touring the US, Asia and Latin America. She was a founding member of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet and now leads the newly formed New Jersey String Quartet. Summer festival appearances include La Jolla Summerfest, Salt Bay Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe, Seattle, Aspen, Martha’s Vineyard, Sarasota and Strings Music Festivals. Ms. Staples is a member of the violin faculty at Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard Pre-College. She also teaches at The Juilliard School in orchestral studies. Originally from Los Angeles, Ms. Staples began studying violin at age five, and her major mentors were Robert Lipsett and Heiichiro Ohyama.

Ms. Staples is married to percussionist Barry Centanni and they have two adult children, Michael and Laura.

With performances in venues including Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Gardner Museum in Boston, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and ZhongShan Music Hall in Beijing, pianist Yalin Chi has delighted audiences with her “gorgeous tonal coloring” and “masterful and flowing” playing (Leslie Garber, Hudson Valley One). An active chamber musician, Yalin is a founding member of Trio Raconteur and together with pianist Steve Beck performs as the At Once Duo. Yalin has also performed with principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic Joseph Alessi, principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra Philip Cobb, clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein and Charles Neidich, concertmaster of the Seoul Symphony Orchestra Wayne Lin, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Andrew Wan, with the Knights chamber orchestra, and regularly performs with the Albany Symphony and the New Jersey Festival Orchestra.

As a soloist, Yalin has appeared with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Bard Orchestra, the Central Opera Symphony Orchestra, and the West Point Band. Yalin has held the principal keyboard position at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 2014, and has been pianist with the West Point Band since 2008. In 2022 Yalin became Co-Artistic Director of the Chapel Restoration’s Sunday Music Series, in Cold Spring, New York. Originally from Beijing, China, Yalin studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy before earning her bachelor’s and master’s at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Seymour Lipkin and Jerome Lowenthal, and pursued additional studies with Peter Frankl at Yale School of Music.