Saint-Saëns: The Swan (Cello and Piano)

"The Swan" (Le Cygne) from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Alan Stepansky -cello
Natasha Kiskenko - piano
Alan Stepansky is recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile cellists of his generation. After a distinguished orchestral career culminating in a ten-year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic, he is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, principal cellist, and recording artist. He is currently Professor of Cello and Chair of the Strings Department at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he was recently awarded its highest award for teaching - the 2023 Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award - and is also on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. A guest at many summer festivals, he is cello faculty artist of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.
He has performed as a guest artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and has appeared in concert with a diverse array of artists including the American and Takacs String Quartets. He has recorded a series of chamber music and solo discs for EMI, which were honored by Gramophone Magazine, BBC Magazine, the New York Times, and the British Music Industry Association, and has been engaged as the solo cellist for well over 50 major motion picture and television soundtracks, including such recent films as Barbie, West Side Story (2020), In The Heights, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Madame Web, and White Noise. He has also appeared on the albums of noted recording artists across many genres, including Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Merchant, David Byrne, Audra McDonald, Joss Stone, Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Sting, with whom he has also appeared in concert. He was recently featured as principal and solo cellist in the Bruce Springsteen concert film Western Stars.
He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Pops, and appeared frequently as Guest Principal Cellist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. After studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Pennsylvania, he graduated from Harvard University with the Horblit Prize, conferred for his outstanding musical accomplishments. Alan Stepansky’s students have won positions in numerous orchestras around the world, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony (associate principal), Louisville Orchestra (acting principal), Buffalo Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Indianapolis Symphony (assistant principal), Colorado Symphony, Charlotte Symphony (assistant principal), New Jersey Symphony, Shanghai Symphony (assistant principal), Beijing Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valencia (principal), among others, and have successful careers as soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers.
Pianist Natasha Kislenko, hailed for her “vividly expressive” interpretations and “virtuosity that left the audience exhilarated,“ (Santa Barbara Independent) offers unique concert programs and presentations to the worldwide community of music listeners. A prizewinner of several international piano competitions, she has extensively concertized in Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and across the Americas.
Ms. Kislenko made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut after taking the Grand Prize at the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition in 1996. Recent solo engagements include the Eskişehir Greater Municipality Symphony Orchestra, Turkey and the Varna Chamber Orchestra, Bulgaria. A resident pianist of the Santa Barbara Symphony since 2010, she has been a featured soloist for the Shostakovich, Grieg, Clara Schumann, de Falla, and Mozart piano concerti, to great critical acclaim. In 2013, Ms. Kislenko was invited as a special guest to present the new Steinway D piano at the Teatro Municipal Ignacio A. Pane in Asunción, Paraguay, performing with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional.
Videographer & Original Audio: David Van Brunt