Meet the extraordinary musicians who will perform in the Spring 2022 concert in the Four Seasons in Music series:
Kathryn Lockwood, Viola and Artistic Director
Australian violist Kathryn Lockwood leads an active and varied career as performer, teacher, and artistic director. Kathryn’s career launched straight out of graduate school as founding member of the Pacifica Quartet where she traveled the world concertizing and recording. After moving to New York in 2001 Kathryn soon claimed the viola chair of the internationally renowned Lark Quartet.
Always evolving and thinking out of the box, Kathryn formed the innovative group duoJalal with percussionist and husband Yousif Sheronick. Kathryn’s creative mind led her to be appointed Artistic Director for the Four Seasons in Music at the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy – a very special series presenting four magical concerts with unique themed programs of chamber music and poetry.
Kathryn is also the Artistic Director for the “Music@MoMA” Series – an intimate salon style chamber music series and is newly appointed as co-artistic director of the Telluride MusicFest. She has recorded for Innova, Bridge, Cedille and Endeavor records. Kathryn is currently on faculty at University of Massachusetts/Amherst and at the John Cali School of Music at Montclair State University where she was recently appointed Curator of the Immersive Residency Program overseeing weeklong residency visits of internationally renowned artists and groups. www.kathrynlockwood.com
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ousif Sheronick, Percussion
Hailed by the New York Times for his “dazzling improvisations” and his “wizardry on a range of humble frame drums” Yousif Sheronick enjoys an active career as percussionist, composer, producer and educator. Having studied classical percussion through a Masters degree at Yale, Yousif went on to study music from Brazil, India, Africa and the Middle East which he seamlessly incorporates into his playing.
Yousif’s unique skills in both World and Classical music have led him to perform with a diverse range of ensembles and musicians including Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Laurie Anderson, Ethos Percussion Group, Lark Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, Branford Marsalis, Sonny Fortune, Cindy Blackman Santana, Glen Velez and Paul Winter.
A feature article in Drum! Magazine highlighted Yousif’s versatility in an article titled “At The Corner Of The World”. His many musical influences are showcased in duoJalal, his venture with violist and wife Kathryn Lockwood. Kathryn and Yousif are the new co-directors of the Telluride MusicFest which is a yearly summer festival in the gorgeous mountains in CO. A firm believer in the power of education, Yousif recently established an online school FrameDrumSchool.org and now has over 700 enrolled students from 54 countries around the world.
duoJalal, Ensemble in Residence
duoJalal “are fearless seekers and synthesizers of disparate instruments and cultures” raves the Toronto Star. Like the marriage between Kathryn Lockwood and Yousif Sheronick, their music represents an organic amalgam of cultural traditions and musical styles. Audiences are enthralled as an Australian violist ignites her instrument with passion – one minute embodying a medieval rebec, the next a contemporary violist playing Philip Glass. Yousif, of Lebanese descent, dazzles as he manipulates multiple sounds on an array of hand drums followed by intoxicating melodies on vibraphone. duoJalal moves from Classical to Klezmer, Middle Eastern to Jazz, with a skillful confluence that is natural, exploratory, and passionate. duoJalal has performed throughout the United States, Australia and Brazil regularly performing world premieres of works composed or arranged for the group by Philip Glass, Andrew Waggoner, Derek Bermel, Kenji Bunch, Evan Ziporyn, Eve Beglarian and John Patitucci.
As the ensemble in residence for the Four Seasons in Music concert series, the duo have the luxury of collaborating with an array of top tier artists including string players, vocalists, clarinets, dancers and more! Known for their outstanding teaching skills, duoJalal offers masterclasses and clinics for string soloists and ensembles as well as drumming workshops to both children and adults. Recent masterclasses were held at Manhattan School of Music, New York University and the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention. Kathryn and Yousif are proud to announce a new position as co-artistic directors and ensemble in residence of the Telluride MusicFest. A festival housed in a gorgeous mountain home situated at 10,000 feet!
SPRING GUEST ARTISTS:
Casey Howes & Jacob Warren
Casey (@regally_serene) and Jake (@leggybones) met while working with Pilobolus Dance Theater in 2017, where they performed, taught, and choreographed all over the world. After it became clear that they were inseparable, the two began creating their own work together. With sensibilities and partnering technique deeply rooted in the Pilobolus tradition, the two began expanding their horizons, exploring new material, and forging a choreographic language that was uniquely their own. In early 2020, amidst the pandemic-fueled industry-wide shutdown, the duo seized the opportunity to continue working in isolation, sharpening their partnering language, and began utilizing digital spaces to showcase their work. Numerous dance-films and digital-collaborations later, Jake and Casey continue their journey into the world of choreography, performance, and film, and are thrilled to be working alongside the prestigious duoJalal.
Inessa Zaretsky, piano
Inessa Zaretsky is the Director of the Chamber Music Society of the Carolinas, based in Asheville, North Carolina and is the Artistic co-director of the Phoenix Chamber Music Series in New York City with pianist Vassa Shevel. For the past 10 years she’s been performing with Craftsbury Chamber Players in Vermont. Two years ago she launched “Music on the Hudson Chamber Music Series”, of which she is the Artistic and Executive director. In addition to being on the Piano faculty of Mannes College at The New School University, Ms.Zaretsky is an award-winning pianist and composer. Performances have taken her around the world and her music has been performed in England, Norway, Canada, Australia, Italy, Russia and throughout the United States.
She studied piano with Richard Goode and composition with Robert Cuckson at the Mannes College of Music in New York and has collaborated with many notable musicians, such as the Miro, Enso, Jasper, Tesla and Cassat String Quartets, duoJalal, Kent/Blossom Festival Orchestra, Chamber Music Series of the St. Lukes Orchestra, musicians of the Boston, Chicago and Orpheus Orchestras, members of the Metropolitan Opera and many others.