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Music for Peace

At this concert we celebrate virtuoso violinist and teacher Charles Castleman, living link to Czech master pedagogue Otakar Ševčík (1852-1934). Ševčík, renowned to this day as violinist and teacher, famously created his School of Violin Technique and Analytical Studies & Exercises, a method allowing string players to reach their potential in technical proficiency. Ševčík's teaching assistant, Emanuel Ondříček, was Charles Castleman's teacher when he was a young violinist. Castleman currently shares Ševčík's wealth of knowledge with his many students and thus carries the expressive and technical traditions of the Bohemian School of Violin Playing into the 21st century.

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Dvořák American Heritage Association, with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, is proud to share the music of Dvořák, Ondříček, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, and Eugène Ysaÿe, who was Ševčík's friend and chamber music partner. In the beautiful venue of Bohemian National Hall in NYC, our audience will be treated to a multimedia presentation including live performance, historical recording, and even the experience of a violin lesson live on stage. We will learn why Ševčík's methods for violin, and string players generally, are powerful tools for achieving technical prowess and understand why musicians around the world continue to incorporate Ševčík's études into daily routines. This is an opportunity for music lovers to peek behind the veil of mystery surrounding the art of the violin, celebrate Charles Castleman and the lineage of generations of teachers and students.