ISSUED: 23 February 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Cecelia Mason
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s School of Music Salon Series sponsored by Jefferson Security Bank will present the Two Rivers Trio with “Anyone for Seconds?” on Tuesday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank Arts Center W.H. Shipley Recital. The concert is free and open to the public.
The program will feature Mozart’s second “Serenade,” Haydn’s second “London Trio” and Telemann’s second “Trio Sonata.” Also on the program will be Borodin’s trio (transcribed) on a Russian folk song, Mark O’Connor’s “Appalachia Waltz,” and some rags and pop songs.
Violinists and identical twins Matthew and Michael Polonchak and their father, bassoonist and Shepherd adjunct music professor Richard Polonchak, form the Two Rivers Trio. They have been performing as a trio since 1995. Moving to Harpers Ferry in 1997, they were the first “concertmasters” of the newly-formed Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra (now the Shepherd University Community Orchestra). In high school, Matthew and Michael were members of the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra.
The twins have been playing the violin since they were five. In 2013 they formed Two Rivers Chamber Music, performing at concerts, weddings, and other types of events throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Michael teaches viola and is on the faculty of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland.
Richard Polonchak is the former Principal Bassoonist of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and White House Orchestra. He is the author of “Primary Handbook for Bassoon” (1982) and has been teaching bassoon at Shepherd since 2005.
For more information, visit the Calendar of Concerts and Events webpage.
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