Their fans include Kirk Douglas, Joan Fontaine, Lauren Bacall, Hayley Mills…as well as King Don Juan Carlos of Spain, former President of France Jacques Chirac and the governors of New York and New Jersey. On Sat May 9 at 7:30p, Mimi, Sakiko and Harumi — The Furuya Sisters, a trio of Julliard graduates — will perform in the Carnegie-Farian Room of the Nyack Library.
Cellist Mimi Furuya has performed widely and received numerous awards for her playing. She started cello studies at age 7, and an year later gave a phenomenal debut as soloist with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, receiving outstanding reviews. She has performed at Chopin’s House (Valldemosa, Spain), The United Nations (NY), Partika Saal (Düsseldorf, Germany), Kilbourn Hall (Rochester, NY), De Lamar Mansion (NY), Lincoln Center’s C. Michael Paul Hall and Alice Tully Hall, among others.
The Furuya Sisters Carnegie Concert on May 9 at the Nyack Library
The Furuya Sisters will perform the colossal and beautiful Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A Minor, and Mozart Piano Trio in E Major I. Allegro. Ticket info is available at CarnegieConcerts.org.
“Both Mozart and Tchaikovsky are agelessly world popular for a good reason, says Mimi Furuya. “Come listen to these generous works of music and see why they’re so universally liked!
“In 1878 Tchaikovsky said he was a great fan of Mozart. ‘It is thanks to Mozart that I have devoted my life to music.’
“Andrew Carnegie– whose gift help build the Nyack Library Carnegie Room in 1903–invited Tchaikovsky to the USA to open Carnegie Hall in May 1891. Tchaikovsky was amazed at his popularity in this country. “I am convinced that I am ten times more famous in America than in Europe,” wrote Tchaikovsky while visiting New York in April, 1891.
“The great composer also had kind words about Andrew Carnegie. “This arch-millionaire is very kind to me, and constantly talks of an engagement for next year…”
Ever since her recital debut in California at age 8, Pianist Sakiko Furuya has delighted audiences with her virtuosity. She has performed extensively in the US and Europe at such locales as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, C. Michael Paul Hall and Morse Recital Hall, The United Nations (NY), Merkin Concert Hall (NY), Chopin’s House (Valldemosa, Spain), Wiener Saal and Lehrerhaus (Austria), Chopin Kosciuszko Foundation (NY), Lehman Hall at Harvard University, Kilbourn Hall (Rochester, NY), Stanford University’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium, De Lamar Mansion (NY), and Steinway Hall.
Violinist Harumi Furuya began violin studies at the age of 2. Upon graduating from The Julliard School Pre-College, she received A.B. with highest honors in History from Harvard University, M.Phil in European Studies from University of Cambridge where she was Harvard’s Paul Williams Scholar at John Harvard’s alma mater Emmanuel College, and PhD in Government from Harvard University. She also studied at the Sciences Po Paris, and holds a Certificat Pratique de Français Commercial et Economique and Diplôme Supérieur de Français des Affaires from the Chambre de Commerce de Paris. She pursued violin studies in Boston, London, Paris, and Berlin alongside her academic studies at Harvard, Cambridge, Sciences Po Paris, and Humboldt University. She has made solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral appearances at Carnegie Hall, Paul Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, Dvorak Hall in Prague, Liszt Academy in Budapest, Royal British Legion in Cambridge, and Westminster Abbey in London. Her compositions have been performed several times at Paul Hall at Julliard.
Mimi, Sakiko & Harumi Furuya are the great granddaughters of historian Taira Shidehara, the elder brother of Prime Minister Baron Kijuro Shidehara who was responsible for Article 9 (Peace Clause) of the Japanese Constitution.
The Furuya Sisters’ concert at Steinway Hall in New York City on November 1, 2014 was the last concert held in that historic building where the great composer Sergei Rachmaninoff had often visited and practiced. The Sisters’ acclaimed Steinway Hall has just been released in March 2015 as a DVD and CD: “Furuya Sisters Live at Steinway Hall: Mendelssohn, Mozart & Kreisler Piano Trios.”
