Join us for an intimate evening of classical music inspired by the universe, including music of Claude Debussy, Franz Schubert, Fritz Kreisler, and others. This program will be held indoors in Custer Observatory's Stokes Hall providing for a unique "chamber" style setting.
Following the concert, Observatory staff will give guided tours of the night sky (weather permitting) through the many telescopes on site, including the apochromatic Zerochromat telescope in the Institute's historic observation dome.
$25 Adult, $20 Custer Observatory Members, Children Under 16 FREE. Attendance to this in-person performance will be very limited - reserve your seats now!
About the Artists:
Charlotte Day, pianist, studied with Artur Rubenstein, and has performed concertos with major orchestras including the Cleveland Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Knoxville Symphony. Ms. Day was the Director of Shadyside Concerts for 10 years with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony. For ten years, Ms. Day was the Musical Director of the Karamu Theater, and performed 88 performances of Menotti's opera "The Medium" around the country. Ms. Day has been on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon, Chatham College, Duquesne University, and Notre Dame University.
Lauren Sisson sang for many years with the trio Galaxy and the duo The Sopranos, both of which performed regularly across the North Fork. She’s played leading roles with North Fork Community Theatre and Riverhead Faculty and Community Theater (Maria in The Sound of Music, Marian in The Music Man, Anna in The King and I, Marmee in Little Women, to name a few) and given a number of local solo concerts. She sings on occasion with Charlotte Day at First Universalist Church of Southold.
Jim Badzik is a lifelong musician whose interests include classical and jazz piano styles. He has performed at concerts, festivals and music venues in Europe (Paris, Vienna, Berlin) and the USA (NYC, New Orleans, San Francisco). He studies with Charlotte Day, and is making his classical concert debut at this performance.
Michael Siciliano Balsamo (b. 2001) was born in Long Island, New York, and is a fourth-year composition major at The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he studies composition with Michael Hersch. Michael is currently an orchestral/wind conducting student of Dr. Harlan D. Parker. In 2022, Mr. Balsamo’s Trombone Quartet was selected to be premiered by the Trombones of the United States Navy Band. Michael plans to finish his bachelors, attend graduate school for composition, and work as a film composer. In May of 2023, Michael attended New York University’s The Steinhardt School’s Summer Film Scoring Workshop. Prior to his studies at Peabody, Michael was a piano student of Charlotte Day.
Ben Eager has been collaborating with Charlotte Day since 2015. They have performed together in Jamesport, Greenport, Orient Point, Southampton, and Manhattan. Originally born in Riverhead, he studied violin locally and in Manhattan, and currently studies and lives in Chicago.