Concerts & Conversations - 19th Century Women Composers from Latin America

HUNTER – November 4, 2025 – On Saturday, November 8 at 2:00 PM, pianist Julian Jensen will perform a free program featuring mid to late 19th century music by women composers from Latin America. Music from Mexican, Chilean and Venezuelan female composers in the style of contra dance, waltz, polka, and ballade, among others, will enchant the audiences. Jenson’s lively narrative will give context to the works. Come and enjoy an afternoon at the Piano Performance Museum at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter.

Hailing from a musical family in Southern California, Julian Jenson began his journey with the piano and conducting at an early age. He has since grown into a dedicated performer and music educator, committed to using the power of music to uplift communities and foster global connection.

Julian became invested in the world of historical pianos in 2021 during the return of the annual Academy of Fortepiano Performance after COVID. His time at the Catskill Mountain Foundation with the world’s preeminent fortepianists and scholars of early keyboard music directly influenced his decision to pursue early piano performance in its many facets. He has since performed recitals and created video recordings on fortepiano, harpsichord, baroque organ, and more through the lens of historical performance practice. In the summer of 2024, his recordings on early pianos of various makes were featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase, hosted by Simone Dinnerstein. In fall 2023, during his performance of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, Julian improvised cadenzas and ornaments in the style of the composer’s early Viennese years.

In addition to his early music focus, Julian’s career as a pianist and chamber musician has taken him to prestigious concert halls and community venues alike—from the Pacific Coast of the U.S. to Italy, Iceland, Japan, and Chile. Whether performing as a soloist or chamber musician, his music has resonated through schools, churches, hospitals, and beyond. His love for vocal collaboration took root early in his piano training and blossomed through his artistic partnership with soprano Susana Leiva, his wife. Their creative synergy has led to co-writing, arranging, and performing across a wide array of genres, including vocal jazz, classical repertoire, musical theatre, folk, and sacred music.

Julian is currently a Doctoral Candidate in the Historical Keyboard Performance program at Temple University Boyer College of Music, where he studies with Dr. Joyce Lindorff. The music chosen for this performance grew out of the research and discoveries he has made in preparation to write his doctoral monograph. His previous teachers include Simone Dinnerstein, Audrey Axinn, John Mortensen, Yiheng Yang, Maria Rose, David Kalhous, Elvin Rodriguez, and more. He holds degrees in Piano from Mannes College of Performing Arts (MM, 2022) and La Sierra University (BM 2018), as well as a master’s degree in music theory from Florida State University (2020).

This concert is free and will be held at the Piano Performance Museum in the Doctorow Center for the Arts, 7971 Main Street, Hunter, NY. To reserve your seat, visit https://our.show/julian-jensen or just come by on Saturday, November 8. For upcoming shows, visit www.catskillmtn.org.

About Catskill Mountain Foundation The Catskill Mountain Foundation’s (CMF) aim is to provide educational opportunities in the arts for youth and lifelong learners, to bring the experience of the arts to the Catskill community, and to support artists and art organizations in the development of their work through residencies. Since its founding in 1998, CMF has presented hundreds of music, dance, and theater performances; screened over 1,000 films to tens of thousands of audience members; provided studio arts classes to thousands of students of all ages; and served thousands of art-loving patrons in the Catskill Mountain Foundation Gift Shop. The Catskill Mountain Foundation operates the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, the Orpheum Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, and the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts in Maplecrest, NY.

Since 1998, CMF has raised, generated, and invested close to $16 million in facility development and an excess of $42 million in programming operations, for a total investment in the Catskill community of over $58 million. Catskill Mountain Foundation is supported in part by New York State Council on the Arts, the Greene County Cultural Fund administered by the Greene County Legislature, The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, The Royce Family Foundation, The Samuel and Esther Doctorow Fund, The Orville and Ethel Slutzky Family Foundation, Platte Clove Bruderhof Community, Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation, The Greene County Youth Bureau, Marshall & Sterling Insurance, All Souls’ Church, Stewarts Shops, Windham Foundation, and by private donations. CMF believes that the arts can transform the lives of those touched by it and can transform the community. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Source: The Schoharie News