ASIAN FOOD WITH STRING ATTACHED

PRESS RELEASE
08-04-10

Clarion Concerts Dinner and Concert Fundraiser to Feature
Author/Actress Madhur Jaffrey and Violinist Sanford Allen

HILLSDALE, NY – The public is invited to enjoy an evening of fine food and classical music at a fundraiser to benefit Clarion Concerts in Columbia County’s Leaf Peeper concert series. The evening’s theme is “Asian Food with Strings Attached” and features the cuisine of best-selling cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey, accompanied by Leaf Peeper musicians.

The benefit will be held on Saturday, Aug. 28 at the Hillsdale Grange on Route 22 in Hillsdale. Tickets are $125. The 7 p.m. dinner/concert features the Trio Sonata, Op. II/4 by Jean Baptiste Loeillet and Georg Friedrich Händel’s Trio Sonata HWV 381, performed by renowned violinist Sanford Allen, director of Clarion Concerts and Jaffrey’s husband. Fellow longtime Leaf Peeper musicians Virginia Brewer, oboe, and Edward Brewer, harpsichord, will join Allen for the performance.

The fundraiser helps Clarion Concerts continue providing top-notch classical performances at reasonable cost for local residents. The Leaf Peeper concert series, now in its 29th year, is known for a tradition of bringing world-renowned musicians to Columbia County each fall. Performances of classical and contemporary chamber music are held in intimate settings such as local churches.

The Leaf Peeper series was founded in 1984 by the late Newell Jenkins, a Yale School of Music graduate who spent much of his life helping revive early music. After Jenkins’ death in 1996, Allen took over as musical director for Leaf Peepers.

Allen began studying the violin at age 7 and entered the Julliard School of Music at age 10. In 1962 he became the first black musician to become a regular member of the New York Philharmonic. He has played with the Detroit Symphony, Quebec Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Miami Philharmonic and in recitals and concerts worldwide.

Jaffrey is regarded by many as the world authority on Indian food. Her classic first book, “An Invitation to Indian Cooking,” was published by Knopf in 1973 and she has been the host of a series, “Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery,” for BBC television. She has appeared in more than 20 films, including Merchant/Ivory’s “Heat and Dust,” and written more than 15 books. She won James Beard Awards in 1982, 1994, 2000, 2002, and 2004.

Tickets to the fundraising dinner can be reserved by sending a check made out to Clarion Concerts in Columbia County Inc. to PO Box 43, Copake NY, 12516, or by calling 518-325-3805. Pre-registration is recommended.


EVENT LISTING:

Saturday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m. - “Asian Food with Strings Attached” concert/dinner to benefit Clarion Concerts in Columbia County’s Leaf Peeper concert series. Food by cookbook author/actress Madhur Jaffrey, accompanied by Sanford Allen, Virginia and Edward Brewer. Hillsdale Grange on Route 22 in Hillsdale. Tickets $125: check to Clarion Concerts in Columbia County Inc., PO Box 43, Copake NY, 12516, or register by calling 518-325-3805. Pre-registration is recommended.