The Castleton Songbook
Two ‘Castletonians’ – former alums and now significant solo performers – have designed a celebratory program that echoes popular favorites from the operatic world: “The Castleton Songbook”. It reflects a decade of musical friendship and curiosity of cellist Daniel Lelchuk and harpist Ashley Jackson, who met as members of the Castleton Festival Orchestra under the bâton of Maestro Maazel. Daniel, now hailed as a “dazzling virtuoso”, and Ashley, praised for her “soulful and eloquent” playing, celebrate their summers spent exploring music from around the world in the hills of Castleton, while enjoying mornings at the Laurel Mills Store and having conversations with locals over coffee and country ham biscuits.
The ‘Castleton Songbook’ features original arrangements for the duo and includes works by Fauré, Gershwin, Puccini, and African-American Spirituals by Margaret Bonds.
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An avid soloist, chamber musician, and curator, harpist Ashley Jackson is establishing herself as a vital musical voice. As a soloist, she has performed at Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn! and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic, The Knights, and is a regular member of the Harlem Chamber Players. Ashley has also curated major recording projects featuring Black American composers, including Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King and Selected Songs, and her debut “gemlike” album titled Ennanga (Nate Chinen).
She is currently an Assistant Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Music Department at Hunter College. Jackson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University.
Described by The Washington Post as a “dazzling virtuoso,” Daniel Lelchuk is Assistant Principal cellist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, appointed by Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto; he holds the same position with the New Orleans Opera Association. He has performed at numerous international festivals including those of Aspen, Baden-Baden, Hawaii, Colorado, Minnesota Lakes Area, Silicon Valley, and Salzburg. He has served as guest cellist of the Qatar Philharmonic, guest first cellist of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, cellist of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (Mexico City) and first cellist of the Royal Opera House Muscat (Oman). At the invitation of Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, he presented a series of solo cello recitals at the famed Villa Aurora, Rome.
Mr. Lelchuk served from 2010-2014 as principal cellist of the Castleton Festival under Maestro Lorin Maazel, where he performed to acclaim major solos from the operatic and symphonic repertoire, most notably Verdi’s Otello. Since 2016 he has served as first cellist of the New York-based Salomé Chamber Orchestra and makes regular international tours with David Aaron Carpenter and the Ensemble.
Also an accomplished administrator, Daniel Lelchuk is a founding member of the Castleton Chamber Players with violinist Eric Silberger, where they present chamber music in the jewel box Theatre House designed and built by Maestro Maazel. In these concerts they are regularly joined by world-class musicians such as Orion Weiss, Michelle DeYoung, and Paul Groves. In 2023, Mr. Lelchuk founded the Festival de Música de Cámara Antigua (Antigua Chamber Music Festival), the first ever fully-fledged chamber music festival in the historic city of Antigua, Guatemala.
Since 2022, he has worked as the Lead of Cello Content at tone base, the premier online music education company, where he designs the content for the cello platform, hosts regular livestreams broadcast worldwide, and manages a community of thousands of passionate, diverse cellists from every corner of the globe.
In addition to his busy concert schedule, Daniel Lelchuk leads a rich speaking life behind the microphone. He was the popular and frequent guest host of The Food Show on WWL radio where he interviewed celebrity chefs and welcomed callers from all over the country live on-air. He is the creator and host of the popular podcast regularly heard in more than seventy countries Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk, where he engages the world's leading cultural figures and thinkers in spirited, in-depth conversation. Guests include Walter Isaacson, Linda Ronstadt, Ambassador Michael McFaul, Mike Espy, Nicholas Christakis, Michael Walzer, John McWhorter, David Frum, Jacques Pépin, Petula Clark, Moshe Safdie, Amy Tan, Richard Haass, and Wynonna Judd.
On public radio WWNO New Orleans, Mr. Lelchuk created the LPO Radio Hour, where he takes listeners on a highly curated weekly tour of great orchestral, chamber, and operatic music, for which he provides frank commentary, behind the scenes look at concert life, and context so the brand-new listener instantly feels at home.
An avid cyclist, Daniel Lelchuk spends as much time as he can on two wheels.
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