Music At Noon, the concert series sponsored by Music At Morristown United Methodist Church, continues its 35th season with a concert on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, featuring Mialtin Zhezha, violin, and Naoko Zhezha, piano.
The 30-minute concert will be held in the church sanctuary, at 50 Park Place (on the Green).
January concerts have a suggested donation of $7 for adults, $6 for seniors. Students are admitted free to all concerts. Free childcare is available during the concert. The sanctuary is handicapped accessible. For further information: www.morristownumc.com or 973-538-2132.
A light luncheon will be available for purchase before or after the concert (11:30 to 1:30 pm). The luncheon is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and students.
Hailed by The Hartford Courant for his “expressive and warm sound, and faultless intonation,” Albanian-born Mialtin Zhezha is an accomplished violinist and violist. Since his orchestral debut at the age of 13 in Tirana, Albania, he maintains an international performing career. His performances have taken him to three continents in countries such as Italy, Greece, Great Britain, and Japan, to mention a few. Mr. Zhezha has performed across the United States to critical acclaim in major halls such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Miller Auditorium among others.
Mr. Zhezha is a laureate of top prizes in competitions around the world. Briefly after his arrival in the United States, he received the first prize at the Young Artist Competition in Fort Wayne and Western Michigan University (WMU) Concerto Competition.
Four years later, he became the first violinist ever to win the WMU Concerto Competition twice. Mr. Zhezha is also an avid chamber musician. He has premiered several chamber works and has worked closely with musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, Lawrence Dutton, Robert Mann, Kim Kashkashian, and the Emerson, Juilliard, and Tokyo Quartet.
As a violin and viola pedagogue, Mr. Zhezha has been a visiting artist at Western Michigan University (WMU) and the International Academy of the Arts in Tirana, Albania where he gave public violin and viola masterclasses. He has held violin and chamber faculty positions at the WMU and “Speakmusic” Summer Festivals. Currently, Mr. Zhezha teaches at the Hunterdon Academy of the Arts in Flemington, NJ. He holds a Master of Music Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Violin and Viola from Manhattan School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from Western Michigan University.
Naoko Zhezha, a native of Japan, is a pianist, avid chamber musician, and an enthusiastic piano teacher. Mrs. Zhezha received her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and her first Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Western Michigan University, she was a recipient of the Teaching Assistantship award and “Phyllis Rappaport Opera Accompanying” Scholarship.
Following her studies at Michigan University, Mrs. Zhezha earned a second Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano Performance from Rutgers University, where she was appointed as a Department Assistant and “Edna Mason” Scholar. Her former teachers include Thomas Lymenstull, Daniel Shapiro, Lori Sims, and Barbara Gonzalez-Palmer.
For her piano performances, Mrs. Zhezha has received numerous prizes and awards, including First Prize at the “Kawai Piano Competition”; silver medal at the “Student Music Competition” in Japan; the “Joseph and Bess Scharff Level” Piano Award at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A Concerto Competition Winner at the Western Michigan University, she also received the “Teaching Excellency Award” from the “Crescendo Festival” and “YTMA” in New York City. Other honors include participation in the International Gilmore Music Festival, Aria International Summer Academy, and Kirishima International Music Festival in Japan, among others.
In addition to her piano performance career, Mrs. Zhezha has extensive experience teaching individual piano lessons at the pre-college and college levels. She has served on the faculties of the Mason Gross Extension Division, Zen Music Center, and Western Michigan University, while maintaining a private studio in her home. She believes that everybody can enjoy music and she makes it her mission to motivate and inspire her students to achieve their best in music.
Funding has been made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
For further information: 973-538-2132 or www.morristownumc.com
