FAMILY FUN DAYS: MIRETTE ON A HIGH WIRE-CHILDREN’S CHAMBER EXPERIENCE SUNDAY, JULY 26 AT 3PM

Mirette on the High Wire is a 1992 children's picture book by Emily Arnold McCully, which won the 1993 Caldecott Medal for its illustrations. The story follows Mirette, a young girl in 19th-century Paris, who learns tightrope walking from a famous but fearful performer, the "Great Bellini," who is staying at her mother's boardinghouse; she ultimately teaches him courage as he helps her achieve her own daring dream. The book is praised for its themes of bravery, perseverance, and the bond between teacher and student, set against a backdrop of Parisian rooftops.

MUSICIANS: Eliot Bailen and Susan Rotholz

Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance.” flutist, Susan Rotholz, winner of the Young Concert Artists with Hexagon Piano and Winds and Concert Artists Guild as a soloist, continues to be in demand as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician and teacher.

Susan is Principal flute of the Greenwich Symphony and The New York Chamber Ensemble and is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The New York Pops and the Little Orchestra Society. She has toured extensively with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and also performs with the American Symphony, New York City Ballet, Gotham Opera Company, Encore’s at City Center and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Susan is co-founder/director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble and the Rodeph Sholom Chamber Music Series and performs each season with the Cape May Music Festival, Greenwich Chamber Players, Saratoga Chamber Players and the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music Festival.

Eliot Bailen’s active career as a cellist, composer and teacher covers a broad span of activity. Strings Magazine writes, "At Merkin Hall (NYC) ‘cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music” (July, ’99). Principal cello of the New York Chamber Ensemble, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Orchestra New England, New York Bach Artists, Teatro Grattacielo and the New Choral Society, Mr. Bailen is also Founder and Artistic Director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble whose performances the New York Times has described as “the Platonic ideal of a chamber music concert.” (July, 2005).

As a writer and producer of children's music Mr. Bailen has gained national attention as Winner of the 1990 Parent's Choice Gold Medal, winner of numerous ASCAP Popular Awards and appearances as a featured guest artist on Nickelodeon's "Eureeka's Castle" airing from 1993 through 1997. Mr. Bailen received over twenty-five commissions for his "Song to Symphony" project, an extended school residency program that presents children's original musicals in an orchestral setting; the project was the subject of a NY Times feature article (Sept. 2006). The Song to Symphony project was recently awarded a special Alumni Grant from the Yale School of Music. Susan and Eliot live in New York City with their twin sons David and Daniel and their daughter Julia.