The Harker School is pleased to announce its new Harker Concert Series, featuring three performances this spring that all are open to the public. Tickets are available online Wed., Feb. 23 at www.harker.org/concertseries.
“This new series, along with the Harker Speaker Series launched in 2005, is part of the school’s ongoing commitment to sharing thoughtful, entertaining and engaging events with the greater Bay Area community,” said Chris Nikoloff, Harker’s head of school.
All concerts will be held in the intimate 200-seat auditorium in Harker’s new gold-LEED certified science and technology building, Nichols Hall. Pre-event reception one hour prior to each performance. Hors d’œuvres and beverages available.
Chris Florio, an upper school music teacher who helped launch the new series, is especially excited about it. “While Harker has always been a magnet for the sciences, we’re really excited to share our enthusiasm and love for the arts as well.”
The first concert will be held Wed., March 9, at 7 p.m. and will feature Washington, D.C.-based violin duo MarcOlivia. Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff have performed worldwide and have been featured on radio and television in North America, Europe and Asia. Winners of Fulbright fellowships and numerous competition prizes, the duo are also artists-in-residence at the Tokyo College of Music. Tickets are $15.
The Taylor Eigsti Trio, the second performer in the series, will appear on Fri., March 25 at 8 p.m. A Bay Area native and Grammy-nominated jazz pianist, Eigsti began playing the piano at the age of four and was leading bands by the time he was 12. At just 26 years of age, Eigsti has already been featured on the covers of Keyboard Magazine and Jazziz Magazine, and he has worked with jazz heavyweights such as Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride and James Moody. Appearing with Eigsti will be bassist Reuben Rogers, who has worked with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargroves and Joshua Redman, and drummer Colin McDaniel, a fellow at the University of the Pacific’s Brubeck Institute and winner of the 2010 DownBeat award for outstanding extended composition. Tickets are $35.
In addition to their performances, MarcOlivia and Eigsti will offer special master classes to Harker students from 3-5 p.m. in the Nichols Hall auditorium on the days of their respective concerts.
The series will culminate on Fri., May 27 with an 8 p.m. performance by Areon Flutes, a Bay Area-based flute quartet that received a bronze medal in the 2008 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, one of the most prestigious chamber music competitions in the country. In an effort to promote flute chamber music, the members of Areon established the International Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Institute, based in San Jose, which functions year-round. Tickets for this concert will be sold for $15 each.
Tickets go on sale Wed., Feb. 23 at noon and will be available at the Harker Concert Series website. For more information, contact communications@harker.org.