Back live to ring in the new year, Chester Brezniak (clarinet) and Yelena Beriyeva (piano) perform a celebratory program featuring the works of Darius Milhaud, Aram Khachaturian, Gabriel Pierne, and Malcolm Arnold.
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche
(1892-1974) Suite for clarinet and piano (version by Milhaud)
Allegro
Moderato
Brazileira
Aram Khachaturian: Toccata in Eb minor, Op. 24 for piano (1932)
(1903-1978)
Gabriel Pierne: Canzonetta, Op. 19 for clarinet and piano
(1863-1937)
Malcolm Arnold: Sonatina for clarinet/piano
(1921-2006) Allegro con brio
Andantino
Furioso

Highly acclaimed pianist Yelena Beriyeva brings a long list of accomplishments with her to First Night Boston. Performing Aram Khachaturan’s Toccata, Beriyeva has been hailed “the paragon of the concert pianist” by the LA Examiner and “a standout performer” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer. The orchestral soloist has performed around the world, and puts her heart into all of her pieces, includeing Toccata, which was written in 1932 and utilizes Armenian folk melodies and rhythms, as well as baroque and contemporary 20th century techniques.
Beriyeva is joined by Chester Brezniak, who brings brings his extensive orchestral and clarinet skills to First Night Boston. For more than three decades clarinetist Chester Brezniak has performed extensively as an orchestral and chamber music player throughout the United States. Presently principal clarinetist with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Brezniak served as principal clarinet with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra, Bridgeport, CT and was a member of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra.