Upcoming Events
Music: Friends & Lovers
Cherry Street Music Founder and Artistic Director Allison Eldredge welcomes pianist Jonathan Bass and longtime friends from the Boston Symphony Orchestra—Alexander Velinzon, Tatiana Dimitriades, and Cathy Basrak—back, again, for an afternoon of rapturous music and musical friendship. Husband-and-wife violinist, Tatiana Dimitriades and pianist, Jonathan Bass bring their extraordinary artistry to Beethoven’s stunningly virtuosic “Eroica” Sonata! Violinist, Alex Velinzon and Violist, Cathy Basrak explore the tender brilliance of Handel-Halvorsen’s Sarabande and the whole ensemble will share in Robert Schumann’s beloved Piano Quintet, written for his revered wife and concert pianist, Clara Wieck Schumann. Join us for an unforgettable celebration of love, friendship, and the enduring power of great music.
Alexander Velinzon
A native of St. Petersburg, violinist Alexander Velinzon joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 2000. He became assistant concertmaster in 2005, became associate concertmaster in 2015, and at the start of the 2024-25 season was promoted to first associate concertmaster. He has served as concertmaster under Andris Nelsons, Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, and other leading conductors. In addition, he has been invited to play as concertmaster with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra, and NDR Radio Philharmonic, among others. An avid chamber musician, Velinzon has been heard in Europe, Japan, and the United States. He made his critically acclaimed debut in London’s Wigmore Hall with Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010. Velinzon appears frequently with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players and has joined the ensemble for several European tours. He has performed with the Seattle Chamber Music Society and has been a member of the LiveARTS String Quartet since 2009.
Tatiana Dimitriades
Born and raised in New York, Tatiana Dimitriades attended the Pre-College division of the Juilliard School. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as an artist diploma, from Indiana University School of Music, where she was awarded the performer's certificate in recognition of outstanding musical performance. A recipient of the Lili Boulanger Memorial Award, Dimitriades has also won the Guido Chigi Saracini Prize, presented by the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena, Italy on the occasion of the Paganini Centenary, as well as the Mischa Pelz Prize of the National Young Musicians Foundation Debut Competition in Los Angeles.
Dimitriades joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 1987-88 season. An active chamber musician, she is a member of the Boston Artists Ensemble, Boston Conservatory Chamber Ensemble, and Walden Chamber Players. Dimitriades now teaches at Boston Conservatory. She was previously concertmaster of the Newton Symphony Orchestra, with which she appeared often as a concert soloist, and is currently the concertmaster of the New Philharmonia Orchestra. She continues to perform frequently in recitals and chamber music performances throughout New England. Other solo performances have included a Carnegie Recital Hall appearance sponsored by the Associated Music Teachers of New York and an appearance as soloist in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Cathy Basrak
A native of the Chicago area, Cathy Basrak earned her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2000. At the start of the 2000-2001 season, she became the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s assistant principal viola and principal viola of the Boston Pops Orchestra. As a soloist with the Boston Pops, she gave the premiere of John Williams’s Concerto for Viola with the composer conducting in spring 2009. Composed especially for her, the piece includes a duet passage for Basrak and her husband, BSO timpanist Timothy Genis. She has also performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago, Detroit, and Bavarian Radio symphony orchestras, among others. As a chamber musician, she has performed regularly with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players and in chamber music concerts with her BSO colleagues. Basrak has participated in the Marlboro, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Norfolk Chamber Music festivals, and has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble and Boston’s Metamorphosen Ensemble. Basrak’s teachers included Joseph de Pasquale, BSO principal viola from 1947 to 1964, and Michael Tree of the Guarneri String Quartet. Among many other recognitions, she was a grand prize winner in the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors National Concerto Competition. Basrak previously taught at Boston Conservatory, Boston University, and New England Conservatory, and she has worked with the child-focused charity organization Cradles to Crayons. She and her husband have three daughters.
Jonathan Bass
American pianist Jonathan Bass appears frequently throughout the United States and around the world as soloist and chamber musician. A graduate of the Juilliard School, he was awarded First Prizes in the 1993 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, the 1984 American National Chopin Competition, the 1989 American Pianists Association Beethoven Fellowship Competition, and the 1983 National Arts Club Competition. His solo and chamber music recordings have received high acclaim from Gramophone Magazine. Internationally, he has performed in China, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and Russia. He has been featured on many radio programs throughout the United States, including National Public Radio’s ‘Performance Today.’ Bass has performed as concerto soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Boston Pops and the North Carolina Symphony. He is also a regular presence at Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall in Boston and at Tanglewood.
Allison Eldredge, Artistic Director and cellist
Heralded that, “Eldredge ‘plays like a dream’” (News and Record) and acclaimed for her “soaring sound” (American Record Guide), Allison Eldredge has been connecting with audiences around the globe with her deep love for beautiful music and people. Following her debut at the Concertgebouw, Het Leidsch Dagblad (Amsterdam) wrote, “Eldredge plays with the agility of a Puma. One could hear singing voices come from within her instrument." Allison gained international attention when Daniel Barenboim invited her to play the Elgar Cello Concerto with him and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall. As soloist, she has performed with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields from Queen Elizabeth Hall in London to New York’s Carnegie Hall, with orchestras with such distinguished conductors as Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Jaap van Sweden, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Krzysztof Penderecki and Joseph Silverstein. "Eldredge, who has already wowed Chicago Symphony audiences with her unique artistry, was even more dazzling in her rendition of this one-movement concerto (Penderecki).
Following the release of her Faure - Chopin Album (Denon), critics said, “Her nuances are sensuous and enticing, her tone - deep and silky...her sotto voce is so beautiful” (Ongaku no Tomo, Japan). She has released 6 solo albums on labels Pony Canyon, Denon, Arizona Records and RCA Red Label. She has partnered in chamber music with friends and esteemed artists Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Andre Previn, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Max Levinson, Barry Shiffman and more. In addition to serving as Cherry Street Music Artistic Director, Allison, a Newton resident, is the Allen Center’s Artist in Residence. She has visited over 100 schools to support music education in communities with greater needs. A recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant at 19 and Musical America’s “Young Artist of the Year” award, Allison has served on the Faculties of New England Conservatory, Boston String Academy and Harvard University.
Boston Annex Players: Fate & Folk
Experience an evening of symphonic masterpieces featuring Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5 and Dvořák’s uplifting Symphony No. 8. From the gripping four-note opening that changed music history to the warmth and vitality of Dvořák’s Bohemian-inspired melodies, this program showcases two of the most beloved and enduring works in the orchestral repertoire. The Boston Annex Players bring these masterworks to life as a 15-member sinfonietta: larger than a chamber ensemble, more intimate than a full orchestra, and close enough that you’ll feel every note.
The Boston Annex Players
Boston Annex Players (BAP) creates riveting performances that engage audiences in a modern sinfonietta experience. Our concerts take place in non-traditional spaces and often incorporate multidisciplinary collaborations with other arts organizations.
Not quite a full orchestra, but much more than a string quartet, BAP is a collective of 15 musicians developing a unique sonic identity as an ensemble. Our work spans orchestral, operatic, contemporary, and multidisciplinary projects, and we collaborate with a range of artists and organizations to bring high-quality and ambitious musical projects into new settings, using our flexible one-on-a-part instrumentation to create performances that are intimate, adaptable, and responsive to their surroundings. Our instrumentation also provides composers with a broader palette of timbral possibilities when writing for smaller settings.
Originally founded in 2024 as the orchestral partner organization to the Boston Opera Collaborative, BAP creates meaningful performance opportunities for post-graduate musicians and emerging professionals, while providing audiences with experiences that fall outside the conventions of the traditional concert hall. We also commission and perform new repertoire written specifically for our instrumentation, highlighting the versatility and depth of the modern sinfonietta.
Meet Our Artistic Director
Allison Eldredge, Artistic Director and cellist
Heralded that, “Eldredge ‘plays like a dream’” (News and Record) and acclaimed for her “soaring sound” (American Record Guide), Allison Eldredge has been connecting with audiences around the globe with her deep love for beautiful music and people. Following her debut at the Concertgebouw, Het Leidsch Dagblad (Amsterdam) wrote, “Eldredge plays with the agility of a Puma. One could hear singing voices come from within her instrument." Allison gained international attention when Daniel Barenboim invited her to play the Elgar Cello Concerto with him and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall. As soloist, she has performed with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields from Queen Elizabeth Hall in London to New York’s Carnegie Hall, with orchestras with such distinguished conductors as Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Jaap van Sweden, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Krzysztof Penderecki and Joseph Silverstein. "Eldredge, who has already wowed Chicago Symphony audiences with her unique artistry, was even more dazzling in her rendition of this one-movement concerto (Penderecki).
Following the release of her Faure - Chopin Album (Denon), critics said, “Her nuances are sensuous and enticing, her tone - deep and silky...her sotto voce is so beautiful” (Ongaku no Tomo, Japan). She has released 6 solo albums on labels Pony Canyon, Denon, Arizona Records and RCA Red Label. She has partnered in chamber music with friends and esteemed artists Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Andre Previn, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Max Levinson, Barry Shiffman and more. In addition to serving as Cherry Street Music Artistic Director, Allison, a Newton resident, is the Allen Center’s Artist in Residence. She has visited over 100 schools to support music education in communities with greater needs. A recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant at 19 and Musical America’s “Young Artist of the Year” award, Allison has served on the Faculties of New England Conservatory, Boston String Academy and Harvard University.
Instagram @allison.eldredge.1740
Facebook @allisoneldredgecellist
About Cherry Street Music
Cherry Street Music, The Allen Center's signature music series, has a simple mission: to create a space to meet new people, develop friendships, and find togetherness, passion, and hope through afternoons and evenings of music. Our concerts are less formal with conversation between artists, special guests, and audience members. Attendees will also have an opportunity to experience the visionary educational history and beauty of the 1840 Nathaniel Allen Homestead, now The Allen Center, as our artistic home!
Cellist Allison Eldredge is Founder and Artistic Director of Cherry Street Music.
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