World-renowned clarinetist David Shifrin, who is also director of the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, will be the featured performer in a concert on Saturday, Sept. 26, to benefit the Yale Summer School of Music fellowship fund. Sponsored by the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the concert will begin at 8 p.m. in Battell Recital Hall on the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, located at Routes 44 and 272 in Norfolk, Connecticut.
Shifrin will perform a repertoire spanning several centuries. His program includes Francis Poulenc's "Sonata," Brahms' "Sonata in E flat," Stravinsky's "Three Pieces," Debussy's "Rhapsody" and Rossini's "Introduction, Theme and Variations."
Shifrin has appeared as an orchestral soloist with the Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee and Denver symphonies, and he has also given solo recitals at such venues as Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street "Y," Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress. Clarinet Magazine has said Shifrin is "unsurpassed as a clarinet soloist."
In addition to solo work, the clarinetist also collaborates with some of the world's leading chamber ensembles, including the Tokyo, Emerson and Guarneri string quartets. In recognition of his work, he has received a Grammy nomination, the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Following Shifrin's recital, patrons will be invited to join the musician at a reception in the historical Whitehouse on the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, which is home to the summer program of the School of Music. The mansion houses many art treasures and is rarely open to the public.
Tickets to Shifrin's recital are $25; tickets to the post-concert reception are also $25. Proceeds from the event will allow the Yale Summer School of Music to provide full-tuition scholarships to emerging professional musicians from around the globe to study at Norfolk. To order tickets or for further information, call 1-860-542-3000.