Konzert It Takes Two to Tango
A musical evening with Carrie Pierce & Jennifer Heemstra.
Join us for a night of world travel through tantalizing tangos, delightful dances and riotous rags! From Romania to South America and back to the sunny coasts of Spain, Kolkata Classics will entertain you with a delightful night of dance music with cellist Carrie Pierce & pianist Jennifer Heemstra.Pianist Jennifer Heemstra has performed as soloist and chamber musician, as well as theatrical accompanist and coach throughout the United States and Europe in such venues as the United Nations Rome, American Embassy Rome and Cleveland’s renowned jazz hotspot Nighttown. International Press has acclaimed “Jennifer Heemstra's finely calibrated piano accompaniment proves you don't need an orchestra to showcase lovely music.”
Ms. Heemstra earned a Bachelor of Music with University Honors from Michigan State University and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. During her seven years in Cleveland, Ms. Heemstra worked as a Lecturer and Staff Accompanist for over 350 performances in the music department at Case Western Reserve University, performed with the Cleveland Opera and Lyric Opera and founded Gershwin ’29 a cabaret of Golden Age hits.
Since her arrival in Kolkata she has performed for over 42,000 people in 50 concerts. Ms. Heemstra created the Kolkata Classics, a concert series promoting high quality western classical music to the masses regardless of socio economic status. Now in their second season Ms. Heemstra has expanded the program to include a health fair for trafficked women and children. She has performed at the ICCR, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Saint John’s, the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Jorasanko, Kala Mandir, The Oberoi Grand Hotel & has established a private studio. Most recently for her work with the underprivileged of Kolkata Ms. Heemstra has been awarded the Secretary of State’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. She will receive her award from the US Secretary of State Kerry in November.
Dr. Carrie Pierce joined the faculty of Texas A & M - Corpus Christi in the Fall of 2011 as assistant professor of cello and chamber music. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, and two degrees from Michigan State University; a Master of Music in Cello Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. In addition she studied performance at the Meadowmount Music Festival (USA) & the Deia International Music Festival (Bonefro, Italy).
Active as an orchestral musician, Dr. Pierce holds positions with the Corpus Christi Symphony, the Mid-Texas Symphony, and the Victoria Symphony. Prior to these appointments she was principal cellist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra (2008-2011) and assistant principal cello with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra (2006-2011).
As a commercial musician, Dr. Pierce has performed for numerous pop and solo artists, such as Kanye West and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.