Summer Concert Series: Classical to Contemporary for Viola and Clarinet

Bird in Hand hosts Nikki Ponticelli (Viola) and Kayla Stone (Clarinet) to present a coffee house concert of music from Classical to Contemporary! Doors open at 5:45 for a 6:00 start. The concert takes place during our Happy Hour, where you can enjoy a dollar off our summer cocktail menu. Stop by just for a drink or stay the whole time!

This concert is free to attend, but a cash donation basket will be available at the door to directly support the artists.

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Nikki Ponticelli is a violist based in Baltimore, Maryland and her passion is collaborating with others, whether that’s continuing traditional classical repertoire or expanding her interests in new contemporary music. Nikki has performed with many ensembles such as the Annapolis Symphony, New Orchestra of Washington, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Old Bay New Music Ensemble, the New World Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

She recently attended the Aspen Music Festival on full scholarship, and her quartet won the Best of Chamber competition at Round Top Music Festival, where she performed the Mendelssohn Octet alongside members of the NY Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.

Nikki has graduated from the Peabody Conservatory with her Masters of Music in Viola Performance, studying with Choong-Jin Chang. Nikki has also studied with David Samuel and the Alexander String Quartet at San Francisco State University where she was awarded the Undergraduate Honoree of Music. She is currently violin faculty at the Gilman School and assists the string orchestra at Baltimore School for the Arts.

Kayla Stone is a clarinetist and educator with a particular interest in the versatility of the clarinet in the classical music landscape. She has a passion for the chamber music of today, with her work in this field including premieres of new chamber works for widely varying instrumentations and a performance for the Living Music Initiative at the International ClarinetFest in 2019. She has recorded and premiered many new chamber works as a performer for reed quintets, pierrot ensembles, wind quintets, and more. In 2023, she performed Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Eurydice: A Song Cycle in Two Acts as a featured soloist.

While her love for the development and showcasing of chamber music is a major aspect of her life as a performer, Kayla is also a passionate soloist. Following the Furman University Concerto Competition, had the honor of performing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Furman Symphony Orchestra.

Kayla is a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholar, having recently graduated with a Master's degree in Clarinet Performance from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. As an undergraduate at Furman University, she had the honor of attending the Aria Music Academy in 2021. Notable awards include the Vince Perone Award, Furman University; and the Keith Lockhart Award, Furman University. Her principal teachers include Alexander Fiterstein, Anastasia Christofakis, and Cecelia Kang.

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