Tuesday Afternoon Classics, Noon - 3:00 PM

Voice & Orchestra, Mondays 9:00 - 11:00 PM

Evening at the Opera, Tuesdays 8:00 pM - Midnight

On August 22nd, 2023 Peter Shimkin presented the twentieth - and final - program in his Soviet singers series on Evening at the Opera.

“The germination of the project began in 2010 when my Moscow cousin sent me a CD of folk songs sung the great lyric tenor, Sergei Lemeshev who was never allowed to perform in the West. Whadda voice! This prompted me to listen and learn more about Russian Opera. In this I was helped by EAO's longtime host: Doug Fox, who had rudimentary knowledge of Russian. I started accumulating Russian Opera and Russian Singer CDs. I own a house and spend much time in Florida where I stored the collection. When the pandemic stuck in March 2020 and the lockdown phase began, I realized I would be stuck there until a vaccine made travel safe. To pass the time, I decided to record a series of Sovieit era singers, which I initially envisioned as 6 programs. Well, as the months passed by, it grew to 20 programs which took 12 months to prepare and record. So many great singers! They provided the excuse to play much unknown material (to Western ears). If you have listened to much of the series, I think you will agree. To this day, I listen to programs on Gerogi Nelepp and the RK opera Tsar's Bride, Tchaikovsky's Cherevichki on my Ipod when I walk. Great stuff!”

Peter Shimkin, a retired physician, was first introduced to classical music by his mother and by his grandmother, who was a professional organist and piano teacher. Peter began his personal music collection at age 8 when he diligently saved his allowance to purchase a recording of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.

Although Peter stopped taking piano lessons as a teenager, he never stopped listening to and enjoying orchestral and chamber music. His interest in opera came later when he attended live performances. Over the years, one of his favorite ways to socialize with fellow physicians was to attend concerts and operas in NYC. In 1990 he organized five of his fellow physicians to attend all of the performances of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Met.

Peter’s musical tastes are actually quite eclectic. He has enjoyed seeing and hearing a number of memorable performances, including concerts by Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price and Alicia DeLarrocha, as well as the taking in the wonderful artistry of Leonard Bernstein conducting the NY Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Emerson String Quartet.

Peter tells us that “after hosting Evening at the Opera for eight years I proposed a non-operatic vocal program, initially known as Voice & Orchestra which later changed to The Voice in Concert to accommodate recitals with single instruments and a cappella choral pieces.” Click here to read on about how Peter creates programs for our The Voice in Concert series.