Jody Gatwood Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (July 20, 2007) — The acclaimed international Mendelssohn Piano Trio, along with guest artist Jody Gatwood, will showcase their talents in two recitals as part of the Chamber Music in Grantham summer festival, Aug. 12–17. The festival is a one-week intensive program designed to improve effective musical communication in performance for advanced students of cello, violin, viola, piano and composition. Gatwood on violin, joined by Francis Conlon on piano, will perform on Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Poorman Recital Hall, located in Climenhaga Fine Arts Center on the college’s Grantham campus. The Mendelssohn Piano Trio will hold a concert on Aug. 12 at 4 p.m., also in Poorman Recital Hall. Both recitals are open to the public (with a suggested donation of $20 for Gatwood concert).

About Jody Gatwood

Jody Gatwood’s fame has spread through North America and Europe as a violinist. His music has brought him in contact with acclaimed conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Andre Previn, as well as the orchestras of Houston, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Phoenix and Juilliard. He has recorded five CDs as a member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players and has recorded for the Musical Heritage Society in two concerti by Tartini. His performances have been held at the Library of Congress, Tully Hall, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Carnegie Hall and a number of other venues. He, too, has worked as a teacher, on the faculty of The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; his students bear witness to his gifted teaching with their scholarships and prestigious concert-master positions won under his tutelage. Gatwood will also give a master-class for festival participants on Aug. 16 at 1:15 p.m. in Poorman Recital Hall.

About the Mendelssohn Piano Trio

“Mendelssohn Piano Trio members are three of the most stellar young artists of our time,” say Ann Schein and Earl Carlyss, co-tutors of the Trio. “Their inspiration in launching [Chamber Music in Grantham] festival will be of the highest artistic stature for now and into the future.” Such praise does not surpass the achievements of the group, which has been giving performances both in the United States and internationally for nearly a decade. Its members consist of Ya-Ting Chang (piano), Peter Sirotin (violin) and Fiona Thompson (cello); pianist and composer Richard Roberson, dean of the school of the arts at Messiah College, will join the Trio in performing on Aug. 12. Currently the ensemble-in-residence at Messiah College, as well as at the Embassy Series in Washington, D.C., the group’s members share a talent for teaching in addition to performing. They have given master-classes at a variety of colleges, music schools and universities around the world, and they will be offering a master-class for attendees of the festival from Aug. 13–15 at 3:15 p.m. in Poorman Recital Hall.

About Messiah College

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,800 undergraduate students in 60 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.