Our Partners: de Blasiis Chamber Series
The mission of the de Blasiis Chamber Series is to discover, encourage, and present the finest possible musical talent in the northeastern New York region. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit devoted to producing outstanding artistic musical performances for audiences with great enthusiasm for history and the works.
The de Blasiis Chamber Music Series grew out of the efforts of the two de Blasiis sisters, Giovannina, a pianist, and Virginia, a violinist. The women, along with various guest artists, regularly put on house concerts and eventually began performing at the courtyard at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY. When the contemporary wing of the museum was opened, the concerts were relocated to the 130-seat Helen Froehlich Auditorium.
Looking back on the series’ roots, "The best word for it would be a soiree” says retired musician, journalist and former de Blasiis artistic director William Martin. During its 90+ years in existence, the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series has brought names to Glens Falls, such as The Hui Cox Ensemble, world-renowned pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner, guitarists Maria Zemantauski and Sten Isachsen, the Capital Region's own Hyperion String Quartet, the Lyons Chamber Players, Glens Falls Symphony Principal Clarinet Chris Bush, and GFS Concertmaster and Violinist Michael Emery, just to name a few.
In 2023, Glens Falls Symphony music director Charles Peltz, joined forces with the de Blasiis to serve as music director and creative support. Robert Rosoff, former Executive Director of the Glens Falls Symphony, is currently serving as Executive Director of the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series.
The Glens Falls Symphony is proud to partner with this amazing organization and envision a major expansion of live concerts, collaborative performances, and deeply engaging activities that enrich the lives of those living in the Glens Falls region and beyond. Concerts take place in the Helen Froehlich Auditorium, at the Hyde Collection, 161 Warren Street, Glens Falls, NY.
Season Tickets for BOTH concerts are $50 for adults, $20 for youth under 18 and current college students w/ valid ID.
de Blasiis Chamber Series
2024-25 Season
Concert 1
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 @ 7:30PM
Eliot Fisk - Solo Guitar Recital
Guitarist Eliot Fisk is known worldwide as a charismatic performer famed for his adventurous and virtuosic repertoire. Music by Agustin Barrios -Mangore, J. S. Bach, G. Ligeti, Beaser, Albeniz, and E. Halffter
Saturday, November 9, 2024 @ 7PM
Helen Froehlich Auditorium
Concert 2
Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025 @ 3PM
Andrew Armstrong, piano, has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. Come hear him along with his New Canaan Chamber Music colleagues Abigél Králik, violin, and Raphael Bell, cello, who serves as Principal Cellist for the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium.
Sunday, April 13, 2025 @ 3PM
Helen Froehlich Auditorium
de Blasiis Sisters of Glens Falls, NY
Agnes Virginia de Blasiis (1907-1997) and Giovannina de Blasiis (1903-1996) were sisters from Glens Falls, N.Y. Giovannina M. de Blasiis studied piano in New York City and earned a bachelor of music degree from Yale University. In Europe she studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Tobias Matthay in London. She received a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music. She taught music at Skidmore College and at Emma Willard School in Troy, NY. (Post-Star 2/7/1996).
Agnes Virginia de Blasiis attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied violin. She followed this experience with study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She returned to Glens Falls where she taught violin both privately and, in the Glens, Falls High School. In 1934 she earned a college degree from Skidmore College. Virginia de Blasiis was associated with the Glens Falls Operetta Club, the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series, and the de Blasiis Trio, consisting of herself, her sister Giovannina M. de Blasiis, and cellist George Finckel (Post-Star 2/13/1997).
In 1926 they gave concerts and beginning in the 1930’s they organized the de Blasiis Chamber Music Series in Glens Falls, N.Y. Included in the collection are programs for the Annual Conventions of Leschetizky Teachers and Pupils, Glens Falls and Vicinity, 1914-1923. The conventions were organized by Ardelle Ingalsbe (Mrs. Harvey B.) and other teachers of piano music who used the Leschetizky method. Theodor Leschetizky (alternate spelling is Leszetychi) (1830-1915) was a Polish child prodigy and teacher by the age of 14. He established a music school in Vienna where he developed and taught his own method of music instruction (Oxford Dictionary of Music). Mrs. Harvey Ingalsbe founded her music school in Glens Falls in 1910. She had a studio in the Empire Building.
Citation:
de Blasiis Chamber Music Collection,
Center for Folklife, History, and Cultural Programs,
Crandall Public Library, Glens Falls, NY.
de Blasiis Team
Charles Peltz, Music Director
Robert Rosoff, Executive Director
William Martin, Treasurer
Jennifer Brink, Administrator
Marie Petrie, Patron Experience