Candlelight Concert

Join us for an intimate Candlelight Concert featuring musicians from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performing on Artpark’s Mainstage. 

Be fully immersed in the glow of candles when you sit with the musicians onstage as they perform an up close and personal concert. Repertoire is curated by the musicians themselves including pieces by Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, and Dohnanyi. 

6PM - Wine and Cheese Reception
7PM - Performance by BPO String Trio
8PM - Coffee and Desserts with the Musicians

The funds raised for this special event support both Artpark and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s education programs. A portion is tax-deductible.

Space is limited.

About the musicians: 

Xiaofan Liu, violin
"Full of variety” - Artsjournal “Tonally gorgeous, rhythmically alive” - Boston Musical Intelligencer “Vivid and moving” - Boston Concert Reviews.

Violinist Xiaofan Liu is establishing himself as one of the younger generation’s most sought-after and exciting young musicians. As an avid chamber musician and soloist, he has appeared at numerous venues, such as Seiji Ozawa Hall and Koussevitzky Music Shed in Lenox, Carnegie Hall Stern auditorium in New York, National Concert Hall and Opera House in Taiwan, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Jordan Hall in Boston, and Kennedy Center in Washington DC where Xiaofan was invited by the White House in 2015 to perform with cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, in celebration of Maestro Seiji Ozawa’s lifetime achievements.

Recently, Xiaofan was invited by choreographer Mark Morris to join the Silk Road Ensemble and Mark Morris Dance Company in their national tour of the production, Layla and Majnun. The Chicago Tribune praised the performance as “beautiful and illuminates the rich cultural traditions of a place largely unknown to the West."

A native of China, Xiaofan joined the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra while pursuing a master’s degree at Yale School of Music in the 2019-2020 season, appointed by Maestro JoAnn Falletta. Since moving to Buffalo, Xiaofan has appeared as the soloist with various local ensembles. He enjoys sharing his passion for music with students at Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra, Bravo Chamber Music Workshop, and Buffalo String Works. During his free time, he can often be found enjoying a delicious pastry at Butter Block Bakery or dwelling on the music of Philip Glass in his apartment.
 

Roman Mekinulov, cello
A native of Leningrad, Russia, Roman Mekinulov began cello studies at the age of five at the Leningrad Music School. In 1989, he immigrated to the United States and studied at the Juilliard School. 
As an active recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist, Roman Mekinulov has performed extensively throughout the United States, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Germany, France, Greece, Denmark, Switzerland, as well as his native Russia.

In April of 1993, as a result of winning the 1992 Young Artists International Auditions Cello Award, Roman Mekinulov presented his New York Recital - Debut in Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. On this occasion critic Edith Eisler of the "Strings"- Magazine wrote: "Twenty-year-old cellist Roman Mekinulov from Russia is very serious, very talented and very good. He handles instrument and bow with ease, has a beautiful tone and communicates genuine musicality."
In 2001 Roman was appointed principal cellist of Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where in the past 5 years he has been featured numerous times as soloist, and appeared in over 60 concerts of chamber music around Western New York.

Roman maintains a very busy teaching studio and has had great success in that area,where his students in the past 3 years were accepted into the major conservatories such as Curtis, NEC, CIM, Peabody, Manhattan and Eastman School of Music.  Roman resides in Amherst with his wife Sebnem, a lyric soprano, and their two children, Talia and Benjamin.

Anya Shemetyeva, viola
Anya Shemetyeva has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Russia, Europe and the United States. Solo appearances include the Mendelssohn concerto with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Ravel’s Tzigane with the Longy Orchestra at Sanders’ Theater in Cambridge. Her European tours were under the auspices of the Spivakov foundation. 

In the U.S., Anya has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Bayla Keyes, Robert Merfeld and Peter Zazofsky, and has performed in chamber concerts at Tanglewood with members of the BSO. She has appeared at festivals such as the Heifetz International Festival, the Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, and the San Diego Chamber Music Festival. She is currently principal violist with the Cape Cod Symphony, a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and plays regularly, both as a violinist and violist with orchestras such as Symphony NH, the Portland Symphony, and Indian Hill. She is violist with Nth degree, a chamber ensemble that performs in the Cape Cod area, and has performed frequently on the chamber music series at Marlboro College in Vermont.