Yana and Tony Weinstein Perform Russian Art Songs August 3

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival presents mezzo soprano Yana Weinstein and her brother, pianist Tony Weinstein, director of the DePauw School of Music Accompanying Center, in a program of Russian art songs by Medtner, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Prokofiev at 7:30 PM Wednesday August 3, in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.  Admission is free, with the series supported by donations by local individuals and businesses, including Chief’s Restaurant, and the Paul and Joanne Kissinger Endowment.  The remaining concerts in the Festival include pianist May Phang on August 10 and soprano Barbara Paré and pianist John Clodfelter on August 17.  

“I believe this is our first concert performed by siblings,” says DePauw music professor Eric Edberg, the founder and director of the Festival, now in its seventh season. “We’ve had spouses, such as Matvey Lapin and Katya Kramer-Lapin, and my mother and I have played concerts together, but as far as I know Yana and Tony are our first brother/sister performers.  I hope they get along better than I imagine my sister and I would if we were involved in a major project together!  In any event, I’m looking forward very much to hearing them make music together Wednesday evening.”

Ukrainian-born mezzo soprano Yana Weinstein grew up in a family of musicians and began studying voice and piano at the age of five. Shortly following her graduation with her first degrees in voice and choral conducting, her family immigrated to the United States, where she has been living for seventeen years.  Ms. Weinstein earned a Bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Vocal Performance from Northern Kentucky University, where she worked under the guidance of Prof. Nancy Martin. She was an active member of the Sigma Alpha Iota musical society and was elected to the Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society. In 2000, she was accepted as a Merit Fellowship Student at the Ohio State University, where she studied with Dr. Karen Peeler and served as a graduate teaching assistant. While at OSU, she appeared as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gherardino in Gianni Schicchi, and gave a performance of Lee Hoiby’s mono-opera Bon Appetit!  In 2002, she received her Master’s degree in Vocal Performance. In 2009, she moved to Bloomington to pursue her doctoral degree in voice under the guidance of Dr. Brian Horne. This season, Yana has appeared as Suor Zelatrice in the Jacobs School of Music production of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and performed in Liz Avery’s Singing in Czech workshop. Yana has been Adjunct Professor of Voice at Kenyon College and had maintained private voice studios in Columbus and Cincinnati, OH. She is an active recitalist and chamber musician, and has given a number of programs with special emphasis on 19th and 20th century Russian repertoire.

Pianist Tony Weinstein is a fourth-generation musician who began his musical studies at home. At age 11, he became a student at the "School Years" (Shkolniye Gody) Choral School in his native city, and, as a member of the school's Senior Choir (in which his sister was a soloist), won international choral competitions in Bulgaria, Spain, and the former Soviet Union. After the family immigrated to the USA in 1993, he began piano studies with Derison Duarte at the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tony received a double degree (BM/BA) with majors in Piano Performance and Pure Mathematics and a minor in Music History from Oberlin College where he studied with Professors Haewon Song and Sedmara Zakarian-Rutstein. Having earned an MM and a PD from Indiana University, Tony is currently pursuing his doctorate as a student of Prof. Edlina-Dubinsky. He has been an Associate Instructor of Piano and Music Theory as well as Piano Accompanying Coordinator. Tony is in his second year as Director of the Accompanying center at DePauw University as well as Adjunct Professor of Piano at Vincennes University. Tony combines an active solo repertoire with a strong interest towards collaborative and chamber music.