Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series Opening Concert

Opening Concert of Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series 2024-25 Season

Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord

The Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series proudly announces the first concert of their 2024-25 season, featuring world-renowned harpsichordist, Paolo Bordignon.

This event will take place on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 7pm at St. Mark’s in the Valley Church in Los Olivos.

Artistic Director, Dr. Robert Cassidy, says: “I am so pleased that Paolo Bordignon can join us for our opening 2024-25 performance. Harpsichordists of his caliber are rare indeed, and for him to take time out of his remarkably busy schedule to come to Los Olivos is an incredibly special gift to us. The audience will experience a musical offering of transcendent beauty by this expert musician.”

Program and Biography – Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord

The program Paolo Bordignon will perform at St. Mark’s includes pieces from Jean-Phillip Rameau’s Suite in D Major, George Frideric Handel’s E-Major Suite (including the much-loved Harmonious Blacksmith variations) and sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti as well as music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Paolo Bordignon is the harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic and has appeared in recent seasons with Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among others.

As a harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon has recently performed with the MET Orchestra Musicians, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, All-Star Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, ECCO, as well as a 2018 Trans-Siberian Arts Festival tour with the Sejong Soloists.

As a soloist and chamber musician, he has collaborated with Sir James Galway, Itzhak Perlman, Reinhard Goebel, Paul Hillier, Bobby McFerrin, and Midori, as well as Renée Fleming and Wynton Marsalis in a Juilliard Gala. For the opening of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, he performed Philip Glass’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra. He has also appeared in a solo performance for New York Fashion Week.

Festival appearances include Aspen, Bard, Bay Chamber, Blossom, Bridgehampton, Grand Tetons, Palm Beach, Ravinia, and Vail. He has recorded for Warner Classics, Universal Music, NAXOS, Manta, MSR, Tuneful Oasis, Red Bandana, and Eusonia Records. He has appeared on NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, NPR (including Pipedreams and Performance Today), the CBC, and on Korean and Japanese national television. Paolo has collaborated with composers such as Elliott Carter (performing Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano for his 90th birthday celebration), David Conte, Jean Guillou, Stephen Hartke, Christopher Theophanides, Melinda Wagner, and Michi Wiancko. With the Clarion Music Society, he gave the first modern performances of newly rediscovered chamber works by Felix Mendelssohn.

St. Mark’s in-the-Valley provides an intimate concert experience with seating for just over one hundred. St. Mark’s is pleased to offer the SYV Concert Series as a community arts enrichment program. All people are welcome to enjoy these concerts, and students are always FREE. Tickets available at: smitv.ejoinme.org/SYVCSTickets

About St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church: Formed in 1926 and serving the Santa Ynez Valley at its present location in downtown Los Olivos since 1979, St. Mark’s practices spacious Christianity and welcomes people of all faiths or none. St. Mark’s is a no-fee community center for non-profit groups and community meetings, an arts venue for musical and cultural events, a welcome center for residents and area visitors, and home to a vibrant, inclusive faith community. St. Mark’s top-flight, non-sectarian professional preschool serves Santa Ynez Valley families with quality early childhood education. The County-permitted SYV Community Kitchen at St. Mark’ s serves as a regional food hub.

St. Mark’s is also grateful to be home to the area’s Jewish community and a local Zen sangha (part of Santa Barbara Zen Center). Open doors, restrooms, free Wi-Fi, a shady courtyard, gardens, a labyrinth, and water for pets are available for visitors and area residents all day, every day. For more information, please visit St. Mark’ s in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, CA