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State of the Arts profiles Simone Dinnerstein, a young pianist who found her own way to stardom; Dr. Victor Parsonnet, whose love of music led to an enduring legacy; and two art teachers who are following their passion. Tune in to see how Backstories inform and motivate the work of all these individuals.
| Simone Dinnerstein, Pianist |
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Pianist Simone Dinnerstein has become, in her mid-thirties, a classical music superstar. State of the Arts producer Eric Schultz visits Dinnerstein and her family at her home in Brooklyn, NY, in the neighborhood where she has lived most of her life. Her father, the well known painter Simon Dinnerstein, lives near by. Her husband Jeremy teaches 5th grade at the local public school only a few blocks away, where their 7 year old son Adrian also goes to school. While pregnant with her son, Simone had lots of time to practice the piano, so she decided to tackle one of the most difficult and magnificent pieces every written for the keyboard, Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Contrary to all predictions, her self-produced recording of the Variations became a classical hit.
In August 2007, Ms. Dinnerstein released her debut solo CD on Telarc. Her recording of the Goldberg Variations went on to earn the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart during its first week of sales and has remained highly ranked since then. The disc appeared on “Best of 2007” lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, several radio stations, iTunes “Editor’s Choice Best Classical,” Amazon.com Best CDs of 2007, and Barnes & Noble's Top 5 Debut CDs of 2007.
State of the Arts was there for Dinnerstein’s recital on October 28, 2008 at SOPAC, the South Orange Performing Arts Center. - where to see
Simone Dinnerstein performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
November 28, 2008 (Princeton) •
November 29, 2008 (New Brunswick) •
November 30, 2008 (Newark)
1-800-ALLEGRO • www.njsymphony.org
- also visit
 Simone Dinnerstein’s Web site
www.simonedinnerstein.com
Simone Dinnerstein’s father, artist Simon Dinnerstein's Web site
www.SimonDinnerstein.com
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| Victor Parsonnet, Chairman of the Board |
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Victor Parsonnet, M.D. is an extraordinary patron and leader of the arts in New Jersey, with a focus on Newark. He recently stepped down after 17 years as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Chairman of the Board. “Under Victor’s leadership, the NJSO has gone from a very fine state orchestra, to one of the finest orchestras in the world,” says NJPAC Executive Director Larry Goldman. The innovations Dr. Parsonnet introduced at the NJSO have become a national model and the subject of several journal articles. But Victor Parsonnet, a resident of White House Station, New Jersey, is extraordinary in other respects as well.
State of the Arts producer Eric Schultz profiles Dr. Parsonnet’s work as a world-renowned cardiologist and surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, NJ, and a leader in the development of the pacemaker. Schultz visits the doctor in the operating room, and in performance with the NJSO. The players of the NJSO gave Dr. Parsonnet – an accomplished amateur musician – the opportunity to perform a Mozart piano concerto as an expression of their love and appreciation when he stepped down as their Chairman of the Board. As this State of the Arts profile makes clear, it is his love of the musicians and his respect for their artistry which come through more than anything else.
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Victor Parsonnet with Former NJSO Music Director Zdenek Macal (1997)
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| Artist Educators |
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The demands of teaching art in a public school are great, but so are the rewards. The ability of a teacher to refresh his or her own artistic practice can add greatly to the classroom experience – at least that’s the theory behind the Geraldine R. Dodge Artist Educator Fellowships. State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa meets two recent Dodge fellows, Fausto Sevila, an art teacher at Arts High School in Newark, and Kelly Clark, an art teacher at Middlesex High School. Benincasa visits their classrooms to see how the work they completed with help from the Dodge grants has translated into their classroom work. Also interviewed for the story is the Executive Director of the Dodge Foundation, David Grant, and Virginia Fabbri Butera, Associate Professor of Art History at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown and curator of 2008’s “Inside and Out: Selections from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Visual Artist/Educator Fellows” at the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery. Applications for the 2009 Dodge Foundation Artist/Educator Fellowships for K-12 New Jersey Public School Teachers are due by January 30, 2009. For more information, visit www.grdodge.org/initiatives/visualarts/2009VAappinfo.html
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Fausto Sevila
Fausto Sevila, Two politicians and a vibrating beetle. 2005-07. Digital photography, acrylic, rusted razor blade, and yellow string. 40x18". Collection of the Artist.
1994 Dodge Fellow
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