and, above all, we favored the refined guitar artistry of Serbian Nemanja Bogunovic whose connection with his instrument is so intense that we thought he must eat, drink, and sleep with it. With each successive selection we thought "Oh that's my favorite"! There was incredible variety of rhythm and mood from one piece to the next and each one dazzled in a different way.

He not only composes for his guitar but also arranges his music for a string quintet that lay down a carpet of sound as a worthwhile background for his guitar.

Pianist Jasna Popovic delighted us with the filigree of Barcelo's "La Grandalla". Pianist Ruoting Li began the evening with Kostabi's "Italian Summer", an accessible piece that started off with a riff on Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"music expert and musicologist Pablo Zinger accompanied Maria on the piano with great insight and stylistic command.

Delhi-born, New York trained mezzo-soprano Pallavi Seth sang two classical Indian songs – one semi-classical “Huri” and one classical bandish from “Raag Khamaj” both self-accompanied on Tanpura. Seth began singing classical Indian religious songs under the guidance of her guru and later studied as a Hindustani classical vocalist under the legendary Benares gharana singer Girija Devi. Vacations in the U.S. led to an interest in European classical music and study at Westminster Choir College and Mannes School of Music.

Seth performed the two songs seated on the stage with great spiritual insight and self-communion. The songs began with keening wordless vocalise and then the Hindi text was chanted. Both songs involved melismatic writing