Grammy-Award winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio launched her career in 1986 with a win at the Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow and a nationally televised recital at Carnegie Hall. Appearing at Armstrong Auditorium on Thursday, January 14th she offered a program titled Chopin on the Cello, Armstrong College pianist, composer and music director Ryan Malone joining her to play the all Chopin recital featuring the Sonata for Piano and Cello in g minor, Op 65, the Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C Major, Op 3 and a series of transcriptions of solo piano pieces written by a composer long recognized as one of the most significant and unique of the Romantic Era, linking poetically expressive melody, restless harmony and classically transparent textures to create a new form and caliber of pianism. Yet his final completed work was the Sonata for the piano and cello, and this recital program, inspired by works featured on a recently released recording on Sebastian Records The Chopin Collection.
The mission of the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation’s Performing Arts Series is to champion Oklahoma as a world-class center for the arts by bringing monumental cultural experiences to the heartland of America. The foundation began sponsoring a small performing arts series in 1998 on the campus of Armstrong College located in north Edmond. Since then, the series has grown significantly leading to the construction of the 823 seat Armstrong Auditorium in 2008, and opening in September of 2010. In May of 2014 it received a Red Bud award as Outstanding New Attraction by the Oklahoma Travel Industry and now celebrates its sixth season of performances.
This program airs Saturday, February 20, 8pm, on Classical 88.7-HD-1.