Hi-Desert Cultural Center Classical Concert Series Continues with Debut of Trio Led by Renowned Pianist, Kanae Matsumoto

JOSHUA TREE, CA - Making their world concert debut, the newly-formed Trio Kanareika shall present "Da? & Oui!" Music for One, Two, Three at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center next weekend on Sunday, February 26 at 2pm! Leading the trio is world-renowned pianist Kanae Matsumoto, with UCLA School of Music's esteemed Leila Nassar-Fredell on violin and Jonathan Thompson on cello. The trio will perform the passionate music of Russian and French composers for solo, duo, and trio, including Scriabin, Debussy, Kreisler, Rachmaninoff, Honegger, & Arensky.

Pianist Kanae Matsumoto is a renowned solo pianist and chamber musician. She has given recitals in such music festivals as the Third International Conservatoire Week (St. Petersburg, Russia), the Aichi World Expo (Nagoya, Japan), and her recent performances of Beethoven's complete Violin Sonatas in Toronto and at the Chautauqua Music Festival in New York were described as "unfailingly crisp, warm, and sensitive throughout the fiendishly difficult piano parts…" (showtimemagazine.ca).

Violinist Leila Nassar-Fredell is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at UCLA with Movses Pogossian and Guillaume Sutre. Originally from Ithaca NY, she completed her BM in performance at Eastman School of Music as a student of Timothy Ying. While at Eastman she was a founding member of the Zephyrus piano quartet, which was awarded the Celentano award for excellence in chamber music.

Cellist Jonathan Thomson won the American String Teachers solo competition for Washington State and has performed internationally in England, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea and China. He has played in master classes at the Banff Center under Aldo Parisot and Shauna Rolston as well as in the classes of Raphael Wallfisch, Nathaniel Rosen and Peter Wiespelwey. As a chamber musician Jonathan has formed successful string quartets and piano trios that participated in the Fischoff and Coleman chamber music competitions. While in these groups he received instruction from the Icicle Creek Piano Trio and the Kronos, St. Lawrence, Brentano, Lafayette, and Penderecki quartets. Jonathan is currently working on his DMA degree at UCLA, studying under Antonio Lysy and teaches at Azusa Pacific University.

The concert begins at 2:00 pm on Sunday, February 26th at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center's Blak Box Theater at 61231 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree. Tickets are $20 and include complimentary light dessert and coffee.

The Classical Concert Series continues on Sunday, March 25th with another spectacular trio featuring piano, oboe, and bassoon led by Judith Farmer.

Discounts available for Joshua Tree Philharmonic members.

For more information and/or tickets, call the box office at 760.366.3777 to talk to a "real" person or purchase tickets online at www.hidesertculturalcenter.com.

ABOUT THE KAYE BALLARD THEATER 90-DAY FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN:  

Following a generous $25,000 donation made by William Gillespie of the William Gillespie Foundation, where Gillespie recognized the Center's plan as "an impressive revitalization project for the community", the Center has received an incredible offer from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous at this time to match DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR all donations made to help finish the final renovation phase of the 300-seat theater, up to $125,000 with a bonus of $50,000 if the full $125,000 is raised within 90 days. That would mean $125,000 in donations turns into $300,000 - which is enough to finish the main theater, and enough to open its doors and bring new opportunities for employment, education, and entertainment to the Desert communities and beyond.

The Center invites you to make a gift or a pledge now of any amount to the Hi-Desert Cultural Center Kaye Ballard Theater Re-Building Fund.  Exciting donor opportunities ranging from naming a seat to being on the soon-to-be announced "Hi-Desert Walk of Fame" where you or a loved one can have a star next to Kaye Ballard, Ben Stiller, Jerry & Anne Meara Stiller, Joy Behar, Barry Manilow, Phyllis Diller, Ann-Margret and more!  Donor recognition levels and naming opportunities are available online at www.hidesertculturalcenter.com or, if preferred, a Center representative will be happy to meet with you to discuss the Center's plans and your donation.  Donations may also be mailed to the Hi-Desert Cultural Center at P.O. Box 128, Joshua Tree, CA 92252.
 
In early January the Center will be launching its new Facebook page to keep donors and the public advised of the progress as the Center counts down to opening the doors once again.  For more information on the new Kaye Ballard Theater, you may also view the new online brochure available on the Center's website.
 
The theater was flooded out in 2007 and is now being rebuilt into a facility far more versatile than any other in the Morongo Basin or Coachella Valley.  While preserving the unique authentic façade design, the interior is being renovated to offer not only live performance, but also to be available as a full sound stage to be used by commercial entities – with the results being income that can support the arts at levels never before imagined here.  The Cultural Center has annually provided more than 75,000 hours of service to over 6,000 patrons and program participants with its musical concerts, educational programs, live performances, violin classes, summer youth theater, HealthRHYTHMS™ recreational drumming, scholarship recitals and more.   Complete with a live professional-quality sound stage and post-production facilities, the renovated theater complex will directly generate revenue, taxes, technical training, and employment for the Morongo Basin communities, in addition to providing top-quality performances that will draw audiences and revenue sources from beyond the area and create a self-sustaining performing arts and cultural center for the region. 

With well over three-quarters of a million dollars in unencumbered assets, no debt, and substantial renovation already completed in the new facilities, the new theater will be a state-of-the-art venue utilizing green technologies where feasible – including the installation of a new energy-efficient lighting system that will reduce stage and theater lighting costs and electricity consumption by an estimated 85%.  Its newly-installed electronic monitoring and fire suppression system substantially reduces the likelihood of a flood similar to that which destroyed the theater and does not use water laden with chemicals.  The theater has also already replaced its outdated air conditioning and heating system with a commercial multi-zone, perfectly quiet, HVAC system rated at 14 SEER and has begun the construction of its water-wise demonstration garden.  Many other renovations have been completed, including the installation of new and expanded ADA-compliant restrooms that were a project undertaken by the County of San Bernardino. 

For more information visit www.hidesertculturalcenter.com or call the box office at 760-366-3777. The Hi-Desert Playhouse Guild, Inc. dba Hi-Desert Cultural Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with EIN 23-7425816 and California Charitable Trust number 008976. All donations are fully tax deductible as allowed under the law.

KAYE BALLARD THEATER

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The HI-DESERT CULTURAL CENTER (DBA) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization:
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