JSO’s 2008 Chamber Music Series - sponsored by Consumers Energy

All three concerts begin at 3:00 p.m. at the JSO’s Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 215 W. Michigan Ave. Series tickets are $25 and individual tickets are $10. For information call 517-782-3221

Concert #3, May 4, 2008 - JSO chamber concert feature duo with international reputation.

Two internationally known musicians are coming to Jackson May 4 to perform in the JSO’s third and final chamber music concert of the season. Violinist Solomia Soroka and pianist Arthur Greene, both multiple award-winners, have chosen five exciting pieces for their recital, which begins at 3 p.m. at the JSO’s Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 215 W. Michigan Ave.

The husband-and-wife team will perform Johannes Brahms’ “Sonata #2 in A-Major, op 100,” Myroslav Skoryk’s Allegretto and Dance from “Hutsulian Triptych,” William Bolcom’s “Fourth Sonata for Violin and Piano,” compositions by Arthur Hartmann and Jeno Hubay’s Hungarian nationalistic “Csardas #2.”

“We selected a wide variety of pieces from different stylistic periods to make our program diverse, but at the same time those are all the pieces and composers that we love to play,” explained Solomia. “Brahms is Arthur's favorite composer right now. Myroslav Skoryk is the most celebrated living composer of the Ukraine, and our next project is to record his violin/piano music by the end of the year. We were also the first duo to record all four violin/piano sonatas by William Bolcom for Naxos, his fourth sonata is short but brilliant and interesting conceptually.  Arthur Hartmann was a celebrated American violinist, teacher and composer during his lifetime. I discovered him while doing my Doctorate at Eastman School of Music where he was its first violin professor. He vanished into obscurity at the end of his life and died in poverty in New York. The same fate awaited his compositions. I was able to find and collect his pieces in different American Libraries and we recorded them. The CD is going to be released on Toccata Classics label, based in London this summer. We are very excited to introduce an American audience to this exquisitely beautiful music. Finally, Csardas # 2 by Jeno Hubay is a virtuoso piece.”

Soroka, who was born in the Ukraine, was only 10 when she made her solo debut with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine before coming to the United States and earning a doctorate in musical arts from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.

Violinist Solomia Soroka and pianist Arthur Greene

Since 2004 she’s been assistant professor of music at Goshen College where she teaches classes in applied violin and viola, chamber music, advanced music theory and music literature. From 1994-1997, Soroka was Artist-in-Residence at James Cook University in Australia. She has given premieres in Australia and the U.S. of some important contemporary Ukrainian compositions for violin and is winner of top prizes in three prestigious international violin competitions.

Her husband is chair of the piano department at the University of Michigan. The Washington Post has called him a “profound musician” and the New York Times has described him as “a masterful pianist.” In the prestigious William Kapell and Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions, he won gold medals and he was a top laureate at the Busoni International Competition. Greene’s music degrees are from Yale and the Juilliard School of Music. Greene has been guest soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Utah and National Symphonies, the Czech National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, the National Symphony of Ukraine and, yes, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra three times. This is his first appearance with the JSO as a recitalist. Greene’s international recital appearances include Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Lisbon’s Sao Paulo Opera House, Hong Kong’s City Hall, other Chinese concert houses in Shanghai and Beijing and many Japanese venues in his 12 tours of Japan. With his wife, he has recorded the Violin-Piano Sonatas of William Bolcom and the Violin-Piano Sonatas of Nikolai Roslavets.

“He and his wife concertize all around the world and we are very fortunate to have them perform in Jackson,” said JSO Maestro Stephen Osmond. “Their program is an eclectic mix designed to explore a variety of styles.”

• Sponsor: The 2008 Chamber Music Series is sponsored by Consumers Energy
• Tickets: Individual tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door. For additional information or to make a reservation, please phone the JSO office at 782-3221.

- SOLOMIA SOROKA -

Violinist Solomia Soroka is among the most internationally accomplished Ukrainian musicians of her generation. She earned her master’s degree summa cum laude, completed postgraduate studies at Kyiv Conservatory and later served on its faculty in the Department of Chamber Music. Ms Soroka earned her Doctorate in Musical Arts from
Eastman School of Music. Ms Soroka is a recording artist for Naxos. She has recorded the Violin-Piano Sonatas of Nikolai Roslavets with her husband, pianist Arthur Greene. Most recently her recording of Four Violin-Piano Sonatas by William Bolcom, has been selected as a recording of the month with the highest ranking for both artistry and sound quality by Classics Today. Ms Soroka made her solo debut at age 10 playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the L’viv Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with that orchestra on numerous subsequent occasions. She has performed both as soloist and as chamber musician at concerts and festivals in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, Canada and the United States. The winner of top prizes in three prestigious international violin competitions in the former Soviet Union [Prokoviev, Lysenko and Zolota Osin], Soroka has given the Australian and American premieres of several important contemporary Ukrainian compositions for violin. Since her American debut in 1997, she has performed throughout the United States. Her recitals in Washington DC were programmed as a part of the Smithsonian Institution performing arts series. Ms Soroka studied with Hersh Heifetz, Olgo Parchomenko, Bohodar Kotorovych and Charles Castleman. She is professor of violin at Goshen College.

- ARTHUR GREENE -

Arthur Greene was born in New York. He received degrees at Yale, Julliard and Stony Brook and studied with Martin Canin. Mr. Greene was a Gold Medal winner in the William Kapell and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions, and a top laureate at the Busoni International Competition. He performed the complete solo piano works of Johannes Brahms in a series of six programs in Boston, and recorded the Complete Etudes of Alexander Scriabin for Supraphon. He has performed the 10
Sonata Cycle of Alexander Scriabin in Sofia, Kiev, Salt Lake City, and other venues. In March and April, 2007, he presented The University of Michigan Chopin Project with his students – a nine concert series celebrating Chopin’s life through his complete solo piano works performed chronologically – from his first surviving work, a polonaise, written at age 7 through his last mazurka penned in 1849. All 129 compositions of the project will be released through Block M records and the iTunes Music Store. Mr. Greene has recorded together with his wife, the violinist Solomia Soroka, the Violin-Piano Sonatas of William Bolcom, and the Violin-Piano Sonatas of Nikolai Roslavets, both for Naxos. He gave the Ann Arbor premiere of John Corigliano's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the University Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Kiesler conducting, in 2006. Orchestras Mr. Greene has performed with include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Utah and National Symphonies, the Czech National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, the National Symphony of Ukraine. He has played recitals in Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Moscow Rachmaninov Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Lisbon Sao Paulo Opera House, Hong Kong City Hall and concert houses in Shanghai and Beijing, and Taiwan. He has toured Japan 12 times. He was an Artistic Ambassador to Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia for the United States Information Agency. His current students include prizewinners in international competitions, and his former students hold important teaching posts throughout the United States. Mr. Greene is Professor of Piano at the University of Michigan.

Concert #2, April 6, 2008 - "JSO Principal Musicians" - JSO's Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 3:00 p.m.

Four Members of the “JSO Chamber Players” aim to put listeners in good spirits April 6, 2008 when they present an uplifting concert of music that’s “beautifully melodic, humorous in spots and quite dramatic overall,” said violist Clyde McKaney, one of the four musicians in the group.

First on the program is Alesandro Rolla’s 1802 “Duo Concertant for Violin and Viola” followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Divertimento in E Flat Major.” Written in 1788, this is Mozart’s only finished composition for string trio. It features violin, viola and cello. The final piece will be Antonin Dvorak’s “Terzzeto for Two Violins and Viola,” written in 1887.

“These three pieces are wonderfully fun pieces to play. They're all very beautiful within their own styles,” McKaney said. “They all range from beautiful singing lines and tones to a level of virtuosity that allows the performer to really ‘dig in’ and have fun executing technical opportunities as well as emphasizing the musical ones.”

The concert, which begins at 3 p.m. in the JSO’s Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 215 W. Michigan Ave., is the second of three chamber music concerts scheduled this year. The first concert on March 2 featured the “Eastern Piano Trio.” On May 4, pianist Arthur Greene and violinist Solomia Soroka will present the final concert in the series.

Violinist Kevin McClain Jr., violinist Zbigniew Rybinski and cellist Daniel Tressel are the other performers in “JSO Chamber Players” ensemble. All four can be seen on stage during JSO subscription concerts. This program will be the group’s debut as a quartet.

• Sponsor: The 2008 Chamber Music Series is sponsored by Consumers Energy.
• Cost: $10 at the door. For additional information, please phone the JSO office at 782-3221.

Kevin McClain Jr., violin

McClain began teaching violin and viola in 1994 and attended Pensacola Christian College as a music performance major beginning in 1999. He performed for several seasons with orchestras in the Houston, Texas area and in 1999 was concertmaster of the U.S. Youth Ensemble’s European Tour. Since 2002, he has performed regularly with the Spring Arbor String Ensemble. In 2004 he began playing viola with the JSO. The next year he became an instructor with the Jackson Community School of Music and in 2006 joined the Jackson Community Strings.

Clyde McKaney, viola

McKaney, a 1983 Jackson High graduate, has been playing violin since the 7 th grade. He began performing with the JSO in 10 th grade, added viola to his studies in 11 th grade and has been principal viola for the JSO since 1987. His professional experience includes performances as principal violist with the symphonies of Battle Creek, Hillsdale, Michigan State University and Lansing. McKaney has studied at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. He also studied in New York with Joseph Fuchs of the Juilliard School of Music.

Zbigniew Rybinski, violin

Rybinski, who grew up in Poland, began violin lessons at school at the age of 7. Later, he studied violin and piano at the College of Music in Lodz and earned a Master’s in 1980. From the mid-70s until the early 1990s, he was first violin for several orchestras and a violin instructor for four years at the College of Education in Slupsk. Then, he spent almost 10 years performing in numerous ensembles and orchestras at resorts in Germany and on Caribbean cruise ships. From 2002-2005 he was first violinist at Lotz’ Music Theater. He and his family had the opportunity in 2005 to move to Michigan, where he performs with the symphony orchestras in Macomb and Jackson and is a free-lance musician at area events.

David Tressel, cello

Tressel grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and studied cello from the age of 8 at the Music Institute of Chicago. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign, a Master’s from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is currently working on a doctorate at Michigan State University. Tressel has performed in numerous other professional orchestras including the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and Illinois Symphony. He also was principal cellist of the Nevada Orchestra and appeared as a soloist performing Brahms Double Concerto.

 

Concert #1, March 2, 2008 - "Eastern Piano Trio" - JSO's Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 3:00 p.m.

The JSO will begin its 2008 Chamber Music Series March 2, 2008 by presenting a program that features “Eastern Piano Trio” with violinist Ioana Galu, cellist Elizabeth Marshall and pianist Pierre van der Westhuizen.

The program includes Mozart Piano Trio in B Flat Major, Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor and Turina Piano Trio No. 2.

“All three members of this trio are extremely talented musicians,” said JSO Maestro Stephen Osmond. “We are fortunate to have them perform such a varied and challenging program.”

Ioana Galu, violin

A native of Romania, Ioana Galu has received awards in numerous national and international competitions. Galu earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from Gheorghe Dima Music Academy of Cluj. After coming to the United States, she earned a second master’s degree in violin performance from Bowling Green State University and is working on her doctorate at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. Since September 2004, she has been on the faculty of the Heidelberg College Department of Music in Tiffin, Ohio, where she became the director of the Preparatory Department in September 2005. At Heidelberg, she teaches violin and chamber music. She’s also on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2007 she became the Jackson Symphony Orchestra’s part-time CMS String and Academy Director.

Galu has performed recitals in Romania, Budapest (Hungary), Düsseldorf (Germany), Lyon and Villecroze (France), Bowling Green, Toledo, Cincinnati and New York City. She has appeared as a soloist with several philharmonic orchestras in Romania and with the CCM Orchestra in 2004.

Elizabeth Marshall, cello

Elizabeth Marshall, a recent graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she received Top Prize in the Bolognini International Strings Competition in 1998.  She later went on to win the Silver State Chamber Music Award in 1999.  While completing her Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma degrees at CCM, Marshall toured Boston in December of 2000 as a member of the Adriatic Piano Trio, and performed in Beijing and Tianjin, China in August and September of 2002 as a founding member of the Reverie Piano Quartet.  Marshall has spent two recent summers in Bonefro and Termoli, Italy as a member of the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival and has participated in the three New Music Festivals. Marshall served as the cello instructor for the International Youth Music Festival and the Bowling Green String Festival in the summer of 2006. She is currently the Cello Instructor at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, and serves as the cello consultant for The New Cleveland Group and Goronok String Instruments.

 

Pierre van der Westhuizen, piano

Pierre van der Westhuizen, Assistant Professor of Piano at Heidelberg College, is a native of South Africa who graduated from Potchefstroom University with a double major in Piano Performance and Composition and Theory. He made his concerto debut in 1998, performing with the National Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. He continued his studies in the U.S., focusing on piano performance, and in 2007 earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Van der Westhuizen has performed in numerous New Music Festivals in Cincinnati, at Heidelberg College and in South Africa. He and his wife, pianist Sophia Grobler also perform as the Westhuizen Piano Duo across the U.S. and in South Africa, where they also teach master classes. Their interest in New Music has led them to premiere numerous works by young South African and American composers.

 

The chamber concerts are sponsored by Consumers Energy. The JSO 2008 Chamber Music Series are on

• Concert #1 - March 2, 2008 - Eastern Piano Trio
• Concert #2 - April 6, 2008 - principal musicians from the JSO
• Concert #3 - May 4, 2008 - pianist Arthur Greene and violinist Solomia Soroka.

All three concerts begin at 3 p.m. at the JSO’s Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 215 W. Michigan Ave. Series tickets are $25 and individual tickets are $10.