Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin Featuring Nadia Shpachenko piano

Rhapsody in Blue — George Gershwin (1898–1937)
Nadia Shpachenko, piano

Dr. Ruth Charloff, CSO Associate Conductor
Ruth Charloff has been CSO Associate Conductor since 2012. She directs the UCR Orchestra, Chamber Singers, and Chorale at the University of California, Riverside. Her D.M.A. in Orchestral Conducting is from Northwestern University, and her M.A. is from the University of California, Berkeley. At UC Riverside she has taught conducting, instrumentation, 20th-century music history, and Introduction to Western Music.

The orchestra is currently composed of about 70 talented volunteer musicians from numerous locations around Southern California, dedicating their time and talents to provide musically enriching, free concerts for Claremont, the Pomona Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Inland Empire.

The Claremont Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and a member of the Chambers of Commerce for the cities of Claremont, Glendora, La Verne, Pomona, San Dimas, and Upland.

The CSO can be reached at (909) 596-5979 or [email protected].

Nadia Shpachenko, Piano
A “gifted and versatile pianist” (San Francisco Chronicle) and GRAMMY® Award winner Nadia Shpachenko enjoys bringing into the world things that are outside the box -- powerful pieces that often possess unusual sonic qualities or instrumentation. Dr. Shpachenko’s concert highlights include recitals at Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, on the Piano Spheres and Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella and Chamber Music Series, and with orchestras in Europe and the Americas. An enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music, she has premiered more than 150 works by Zoltan Almashi, Armando Bayolo, Elliott Carter, Christopher Cerrone, Paul Chihara, George Crumb, Ian Dicke, Daniel Felsenfeld, Tom Flaherty, Annie Gosfield, Yuri Ishchenko, Vera Ivanova, Dana Kaufman, Leon Kirchner, Amy Beth Kirsten, Han Lash, James Matheson, Missy Mazzoli, Harold Meltzer, Evgeni Orkin, David Sanford, Isaac Schankler, Alexander Shchetynsky, Adam Schoenberg, Lewis Spratlan, Evan Ware, Gernot Wolfgang, Iannis Xenakis, Peter Yates, Pamela Z, Jack Van Zandt, and many others.

Described as “powerful… impressive… haunting” (Gramophone), Dr. Shpachenko's album Invasion: Music and Art for Ukraine features premiere recordings of music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lewis Spratlan and art by numerous Ukrainian artists, with 100% of proceeds donated to Ukraine humanitarian aid. Her 2019 Reference Recordings album The Poetry of Places, featuring premieres of architecture-inspired works, won the Best Classical Compendium GRAMMY® Award. She can be heard on seven other internationally released albums of world premieres. Dr. Shpachenko holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Her principal teachers included John Perry, Victor Rosenbaum, and Victor Derevianko. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, she is a Steinway Artist, Schoenhut Toy Piano Artist, and professor of music at Cal Poly Pomona University.

Video production: David Van Brunt
Audio mix: David Van Brunt