| Jeremy Denk, piano performing July 6th |
Joshua Bell, violinl performing July 9th |
| Lynn Harrel, cello performing July 14th |
Rita Costanzi, harp performing July 18th |
| Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar performing July 18th |
Tamara Mumford, mezzo soprano performing July 21st |
| Paul Johnson, tenor, guitar performing July 18th |
Charles Robert Stephens, baritone performing July 21st |
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Jeremy Denk, Piano |
Jeremy Denk, Piano
performing July 6th
In 1998 Jeremy Denk won both the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and received a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Over the past decade the pianist's career has flourished. The New York Times described his playing as "bracing, effortlessly virtuosic and utterly joyous," and he has garnered comparable critical acclaim for his engagements with leading orchestras and presenters nationwide. He has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and many others.
The versatile American pianist's repertoire ranges from the standard works of the 18th and 19th centuries to twentieth-century masters such as Ives, Ligeti, Lutoslawski and Messiaen, and further to new works by leading composers of today. Mr. Denk has participated in many world premieres, including Leon Kirchner's Duo No. 2 (with violinist Ida Levin) at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in the summer of 2002; Ned Rorem's The Unquestioned Answer in the summer of 2003; Jake Heggie's Cut Time in 2001 with the Eos Orchestra; Alternating Current, a work written for him by Kevin Puts, on a Kennedy Center recital program; Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Sonata (with the composer on fiddle) at the Library of Congress; and also Edgar Meyer's Sonata for Violin and Piano with Joshua Bell.
Mr. Denk made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in April 1997 as the winner of the Juilliard Piano Debut Award. Writing of the performance, The New York Times described him as "a pianist with a searching mind." Recent solo appearances include all-Beethoven and all-Bach recitals in Philadelphia, two programs at the Mostly Mozart Festival at New York's Lincoln Center, as well as recitals in Boston and Washington DC.
An avid chamber musician, Jeremy Denk has collaborated with the Borromeo, Brentano, Mirò, St. Lawrence, Shanghai and Vermeer string quartets. Mr. Denk first performed with violinist Joshua Bell at the 2004 Spoleto Festival. Since then, they have toured throughout the United States in and Europe with almost eighty performances to date. The Philadelphia reviewer noted their "equal partnership, with no upstaging." He has appeared with the Detroit Chamber Music Society, at the Seattle and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals and the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and Charleston. The pianist spent several summers at Marlboro in Vermont and has been part of "Musicians from Marlboro" national tours. He also attended the Ravinia Festival's prestigious Steans Institute.
Jeremy Denk has an extensive discography which includes the Tobias Picker Second Piano Concerto with the Moscow Philarmonic; works of Schubert, Bartok, and Strauss with violinist Soovin Kim; the Kirchner Duo with violinist Ida Levin (commemorating Marlboro's 50th anniversary); and many others. He looks forward to the release of his first solo disc featuring Bach Partitas. Additionally, Joshua Bell and he will record the Corigliano Violin Sonata in June 2007.
Mr. Denk is a member of the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He received a double degree in Chemistry and Piano Performance from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, often infuriating his teacher Joseph Schwartz. He earned a master's degree in music from Indiana University as a pupil of György Sebök, and a doctorate in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he worked with Herbert Stessin. He makes his home in New York City.
Critical Acclaim
"Mr. Denk increasingly seems one of the most essential American pianists of the current generation."
--Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, Feb. 13, 2011
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Joshua Bell, violin |
Joshua Bell, violin
performing July 9th
Strad: "Joshua Bell will be the one remembered in 50 years time."
Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. His restless curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions which have earned him the rare title of "classical music superstar." Often referred to as the poet of the violin, Bell is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and is the newly named Music Director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Bell first came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His Carnegie Hall debut and a recording contract further confirmed his presence in the music world. Today he is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and composer who performs his own cadenzas to several of the major concerto repertoire. "Bell, Gramophone stated simply, is dazzling."
2012 highlights include a 15-city US tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and a North American recital tour with pianist Sam Haywood. In Europe, Bell will tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski and in recital with Jeremy Denk in cities to include London, Paris and Berlin.
Bell records exclusively for Sony Classical, a MASTERWORKS label. French Impressions, his new album with Jeremy Denk will be released in January 2012 and is Bell's first sonata recording for Sony Classical. The disc will include repertoire by Ravel, Saint Saens and Franck.
Since his first LP recording at age 18, Bell has recorded more than 36 CDs. Recent releases include the soundtrack to For Colored Girls, At Home With Friends, featuring Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, Regina Spektor, Tiempo Libre and others, the Defiance soundtrack, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, The Red Violin Concerto, The Essential Joshua Bell, Voice of the Violin and Romance of the Violin which Billboard named the 2004 Classical CD of the Year, and Bell the Classical Artist of the Year. He has also recorded critically acclaimed recordings of Sibelius and Goldmark as well as Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos both featuring his own cadenzas, and the Grammy Award winning Nicholas Maw concerto. His Grammy-nominated recording Gershwin Fantasy premiered a new work for violin and orchestra based on themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Its success led to a Grammy-nominated all-Bernstein recording that included the premiere of the West Side Story Suite as well as a new recording of the composer's Serenade. With the composer and double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, Bell appeared on the Grammy-nominated crossover recording Short Trip Home and a disc of concert works by Meyer and the 19th-century composer Giovanni Bottesini. Bell also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on the Grammy-winning spoken word children's album, Listen to the Storyteller and Bela Fleck's Grammy Award winning Perpetual Motion. Sony Classical film soundtracks on which Bell has performed also include The Red Violin, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score, the Classical Brit-nominated Ladies in Lavender and Academy Award-winning film Iris.
Bell has premiered new works by composers Nicholas Maw, John Corigliano, Aaron Jay Kernis, Edgar Meyer, Behzad Ranjbaran and Jay Greenberg.
In 2010 Bell starred in his fifth Live From Lincoln Center Presents broadcast. Other PBS shows include Great Performances, and Sesame Street. He has twice performed on the Grammy Awards telecast, performing music from Short Trip Home and West Side Story Suite. He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video air on VH1, he has been the subject of a BBC Omnibus documentary and he appeared as himself in the film Music of the Heart starring Meryl Streep. Bell has been profiled in publications ranging from The New York Times and Newsweek to People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People issue, Gramophone and USA Today.
In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University. His alma mater honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award only two years after his graduation. He has been named an "Indiana Living Legend" and has received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award.
Bell was named 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America Bell, he is an inductee of the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, recognized as a young global leader by the World Economic Forum, serves on the artist committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and is on the Board of Directors of the NewYork Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the Humanitarian Award from Seton Hall University; was honored by Education Through Music for his dedication to sharing his love of classical music with disadvantaged youth and received the Academy of Achievement Award for exceptional accomplishment in the arts.
In 2009 he performed at Ford's Theatre before President Obama which was followed by an invitation from the President and Mrs. Obama to perform at the White House.
Bell performs on the 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius violin and uses a late18th century French bow by Francois Tourte.
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Lynn Harrell, cello
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performing July 14th
Lynn Harrell's presence is felt throughout the musical world. A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor and teacher, his work throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia has placed him in the highest echelon of today's performing artists.
Mr. Harrell is a frequent guest of many leading orchestras including Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and the National Symphony. In Europe he partners with the orchestras of London, Munich, Berlin, Tonhalle and Israel. He has also toured extensively to Australia and New Zealand as well as the Far East, including Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the summer of 1999 Mr. Harrell was featured in a three-week "Lynn Harrell Cello Festival" with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He regularly collaborates with such noted conductors as James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman.
In recent seasons Mr. Harrell has particularly enjoyed collaborating with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist, Andre Previn. In January 2004 the trio appeared with the New York Philharmonic performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Maestro Masur conducting.
An important part of Lynn Harrell's life is summer music festivals, which include appearances at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Aspen and Grand Tetons festivals, and the Amelia Island Festival.
On April 7, 1994, Lynn Harrell appeared at the Vatican with the Royal Philharmonic in a concert dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The audience for this historic event, which was the Vatican's first official commemoration of the Holocaust, included Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Rome. That year Mr. Harrell also appeared live at the Grammy Awards with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, performing an excerpt from their Grammy-nominated recording of the complete Beethoven String Trios (Angel/EMI).
Highlights from an extensive discography of more than 30 recordings include the complete Bach Cello Suites (London/Decca), the world-premiere recording of Victor Herbert's Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields led by Marriner (London/Decca), the Walton Concerto with Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI), and the Donald Erb Concerto with Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony (New World). Together with Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mr. Harrell was awarded two Grammy Awards - in 1981 for the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio and in 1987 for the complete Beethoven Piano Trios (both Angel/EMI). A recording of the Schubert Trios with Mr. Ashkenazy and Pinchas Zukerman (London/Decca) was released in February 2000. His May 2000 recording with Kennedy, "Duos for Violin & Cello," received unanimous critical acclaim (EMI). Most recently, Mr. Harrell recorded Tchaikovsky's Variations for Cello and Orchestra on a Rococo Theme, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 2, and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Gerard Schwarz conducting (Classico).
Lynn Harrell's experience as an educator is wide and varied. From 1985-93 he held the International Chair for Cello Studies at the Royal Academy in London. Concurrently, from 1988-92, he was Artistic Director of the orchestra, chamber music and conductor training program at the L.A. Philharmonic Institute. In 1993, he became head of the Royal Academy in London, a post he held through 1995. He has also given master classes at the Verbier and Aspen festivals and in major metropolitan areas throughout the world. Since the start of the 2002-03 academic year, Mr. Harrell has taught cello at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.
Lynn Harrell was born in New York to musician parents. He began his musical studies in Dallas and proceeded to the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the first Avery Fisher Award.
Mr. Harrell plays a 1720 Montagnana. He makes his home in Santa Monica, CA
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Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar |
Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar
Performing July 18th
Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas established himself as one of the world's leading classical guitarists by winning the Gold Medal at the first Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition in May, 2006. Sáinz Villegas' prize-winning performance with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has led to concerts in more than thirty countries. These include his four-performance debut with the New York Philharmonic under renowned conductor, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and the success of these performances resulted in two subsequent engagements with the orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall.
Sáinz Villegas made his debut with the Houston Symphony under conductor, Alondra de la Parra, with whom he once again collaborated as a soloist for a Sony Classical recording with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. In June, 2009 he also completed a very successful twelve-concert-tour with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Israel under the baton of Frühbeck de Burgos. Other orchestral performances include appearances with internationally-acclaimed orchestras in the U.K., Australia, Spain, Russia, Denmark, France, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, the United States, and Austria, in such prestigious concerts halls as the Musikverein in Vienna.
Sáinz Villegas' worldwide recitals have led him to play at the Berliner Philharmoniker Chamber Music Hall in Berlín and earned him ongoing engagements at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia. His upcoming recital schedule takes him to the continents of Europe, Central America, South America, North America and Asia.
Born in Spain, but now living in New York City, Sáinz Villegas' combination of charismatic stage presence, deep passion for his music and stunning technical abilities, deliver performances that have consistently brought audiences to their feet. Recently, Sáinz Villegas won Spain's prestigious, "El Ojo Critico" Award (the Critics Eye). Only one award a year is given in the field of classical music and it is the first time the Spanish award has ever been presented to a guitarist. Prior to winning the Parkening Competition, Sáinz Villegas had already received more than thirty international awards, including the Andrés Segovia Award.
Known for his outreach programs, Sáinz Villegas is the founder of "The Music Without Borders Legacy," a program that seeks to leverage the inspirational power of classical music to bridge communities across cultural, social, and political borders for the benefit of children and youth.
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Rita Costanzi, harp |
Rita Costanzi, harp
performing July 18th
Harpist Rita Costanzi resided in Vancouver for 28 years and was one of the city's most recognizable artists, sharing her talents as concert performer, recording artist, actor, teacher, composer, writer, fundraiser and public speaker. She was Principal Harp of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Radio Orchestra and on the faculties of the University of British Columbia School of Music, the Comox Valley Youth Music Center and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific. Having established her reputation as an artist of rare depth and expression, she was soloist with orchestras across Canada and with every major arts organization in Vancouver. As a recipient of commissioning grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council, she premiered many new works written especially for her.
Invitations from the Tanglewood, Marlboro, Chautauqua, Sitka and Bellingham Festivals, the World Harp Congress, Cambridge Music Conference and Musikfest Horwelten reflect her status as an internationally acclaimed artist. Rita Costanzi's inspired performances and teaching at the Brazilian FEMUSC International Festival were featured on television and in numerous newspaper articles. In addition to her yearly association with FEMUSC, she has also been re-engaged as Artist/Teacher to Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordao and III Rio International Harp Festival. Recently, she adjudicated and performed at the Montreal Symphony Standard Life Competition and was invited to give a week of Master Classes for the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System.
Adding a new dimension to her performance art, Rita Costanzi astounds audiences with the three monodramas written especially for her. She is currently working with Broadway Director Arthur Masella on a one woman show which is making its New York Debut at the United Solo Theatre Festival, October, 2011. The West Coast Music Awards nominated her solo Classical CD, Of Fields and Forests for "Best Classical Album". Vancouver Television introduced her in its series Pacific Profiles featuring prominent and unique individuals living in Vancouver and CBC Radio's Tapestry devoted a documentary to her work playing for the terminally ill. Her fourth and most recent CD, Song of the Stars, an album of Celtic music for contemplation and healing, received a Five Star rating from CBC Radio's Sound Advice. Her latest composition, Beneath Her Heart, for Women's Choir, Children's Choir and Narrator, was premiered by Vancouver's Elektra Women's Choir in April, 2008.
Costanzi's distinguished teaching career includes Master Classes in conjunction with her solo appearances as well as at the Juilliard and Eastman Schools, the Peabody Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, the University of Toronto School of Music, McGill University, the Glenn Gould School and New York University where she subsequently taught for three years as Adjunct Professor of Harp.
Ms. Costanzi's training began at an early age under the guidance of her father, the noted violist Francis Tursi, and harpist Eileen Malone. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music with Highest Distinction and the Performer's Certificate, she furthered her studies with Bernard Zighera, Marcel Grandjany, and in France on an ITT International Fellowship with Jacqueline Borot. She was twice winner of the American Harp Society's National Competition and recipient of the Lily Laskine Award for the most outstanding solo harp recital.
Rita Costanzi relocated to New York City in April, 2007 and can be found at: www.ritacostanzi.com
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Tamara Mumford, mezzo soprano |
Tamara Mumford, mezzo soprano
performing July 21st
This season, up-and-coming mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford returns the Metropolitan Opera in the new productions of Anna Bolena and the complete Ring Cycle, and appears in the world premiere of John Adams new oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A graduate of the Metropolitan Operas Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ms. Mumford made her debut there as Laura in Luisa Miller, and has since appeared in their productions of Rigoletto, Ariadne auf Naxos, Il Trittico, Parsifal, Idomeneo, Cavalleria Rusticana, Nixon in China, The Queen of Spades, the complete Ring Cycle, and The Magic Flute. Ms. Mumford has appeared in the Metropolitan Operas Met Live in HD series broadcasts of The Magic Flute, Nixon in China, Manon Lescaut, Das Rheingold, and Il Trittico, and this season will appear in the broadcast of Anna Bolena. A native of Sandy, Utah, Ms. Mumford holds a Bachelors of Music from Utah State University.
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Paul Johnson, tenor |
Paul Johnson, tenor
performing July 21st
A native of Kansas, Paul L. Johnson has a wide range of performing experience in concert and opera. He has received critical acclaim for his performances with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Brittens War Requiem, and Bach’s St. John Passion, with the Seattle Symphony in productions of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Handel’s Messiah. With the Seattle Symphony, he has sung several West Coast premiers of music by Stephen Albert and a world premiere of Bright Sheng’s fragments from The Song of Majnun. Performances with the Oregon Symphony include “Mozart ‘Til Midnight” concert, Carmina Burana, and Messiah. He was featured in Bruckner’s Te Deum with The Pacific Symphony and Chorale in Orange County.
Mr. Johnson has also performed with the Spokane, Tucson, American Youth, Nashville, Wichita, and Pacific Symphonies under the baton of such noted conductors as Gerard Schwarz, Donald Runnicles, James DePreist, William McGlaughlin, Mehli Mehta, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Kazimierz Kord, Murray Sidlin, Michael Palmer, Bruce Ferden, and Roger Wagner.
He has appeared with the Pittsburg Oratorio Society singing Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Handel’s Samson. Other guest appearances include the Cascade Festival of Music, the Long Beach Bach Festival , the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and the Messiah Festival in Lindsborg, KS were he sang both Evangelist and tenor roles in Bach’s Passion according to St. Matthew. He has recorded works of Brahms, Rossini, and Sondheim with the Los Angeles Vocal Arts Ensemble. Mr. Johnson received his degree from California State University, Los Angeles, and studied voice with Beatrice Rowe, Pasadena, California. He resides in Bellingham with his wife, soprano, Cynthia Johnson.
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Charles Robert Stephens, baritone |
Charles Robert Stephens, baritone
performing July 21st
Charles Robert Stephens has enjoyed a career spanning a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. His performances have shown “a committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty.” (Opera News, 1995) At the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo’s Little Women, and was hailed by the New York Times as a “baritone of smooth distinction.” Other New York City Opera roles since his debut as Marcello in 1995 include Frank in Die Tote Stadt, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, and Germont in La Traviata. He has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in a variety of roles with Opera Orchestra of New York, the Oratorio Society of New York, the Masterworks Chorus, and Musica Sacra.
In his twenty years in New York City Mr. Stephens has sung as guest soloist with most of New York’s premiere ensembles including Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, Ascension Music, L’Opera Francais de New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, and many others. Now based in Seattle he has sung with Seattle Symphony, Tacoma and Spokane Symphony and Opera Companies, Portland Chamber Orchestra and many other the orchestras and opera companies in the Pacific Northwest. On the international stage he has sung Rigoletto at Taipei’s National Theater, Sharpless in Santo Domingo, Germont and Valentin (Faust) in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Montano (Otello) in Mexico City. Concert tours have taken him to France, Russia, and Canada. In the United States Mr. Stephens has sung leading roles throughout the country.
A native of New London, Connecticut, Mr. Stephens received his training at the University of Connecticut, Boston University, the Goldovsky Opera Institute, and the Santa Fe Opera