Category Archives: Howard County Plays

Jazz pianist Emmet Cohen plays a Yamaha C6X from Jordan Kitt’s Music at Color Burst Park.

Jordan Kitt’s Music was pleased to provide the 7′ Yamaha grand piano for a special performance by jazz great Emmet Cohen at Color Burst Park in Columbia.

Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and creator of the Masters Legacy Series, he is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist, a dedicated educator, the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, and a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Cohen headlines regularly at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, and Birdland, and has appeared at the Newport, Monterey, and North Sea jazz festivals. He was also voted the world’s 3rd best living jazz pianist in the DownBeat reader’s poll this past December. Find more about Emmet’s current tour here.

The event is part of Amped in the Park: A cooperative concert series between the Merriweather Arts & Cultural Center & Columbia Festival of the Arts designed to bring free live music to the surrounding area around the Pavilion and the Merriweather District.

Jordan Kitt’s Music has been a longtime partner of both organizations in bringing live music to residents of Howard County, and in furthering music education and exposure in the area.

Find out more about upcoming Amped in the Park events here.

Clarissa Bevilacqua wins International Mozart Competition

Our good friend Clarissa Bevilacqua has won the first prize at the 14th International Mozart Competition of the Mozarteum University Salzburg. Clarissa performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in the fall at a special event sponsored by Jordan Kitt’s Music and Howard County Plays as part of a series designed to bring music education and outreach to the general public.

Here are the details from thestrad.com:

The 18-year-old, from Italy, received not only the €10,000 first prize but also the €1,000 audience award and the special award for the best interpretation of a piece by Mozart – a copy of Bärenreiter’s New Mozart Edition. Bevilacqua, who has studied with Maria Luisa Ugoni, Daniele Gay, Olga Kaler and David Taylor, performed the composer’s Violin Concerto no.5 KV219 in the final round. Two years ago, aged 16, she became the youngest student ever to receive a Bachelor of Music in Italy.

Second prize and €7,000 went to Yun Tang, 27, from China. She has previously won prizes at the Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition, the International Yankelevich Violin Competition and the Schoenfeld International String Competition. Third prize went to 18-year-old Lorenz Karls, who was born in Vienna to Austrian-Swedish parents.

This year’s jury was chaired by Benjamin Schmid (Austria) and comprised Pierre Amoyal (France), Lars Anders Tomter (Norway), Jan Vogler (Germany), Andre Mijlin (Spain), Hanna Weinmeister (Austria) and Gerhard Schulz (Austria). A total of 182 applicants from 37 nations registered for the 2020 competition, with 28 violin candidates admitted. Each of the three finalists performed with the Salzburg Orchestra Soloists under the direction of Tibor Bogányi.

Jordan Kitt’s & the DCACC host Clarissa Bevilacqua backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Howard County Plays, a partnering of Jordan Kitt’s, the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission, and the Columbia Festival of the Arts, hosted international violin phenom Clarissa Bevilaqua backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion this week.

As part of an outbound effort to bring local and international artists to the Howard County community, this marks the first community concert of 2019 featuring one of the world’s great, young violinists, accompanied by master pianist Terry Lowry.

Praised for enchanting the audience with her musical interpretation and style, Clarissa has always had a passion for music. She started playing the violin at age five, and debuted at the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago in front of ten thousand people when she was nine years old. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, and has given solo recitals and concerts in the United States and Europe.

Chris Syllaba, President & CEO of Jordan Kitt’s Music introduces Clarissa to a near capacity audience this week.

The audience was also presented with a preview of “Hear Us”, a reality series focused on the lives, struggles and successes of three young artists seeking to attain the top tier of international musicianship in their respective disciplines.

To learn more about events like this in Howard County, visit Howard County Plays, Jordan Kitt’s Music, The Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission, or the Columbia Festival of the arts.