For Immediate Release: December 5, 2017
Contact: Susan Strano, Director of Marketing
sstrano@benningtonmuseum.org
802-447-1571 ext. 204

Musical Interlude – Free Concert at Bennington Museum

Join us on Saturday, December 16 at 2:00 p.m. for a FREE concert at Bennington Museum’s Paresky Wing. Escape the hectic pace often found this time of year as you sit back and enjoy A Musical Interlude performed by the Taconic Chamber Players featuring Joana Genova on violin, Deanna Baasch on violin, Ariel Rudiakov on the viola, and Nathaniel Parke on the cello. This varied program includes music by Vivaldi and Bach as well as Duke Ellington, and many others. The free concert is part of the Music at the Museum series that is sponsored by Alison Nowak and Robert Cane. Admission to the museum galleries is not included.

Bulgarian violinist Joana Genova, Artist Associate at Williams College and Co-Artistic Director of newly founded Taconic Music, Inc., has an active career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher and soloist. Genova received her Bachelor of Music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and her Master’s degree in chamber music at the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. Since 2000, she has lived in the U.S., where she is the principal second violin of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, former concertmaster of the Manchester Festival Orchestra and a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. She has taught at Smith College and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. From 2011 to 2016 she served as MMF’s Education Director organizing numerous outreach programs and family concerts. Ms. Genova is a member of the Williams Chamber Players, Taconic Chamber Players, is a frequent guest at various festivals and concert series performing extensively on the East Coast as well as Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona. She resides in Manchester, Vermont with her husband, violist Ariel Rudiakov, and their two children.

A native of Vermont, violinist Deanna Baasch began studying the violin at the age of eight. By the time she was 17, Deanna had performed both violin and flute in more than 30 countries including China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, and throughout Europe as a member of the New England Youth Ensemble, the Southern Maine Ensemble, and the Baasch Family Ensemble. She also toured extensively with the New England Symphonic Ensemble under the direction of John Rutter, both at Carnegie Hall and internationally. During this time she was a student of Joana Genova. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance and a Master’s in Social Work from Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. Since moving back to Vermont, Deanna has been freelancing as a violinist, performing regularly with the Manchester Festival Orchestra, the Berkshire Symphony Orchestras and the Taconic Chamber Players. Since 2013, Deanna has taught violin and viola in Manchester, VT. In addition to her musical career, Deanna is also a mental health therapist and restorative yoga teacher.

Nathaniel Parke is a freelance cellist in the area and is principal cello of the Berkshire Symphony. He has also been a member of the Boston Composers String Quartet, with whom he can be heard on the MMC label, performing new works by Boston composers. He is currently artist associate in cello at Williams College and instructor of cello at Bennington and Skidmore colleges, in addition to maintaining a studio of private students. He has served as a faculty member and chamber music coach at the Longy School of Music, SUNY Albany, the Manchester Music Festival and is currently on the faculty of the Chamber Music Conference and Composer’s Forum of the East. Mr. Parke performs on an instrument made in 1721 by C.G. Testore.

Conductor and violist Ariel Rudiakov received his early musical training from his parents before attending pre-college at Manhattan School of Music. Rudiakov holds viola performance degrees from SUNY Purchase (BM) and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (MM), and was a scholarship student at Yale University’s masters program where he studied privately with Jessie Levine and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. He is Music Director and conductor of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra (CT) and Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Taconic Music, Inc. Mr. Rudiakov was Artistic Director of the Manchester Music Festival (VT) from 2000 to 2016. He is a former member of the New York Piano Quartet and Equinox String Quartet and was a founding member and president of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City). Recent and upcoming activities include recording sessions with Dance Theater of Harlem for their World Premiere production of Alexander Glazunov’s ballet Raymonda, guest conducting Vermont’s Sage City Symphony and performing as a visiting artist at University of Indianapolis. Mr. Rudiakov resides in Manchester, VT and Yonkers, NY with his wife, violinist Joana Genova, and their two children. He plays a viola made by Geoffrey Ovington in 2000.

About the Museum
Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street (Route 9), Bennington, in The Shires of Vermont. The museum is open Thursday through Tuesday, 10 am to 5 pm The Museum will be closed during the month of January. It is wheelchair accessible. Regular admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students over 18. Admission is never charged for younger students, museum members, or to visit the museum store. Visit the museum’s website www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.
Bennington Museum is a member of ArtCountry, a consortium of notable art and performance destinations in the scenic northern Berkshires of Massachusetts and southern Green Mountains of Vermont, including The Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art , Williamstown Theatre Festival (20 minutes away); and MASS MoCA (25minutes away). Visit ArtCountry.org for more information on these five great cultural centers.

sponsors the Bennington Banner and Manchester Newspapers.  Invitation packages designed by Maru León Design. Thanks also to the businesses, sponsors, donors, volunteers, and individuals that have supported this year’s Festival.  The museum is located at 75 Main Street (VT Rt. 9), Bennington in the Shires of Vermont.  Visit www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571