The Spirit of Vienna – Huntingtown, MD

You are cordially invited to a free concert, The Spirit of Vienna, featuring pianist Cătălina Butcaru and cellist Ana Topalović on Sunday, April 23 starting at 5 pm at the Saint Nicholas Lutheran Church located at 1450 Plum Point Road in Huntingtown, MD. The concert will feature music by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Stauss, Lehar, Proy, and W. Wagner.

Concert is free to attend and open to the public. Free will donations support the Music at Messiah concert series.

Pianist Cătălina Butcaru is regarded as one of the extraordinary talents of her generation. Her understanding of music and her impressive virtuosity and power of interpretation delight conductors, chamber musicians and critics alike. At the center of her artistic work are the works of the romantic and the modern eras up until the 21st century.

Cătălina was born in Constanța, Romania. When she was five years old, she began taking piano lessons at the Constanța Music School with Victoria Nițu. At the age of eight, she gave her first public concert, which was followed by her first solo concert with orchestra at the age of fourteen. Cătălina moved to Bucharest when she was 13 years old, where she continued her studies at the George Enescu Music School with Olga Szel. The renowned Romanian pianists Aurora Ienei and Dan Grigore also encouraged and influenced Catalina’s musical development. First recordings for Romanian radio broadcasting followed. Already at the age of 16, Cătălina was accepted at the renowned University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She gained her Soloist’s diploma under the supervision of Prof. Jürg von Vintschger. Butcarus first Solo CD, recorded at Wigmore Hall in 2008 and released by Divine Art – Diversions, attracted international attention. This recording of works by A. Berg, M. Ravel and R. Schumann was not only critically acclaimed but also presented in full in Austrian radio.

Since her first public appearance at the age of 10, Ana Topalović has performed regularly at renowned festivals and concert halls: Vienna Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, Salzburg Festival, Berlin Konzerthaus, Gasteig Munich, Tokyo Opera City House, Centro Cultural Kirchner, Kolarac Hall, Carnegie Weil Hall and many more. She has performed in 29 countries on 4 continents. Ana sets no limits for herself as a cellist. Her repertoire ranges from solo literature and chamber music, to interdisciplinary and contemporary music with electronic sounds.

Ana was born in Belgrade, Serbia and moved to Vienna at the age of 17. She received piano and cello lessons at a very young age. She began concert studies at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna with J. Bayrov. Afterwards she studied with M. Kliegel at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne and completed her master studies at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität with M. Hornstein and L. Schulz-Bayrova. Ana’s last solo album “Bachiana” was nominated in three categories for the Opus Klassik awards. Her discography currently includes 10 albums of music for solo cello by J.S. Bach, J. Doderer, S. Gubaidulina, K. Saariaho, D. Rotaru, C. Ioachimescu, A. DiScipio, over 30 premiere recordings, tangos with Erwin Schrott, as well as her own compositions; released on the Hänssler, Neos, Capriccio, Paladino and Sony labels. Ana is co-founder of Green Thing Ensemble Vienna with whom she has performed over 30 commissioned works and premieres.