NY-Based Classical Musicians Curate ‘Connecting Through Sound’ at St. John’s

New York-based Canadian musicians Joenne Dumitrascu and Jelena Cingara have teamed up to create the new recital series Connecting Through Sound. Now in its third installment, the duo will be coming to St. John’s in the Village on Dec. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

Joenne Dumitrascu trained formally as a violinist, pianist, and composer, performing professionally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Koerner Hall, La Scala, and more. She was a guest artist on WFMT’s Relevant Tones with Seth Boustead: Discovery Series and has collaborated with members of the Emerson String Quartet (ESQ) on several chamber music projects, including the New Music for Strings Festival in Denmark.

Her recording career ranges from contemporary music to film and TV soundtracks, including Atom Egoyan’s 2009 film Chloe and TV show Nikita, as well as recording work with the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and WGBH in Boston. As a music coach, she trains young artists in the highly acclaimed JSE ensemble in New York City.

Jelena Cingara is an active performer and teaching artist in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Her career includes a series of solo, chamber, and collaborative international recitals, two decades of piano pedagogy, and a wide range of chamber music performances. She has performed in concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Libby Gardner, Dumke, Abravanel Hall, and many more.

During her training years, she was a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions as well as a recipient of several scholarships. She has performed at the Off-Broadway/Broadway production The Last Boy in the summer of 2021 and April 2022 respectively, as well as in The Kiss of the Spider Woman (Scarborough Players Theatre), Carrie (Utah Rep Theatre), and Charlie Brown (Toledo Theatre).

Connecting Through Sound is now in its third installment, featuring Beethoven, the French classics of Debussy and Saint-Saens, and the works of modern composers. Its goal is to bring people together who share a passion for music and culture. The event features a one-hour concert and wine reception to follow where the audience is invited to the beautiful St. Benedict’s Courtyard.

Music gives us the ability to connect to people from diverse backgrounds, both in the physical form of meeting audiences at concerts but also perhaps on a more psychological level. In many ways, it not only writes history through sound, but it taps into every human emotion. So it’s a way for all of us to also connect to the past, to connect through these works to other cultures. I have a very diverse background, so being able to connect through music to people who are complete strangers is a beautiful thing. It was actually the basis of starting the series of shows for me. We live in a very divided world in 2023 and the need for human connection is more important than ever.

Joenne Dumitrascu

For more information about Connecting Through Sound and to purchase tickets, visit here.

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