Saturday, April 13
2:00 p.m.
KC Public Library (Downtown) 14 W. 10th St., Kansas City, MO
James Farquhar and Michael Davidman will be performing this Saturday at the KC Public Library. Come by to enjoy these amazing Park ICM students perform works by Brahms and other selections
Program
Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 58 (1843) by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
I. Allegro assai vivace
II. Allegretto scherzando
III. Adagio
IV. Molto Allegro e vivace
James Farquhar, cello
Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, piano
Spiegel im Spiegel “Mirrors in the Mirror” (1978) by Arvo Pärt (1935-)
Michael Davidman, piano
Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 (1717-1723) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
I. Prélude
II. Allemande
III. Courante
IV. Sarabande
V. Bourrée I
VI. Bourrrée II
VII. Gigue
James Farquhar, cello
Intermission
Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 38 (1862-65) by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto quasi Menuetto
III. Allegro
James Farquhar, cello
Michael Davidman, piano
Biographies
Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich
Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich Born into a Tashkent (Uzbekistan) musical family, Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich began studying piano at the age of 4. In 1985 she entered the Uspensky Central Music School in Tashkent. In 1993 she started attending a private school for young musicians in Moscow, and that same year received the first prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition in Göttingen, Germany. She entered the Tchaikovsky Special Music School in 1995, and two years later was accepted to the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory under the tutelage of Vera Gornostaeva, with whom she continued postgraduate study from 2002 to 2004. Lisovskaya-Sayevich also studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University. Read Full Biography Here
Michael Davidman
Michael started piano lessons at age five at the Greenwich House Music School, and continued piano studies with Efrem Briskin at the Manhattan School of Music. Michael completed his Bachelor of Music degree under the guidance of Robert McDonald, also with mentor and teacher Ford Mylius Lallerstedt at the Curtis Institute of Music, and his Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School with renowned pianists Jerome Lowenthal and Stephen Hough. Presently, Michael is pursuing an Artist Diploma studying with renowned pianist Stanislav Loudenich at the International Center for Music (ICM), Kansas City, MO.
Prodigiously gifted from early childhood, in his precollege studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Michael won First Place in the Precollege Concerto Competition in all three age categories: first at age ten, then at twelve, and again at age sixteen. At age thirteen, he was chosen by Lang Lang’s management to perform in the 2010 Lang Lang masterclass at Manhattan School of Music; his rendition of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 was warmly praised by Lang Lang: “You play beautifully and are technically brilliant!”
A dedicated and disciplined young musician, Michael has gone on to win numerous piano competitions, including 2021 American Pianists Association finalist award; winner 2019 Juilliard Gina Bachauer Competition; first prize 2018 New York International Piano Competition chamber ensemble; first prizes in both soloist and concerto categories at the 33rd Ithaca College of Music Piano Competition; Grand Prize at the LISMA Foundation 9th International Music Competition; and first place in the 2011 Mary Smart International Concerto Competition. Michael also received a four year scholarship from the Chopin Foundation of the United States.
An exceptional presence on the concert stage, Michael has repeatedly earned glowing reviews in the press: “2021 American Pianists Awards concerto round: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat Major, S.124…the excitement of the “Allegro Marziale animato” was introduced with masterly suspense, and the thrills of that finale seemed truly earned by the “intense sensitivity” the pianist had displayed previously…this was not adventitious excitement applied out of nowhere; it had been present, thanks to Davidman’s acuity and interpretive élan, from the start…all told, this was one of the best concerto performances I’ve heard in recent years, (Upstage – Indianapolis, IN – Jay Harvey, June 27, 2021); “The standout twenty year-old Michael Davidman … a talent to watch. His account of Rachmaninoff’s complex and quirky sonata … was electrifying for its sweeping yet refined sentimentality and pyrotechnical prowess of which he tossed off fiendishly difficult passagework with great finesse – and a few gasps were even heard from the spellbound audience.” (The Classical Music Journal); “He performed the final movement so magnificently … it brought the audience to its feet with wild applause.” (Peninsula Reviews, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21); Monterey Symphony); “a high level of playing … the incredible facility of pianist Michael Davidman.” (Philadelphia Enquirer Daily News, Kimmel Center Curtis Symphony performance of Ravel’s opera L’enfant et les Sortilèges); and “Violinist Steven Waarts and Michael Davidman … two 11- year-old prodigies, and I rarely apply that term, and never loosely … the best of the best.” (San Mateo Journal).
An opera enthusiast from a very young age, Michael delights in uploading historical and rare opera recordings to his YouTube channel called PucciniMD and in accompanying opera singers on special occasions on “opera night” at a New York City restaurant.
James Farquhar
James Farquhar is currently a student of Daniel Veis, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from Park University’s International Center for Music. He is formerly a student of Kurt Baldwin of the Arianna String Quartet at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Under Baldwin’s instruction, James attained 2019-20 UMSL Artist of the Year with the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky. During his time pursuing his undergraduate degree, James also organized numerous community concerts around St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City.
He has received invaluable instruction from the likes of the Arianna String Quartet, the Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, the Harlem String Quartet, the Jupiter String Quartet, the Rolston String Quartet, Dennis Parker, Scott Lee, Jackie Lee, Frank Huang, and Shmuel Ashkenazy, amongst numerous others. James has also participated in various chamber music festivals including the Arianna Chamber Music Festival, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, Heartland Chamber Music Festival (as a festival scholar from the 2017-2022 seasons), and Chamber Music in the Mountains (Mt. Lemmon, Arizona), to name a few.
James is a Cello Instructor for String Sprouts KC, a nonprofit that is specifically designed for underserved children ages 3 – 8, and is a free music education program created to support school readiness. He is also a Teaching Artist for Harmony Project KC, a nonprofit that provides year round music education for underserved students from the diverse Historic Northeast Community of Kansas City, Missouri. James also aspires to organize grant-funded outreach concerts for underserved elementary schools, hospitals and nursing home communities.
He grew up in a family surrounded by a love of music and the joy it brings to people’s lives. At the age of five, James would insist upon sitting at the piano for hours singing hymns with several family members. Inspired by the sound of music, James gained a passion for cello at the age of nine when he heard the main theme from Jaws played on the lowest string. Teachers he was fortunate enough to learn from making his way through young adulthood included the likes of Maria Maxwell, Meghan Weibling, Russ Berlin, Rebecca Berlin Doss, Michelle Davis, Dr. Carrie Turner, Dr. Steve Davis, and Chris Munce, amongst numerous others. He was heavily involved in choral groups and orchestras in his formative years (Kansas City Youth Symphony and Heartland Chamber Music’s Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra as well as Sounds of Summit Chamber Choir). In his free time, James enjoys listening to a wide variety of music, road bicycling, gardening, and running. He was born and raised in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
