Date/Time
21/Mar/2025 at 6:30 pm
Genre - Chamber Music
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Maharookh and Darius Forbes Memorial concert
Verbier Festival Chamber Players
Vivek Jayaraman, violin
Julian Gil Rodriguez, violin
Amanda Verner, viola
Maksim Velichkin, cello
In association with Forbes Marshall
In a programme of Mozart: Divertimento in F major, K.138/125c, Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 18 No. 4 and Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 American
Vivek Jayaraman is a violinist with The Florida Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland. He has performed in the string sections of several major U.S. orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and New York Philharmonic and served as Concertmaster for orchestras in Shreveport, Canton, Knoxville, Jacksonville, and Vancouver. During the summer, Vivek performs with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland and the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra in Idaho, U.S.A.
A former Fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami, Vivek’s primary mentors include Charles Castleman, Glenn Dicterow, William Preucil, and Gabor Takács-Nagy. Originally from Lansing, Michigan, he holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Vivek currently resides in St. Petersburg on the West coast of Florida with his wife, Laurel, and 14 month-old daughter, Nalini.
Born in 1984 in Colombia, Julián Gil Rodríguez began studying the violin from the age of 11 with Mario Díaz. He became a member of the Fundación Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Colombia, when he first came to perform as a soloist, interpreting the concertos of Vivaldi, Bruch, Mozart and Paganini. He subsequently joined the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, followed by the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in Valladolid in Spain, where he also participated in masterclasses with Krystof Wiesniewsky. In 2006 Julian won the first prize in the national violin competition ‘Olga Chamorro’ in Bogotá, which gave him the opportunity to perform the Bruch Violin Concerto in G minor with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia. Julian now holds the position of Principal Second Violin in the London Symphony Orchestra.
The New York Times has described New Zealand violist Amanda Verner‘s playing as “alluring” and “passionate”. Following her undergraduate study at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Jeffrey Irvine, Amanda Verner received an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, under the tutelage of renowned violists Roberto Diaz, Misha Amory and Michael Tree. In 2013, Amanda gave her solo debut at Carnegie Hall, performing Steve Mackey’s Ground Swell as part of the 21st Century American Contemporary Ensemble workshop with John Adams and David Robertson. As a chamber musician, she has performed with Bendigo Chamber Music Festival (Australia), the Worlds Edge Festival (New Zealand), Philharmonia Chamber Players (London), collaborated with the Doric String Quartet and toured for Chamber Music New Zealand with the MELER ensemble.
Amanda has toured extensively with the Verbier Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Gábor Takács-Nagy, performed with Sinfonia Grange au lac with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, and Daniel Harding, Les dissonances, Concertgebouw Kamerorkest and Camerata RCO. She has also attended the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy and Aspen Music Festival. An experienced orchestral musician, she has served as guest principal of the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. She has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and held a position with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She is currently a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Maksim Velichkin is a cellist, pianist, and harpsichordist who has been active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra artist among an international circle featuring venerable conductors and headlining classical stars. He has worked with James Levine, Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Yuri Temirkanov, Wolfgang Sawallish, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Maxim Vengerov, Yuri Bashmet, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Joshua Bell, Dmitry Bashkirov, Andras Schiff, Martha Argerich, Lynn Harrell, Misha Maisky, Frans Helmerson as well as many others. Moreover, as an improviser and interpreter of contemporary and popular music Maksim’s performance and recording career includes credits with Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Billy Childs, Burt Bacharach, Bobby McFerrin, Dwight Trible, Bitter:Sweet, Chris Botti, Josh Groban, Red Elvises, Bernadette Peters, Natalie Cole, Alan Silvestri, and many others.
Photographed on 22nd February 2014, their 60th wedding anniversary
Maharookh Forbes: 1934 – 2018 and Darius Forbes: 1926 – 2023
Maharookh inherited her love for Western classical music from her mother. She formally studied the piano under well known piano and music teacher Norma Gasper and completed Grade VIII of the Associated Board of the Royal College of Music. Music was an important part of her life and was nurtured through the years when she and Darius would attend concerts at every opportunity in various cities of the world during their travels.
Maharookh and Darius were great supporters of the Arts in Pune and Mumbai and contributed generously, both personally and through Forbes Marshall, to the Poona Music Society, the National Center for the Performing Arts, the Symphony Orchestra of India, the Mehli Mehta Foundation, the Bombay Chamber Orchestra among others. They also supported the Sangat concerts which were designed to promote the careers of artistes of Indian origin who were studying abroad, some of whom have become well known as performers and teachers.
Maharookh was also actively involved with The Poona Music Society where she served as its President from 1997 to 2008. Maharookh and Darius attended the Verbier Festival in Switzerland on a number of occasions and, because their love for Western classical music has also been inherited by their children and grandchildren, the Forbes family continue to be regular visitors to Verbier and are Friends of the Verbier Festival.
We are therefore very pleased to support the concert tour of the renowned Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra to Mumbai and Pune, through the Mehli Mehta Foundation and the Poona Music Society, in memory of Maharookh and Darius Forbes.
The Forbes Family
March 20-21, 2025
