Taft School presents an evening of music and celebration Friday, February 24, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Walker Hall. Cellist George Kroqi, guitarist Fred Krug, violinist Lisa Laquidara and pianist Ray Pierpont will perform a program of chamber music featuring works by Mauro Giuliani, Francesco Veracini, Max Reger and Frederic Chopin.
Kroqi was the principal cellist of the orchestra of the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, Albania for three years, and principal cellist of the String Chamber Orchestra in Shkodra. He currently performs with the Waterbury Symphony, New Britain Symphony, and the Wallingford Symphony. Mr. Kroqi is also the string coach for the Greater Waterbury Youth Symphony.
Fred Krug studied classical guitar performance under Nicholas Goluses, composition under Stephen Fruend, classical theory under Alec Brinkman, and post-tonal theory under Ciro Scotto. As a founding member of the Eastman Guitar quartet, he has premiered works by Tellef Johnson and Matthew Fuerst, and, with that group, was featured in the Eastman School of Music pop symposium where he opened for Steve Vai (Whitesnake and David Lee Roth). This meeting of styles inspired Tellef Johnson to write The Prisoner, a piece for string quartet, heavy metal trio, and male soprano, which Fred premiered at Julliard's VIA festival (Life Through Art).
Lisa Laquidara received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Hartt School of Music where she studied violin with Charles Treger and Philip Seltzer. She has performed in master classes for members of the Emerson Quartet and Manhattan Quartet and has played in numerous orchestras across Connecticut including the Waterbury Symphony, Hartford Symphony, New Britain Symphony, and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony.
Pianist Ray Pierpont studied at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, CT., and at Boston University. His teachers have included Anne Koscielny, Raymond Hanson and Anthony de Bonaventura. He previously served as piano faculty at the Gunnery School and the Naugatuck Valley Community College. Mr. Pierpont is also Minister of Music at the Dewitt Reformed Church in New York City.
“Art from the Heart” is part of Taft School’s 2011-12 Music for a While performance series. All Music for a While programs are free and open to the public. For more information, call 860-945-7898 or visit www.taftschool.org/concertseries
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