The Rickman-Acree-Corporon Piano Trio

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Press Release and Program Notes

by Rick de Yampert

The Daytona Solisti concert Romantic Realms – Music of Schubert will feature the Rickman- Acree-Corporon Piano Trio performing a Franz Schubert work that was never played publicly during the Austrian composer’s brief lifetime. Romantic Realms – Music of Schubert will be presented at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, at
Lighthouse Christ Presbyterian Church, 1035 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach, where Solisti is in residence again this concert season. A $20 donation is requested at the door. For more information call 386-562-5423 or go online at daytonasolisti.com.

The Rickman-Acree-Corporon Piano Trio, comprised of pianist Michael Rickman, violinist and Solisti Music Director Susan Pitard Acree and cellist Joseph Corporon, will perform Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898. The piece was never played publicly until after Schubert’s death. Also on the program is a string quartet comprised of violinists Olga Kolpakova and Susan Pitard Acree; violist Zoriy Zinger and cellist Joseph Corporon. They will perform Schubert’s String Quartet
in A Minor, D. 804 “Rosamunde”.

Schubert, who lived from 1797 to 1828, bridged the Classical and Romantic periods of music. Despite his frequently ill health and bouts of depression, Schubert was very prolific, writing more than 1,000 works that included some six hundred Romantic lieder (songs accompanied by piano) as well as symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, operas and other pieces. However, Schubert was neglected and largely unknown until after his death at age 31, when fellow composers Mendelssohn,  Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and others began to champion his compositions. Franz Liszt, the Hungarian composer who lived from 1811-1886, proclaimed Schubert was “the most poetic musician who ever lived.”

Daytona Solisti was founded in 2005 by Acree after she moved to Daytona Beach from Atlanta. She previously played violin in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for 22 years, performing in New York (Carnegie Hall), London, Chicago, Paris and other cities.

Rickman has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and at venues in London, Paris, Toronto, Chile, Latvia  and across the United States. He retired from Stetson University in April 2017 after 34 years as professor of piano at the DeLand school, where he has been named Professor Emeritus. He also is a Steinway Artist, an honor bestowed by the prestigious piano maker, and Artist in Residence of Daytona Solisti.

Daytona Solisti presents an annual concert series featuring performances by the Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra, the Rickman-Acree-Corporon Piano Trio and Daytona Solisti String Quartet, and solo performances by Rickman, who is Solisti’s Artist-in-Residence. The ensembles are composed of professional musicians from throughout Central Florida and Northeast Florida. Solisti’s remaining concerts this concert season include two by the 12-piece Daytona Solisti Chamber Orchestra: “Romancing the Strings” on Feb. 11, featuring Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with string orchestra accompaniment performed by Olga Kolpakova and “Mozartiana – Music of Mozart” on April 21 featuring Michael Rickman performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 “Jeunehomme” also with string orchestra accompaniment. All performances take place at Lighthouse Christ Presbyterian Church in Ormond Beach, FL. For additional information visit daytonasolisti.com.