The Bronx Arts Ensemble’s 51st season, A Focus on the Human Condition, examines all the rituals and experiences that make us human. Tik Tok and other social media platforms have given the everyday person the opportunity to “romanticize” their life by making a quick video and adding music– and curiously, a lot of classical music has made the cut. The BAE string quartet will perform various “Tik Tok” popular songs, works that were promoted by the composer on social media, and unjustly forgotten works that have found their way back into the canon through social media.

Works by Max Richter, Nia Imani Franklin, Ariana Grande, Joe Hisaishi, Angélica Negrón, and William Grant Still.

PROGRAM

Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Spring I – Recomposed by Max Richter

Burgundy in Autumn – Nia Imani Franklin

Thank U Next – Ariana Grande

Waltz No. 2 from Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra – Dimitri Shostakovich

Merry Go Round of Life –  Joe Hisaishi

Bubblegum Grass/Peppermint Field – Angélica Negrón 

Lyric Quartette –  William Grant Still
The Sentimental Once
The Quiet One
The Jovial One

Violinist MELANIE BAKER has performed in many venues in New York and beyond, playing chamber music, with symphony orchestras, and in recitals. She has played over the years with the Greenwich Symphony, Queens Symphony, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and American Symphony, to name a few, and in many Broadway shows. She is a graduate of the Hartt School and the Manhattan School of Music.

SUSAN DOMINGUEZ enjoys a busy career as a violinist and educator in New York City and abroad. She is a violinist with Oratorio Society of New York and Musica Sacra Orchestras, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, North/South Chamber Ensemble, Antara Ensemble, Roanoke Opera Orchestra, and the St. Ignatius Loyola and St. John the Divine Sacred Music Choral Ensembles.  Susan is active throughout the year performing in NYC’s finest venues including Carnegie Hall; Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Hall and in both On and Off-Broadway Theaters. She is a national faculty member of The Art of Science Learning and founding violinist of the Bedford String Quartet; resident artist ensemble since 2012 at the GE Global Management Development Institute.

Violist SALLY SHUMWAY has been an artist member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble since 1991. She appears on BAE recordings in works by Carlos Surinach, Robert Baksa, Meyer Kupferman, Soong Fu Yuan, Allen Brings and Roberto Sierra.  Sally is a longtime member of the American Symphony Orchestra, and also appears on movie soundtracks, TV jingles and Broadway soundtracks. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas and Manhattan School of Music, and is on the faculty of the Ridgewood (NJ) Conservatory.

CARLO PELLETTIERI first became interested in music singing in the boy choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in his native NYC. He earned his Bachelor of Music Degree at Eastman School of Music and master’s degree at Northern Illinois University. He toured Europe as Principal Cello of the New American Chamber Orchestra after graduation. He later toured throughout the U.S. with the New York City Opera National Company. Carlo has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Martha Graham Dance Company, New York Oratorio Society, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and Ridgefield Symphony. He’s played with the Greenwich Symphony for 20 years under the leadership of Maestro David Gilbert. As a Chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Gainsborogh Trio. Carlo is also an active Broadway musician playing in some 30 shows.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.