On June 25th pianist Charles Abramovic and wife Heidi Jacob, director of the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Orchestra and Chamber Music Program, presented a concert featuring new music by composers from both Pennsylvania and California.
The concert was held near Nevada City, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at The Columbia School House (c. 1850), now a community arts center. Heidi spent her summers in the area as a youth, and is seeking to establish musical ties and eventually a summer chamber music program there for her students. The marathon program included works by Philadelphia composers Ingrid Arauco and Curt Cacioppo (both Professors of Music at Haverford), Charles Cacioppo (director of the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Jazz Ensemble), Heidi Jacob, Jan Krzywicki, and Maurice Wright; California composers Brian Ciach, Howard Hersh, and Terry Riley; plus rags by William Bolcom and "Paraphrase on National Airs" by American composer and pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who travelled from the east coast to the west in 1865 and performed his patriotic music in Nevada City. Haverford music faculty members Curt and Christine Cacioppo attended the gala event, and were delighted to encounter three former students and one current student, who made the three-hour road trip from San Francisco for the occasion: Fangyu (Panda) Xiong (HC ‘15), Yunqui (Angie) Chen (BMC ‘16), Jinling (Renee) Li (BMC ‘17), and Xinyue (Lexie) Zhang (BMC 2018). Panda and Angie are currently employed in the tech industry, and Renee and Lexie were summer interns at Facebook. Panda and Angie continue to study piano, and even have resources to practice while at work! We are pleased that the love and study of music continues to connect us across the continent.
