STEEL RIVER PLAYHOUSE ACCEPTING ENROLLMENT FOR SPRING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Pottstown, PA​ — Steel River Playhouse is now accepting enrollment for the Spring term which includes private study in guitar, piano, voice, trumpet and acting, along with group classes in acting, performance, improvisation and much more.

Steel River’s spring term begins on Monday, March 28​. Classes for the Spring include four different acting classes geared towards different age groups, Improvisation, Group Vocal Study (for young performers who are not quite ready for solo study), Broadway Dance Styles, and the popular Flights of Fancy program for young actors, where students create an original show for parents. Several new classes have been added for Spring for Pre­K to 12th grade and adults! Private lessons are also available in piano, voice, guitar, trumpet and acting.

A new addition to the program is a group class for guitar players of all skill levels called Guitar Calisthenics ​with instructor Russ Ferrara. Students may try the class for free with advanced sign up by March 28, for up to three classes!

Students may join Ferrara on Thursday, March 31, April 7, and 14 at 6 p.m. for a one-hour class allows students to work on guitar in a group class setting. Classes will only run with advanced sign up, so make sure to reserve your spot in the class. The class will continue for nine weeks, and students will need to enroll to continue in the class after the three free sessions.

Students may also enroll for Spring workshop productions of DRACULA (classical workshop for dramatic actors), CINDERELLA (musical workshop for young performers) and Broadway Cabaret workshop​, all planned for Spring Semester. Workshop productions that culminate in performance are offered ALL year this year in the education department. Workshops offer acting lessons for the first part of class, and then use those lessons to work on rehearsing a fully staged production. The productions go up at the end of class on the black box main stage of the Steel River Playhouse.

Summer camp enrollment has also begun, ​ and students can register for three different two­ week camps. The first camp for singers and actors has a Vaudeville theme, and runs from July 11 to July 22. The second two-week camp runs from July 25 to August 8, and is a musical theater camp presenting Arabian Nights (a musical), and the final camp focuses on acting and the creation of original one acts. The One Act camp runs August 8 to 19. Camps run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (with option for half day camp for younger students). Before and after camp is also available. Each camp also culminates in a performance for parents, and includes workshops in specialty skills that will be used in that performance, such as juggling, Broadway dance styles and more.

Steel River Playhouse employs performance educators who are regionally and nationally renowned in their fields. All are trained in their fields with many holding advanced degrees. The facility is also renowned as one of the highest rated theatrical venues in PA, featuring state of the art performance spaces, studios, classroom space, sound reinforcement equipment and seating, full set, costume and prop shops as well as the best green room of any theater in the area. Steel River’s goal is to provide the highest possible educational experience for students and participants in the Tri­County area, focused on every level of training from beginner to expert!

About Steel River Playhouse: ​­Steel River Playhouse is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable education and performance facility that seeks to strengthen community, inspire creative exploration, educate, and entertain, through the presentation of quality performing arts events and education for diverse audiences. Designated as a “gateway” performing arts center, Steel River provides affordable, high quality performances, comprehensive educational offerings, and enriching volunteer opportunities in all aspects of theatre arts. Students and volunteers of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to explore and grow their skills by working side ­by­ side with professional instructors, performers, directors, and designers.

PIANO MASTERPIECES: Elena Ulyanova – Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 4:00pm

MUSIC AT EMMANUEL

Presents the opening event of our 2011-12 season:

ELENA ULYANOVA

FREE ADMISSION

MEET MS. ULYANOVA AT A POST-CONCERT RECEPTION

Emmanuel Lutheran Church

150 N. Hanover Street     Pottstown, PA   29464

Facebook.com/music.at.emmanuel

Andrew Meade – Minister of Music

www.emmanuelpottstown.org

610-323-4312

Hailed by the Moscow Conservatory as one of its most gifted musicians, Ukrainian pianist Elena Ulyanova is described as possessing “great virtuosity, brilliant artistic temperament, unique interpretive expression and a rich sound pallet.”   Roy Gillinson of the Beethoven Society of America said that Ms. Ulyanova is, “a phenomenal, gifted performer”, her style running the gamut of power, strength, and technique to a delicate, floating elegant finesse. From her early piano studies with her mother, she has gone on to be a prize winner in numerous national and international piano competitions.  Ms. Ulyanova has performed throughout Europe, Asia and North America and has released two critically acclaimed CDs, the second of which features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Her recital will feature works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Debussy, and Chopin.  www.elena-ulyanova.com

ELENA ULYANOVA

At the age of 5, Elena Ulyanova began to study piano with her mother, Larisa Ulyanova, in Saki, Crimea. After winning several first prizes in Ukrainian and Russian competitions, she was awarded full scholarships for study in Moscow at Gnessin College of Music, Gnessin Academy of Music, and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. While at Gnessin Academy, she won the Momontov competition, which also resulted in tours of Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania. She was also awarded a tour of Austria, along with the best students representing Gnessin Academy. Shortly after entering the Moscow Conservatory, she became a prizewinner in the second Rachmaninov International Piano Competition. After receiving the Master of Music degree from Moscow Conservatory, she pursued postgraduate study with Victor Merzhanov, while performing many concerts for the Moscow Philharmonic Concert Association (Mosconcert). Elena has also taken master classes with Emanual Krasovsky, Victor Derevianko, John O’Connor, Howard Shelley, and Leslie Howard.

Elena recorded her first solo CD in 2004, with music of Franz Liszt, and it is available from Classical Records.  Shortly afterwards, she immigrated to Washington, DC.  In 2005, she studied with Howard Shelley, who has recorded all of Rachmaninoff’s works, to prepare for recording of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The Rhapsody and Piano Concerto no. 2 are featured on her CD with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and released in July, 2006 by Bel Air Music. Elena’s music has been heard on radio stations WFMT in Chicago, CKWR in Ontario, and WQED in Pittsburgh.

Elena has performed orchestra, chamber, and solo concerts throughout Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Ukraine, Austria, Korea, Netherlands, China, Poland, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, and Romania. Her performances with orchestras include the Vienna Musikverein Orchestra, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Crimea State Symphony Orchestra in Yalta, State Russian Orchestra “Boyan”, and the Omsk Philharmonic. With the Rachmaninoff White Lilacs Festival orchestra in 2001, Elena masterfully performed the Rachmaninoff second concerto on only four hours notice! Among her appearances since immigrating to the United States, she has performed with the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra in Arizona, American Balalaika Symphony, the Dame Myra Hess Series, the Fazioli Salon Series in Chicago, the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Connoisseur Series, concerts in Washington DC, Orlando Florida, and New York – Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Yamaha Pianos Concert Series, and Bargemusic.

Micaele Sparacino – ConcertoNet.com – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Landon Symphonette, February 2009

“Ms. Ulyanova’s performance of the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini was nothing short of dazzling. She is a Lioness at the Keyboard, playing with more strength and technique than most men. In fact, her playing, marked by power and poetry, recalled to mind the legendary Gina Bachauer. It was breathtaking to watch her fingers flying over the keys, and the sound she drew from the piano was amazing.” “…a truly exciting performance distinguished by verve and panache. She is an artist not to be missed!”

Terry McNeill – Classical Sonoma – Concerts Grand Series Recital, November, 2008

“Any uncertainty about Ulyanova’s command of Rachmaninoff’s bravura was swept away with an orchestral performance of the great Sonata [no. 2], in the Horowitz edition. The finale brought out all of the pianist’s heavy artillery – massive broken octaves, endurance, wide skips and brilliant passage work. The individual parts of the sonata often seem greater than the whole, but Ulyanova brought opulent passion that conquered all.”

Fred Kirshnit- New York Sun – Bargemusic Recital, May, 2008

“…Ms. Ulyanova’s delicate performance of Claude Debussy’s “Ondine.” She wove a diaphanous web for her aquatic sprite, suggestion rather than declamation fingered lovingly. As the little concert hall rocked back and forth, Ms. Ulyanova crept into the complex harmonic world of “Brouillards (Mists)” and kept her listeners afloat and a bit enchantingly lost in the fog. This was very lovely music making.”

Piano Wereld Magazine – Amsterdam, August, 2005

“You cannot deny the panache of the Russian piano player Elena Ulyanova. She intensifies showpieces such as the Mefisto Waltz and the Tarantella from a Liszt produced in Russia, with all the restlessness of a wild breathing and rumbling volcano, which rarely slows down.”

Professor Victor Merzhanov, Moscow Conservatory – March, 2000

“Elena Ulyanova is one of the most gifted musicians of the Moscow Conservatory. She has great virtuosity, brilliant and artistic temperament, unique interpretive expression, and a rich sound palette.”

Roy Gillinson, Beethoven Society of America – November, 2006

“A phenomenal gifted performer!! Her performance for the Beethoven Society was a rare treat!

The 2011-2012 MUSIC AT EMMANUEL season is full of variety, excitement, youth, passion and above all – musical excellence.  We are thrilled to present artists that range from our finest regional talent to a pianist from the other side of the world!  Our season will include an organist who studied and teaches at the world famous Julliard School in New York City, an exciting young singer, one of America’s oldest musical ensembles, a choir from the renowned Westminster Choir College, and a Ukrainian pianist who was a stand-out at the Moscow Conservatory.  MUSIC AT EMMANUEL is dedicated to bringing the live music of the highest calibre to the Pottstown community.  We are also dedicated to supporting young artists from our region as they develop their performing careers.  All concerts on our 2011-12 season are offered free of charge to the public, and are funded by the generous support of individuals in our church and community who believe that great music has an essential place in our culture and community.    For additional information about the concert series please follow the music link on the church’s website: www.emmanuelpottstown.org or find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/music.at.emmanuel.