Musical Prodigy Rudolf Budginas debuted with the Lithuanian National Symphony at age nine, trained at Moscow Conservatory, and promptly rose to international fame performing solo concerts. After moving to the U.S. in 1994, he discovered his true passion: giving classical music a broader audience appeal.

In his ingenious show “You, Me & the Piano,” Budginas illustrated how classical music has influenced contemporary artists by actually breaking down how Billy Joel might have drawn on Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody” to get “Piano Man.” Famous for audience and humorous asides, Rudolf Budginas takes the audience from “Claire de Lune” to “Rhapsody in Blue” with contagious energy and endless surprises!

http://www.rudolfpiano.com/

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A very satisfying concert Oct. 14.  They not only play their instruments very well but they sing!  Their selections were incredibly varied and entertaining.  I guess that old is new again since a lot of their numbers were very familar to our audience but they mad them fresh again.

At age five, Richard Smith watched his father fingerpick “Down South Blues” on guitar. By day’s end, he had learned the song. At age of eleven, he played on stage with his hero, Chet Atkins. By age 20, Atkins and legend Jerry Reed were both calling Smith their hero!

Cellist Julie Adams is also a rarity. Classically trained at Cincinnati Conservatory, she took folk music by storm, bedazzled Smith, and the rest is history -- together, husband-and-wife team Smith and Adams’ musical connection will melt your heart -- and their stellar technique will knock your socks off!

Some call it the Nat “King” Cole Trio meets the Mills Brothers… others call it Fats Waller meets Fats Domino. However described, Casey MacGill’s Blue 4 Trio sweeps the audience back through time. Boogie-woogie pianist MacGill leads bassist Matt Weiner and percussionist Mike Daugherty through soulful renditions of pre-World War II swing classics, complete with impeccable three-part vocal harmonies (and even a little ukulele).

The members of the trio have been featured in Broadway’s smash musical Swing, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival and legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. Soft or loud, raw or mellow, Casey MacGill’s Blues 4 Trio plays it all, and keeps it 100% real.

With an all new program, Trio Voronezh once again thrilled our audience with their astonishing virtuosity and delightful artistic innovation. They seemed more at ease and able to have more fun compared to their previous appearance in 2003, perhaps due to more exposure to American audiences. Discovered playing Bach in a Frankfurt, Germany subway station, Trio Voronezh has since made several tours of the U.S., and earned audience and critical praise. Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times beautifully sums up a performance: “The traditional pieces soon brought the crowd to life, clapping enthusiastically as the rhythms accelerated and Volokhin's fingers flew across his domra. Petrukhin, his body moving in sync with his deep bass notes, and Teleshev, magisterially pulling everything together within the lush sounds of his bajan, completed the picture -- three players, alone on a large open stage, filling every crevice with their rich, imaginatively conceived music."

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The Hunt Family Fiddlers performance here in Medford was delightful.  It featured several new songs written by the group as well as lively versions of old standbys.  One song in particular, Green Eyes, is a potential pop hit and deserves a wider hearing. They are an award-winning family of Irish step dancers, fiddlers and singers that marvel audiences around the world! They perform Celtic, bluegrass, inspirational and popular tunes, serving up a unique blend with every show. They have released four albums, and were honored to perform for Queen Elizabeth during her 2007 visit to the United States.

With numerous performances in the UK, three consecutive years opening for the Virginia Symphony, and “held-over” status for three seasons at Busch Gardens Europe under their belt, the Hunt Family Fiddlers amazed us with their high-class performance and captured our hearts with their charm!

http://www.huntfamilyfiddlers.com/

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