The SBP Memorial Concert is held each year in honor and memory of alumna
Nan Schwarz Pricher '67 and graduated parent Jane Schwarz Binger.
SSFS established the SBP Memorial Concert in appreciation of Jane and Nan's love of Sandy Spring Friends School and the role that classical music played in the life of SSFS's first generation of alumni. The annual concert is dedicated to continuing the tradition of classical music at Sandy Spring Friends School, first established by Barry Morley and carried through years of operettas and countless alumni for whom musical education played a formative role.
The Seventh Annual SBP Memorial Concert "Passing Moments"
This year's collaborative event will embrace the spirit of improvisation and play, featuring cellist Erin Snedecor, violist Kimia Hesabi, and choreographer Felipe Orayzun Moltedo, with support from pianist and Upper School Arts Faculty member Dana Scott. The program will also highlight Upper School performing art students who will have the opportunity to participate in a Master Class with the guest artists before the show.
Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Erin Murphy Snedecor is a collaborative cellist who strives to forge new paths for interdisciplinary and multi genre art. Her work spans the realms of classical, contemporary, pop, rock, electroacoustic, and folk, and she would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Erin is a founding member, cellist, and music director of Balance Campaign, a contemporary sextet dedicated to the collaboration, commissioning, performance of works by new and lesser heard voices of modern music. Balance Campaign has curated programs presented by Strathmore, UMBC, Boulanger Initiative and Atlas Performing Arts Center, and District New Music Coalition. Erin is also the cellist and Co-Director of earspace, a North Carolina-based ensemble that explores the extremities of contemporary performance and work to bring audiences closer to the music they experience. earspace has performed across the Triangle at CAM Raleigh and less typical venues like the Google Fiber Space, as well as other venues across North Carolina. In addition to her work in classical composed music, Erin is known for her ability to perform with any ensemble of rock, folk, pop, bluegrass, and whatever-you-can-think-of in between. In 2009, Erin joined forces with Annapolis indie rock band Pompeii Graffiti, appearing on 3 studio albums and performing in local and touring performances. She is also half of the indie/folk duo Black Rhinoceros, and a writer and performer of classical electronica quartet DoubleSpeak. In 2019, Erin collaborated with Glade Dance Collective as part of Capital Fringe Festival under her solo moniker, Zooxanthellae, to compose and perform the music for their evening-length work, “Oizys in the Waiting Room”. Her first eponymous EP was released in May 2021 with Off Latch Press. Erin is a 2023 Strathmore Artist in Residence, as well as a proud graduate of Ithaca College and University of Maryland, College Park. She lives in a little blue house in Brentwood, Maryland with her husband, Matt, their dogs Arthur and Crosby, and far too many house plants.
Dr. Kimia Hesabi is a violist, educator, and administrator currently residing in the D.C area. Hesabi is the Co-Director of Education and Engagement at the National Philharmonic, where she co-creates programs, opportunities, and community initiatives that are centered around artistic, educational, and social impact. Kimia is an active performer in the USA and has performed in various prestigious concert halls across the country as well as her home country Iran. She has recently released her album entitled Nemāno Gaona featuring works for viola by composers of the Iranian Diaspora under New Focus Recordings. Hesabi’s research and performances have been featured at the American Viola Society Festival in June 2021 and her article titled “Viola Repertoire from the Iranian Diaspora” has been published by the Journal of the American Viola Society. Hesabi in collaboration with violinist/kamancheh player/composer Sarvin Hazin are among the recipients of the Creator Development Fund from New Music USA in 2022 for a project entitled Neera. This multimedia project is set to be recorded in Summer of 2022 and to be released in 2023. An active chamber musician, Ms. Hesabi is the founder of Yasna Ensemble. This ensemble performs contemporary compositions and arrangements that are inspired by Middle Eastern classical and folk music. Hesabi has performed with several orchestras and ensembles in the Middle East such as the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, Iranian National Orchestra, and the Tehran Philharmonic, and is an active performer in the USA as both a concert violist, and chamber musician. In her DMA dissertation project, “Viola from Iran: Continuing and Expanding the Trajectory of a Rich Cultural History,” Ms. Hesabi has performed, researched, and recorded an album of several commissioned and premiered works for viola by composers from the Iranian diaspora. Hesabi is also a co-founder of LyreIran, a collaborative focusing on promoting strings performance and education by hosting and organizing workshops, master classes, and educational videos for students around the world who seek affordable and easily accessible educational content. As a leadership committee of District New Music Coalition, Ms. Hesabi works with DNMC to promote the performance and appreciation of contemporary music by connecting performers, composers, institutions, and audiences located in the Washington, D.C. area through concerts, conferences, and active community building.
Felipe O. Moltedo is from Santiago, Chile. He began dancing at the age of 12 and has since received several awards and distinctions, among others, Chile’s Best Dancer Inter-American Circle of Dance Professionals Award. In Santiago, Mr. Moltedo ran his own company, which led to multiple national and international tours. He holds a B.F.A in dance, an M.A. in dance education with honors from the University of Chile, and an M.F.A. in dance from The George Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance. Currently, Mr. Moltedo is the associate director, technical director, and principal dancer at Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company and the dance program director at Georgetown Day School.
Dana Nichole Scott is a classically trained musician with a talent and passion for creating dynamic music. Ms. Scott works in operatic and musical theater productions, but also leads choral and instrumental ensembles. As a vocal coach and collaborative pianist, Ms. Scott accompanies for competitions and recitals, and frequently serves as an adjudicator. Ms. Scott began developing her musical career at a young age, winning several competitions and exploring her skills as a musical Disney cast member. Ms. Scott studied at New England Conservatory where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. She received her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University where she studied with Eileen Cornett and JoAnn Kulesza. Over the course of her career, Ms. Scott has enjoyed working with master artists who helped her bring her passion for music to the stage. After her formal education, Ms. Scott balanced a host of responsibilities that allowed her to have a vibrant career. During her travels, she realized that a teaching career would allow her to pass on her experience and knowledge, and has spent the last few years helping others to grow through musical performance at schools in the Baltimore area. Ms. Scott is a SSFS Upper School Arts Teacher, and a parent to a SSFS kindergartener.
Questions about the SBP Memorial Concert? Please contact Associate Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations Brenna Ryan at brenna.ryan@ssfs.org or 301-774-7455 x164.