Pasadena Presbyterian Church will be presenting violinist Maria Bessmeltseva and pianist Ekaterina Bessmeltseva on the Virtual Music at Noon series from noon to 12:30 Wednesday.
The sisters were born in Russia and raised in St. Petersburg, where they began their musical education at an early age. Both are Doctors of Musical Arts (DMA).
This performance is free for everyone. sponsored by Friends of Music at the church and can be viewed on Friends of Music’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Maria Bessmeltseva earned her bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Gregory Fulkerson and Alla Aranovskaya. At the conservatory, she gained invaluable chamber music experience in master classes with Jennifer Koh, Richard Goode and Menahem Pressler.
As a member of the Graduate String Quartet at Bowling Green State University, Dr. Bessmeltseva accomplished further chamber music study, and completed her MM under the tutelage of Vasilie Beluska. She achieved her DMA at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance under the direction of Yehonatan Berick.
Ekaterina Bessmeltseva is a concert pianist whose performances span North America, Europe and Russia. She has appeared as a soloist and a chamber player at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2013 and 2014, at Elebash Concert Hall in 2009, the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall in Las Vegas in 2016, Los Angeles Valley College in 2018, and Rimsky-Korsakov Museum in St. Petersburg in 2003.
Bessmeltseva strives constantly to expand her artistic boundaries by performing an unusual and non-standard repertoire. She has an affinity for the music of women composers such as Mel Bonis, Amy Beach, Amanda Maier, Louise Forrenck, Nadia Boulanger, and Clara Schumann, augmenting her repertoire beyond that of the standard literature. She frequently performs with guitarist Hugo Nogueira and the pair is known as Dou Imaginalis.
To watch Music At Noon, visit www.youtube.com/c/
For more information, call (626) 793-2191 or visit www.ppcmusic.org/music-at-
