Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Serafin Ensemble Opens Trinity's Concert Season, Welcomes New Member

The Arts at Trinity proudly welcomes Serafin Ensemble to open its 10th Anniversary Season. Fresh from their season opening performances in October, the Serafins are honored to launch Trinity Episcopal Church’s performance season with a concert on Sunday, November 14, at 4:00pm. The performance is free of charge and open to the community. Donations are welcome.

Serafin Ensemble member, violist Amadi Azikiwe. Photo by Andre Lamar.
Featured in this concert are returning Serafin favorites: violinists Hal Grossman (in town from Oregon) and Kate Ransom; South African cellist (now residing in Baltimore) Jacques-Pierre Malan; and Wilmington’s own countertenor, Augustine Mercante. Also performing will be the newest Serafin roster artist, violist Amadi Azikiwe (in from New York City); and, new to Wilmington, harpsichordist Gabriel Benton who will join the Serafins for selections from the Baroque era by Georg Frideric Handel.
 
The other repertoire includes Little Suite for Autumn for Violin and Viola by Peter Schickele; Beethoven’s String Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 74 (Harp); and Terzetto for Two Violins and Viola in C Major, Op. 74 by Dvorak.
 
“We are thrilled to welcome Amadi Azikiwe to the Serafin roster this fall,” says artistic director, Kate Ransom. “He is a remarkable artist and an experienced chamber musician. His perspectives and approach to interpretation and collaboration have been inspiring for us to incorporate.”
 
Violist, Amadi Azikiwe has performed as a guest with the ensemble in past seasons and is participating in Serafin performances this fall throughout Delaware. He will also join Serafin Summer Music in June 2022. Azikiwe is a busy collaborative artist, in high demand for performances. He is a violist, violinist, and conductor who has performed throughout the United States, Israel, Canada, South and Central America, Switzerland, India, Japan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean.
 
“We are also delighted that Gabriel Benton joins us for this performance,” Ransom added. “The harpsichord is essential to do justice to the works of Handel, and his expert playing in this collaboration with strings in supporting the gorgeous countertenor artistry of Augustine Mercante is exceedingly wonderful!”
 
“At Trinity, we can’t imagine a better way to open our 10th anniversary season than with the Serafins,” said Trinity’s rector, Patricia Downing. “They helped us launch the first season and have been a mainstay and audience-pleaser since the beginning. We welcome the community to The Arts at Trinity this fall.”
 
About Serafin Ensemble
Serafin Ensemble, “The Serafins,” is a group of internationally acclaimed performing artists (string, wind, piano and vocalists) devoted to collaborative chamber music performances of repertoire for up to eight players. The ensemble evolved from the former Serafin String Quartet and continues the nearly two-decade-long Serafin legacy of passionate commitment to presenting exceptional performances of small ensemble repertoire. 

Serafin Ensemble roster artists are devoted to collaborative chamber music performance as an important aspect of their professional lives. They are bound together by mutual respect and camaraderie, and a shared passion for small ensemble repertoire and the collaborative process. The goal of the ensemble is to prepare and share with audiences, performances of great masterworks and lesser-known works for an unconducted ensemble of two to eight players. Occasionally, larger works or solo works are also included in the programming. 

Serafin Ensemble takes its name from master violin maker, Sanctus Serafin, who in 1728 crafted the violin currently played by Serafin founder and Artistic Director, Kate Ransom. Learn more at www.serafinensemble.org