2023
October 1 @ 6:30
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat op44 Gustave Mahler Rückert Lieder arranged for mezzo soprano and string quartet by Zak Grafilo (Midwest premiere)
Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Elise Parker, Anne Ainomäe, Jane Cords O’Hara, Lara Bolton
MetroNOME Brewery
Ladyslipper Ensemble is a fiscal year 20213 recipient of a Creative Support for Organizations grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This grant is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through
appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature
2024
February 11 @ 2
Works by Bridge, Hermann and Gershwin
Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Sifei Cheng, Jane Cords O’Hara, Jennifer Gerth, Ivan Konev
MetroNOME Brewery
April 14 @ 6:30
Works by Arensky, Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky
Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Jane Cords O’Hara, Ivan Konev
MetroNOME Brewery
https://www.metronomebrewery.com/
April 14 @ 6:30
Works of Rachmaninoff
Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Jane Cords O’Hara, Ivan Konev
MetroNOME Brewery
June 12 @ 7:00
Fauré, Bach, Barnett & Korngold
With Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Jane Cords-O’Hara, Lara Bolton & Ivan Konev
MetroNome Brewery
2022
November 16 @ 7:00
Revival: Return to live concerts
Music of Glière, Bridge & Brahms
With Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Jane Cords-O’Hara & Ivan Koniv
Schubert Club Museum
Landmark Center - 75 W 5th St #302, St Paul, MN 55102
Find your Tickets here
Ladyslipper Ensemble will present a concert on May 16 @ 7pm at Schubert Club, titled "Revival", to mark our return to live events. Mezzo-soprano Sahar Hassan, violinist Helen Chang, cellist Jane Cords-O'Hara and pianist Ivan Konev are thrilled to share this program of Glière, Bridge and Brahms with you!
Ladyslipper performed this program on May 11th. Minnesota welcomed us back with nature's thunderous applause, lightning and a tornado watch. The works! Due to this severe weather, several of our friends couldn't attend and needed to stay safe at home. We’re glad you did!
So, we decided to have a repeat performance on November 16th. Just one day before Give to the Max Day! We love this program and really want to share it with you. The show is about an hour long.
$15 General Admission
$10 Seniors/Students
Free for kids under 18!
While walk ups are welcome, seating is limited and we recommend buying your tickets in advance.
Masks are highly encouraged and greatly appreciated, for the safety of the musicians.
May 11 @ 7:00
Revival: Return to live concerts
Music of Glière, Chaminade, Bridge & Brahms
With Sahar Hassan, Helen Chang, Jane Cords-O’Hara & Ivan Koniv
Thelma Hunter Recital Room
Landmark Center - 75 W 5th St #302, St Paul, MN 55102
Find your Tickets here
Ladyslipper Ensemble will present a concert on May 11 @ 7pm at Schubert Club, titled "Revival", to mark their return to live events. Mezzo-soprano Sahar Hassan, violinist Helen Chang, cellist Jane Cords-O'Hara and pianist Ivan Konev are thrilled to share this program of Glière, Chaminade, Bridge and Brahms with you!
While walk ups are welcome, seating is limited and we recommend buying your tickets in advance.
Masks are highly encouraged and greatly appreciated.
Songs of Home, Hope & Humanity
Works of Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Leonard Bernstein and Ricky Ian Gordon
with
Sahar Hassan, Mezzo-Soprano
&
Lara Bolton, Keyboard Artist/Conductor/Arranger
Virtual Concert
Streaming February 24 @ 7:30-March 24
Facebook & Youtube
“The project and collaboration's aim is to offer an uplifting balm for a deeply transitional time. Supportive and heart-centered, these songs reflect and balance the feelings of upheaval that can come with courage, growth, and rebirth. We present them in love and kindness towards our community, both local and universal.”
~ Lara Bolton
You can expect the performance to last around 30 minutes.
This concert is FREE. A $10 suggested donation is appreciated but not required.
You may make your gift HERE
Sahar Hassan is a fiscal year 2021 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This grant is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through
appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature
2021
Ladyslipper Ensemble Mini Concert Series
October 28th @ 7:30 pm
Streaming on demand October 28-November 28
Sahar Hassan & Lara Bolton
Songs of Home, hope, and humanity.
Program to include works of Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Leonard Bernstein and Ricky Ian Gordon
Please join us for the fourth in our (Mini) Recital Series! This month we feature Ladyslipper Ensemble mezzo-soprano, Sahar Hassan with pianist Lara Bolton
Find regular priced tickets here: https://www.sparrowlive.com/event.../home-hope-humanity-1
You can expect the performance to last around 30 minutes.
This program was curated in a time of isolation during the pandemic. The texts and music were chosen in reflection of what the world has experienced and in gratitude for what we have been able to accomplish during this period. The human race is resilient. The world became smaller, as people reached out across continents and oceans to connect. New friendships were formed through many screens, where compassion and empathy for those who never knew each other was abundant. These meaningful connections are here to stay. Home, Hope and Humanity! Music to include songs of Margaret Bonds, Amy Beach, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Ricky Ian Gordon and more.
Words from Lara Bolton on this music:
“The project and collaboration's aim is to offer an uplifting balm for a deeply transitional time. Supportive and heart-centered, these songs reflect and balance the feelings of upheaval that can come with courage, growth, and rebirth. We present them in love and kindness towards our community, both local and universal.”
April 22nd @ 7:30 pm
Jane Cords-O'Hara, Anne Ainomäe,
& Elise Parker
Schnittke String Trio
Please join us for the third in our Spring (Mini) Recital Series! This month we feature the Jamison Ensemble
You can expect the performance to last around 30 minutes.
To support the artists and Ladyslipper Team,
there is a suggested donation of $15.
Here’s what each of the players has to say about the piece
Jane: “I heard this piece many years ago at the West Cork chamber music festival in Ireland. It made a big impression on me, so when Sahar suggested a string trio to play on Ladyslipper’s series, I jumped at the chance to play this rarely heard work. Luckily, my colleagues agreed to the challenge!”
Elise: “When Jane first suggested Schnittke’s Trio, I admit I was a bit intimidated by it! However, after peeling back layer after layer of this trio, I’ve come to realize what a gem it is. It is musically, technically, and emotionally challenging yet satisfying; with dissonant and passionate themes, wild outbursts, all with a dash of the more classical style.”
Anne: I’ve never played Schnittke’s music before playing this trio with Elise and Jane. When I started working on my part I read about Schnittke’s life. He was a Soviet composer and wrote this string trio in 1985. I felt an immediate connection to the piece as I was born in 1985 in the Soviet Union. It is a deep and unusual piece. The first movement to me feels like a life and death struggle, with my favorite part being the stacked chords, creating several dissonant chorals.
March 25th @ 7:30 pm
Oleg Levin
Russian music of the 20th and 21st centuries featuring Rachmaninoff, Medtner, Desyatnikov, Kapustin, and Shchedrin.
Please join us for the second in our Spring (Mini) Recital Series! This month's featured soloist is Ladyslipper Ensemble pianist, Oleg Levin.
You can expect the performance to last around 35 minutes.
To support the artists and Ladyslipper Team,
there is a suggested donation of $15.
"The selected composers and their music represent my interest in Russian music of the 20th and 21st century as well as my cultural heritage. While the music of Rachmaninoff is widely performed, the piano compositions of Medtner have been unjustifiably neglected, and the music of Shchedrin, Desyatnikov, and Kapustin certainly deserves more public attention. While both Rachmaninoff and Medtner are generally considered to be the finest pianists of their day and, as composers, the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music, Kapustin blends Western European classical music with the modern idioms of jazz and rock. The figure of Rachmaninoff and his music, without any doubts, influenced my decision to become a pianist in the first place; the music of Kapustin is my latest obsession with contemporary piano music." - Oleg Levin
February 25th @7:30 PM
Jane Cords-O’Hara
Bach Cello Suite No. 5
The first of our Spring (Mini) Recital Series! This month's featured soloist is Ladyslipper Ensemble cellist, Jane Cords-O'Hara. Expect the performance to last around 30 minutes!
To support the artists and Ladyslipper Team,
there is a suggested donation of $15.
Jane will be performing Bach's Cello Suite No. 5. Here is what she has to say about the piece: "This is my favorite suite to play. I love the scordatura - you have to tune the A string down to a G, so you end up having 2 G strings. This completely changes the way the cello resonates. The piece has a very dark quality, c minor, and the prelude and fugue is epic. The way the fugue unfolds is breathtaking. Each movement has its own character, but the thread of darkness remains throughout. None of the movements are in a major key, not even the 2nd gavotte. (In the first three suites the second minuet or bourée is in the opposite key to the suite itself). I truly love playing this work of genius."