Renowned violinist and author Anthea Kreston returns to Charleston in October for two special appearances, one at the Charleston Library Society and the other as part of the Chamber Music Charleston (CMC) Salon Series at South Carolina Society Hall.
Together, the events offer audiences two different opportunities to experience Kreston — as a storyteller reflecting on her musical journey and as a chamber musician performing alongside musicians of CMC.
On Friday, Oct. 16, at 10:30 a.m., the Charleston Library Society will present Kreston’s one-woman show, a whirlwind musical journey spanning Tajikistan to Carnegie Hall. Timed to coincide with the publication of her memoir, “Crescendo,” the semi-staged performance combines music and storytelling as Kreston reflects with warmth and humor on the art form she loves, the ambitions of a young musician and the choices that shape a life.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, with Charleston Library Society member and student discounts available.
On Sunday, Oct. 18, at 2 and 4 p.m., Chamber Music Charleston will present Kreston in an intimate chamber music performance in the historic ballroom of South Carolina Society Hall.
She will join CMC violinist Frances Hsieh, violists Ben Weiss and Jenny Weiss, and cellist Timothy O’Malley for a program featuring Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6; Mozart’s Quintet in C Minor, K. 406; and Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk.”
Both performances are currently sold out; however, a limited number of Rear Gallery seats have been made available for $25.
About the Book
When American violinist Anthea Kreston is selected as the fourth member of Germany’s Artemis Quartet, it is the culmination of decades of dedication, sacrifice and unexpected turns.
In “Crescendo,” her deeply personal memoir, Kreston chronicles a journey that takes her from a difficult but privileged childhood in Chicago to leaving home at 16, studying at Philadelphia’s competitive Curtis Institute of Music — where Hilary Hahn was a classmate — and ultimately walking away from the classical music world to live on a commune in Oregon.
Yet Kreston never stops playing her beloved violin. In time, she finds her way back to music and rises to the highest levels of the classical music world. She writes candidly about years of infertility, the challenges of balancing motherhood with a demanding performance career and the strain of moving her young family to Germany while trying to maintain both her marriage and her identity amid the pressures of life in a string quartet.
Told with warmth and wit — including the story of getting out of a traffic ticket by playing “Danny Boy” for an Irish police officer — “Crescendo” is a reflection on art, ambition and the choices that compose a life.
About Anthea Kreston
Anthea Kreston is an internationally acclaimed violinist and violist who has performed on major concert stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Royal Academy of Music in London, Munich’s Prince Regent Theater and Teatro Nacional in Panama City.
Her career has included performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, serving as principal violin of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and concertmaster of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and performing with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project.
An avid writer, Kreston is a frequent columnist for the music news site Slipped Disc. Her writing has also appeared in Strings and Chamber Music, and she has been featured in The New York Times, Strings and The Strad for her work with students during COVID-19, community-building through music and music therapy with abused children.
She is also an artist-in-residence with All Classical Radio, a classical music radio station in the United States.
Kreston currently performs as first violinist of the Delgani String Quartet in Oregon and Trio Libermé in Berlin. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon, with her husband and two daughters. “Crescendo” is her first book.