By Frandy Nunez
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of Queens known for its unique
architecture. These houses are called the Forest Hills Bungalow, only seen in this part of Queens. Over the summertime is a very nice area to walk around and hear the birds chirping, without the distraction of rowdy cars and motorcycles. Forest Hills is home to 75,000 residents, which is less populated compared to other neighborhoods surrounding it.
Musica Reginae Production is dedicated to serving the citizens of Queens. According to
their website, “Musica Reginae Productions (MRP) is dedicated to serving the citizens of Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States. Artists and audiences at MRP concerts regularly represent this full range of diversity. Through its concerts, MRP brings together the diverse populations of Queens in a community building experience celebrating diverse styles of music. Most MRP concerts feature Queens natives or residents as performers and composers.” Furthermore, MRP is a still-growing production that is helping young talent shine the light on them.
On October 5th, I attended a duet of Elizabeth Pitcairn, violin, and Barbara Podgurski, piano. Both are very phenomenal players and performed Sonata No. 22 in major, K. 305 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is known to have been a prodigy at a very young age and starting writing music at five years old. Despite Mozart being a phenomenal composer, he had a short life (1756-1791). Ms. Pitcairn and Dr. Podgurski, also performed Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23 by Ludwig Van Beethoven. He was the best composer who ever lived and after being deaf, he still managed to put his feelings into music which we still listen to this day. They played twenty minutes of Beethoven’s piece which I enjoyed and kept a smile on my face.
The concert was presented at The Church in the Gardens in Forest Hills Queens, which was very antique. It smelled old and the wooden bench was very uncomfortable. Both of the players had on a beautiful long black dress. This stood out to me because everybody else was wearing regular blue jeans and baseball caps. Furthermore, I was the only young person there, which made me feel extremely out of place. And I got some weird looks because it was my first time there and the people who attend the concerts at the church appear to mostly be the residents who live near it.
Elizabeth Pitcairn is legendary for her 1720 Red Violin Mendelssohn Stradivarius, which
is one of the rarest violins ever made and was gifted by her grandfather in 1990. Pitcairn has performed in Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney, and Fisher Center. She also is the President and CEO of the Luzerne Music Center which is a summer camp for gifted musicians between the ages 9 through 18. On the other hand, Barbara Podgurski holds a DMA in piano performance from the graduate center. Also, has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe and many times at Carnegie Hall. Currently, Podgurski is a staff pianist for the strings department at NYU.
Throughout the concert, the audience got very sleepy, mostly because it was late at night and I believe most of them got bored. Overall I enjoyed the concert. I will go again and see Elizabeth Pitcairn and her beautiful Red Violin. I would recommend it to a friend but first I will have to teach them about music history why these pieces are so important and how these types of music shaped the music we listen to today.
WORK CITED
● Pitcairn, Elizabeth. Musica Reginae Productions, www.musicareginae.org/. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
● “Forest Hill | Neighborhood Guide.” Iveynorth.com, 2022,
iveynorth.com/neighborhoods/forest-hill. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
● Wikipedia Contributors. “Elizabeth Pitcairn.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug.
2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Pitcairn.
