This is a Benefit Concert for Mission Foundation’s “Ladies Night Out” Program, Sept. 3

PRESS RELEASE FROM EVENT ORGANIZERS:

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for an evening of dazzling musical entertainment and prepare for your imaginations to run wild. Presented by Music Foundation of Western North Carolina, “The Annual World Masterwork Series: The Greatest Show on Earth” on Saturday, September 3, guides audience members on a fantastic journey in two parts. The production begins at 7 P.M. at Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 S. Pack Square in downtown Asheville.

The evening begins with a spectacular Two-Piano Fantasy by two young pianists Christopher Tavernier and Nolan Anthony performing well-known piano solos by some of the greatest composers of all time, including Bach, Chopin, Prokofiev, Schumann, Liszt, and Debussy. At the age of 13, Christopher made his debut as the youngest concert pianist in North Carolina, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat minor with the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra. Christopher was also named the “First International Perzina Artist” in the company’s 145 year history. Last March, Nolan made his Carnegie Hall debut on viola and piano in the Carolina Youth Symphony.

Following a brief intermission, Christopher and Nolan will be joined onstage by the Masterwork Chamber Players, top members of various local orchestras who are donating their time for the concert. Together, they will perform The Carnival of the Animals, a humorous 14-movement piece completed in 1886 by French composer, conductor, and pianist Camille Saint-Saens.

So let your imagination soar with Camille Saint-Saëns’ charming Carnival of the Animals. The story follows the dream of a boy, asleep in the American Museum of Natural History. Wild and strange creatures emerge and hilarious antics ensue. Quite a show it will be: Also featured is a narration of the humorous verses by Ogden Nash and Bruce Adolphe, narrated by Ron Whittemore, and it will certainly bring down the house, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Charming Carnival of the Animals.

Performing Artists
Christopher Tavernier & Nolan Anthony

This is the fourth year in a row that Christopher Tavernier has been performing and supporting women’s health for the Mission Foundation, “Ladies Night Out.” This program is a remarkable collaboration of women helping women in a life-saving and effective way providing free mammograms and health screenings for uninsured/underinsured women. The fact is that early detection results in excellent outcomes for the women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. This year a very talented pianist has joined Christopher in supporting “Ladies Night Out.”

Christopher Tavernier made his orchestral debut with the Tar River Philharmonic at the age of thirteen, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the opening concert of the Orchestra’s Fall 2013 Season at the Dunn Ctr. for the Performing Arts in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Christopher began his piano studies at the age of six, and now at sixteen he has won several competitions, including the 2012 Appalachian Classical Music Association’s Young Artist’s Competition in Johnson City, Tennessee; in 2014 the junior division of the Charlotte
Symphony’s Concerto Competition; the Concerto Competition of the Symphony Orchestra of Augusta, GA. Additionally, he placed second in the “National Elizabeth Harper Vaughn” Concerto Competition in Kingsport, Tennessee as the youngest performer in the history of the competition, which admits contestants up to the age of twenty five. This year Christopher won the Asheville Symphony’s Concerto Competition – Spotlight on Young Musicians and was a semifinalist in the Midwest International Piano Competition. Christopher was one of fifteen pianists selected from around the world to compete in this International Piano Competition.

Christopher’s concerto repertoire includes concertos by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev.  He maintains a broad solo repertoire, including many works by his favorite composer, Franz Liszt.  In addition, he has Liszt’s two operatic paraphrases for two pianos in his repertoire. Christopher’s pianistic lineage and training extends from Liszt through his teacher Dr. John Cobb, who studied with Claudio Arrau, whose teacher was a pupil of Franz Liszt. This is the 4th consecutive year that Christopher has performed benefit concerts supporting the Mission Foundation, “Ladies Night Out”. This is a wonderful collaboration of women helping women in a life-saving and effective way by providing free mammograms and health screenings for uninsured-underinsured women in our community. Christopher is also a dedicated chamber music player. In 2014 he performed, on piano and harpsichord, the Bach Triple Concerto, BWV 1044, with the Rutherford Chamber Consort, a professional chamber music ensemble headquartered in Western NC.

In 2015 he performed Schubert’s Trout Quintet and a Suite by Milhaud with the group which was broadcast on Carolina Live NPR radio. This past season he performed Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 with the Rutherford Chamber Consort.

Christopher has been featured on ABC affiliate television station WLOS, and has performed on Carolina Live NPR radio and WCQS, Asheville, NC.  He is the first International Perzina Artist in the company’s 145 year history. He has published recordings in DVD & CD formats

Joining Christopher this year for the 4th Annual World Masterwork Series is Nolan Anthony. Nolan made his Carnegie Hall debut in March this year, performing on viola, and piano in the Carolina Youth Symphony where he has been a member since 2010. He studies viola with Kara Poorbaugh, principal violist of the Asheville Symphony.

Nolan is a piano student of Karen Sams Clark in Asheville. Mrs. Sams Clark studied with Robert McDonald and Samuel Sanders at Oberlin and Peabody Conservatories. As a soloist, Nolan performs regularly throughout the area. He has placed in the Carolina Youth Symphony Concerto Competition and is an active chamber player, accompanist, and orchestral pianist. Together Christopher and Nolan continue to let your imaginations soar in the 4th Annual World Masterwork Series, Camille Saint-Saëns – Carnival of the Animals