Saint Gregory's Church
The Episcopal parish in Woodstock, NY, the Colony of the Arts

The Saint Gregory’s Young Artists Concert Series ENDS ON A BRILLIANT NOTE

We had been hearing from professors at Juilliard long before our season-ending Young Artist Concert on May 18th.  Patrick Hopkins, they all agreed, was in a class of his own.  He had already won a Juilliard competition as best cellist in this world renowned school of music so we were prepared!

But when he sat down and began playing the demanding Haydn Concerto in D Major, everyone in the nearly full church leaned forward.  Patrick Hopkins was, indeed, out of the ordinary.  This young artist at times seemed to be in wordless communion with his instrument, a beautiful 19th century cello from the Juilliard collection under loan to Patrick for his first concert appearances.  We learned later that his instrument was insured for $300,000.

Power, sensitivity and technique were at his fingertips throughout a unique program that included Patrick first playing Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major on the piano, and then repeating it on cello.  The contrast was striking.  If anyone was in doubt about the cello's remarkable range and depth, this demonstration answered their questions.  St Gregory's season of young, gifted artists ended on a memorable high note with a Brahms' sonata and a standing ovation.  Our enthusiastic praise had been well earned.  Patrick Hopkins was special.

 

The Young Artist Concert Season
A Look Back Over the Year
 
St. Gregory’s just-completed 2007-2008 concert season got underway last summer when Lydia Zotto came with her harp on a warm summer day in June to delight an audience made up of more than a usual number of children.  A Juilliard pre-college graduate newly enrolled in the Eastman School of Music, Lydia had offered beforehand to hold a hands-on harp session with children at the end of her performance.  The kids were nearly all seated in the front rows.  They waited and listened intently to pieces by Handel, Debussy and Tournier.  And when the program came to an end, they gathered around Lydia and her harp to touch, feel, pluck and listen as the young musician introduced them to her instrument.  It was a day they will long remember.  
 
Through the Fall, Winter and Spring, attendance grew steadily as word-of-mouth praise spread in and beyond the Woodstock community.  At Juilliard, professors lauded the experience and the warm reception that their young musicians were getting at St. Gregory’s.  For the students, it was a valuable occasion to show their remarkable talent and creativity.  In November, for instance, four students formed a string quartet and brought their program of Dvorak, Beethoven and Schubert to St. Gregory’s.  The verve and intensity of their playing electrified the audience.  
 
In early Spring, two Juilliard professors, Jorge Parodi and Adelaide Roberts, joined forces and brought a quartet of young voice majors with them to present a rare afternoon of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes while Roberts and Parodi provided four-handed piano accompaniment.  Other programs throughout the year featured violin, cello and vocal soloists as enthusiastic audiences helped St. Gregory’s defray expenses by donating generously to the free concerts.  By the time Patrick Hopkins brought the concert year to a close, more than 115 people had filled out forms or asked the church to notify them when the Young Artist Concert Season begins once more next Fall.