ESSEX COMMUNITY CHURCH
MidDay Concert Series

August 10 at 11:30AM at the Church
Admission: $5.00

Patricia McCarty and Bill Zito will play a selection of classical pieces for viola, guitar, and lute.

This concert is made possible, in part, by an Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding provided by Essex County.

About the artists…

From Bach to Keith Jarrett, Patricia McCarty’s performances have been acclaimed for communicating “a dark tone analogous to the quality of a fine tawny port” [Strad], & “the fine blue-flamed torch of her mind” [Ottawa Citizen]. Her recordings have received international accolades including Gramophone “Critics’ Choice” & Strad “Selection CD”. She has appeared as soloist with the Detroit, Houston, Kyoto and Shinsei Nihon symphonies, Boston Pops, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Turiae Camerata of Valencia, and in recitals including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Valencia, Geneva, Caracas, and a debut at London’s Wigmore Hall hailed by the Times to be “an outstanding exhibition of string playing of the highest American class.” Winner of the First Silver Medal and Radio Prize in the Geneva International Competition when she was eighteen, Ms. McCarty graduated the following year magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Francis Bundra. As chamber musician Ms. McCarty has performed at festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Tanglewood, Sarasota, Bay Chamber Concerts, Bowdoin, Hokkaido, and Australian String Academy. Former member of the Lenox Quartet, she has also toured with Music from Marlboro, Boston Chamber Music Society, and Boston Symphony Chamber Players, with whom she has recorded works by Brahms and Dvorak. Other collaborations include composer Lou Harrison and his gamelan ensemble, and jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, whose work Bridge of Light for viola and orchestra Ms. McCarty commissioned, premiered and recorded for ECM. Former assistant principal violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she resides in the Adirondacks.

Bill Zito, a native New Yorker, comes from an eclectic musical background. After his teen years as a rock musician he studied early music with Rodrigo deZayas, classical guitar with Rey de la Torre and Stan Solow, and composition with Julian Orbon. His formal debut came in 1974 with appearances at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Recital Hall, to critical acclaim. Soon after he was chosen by High Fidelity Magazine as a Young Artist of the Year. Described as “first rate throughout” by the New York Times, Mr. Zito has received praise for both his solo and ensemble work. He has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe. This versatile performer is equally at home on such historical plucked instruments as Renaissance lute, vihuela, archlute, mandolin and baroque guitar, at times performing back to back on as many as three different instruments. Mr. Zito has performed with vocalists Andreas Scholl, David Daniels and Grayson Hirst, among others, as well as in duo recitals with harpsichordist Gerald Ranck. At the Peter Pears memorial concert in New York City, he performed music of Britten and Dowland, and was praised by the New York Times for both his solos and vocal accompaniments. “Exemplary…One admired his easy assurance with this music, the runs and flourishes dispatched with fluent virtuosity.” He has premiered many new works and has performed opera, dance scores and music for the stage. Mr. Zito is a member of the Strathmere Ensemble and the Long Island Baroque Ensemble, He has recorded Dream Tigers by Judith Shatin with the Da Capo Chamber Players, and an entire CD of Giuliani duos with violist Louise Schulman. He is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University.