Berkshire Symphony

Titled Latin Impressions, this concert begins with Aaron Copland’s vigorous musical tapestry, Three Latin American Sketches. Next comes guest artist and harpist Krysten Keches performing the Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera, a work of rhythmic drive and drama that reflect the composer’s Argentine roots. The final part of the evening is given over to one composer’s fascination with the sound and feeling of Spain. Maurice Ravel’s Rhapsody Espagnole, is an evocative sound portrait that has had tremendous and subtle influence ever since its premiere in 1908.

About Krysten Keches
Massachusetts native Krysten Keches has been called an “excellent young soloist” by the Boston Globe. She began harp lessons at age four with Elizabeth Morse and has since appeared as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician at venues throughout the United States and overseas, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Teatro alla Scala, Shostakovich Hall, Harvard’s Sanders Theatre, and Boston’s Symphony Hall.

As the winner of the 2013 Boston Modern Orchestra Project concerto competition, Ms. Keches performed Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto at Jordan Hall. She has also appeared as a soloist with the New England String Ensemble, Mistral Chamber Players, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Australian National University School of Music Orchestra, and the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Ms. Keches has been a prizewinner in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, and New England Conservatory concerto competitions, and she was invited to play alongside Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

An avid orchestral musician, Ms. Keches has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, and Miami’s New World Symphony. In 2015 she served as second harpist on the Boston Symphony’s tours to New York and Europe. She has played under conductors Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Andris Nelsons, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä, and Hugh Wolff. In recent summers Ms. Keches has attended the Castleton, Aspen, and Bowdoin music festivals, studying with harpists Nancy Allen, Deborah Hoffman, and June Han.

In 2010, Ms. Keches won a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship to study with renowned harpist Alice Giles at the Australian National University School of Music, where she earned a Graduate Diploma with high distinction. While in Australia, she performed as a soloist at Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall and was also broadcast in recital on ArtSound FM.

Ms. Keches graduated cum laude with a B.A. in art history from Harvard University, where she continued her training with Elizabeth Morse. A recipient of the Scovell Family Scholarship, Ms. Keches recently completed her M.M. at New England Conservatory, where she studied with Boston Symphony Orchestra harpist Jessica Zhou.

 

Krysten Keches, harp