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Sunday December 4, 2022
Emerson Avenue Salonlines Proudly Presents
a Live YouTube Broadcast

– A “hybrid” concert –

Noah Hardaway
&
Emily Ilyes

Piano & Violin

From Russia with Love

Masterpieces and Miniatures
for Piano & Violin

You’re sure to enjoy this tour of Russian gems! Three remarkable Rachmaninoff preludes for piano solo run the gamut from exuberant marches, pealing bells, long-breathed melodies, to titanic ocean waves, leading into Rachmaninoff’s heartrending romance “How Fair This Spot” arranged for violin and piano. Finally,

 Tchaikovsky’s heartfelt and flirtatious Mélodie gives way to Prokofiev’s vivid, varied, and vivacious Second Violin Sonata.

PROGRAM

Johannes Brahms

Ballades, Op. 10 #3
Ballades, Op. 10 #4

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Hailed as “ter-RIFF-ic!” by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE, and “a technically gifted young virtuoso” (Chestnut Hill Local, Philadelphia, PA), pianist Noah Alden Hardaway is forging a multifaceted career as far afield as Spain, Sardinia, and Lithuania, as well as Canada and the United States. Enthusiastic reception for Noah’s appearances has led to frequent reengagements. He is a regular on the festival circuit, including Art of the Piano in Cincinnati and two summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he performed as soloist with the Aspen Sinfonia Concertante. In the ’21-’22 season, Noah gave his Philadelphia debut, won 1st prize at the Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition associated with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and received the Outstanding Performance in Piano Award from Shenandoah University. He was a finalist in the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition and in the 2019 Frances Walton Competition in Seattle. He has performed on WUSF 89.7 FM and has appeared in the Houston Chronicle as well as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Winchester Star, and Texas Signal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noah has given many livestreamed concerts and lecture-recitals as well as in-person performances in seven U.S. states. He frequently performs in and around Washington, D.C. under the auspices of the Ryuji Ueno Foundation.

Noah works as Assistant Head of Piano at tonebase, a startup company producing innovative and high-quality teaching videos featuring the world’s top pianists. He has a passion for curating unconventional projects, including assembling large student ensembles, hosting radio programs, and leading interdisciplinary performances. At Shenandoah University’s 2018 ShenCoLAB, Noah received a grant to direct and perform in the Virginia premiere of Schnittke/Kandinsky’s Der gelbe Klang (The yellow sound). Noah serves as Assistant to the Director and Chairman of Pianofest in the Hamptons, heads the Project Committee at the Adamant Music School in Vermont, and teaches at the Wakefield School in Virginia.

Since 2014, Noah has studied intensively with Moscow Conservatory artists Vadym Kholodenko, Sergei Glavatskih, and Pavel Nersessian, and his senior thesis is the first English-language exploration of Vera Gornostaeva’s life and work: a transformative approach to the art of teaching in the grand tradition of Heinrich Neuhaus. Noah graduated magna cum laude from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music with Distinction in Research and Creative Works. Legendary Irish pianist and Beethoven interpreter John O’Conor has been a mentor since 2012, and in 2021 Noah began working towards a doctorate in Dr. O’Conor’s studio at Shenandoah University as a full scholarship recipient.

Violinist Emily Ilyes is quickly establishing a career as an engaging soloist and enthusiastic teacher in the tri-state area. She holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from West Virginia University, where she majored in both music education and violin performance and graduated magna cum laude. While at WVU, she was invited to perform in masterclasses with world-renowned violinists such as Ray Chen and Midori and studied under the direction of Dr. Mikylah Myers. In 2018, Emily was a featured soloist with the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra after winning their annual concerto competition. She was a recipient of the prestigious Presser Scholar award for academic and musical achievement that same year. After graduating from WVU, she accepted a full scholarship and a graduate teaching assistantship at Texas Christian University where she earned her master’s degree in 2021. While at TCU, she studied with Dr. Elisabeth Adkins, former assistant concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra. Emily is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Shenandoah Conservatory, where she received a full scholarship and studies with Akemi Takayama. She is the current concertmaster of the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.

Emily is the middle school strings teacher at The Wakefield School, a prestigious private school in The Plains, Virginia. She has experience teaching violinists as young as the age of three, as well adult beginners. In addition to her middle school students, Emily also has eight private violin students of her own. 

During the summer of 2022, Emily won a position with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra as a first violin section member and is the youngest violinist in the ensemble. She receives a generous, yearly scholarship from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation, a foundation that also supports famous musicians and violinists such as Gil Shaham. She performs regularly as a soloist in concerts held by the Ryuji Ueno Foundation in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington D.C. 

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