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Sunday, December 7, 2025
— a “hybrid” event —
Yonatan Grinberg
Yonatan Grinberg, violin
Teodora Adzharova, piano
Music and Liberty for All
How Immigrants Shaped
America’s Soundtrack
Join violinist Dr. Yonatan Grinberg and pianist Dr. Teodora Adzharova for a stirring celebration of America’s musical identity, shaped profoundly by the voices of immigrants and their children. This program features works by composers such as Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Astor Piazzolla, and Philip Glass—each of whom reflects the rich cultural tapestry that defines American music. From the soulful strains of Summertime to the driving rhythms of West Side Story, these pieces embody the diverse roots and stories that have shaped the nation’s sound. At a time when the immigrant experience remains central to American life, this concert offers a moving tribute to the creative legacy of those who have made this country their home.
BIOGRAPHY
International violinist Yonatan Grinberg creates meaningful and moving concert experiences for audiences around the globe. His artistic integrity, passionate delivery and unabashed idealism coupled with vast musical knowledge and devotion to world class performance make Grinberg a favorite of both frequent and first-time concert goers.
Committed to musical performance in different forms, Grinberg has performed as soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician in halls around the world including venues such as the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam, the Israeli Opera Hall in Tel Aviv, and the Philharmonic Hall in Zagreb. He has collaborated with artists such as Alexander Pavlovsky (Jerusalem Quartet), Violaine Melancon and Dr. David Schrader and on various projects with composers such as Aviya Kopelman, Dr. Wissam Gibran, and Jonathan Leshnoff. Recently Grinberg recorded a Piano Quintet by Leshnoff with members of the Baltimore Symphony to be published on Naxos in 2017. Mr. Grinberg’s performances have been aired on Israeli TV and Radio, as well as Slovenian Radio, and some of his notable chamber performances include a guest performance at a faculty concert in Towson University, the Jerusalem Music Center and a tour of chamber concerts in Holland as part of the Zeist Music Days festival. As a concertmaster Grinberg has performed with the Perlman Music Program, the Jerusalem Academy Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and has led no-conductor ensembles in concerts in Hebrew University and Tel Aviv with soloists such as Vadim Gluzman, Dr. Ron Regev and Dr. Asaf Zohar.
For eight years Grinberg toured and performed with the Arab-Jewish Youth Orchestra both as soloist and concertmaster in Israel and Europe. The experience of seeing first hand how the music acted as a healing power in areas of harsh conflict, between both musicians and audiences, has affected him deeply as a musician and as a human being, devoting himself to using music to mend hearts and make the world a better place.
Since 2015 Grinberg has been the founder and musical director of the Chamber Encounters concert series in the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in the Greater Baltimore area, which has been hailed in its first year by Baltimore Style Magazine as Baltimore’s 3rd most exciting musicians crossing all genres. These concerts are artfully constructed by diverse programming, round theater seating and interaction between the performers and the audience to create a lively and dynamic experience for different audiences.
Mr. Grinberg’s devotion to using music to change lives goes far beyond the concert hall. As a teacher, Yonatan has taught in El- Sistema and other community engagement programs in Chicago and Baltimore, and directed a summer program for the People’s Music School in Chicago. In 2014 he started a new string program “The Baltimore Bows” which has been an immediate success, and has been featured on a number of local and national media including NPR and the Baltimore Jewish Times. Since 2014 Yonatan has been working as an assistant violin teacher in the studio of Violaine Melancon at the Peabody Conservatory.
Laureate of numerous national and international competitions, Teodora Adzharova’s career has taken her to multiple performance venues in the United States, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Macedonia and the Czech Republic. Currently based in Baltimore, MD, she has established herself as one of the most sought-after chamber musicians in the Baltimore, MD-Washington, D.C. region, frequently collaborating with musicians from both the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Some of Dr. Adzharova’s recent performances include appearances at Montpelier Arts Center, Washington College, Towson University, University of Maryland, and Silo Hill. On many occasions, Dr. Adzharova’s recordings have been broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.
Dr. Adzharova’s 2023–2024 season will feature the release of her debut solo album dedicated to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. The CD will include the composer’s Preludes, Op. 34 and Piano Sonata, Op. 61. One of the few pianists who performs both of Shostakovich’s sonatas in a single program, Dr. Adzharova will present lecture-recitals of the repertoire at the World Piano Conference (Serbia, June 2023) and the DiMenna Center in New York this Fall. Her interest in the legacy of Shostakovich has gained the recognition of Alan Mercer, editor-in-chief of the DSCH Journal, who extended an invitation to Teodora to review pianist Eugenio Catone’s recordings of the Complete Piano Works by Shostakovich. Additionally, in collaboration with Mercer, Dr. Adzharova plans to publish several papers on the sonatas and present lecture-recitals of Shostakovich’s piano works throughout Europe.
In 2019, Dr. Adzharova’s dedication to chamber music and community engagement led her to become the Co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Annunciation Cathedral Concert Series. Each season, the series provides inventive and accessible classical music programming to the Baltimore community and promotes high-caliber artists from the region.
As a passionate educator, Dr. Adzharova currently holds faculty positions at the Peabody Institute, where she teaches in both the Conservatory and the Preparatory division. She also teaches at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Community College of Baltimore County. Dr. Adzharova is a board member of GBMTA and has served as an adjudicator for NVMTA, GBMTA, HCPTA, WIPAC competitions, as well as Peabody Preparatory recitals. Her love for passing on all knowledge to the next generation has also led to her to recently accepting the position of Director of the Young Artist Program at the Fleisher Academy.
Dr. Adzharova holds piano performance degrees from the Peabody Institute (DMA, 2020; Performance Diploma, 2013; MM, 2011) where she studied with Ellen Mack.
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