52nd Year

CONCERT SERIES

2010 - 2011

TRIO SOLISTI

October 24, 2010

Pictured from Left to Right ...

Alexis Pia Gerlach, Cello

Jon Klibonoff, Piano

Maria Bachmann, Violin

Crowned "The most exciting piano trio in America" by The New Yorker Magazine, Trio Solisti is comprised of three brilliant instrumentalists - violinist Maria Bachmann, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach and pianist Jon Klibonoff. Trio Solisti has earned a reputation for soulful and passionate performances marked by soloistic virtuosity, electric energy, seamless ensemble playing, and thrilling abandon.

"To my mind, Trio Solisti has now succeeded the Beaux Arts Trio as the outstanding chamber-music ensemble of its kind."

Terry Teachout -- Wall St. Journal

DVORAK

Piano Trio In F Minor, Op. 65

PIAZZOLLA

Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

MUSSORGSKY

Pictures At An Exhibition (arranged for piano trio)

BRAVURA TRIO (Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano)

January 9, 2011

Pictured  ...

Gary Gray, Clarinet
Robert Thies, Piano
Judith Farmer, Bassoon

Judith Farmer is currently principal bassoonist of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, a member of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and teaches bassoon at the University of Southern California.

She is an avid chamber musician, who enjoys collaborating with composers on new works and has had a number of works written for and dedicated to her. Her recordings as a soloist and chamber musician are available on Albany, Ex-House and Orfeo Records.

A pianist of “unerring, warm-toned refinement, revealing judicious glimmers of power,” [Los Angeles Times] Robert Edward Thies (pronounced "Theece") is an artist renowned for his consummate musicianship and poetic temperament.
He first captured worldwide attention in 1995 when he won the Gold Medal at the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. With this victory, Thies became the only American pianist to win first prize in a Russian piano competition since Van Cliburn’s famed triumph in Moscow in 1958.

Gary Gray was a founding member of the Pacific Serenades, now in it's 23rd season and performed with them at Carnegie Hall in 1994. He has also concertized with the Tchaikovsky Trio in Belgium and at the Festival de Musique Française de Laon in France. The Francesco Trio invited Mr. Gray to perform at UC Berkeley in 1996.
His concert on the Los Angeles County Art Museum’s Music Series in 1999 with Mark Kaplan/violin, Ronald Leonard/cello and Walter Ponce/piano included music of Beethoven, Ravel and Messiaen.

Mr. Gray was appointed Full Professor in Clarinet in the UCLA Music Department in 1993 where he also teaches the Woodwind Chamber Ensemble class. He has a Clarinet studio of 12-15 private students each year, and his students perform regularly in the UCLA Philharmonia, UCLA Wind Ensemble, Woodwind Chamber Ensembles, Collaborative Piano Chamber class...plus their individual Junior, Senior and Graduate Recitals.

BEETHOVEN

Duo No. 3 for Clarinet and Bassoon

TANSMAN

Suite for Bassoon and Piano

GERSHWIN

Preludes for Clarinet and.Piano (arr. by Cohn and Gray)

WOLFGANG, GERNOT

3 Short Stories for Clarinet and Bassoon

BERNSTEIN, CHARLES HAROLD

Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon

MENDELSSOHN

Concert Piece No. 1 for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano

LE VAN/STRAUSS/SCHIEFEN TRIO

January 30, 2011

Pictured ...

Eric Le Van, Piano
Guido Schiefen, Cello
and Axel Strauss, Violin

Eric LeVan was born in Los Angeles on June 14, 1964. He was in his early years a student of Earle C. Vorrhies, former pupil of Alexander Siloti. After attending the University of Southern California, he entered the masterclass of Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder at the Music Academy in Basel, Switzerland. Yet as a young artist, he remained an autodidact and a maverick.

In 1988, he moved to Basel, Switzerland, and then to Alsace, France. There he founded the Franz Liszt Festival of which he was artistic director from 1997 to 2003. In 1998, he recorded Franz Liszt's Complete Works for cello and piano with German cellist Guido Schiefen on the historic “Liszt Flugel” with Arte Nova - BMG. The disc was hailed “Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year 2000" in the Neue Musik Zeitung.

Guido Schiefen was born in 1968 near Bonn/Germany. He studied in Cologne with Alwin Bauer and had lessons with Maurice Gendron in France and Siegfried Palm. Since his childhood he performed on stage as a soloist and as chamber musician in Germany and other European countries.
His international carreer started in 1990 after becoming a prize winner at the 9th Intenational Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. As cellist of the "Ensemble Incanto" he is very much involved into all kinds of chamber music projects.

In 1998, violinist Axel Strauss became the first German artist ever to win the Naumburg Violin Award, and in the seasons since, he has been equally acclaimed for his virtuosity and his musical sensitivity. The Salt Lake Tribune praised his well-rounded artistry by saying, “Strauss quickly established that he is a virtuoso to be reckoned with. But amid his technical acumen, there was a genuine musician. His interpretive prowess was delightful.”

SCHUMANN

Piano Trio No. 1 In D Minor, Op. 63

RAVEL

Piano Trio In A Minor

BRAHMS

Piano Trio No. 1 In B Major, Op. 8

BEETHOVEN (Encore)

Adagio from Piano Trio No. 4 In B Flat Major, Op. 11 (Gassenhauer)

BAROQUE ACROSS THE RIVER

February 27, 2011

Pictured ...

Kathleen McDonald, Flute
Michele Eaton, Soprano
Lisa Terry, Violoncello, Viola Da Gamba

Not Pictured ...

Dongsok Shin, Harpsicord

Baroque Across the River is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. For the past seven years the group has partnered with the Brooklyn Historical Society offering public concerts in conjunction with exhibits and celebrations. They were chosen as one of New York’s finest early music ensembles to perform at the New York Times Center. Fulfilling their mission to recreate concerts on original instruments in the intimate settings in which they were heard, they often perform in historical venues such as metropolitan area museums, historical societies, libraries and educational institutions.

“Attention to detail is what makes this group one of the most treasured ensembles in the borough."”

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DE MONTECLAIR

Europe

JACQUES MOREL

Chaconne en Trio

RAMEAU

Cantata L'Impatience

RAMEAU

Pieces de Clavecin en Concert

DE MONTECLAIR

Ariane et Bachus

HENSCHEL STRING QUARTET

March 27, 2011

Pictured ...

Christoph Henschel, violin
Markus Henschel, violin
Monika Henschel, viola
Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj, cello

The Henschel Quartet’s repertoire encompasses more than 200 works from the classical and romantic to 20th century and contemporary music. In 2006 the quartet became Germany’s cultural ambassadors for the EU during the jubilee celebrations of the Europalia Festival in Brussels. In April 2007 the Henschel Quartet were on the front cover and an article dedicated to them in the Strad magazine. Also in the same year, they were successfully recognised as Henle Artists by the music publishers G Henle.

The Henschel Quartet has worked for the German Music Council and the Siemens Arts Programme and regularly takes part in their programmes at the Goethe Institutes abroad.

The Quartet belongs to the select group of guest ensembles who regularly play at the Spanish royal palace in Madrid and perform concerts on the 4 Stradivarius instruments that belong to the palace. The Quartet has a substantial recording catalog including CD recordings on the Deutsche Grammaphon, EMI, Neos and Arte Nova labels.

"I don’t know of any string quartet as capable as this one of reaching the opposite extremes of blunt muscle and airiness. ”

Mark Swed -- Los Angeles Times

GINASTERA

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20

BEETHOVEN

String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135

SCHUBERT

String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810 (Death and the Maiden)