Carnegie Hall’s Classics Series is a three-concert series hosted by Steinway “Legend” and 2023 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame inductee Barbara Nissman, designed to introduce classical music and Carnegie Hall to new audiences, as well as inspire and entertain current classical music enthusiasts. The 2023/2024 Classics Series concludes on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Hamilton Auditorium.
In the final program, Love Story! Robert and Clara, pianist Barbara Nissman will tell the story of two great musicians, Robert and Clara Schumann. Their life together sounds like a soap opera. It was a life of love and loss and inspired music-making. Clara Schumann was probably the greatest female piano virtuoso of her time, and her husband Robert was among the great composers of the nineteenth century. Robert and Clara were truly the power couple of the Romantic age.
Barbara will share their unique story, combined with some of Robert’s compositions. She will be joined by four musician friends for an exciting performance of Schumann’s Piano Quintet. A wonderful finish to this season’s successful Carnegie Classics Series.
Barbara Nissman is an internationally renowned concert pianist and since 1989 has been a West Virginian “by choice,” residing on a farm in Greenbrier County. Hailed as “one of the last pianists in the grand Romantic tradition of Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Rubinstein,” Nissman has performed as soloist with some of the world’s leading orchestras, and has worked with some of the major conductors of our time.
Inducted into the inaugural class of Steinway Legends chosen from more than a century of Steinway Artists, Nissman is regarded as one of the world’s great concert pianists. With a mission to bring her passion and joy to audiences around the world, Nissman continues to inspire and uplift people through her music.
In 2014 she formed her own record label, Three Oranges Recordings (threeorangesrecordings.com) that now includes a discography of over 30 recordings with many more projected for the future. In 2017 the Three Oranges Foundation was established to further its mission of making classical music accessible to a wider audience and to promote Barbara’s various educational projects including a series of educational video master classes.
Tickets are $25/adults and $5/students. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.carnegiehallwv.org, call 304-645-7917, or stop by 611 Church Street, Lewisburg.
You won’t want to miss this musical event – informal chat combines with great music-making for a memorable evening.
The Carnegie Classics Series is made possible with support from the James F.B. Peyton Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Additional funding is also provided by Eugene and Annie Jeffus.
Carnegie Hall WV is a nonprofit organization supported by individual contributions, grants, and fundraising efforts such as TOOT and The Carnegie Hall Gala.
