Internationally Acclaimed Cellist in Recital at Ner Shalom

Cellist Susan Salm, co-founder of the world-renowned Raphael Trio, will perform in a recital for cello with piano on Saturday, March 9th at 7PM at Congregation Ner Shalom, 85 La Plaza, Cotati.

Pianist Toni Pearson will accompany Ms. Salm.

Ms. Salm is calling this recital “My Thank You to Ner Shalom.” The program will include Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei,” the Schubert “Arpeggione” sonata for cello and piano; and Janacek’s “Fairy Tales” for cello and piano.

The piano Ms. Pearson will play was donated to Ner Shalom by the Salm family. The instrument belonged to their mother Erna, a concert pianist in Germany. When the Nazis came to power, Erna Salm shipped her pianos and her husband’s library to the Netherlands until their escape to the U.S., where she and her husband Arthur began a new life. After the war, the Steinway arrived and Erna Salm once again had her beloved baby grand. Before long she and her informative performances became an important element of Chicago’s musical life with the establishment of regular monthly “House Concerts”, a tradition from her life in Europe that she successfully brought to the American public. She and her four children - the “Salm Ensemble” - were often featured in radio, on television and in the Chicago newspapers.

Toni Pearson obtained her undergraduate degree in music with honors in performance at the University of Adelaide. She studied piano with David Lockett and performed regularly as a recitalist and chamber musician with the Australian Society for Keyboard Music. She attended medical school and received her medical degree in Adelaide. She is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she directs the program for pediatric movement disorders.

General admission tickets are $35 and VIP tickets are $50.