Naples Community Orchestra features Emerson Millar in season opener

Naples Community Orchestra will host its season opener on Saturday, February 20, 3:30 p.m. at Moorings Presbyterian Church, 791 Harbour Drive in Naples. The performance will feature Emerson Millar, Co-Concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic, performing Bach and Vivaldi. In addition, Milana Strezeva will join Ms. Millar on harpsichord and piano for Tzigane by Ravel. The program also features the Naples Community Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, which will consist of ten string musicians. The orchestra is under the direction of Artistic Director, internationally renowned conductor and violinist Max Rabinovitsj who begins his seventh season.

Ticket reservations can be made online at naplescommunityorchestra.org for both individual concert tickets and the three concert subscription. Complimentary tickets are available for students with valid student identification. Electronic tickets will be sent by email. Ticket holders may print them out or have them available on a smartphone to scan at the door. Email questions to tkingnco@gmail.com.

Several safety measures are in place to comply with social distancing guidelines. Moorings Presbyterian Church features ample seating and ushers will assist patrons to the available seats. Audience size will be limited to 200. The musicians will wear masks and concerts will be one hour in duration to limit restroom use and lobby gatherings.

“Naples Community Orchestra had to decide whether or not to have a season. The whole orchestra could not rehearse or perform safely, but not having concerts risked the end of our wonderful institution. The format of our concerts reflects these concerns. Fewer musicians and wearing masks make these programs possible and imaginative,” said Rabinovitsj. “Patrons of the Naples Community Orchestra will be proud of the efforts our volunteers have implemented to produce an inspiring series of concerts while ensuring a safe experience for the audience.”

Emerson Millar, Co-Concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic, is a graduate of the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Originally from Ithaca in upstate New York, Emerson grew up on a 100-acre organic farm. She began her violin studies through the Suzuki program with Kirstin Marshall at the age of seven. At the age of 12, Emerson was accepted to the Juilliard Pre-College in New York City, where she studied with Catherine Cho until she graduated high school in 2013.

Milana Strezeva is a critically praised Moldovan-American pianist. At the age of 11 she began playing chamber music with her clarinetist father and her mother, a renowned soprano. Milana is a recipient of Grand Prizes at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition and received the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Listeners’ Choice Award

Naples Community Orchestra’s 2021 performance schedule also includes concerts on March 20 and April 24. On Saturday, March 20, the second concert will feature Priscila Navarro performing selections from Bach, Mozart and Gershwin. Navarro is a Peruvian pianist who has won numerous awards in international competitions and made her Carnegie Hall Solo Recital Debut in 2013. She is a doctoral candidate at Florida Gulf Coast University and performs throughout the United States.

Finally, on Saturday, April 24, American violinist Stella Chen will return to Naples to perform works of Bach and R. Strauss. Milana Strezeva joins Ms. Chen on harpsichord and piano for the R. Strauss Violin Sonata in E-flat Major and the Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor respectively. Both Max Rabinovitsj, violin, and Ms. Strezeva, harpsichord, join Ms. Chen for the Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, “the Double.” Chen is the recipient of a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award and the first place prize in the prestigious International Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium 2019. She plays the “Huggins” 1708 Stradivarius violin, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.