Frank Almond, Artistic Director Monday, April 16, 2012 – 7 p.m.
Schwan Hall Wisconsin Lutheran College
British Invasion Frank Almond, violin Ilana Setapen, violin Cynthia Phelps, viola Robert deMaine, cello Orion Weiss, piano William Walton (1902 - 1983) Sonata for Violin and Piano (1948) Allegro tranquillo Variazioni Frank Almond, violin Orion Weiss, piano Intermission Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934) Quintet in A minor for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 84 Moderato-allegro Adagio Andante-allegro
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FR ANK ALMOND Violinist Frank Almond holds the Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the MSO after holding positions as Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, and Guest Concertmaster of the London Philharmonic with Kurt Masur. He has also appeared as a guest concertmaster for the Seattle Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, and the Grand Tetons Music Festival. He continues an active schedule of solo and chamber music performances in the US and abroad including appearances with the Ojai Festival, the Cape and Islands Festival, Frankly Music, the Nara Academy in Nara, Japan, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Music in the Vineyards, and various solo appearances with orchestras. He has been a member of the chamber group An die Musik in New York City since 1997, and also directs the highly successful Frankly Music Chamber Series based in Milwaukee. At 17, he was one of the youngest prizewinners in the history of the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy, and five years later was one of two American prizewinners at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which was documented in an awardwinning PBS film. Since then he has kept up an eclectic mix of activities in addition to his Concertmaster duties, appearing both as a soloist and chamber musician. In addition to his work with An die Musik, Mr. Almond’s talent as a chamber musician has generated collaborations over the years with many of today’s well-known institutions, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Hal Leonard Corporation, the Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Music in the Vineyards, and numerous other summer festivals. 2 Frankly Music
He has recorded for Summit, Albany, Boolean (his own label), Innova, Newport Classic, Wergo and New Albion and has appeared numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today. In both 2002 and 2004 An die Musik received Grammy nominations for its “Timeless Tales” series. The re-release of Mr. Almond’s recording of the complete Brahms Sonatas, performed in collaboration with pianist William Wolfram, brought extraordinary critical acclaim, and was listed in the American Record Guide top recordings of 2001. Frank’s most recent CD with William Wolfram was released on the AVIE label to much acclaim, and was named a “Best of 2007” by the American Record Guide. His new CD of American violin and piano music was released in 2010 on Innova Recordings with pianist Brian Zeger, and has also received outstanding press response. A CD of selected works of Samuel Barber was recently released, in cooperation with the Hal Leonard Corporation. Another is planned this year featuring previously unpublished works of Aaron Copland. Mr. Almond holds two degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. Other important teachers included Michael Tseitlin, Felix Galimir, and Joseph Silverstein. He has held academic positions at San Diego State University and Texas Christian University, and was recently a guest of the New World Symphony, the esteemed training orchestra founded by Michael Tilson Thomas. He has given masterclasses throughout the U.S. and abroad, and In 2010 he joined the faculty at Northwestern University, When he’s not traveling around playing the violin he lives in Milwaukee with his wife and two young daughters. He plays on a violin by Antonio Stradivari from 1715, the “ex-Lipinski”. In 2008 he started writing the popular online column called nondivisi.
ORION WEISS Pianist Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American musicians. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him acclaim from audiences, critics and colleagues in a wide range of repertoire and formats. In September 2010, Mr. Weiss was named the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, and will release a recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev and Bartok this year. He will also be featured in a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. During the 201112 season, Mr. Weiss will perform with numerous orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Albany Symphony, and Mexico City Philharmonic. He also makes his recital debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Continuing his close relationships as a collaborator, Mr. Weiss performs this season and regularly with his wife, pianist Anna Polonsky, as well as working again with the Pacifica Quartet and multiple recital partners. In the summer of 2011, Mr. Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as a lastminute replacement for Leon Fleisher. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra,Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,Slovenian Philharmonic, and in duo summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at both Lincoln Center and the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. He has also appeared with the symphony orchestras of Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Rochester, Albany, Annapolis, Louisville, Vancouver, and Omaha, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, Pacific Symphony
and Oregon Symphony, among others. He toured the US with the Orchester der Klangverwaltung Munich in October 2007. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Mr. Weiss has appeared across the US at venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival, Sheldon Concert Hall, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, the Bard Music Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Spivey Hall. He won the 2005 Juilliard William Petschek Award and made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall that April. Also in 2005, he made his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He was a member of the Chamber Music Society Twoprogram of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2002-2004, which included his appearance in the opening concert of the Society’s 2002-03 season at Alice Tully Hall performing Ravel’s La Valse with pianist Shai Wosner. Mr. Weiss’s impressive list of awards includes the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at the Juilliard School and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship. A native of Lyndhurst, OH, Mr. Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly.Other teachers include Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown, and Edith Reed. In February of 1999, Mr. Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Mr. Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’sPiano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.
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ROBERT deMAINE Praised by The New York Times as “An artist who makes one hang on every note,” American virtuoso cellist Robert deMaine has distinguished himself as one of the finest and versatile musicians of his generation, having performed worldwide to critical acclaim from Carnegie Hall to the Teatro Colon. A first-prizewinner in many national and international competitions, Mr. deMaine became, in 1990, the first cellist ever to win the Grand Prize at San Francisco’s Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As soloist, he has collaborated with conductors Neeme Jarvi, Peter Oundjian, Joseph Silverstein, and Leonard Slatkin, among many others, and has performed virtually all of the major cello concerto repertoire with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he has been Principal Cellist since 2002. Mr. deMaine has also served as a guest principal in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Robert deMaine counts among his chamber-music partners violinists James Ehnes, Hilary Hahn, Ani and Ida
Kavafian, pianists Andrew Armstrong, Orion Weiss, and Yefim Bronfman, and has appeared at many international music festivals, including those of Marlboro, Aspen, Heidelberg, San Miguel de Allende, Montreal, and Seattle. He is also the cellist of four newly-established chamber groups: The Chroma Piano Trio, Trio21, Icarus (Flute, Cello, Piano), and the Ehnes Quartet. A dedicated teacher, Mr. deMaine has presented masterclasses throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is a regular guest of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. He has also taught at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. Also a composer, Robert deMaine has written many works for the cello, including Twelve Etudes-Caprices, which he performs regularly. Several important composers have written large-scale works for him, including Chris Theofanidis, Joel Eric Suben, and Jeffrey Mumford. Soon to be released are two recordings by deMaine on the Blue Griffin label: a recital disc featuring works by Rachmaninov, Faure, and Grieg with the pianist Andrew Armstrong, and the Haydn Cello Concertos with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
CYNTHIA PHELPS Cynthia Phelps is the New York Philharmonic’s Principal Viola (The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair). Her solo appearances with the Orchestra have included performances on the 2006 Tour of Italy, sponsored by Generali, and the 1999 premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths, which the Orchestra commissioned for her and Philharmonic Associate Principal Viola Rebecca Young. Other solo engagements have included the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao. Ms. Phelps performs with The Chamber Music 4 Frankly Music
Society of Lincoln Center, Boston Chamber Music Society, and Bargemusic. She has toured internationally with the Zukerman and Friends Ensemble; appeared with The Kalichstein-LaredoRobinson Trio and the Guarneri, American, Brentano, and Prague string quartets; and has given recitals in the music capitals of Europe and the U.S. Her honors include the Pro Musicis International Award and first prize in the Lionel Tertis International Viola and Washington International String competitions. Her most recent album, for flute, viola, and harp, on Telarc, was nominated for a Grammy Award.She has released a solo CD on Cala Records. Ms. Phelps has performed on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, NPR, Radio France, and RAI in Italy.
I L A N A S E TA P E N Since her solo orchestral debut at age 15 with the Amarillo Symphony, Ilana Setapen has been flourishing as a violinist with a powerful and original voice. She is currently the Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Assistant Concertmaster of the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in Chicago. Recently Ms. Setapen has made solo appearances with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Riverside Philharmonic, the Pasadena Pops, the American Youth Symphony, the Idaho Falls Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra, among others. She is also a frequent performer on the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago. Ms. Setapen has won top prizes in many competitions, such as the Irving M. Klein International String Competition,
the Pasadena Showcase Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition. At the age of 21, she became concertmaster of the Riverside Philharmonic in Los Angeles. She has also held concertmaster positions with the Juilliard Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the USC Thornton Symphony. Also a passionate chamber musician, Ms. Setapen was for two years the first violinist of the award-winning Calla Quartet in New York. Her talent has also led her to collaborations with such distinguished artists as Ron Leonard, Lynn Harrell, Toby Appel, Peter Stumpf, Paul Coletti, the Fine Arts Quartet, Frank Almond, Joe Johnson, Todd Levy, and David Geber. Solo and chamber music performances have brought her abroad to France, Brazil, Holland, England, Monaco, and Italy. She is now a member of the Milwaukee based Arcas Quartet. She performs on a 1624 Brothers Amati violin on loan from Frank Almond.
F R A N K LY M U S I C B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S Linda Tojek, President Jean Holmburg, Vice President Marta Haas, Secretary Calvin C. Kozlowski, Treasurer Frank Almond Dr. Russell Brooker Linda Tojek Patricia Crump Laurence Tucker Judy Keyes Linda L. Saladin Wendy Slocum Barbara Wanless Frank Almond, Artistic Director Linda L. Saladin, Executive Director
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2 011- 2 012 F R A N K LY M U S I C S E A S O N PAT R O N S $5,000 to $9,999 Frank Almond $3,000 to $4,999 Patrice Bringe Greater Milwaukee Foundation Judith A. Keyes Greater Milwaukee Foundation Barry and Eileen Mandelhosts of the 2011 fundraiser United Performing Arts Fund $2,000 to $2,999 CAMPAC Robert and Mary Jane Denton James and Linda Saladin Michael & Jeanne Schmitz $1,000 to $1,999 Dr. Christine Bryke and Dr. Anthony Garber Greg Chrisafis Megan Holbrook and Eric Vogel Charles & Jean Holmburg Angela Johnston Sanford & Katharine Mallin Peter & Wendy Slocum $500 to $999 Dr. Frank Almond James and Roberta Caraway Franklyn Eisenberg Michael Gonzalez Doyne and Marta Haas Christel Mildenberg Mary Ellen Mitchanis Bill & Gwen Niewoehner Roger and Nancy Ritzow Dr. Thomas and Harriet Russell Joan Urdan Don & Kate Wilson Wisconsin Lutheran College *
$250 to $499 Dr. Russell and Karen Brooker Phillip and Patricia Crump Il Mito Restaurant* Robert and Gail Korb Cal & Lynn Kozlowski Don and JoAnne Krause Tom and Jane Lacy Arthur & Nancy Laskin John & Martha Lubing Allen and Pat Rieselbach Roger Ritzow Dr. Thomas Russell Kathleen Ryan Barbara Wanless Catherine Wendt Jim and Susee Wiechmann $100 to $249 Connie Almond Dave and Chris Abbott James Chapson Mr. & Mrs. Howard Dubner Franklyn Eisenberg Dr. & Mrs Ed Filmanowicz Katherine Grogan Jean Gurney David and Margarete Harvey David and Judith Hecker Barbara Holland Gordon and Dorothy Kenngott Marty and Alice Krebs Alexander & Mary MacGillis Keith Mardak Mason Street Grille* Mae-Carol Matousek Cindy H. Molloy Metavante** Milwaukee Repertory Theater* Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra* Duane and Karen Nadolski Patricia Nylen and Thomas Wickersham S. J. Janis Co. Linda Radder
RBC Foundation** Harris & Charlene Roufas Charles and Patricia Roy Allan and Jo Salzstein Larry and Kathy Schnuck Elaine Schueler Sharon Lynne Wilson Center For the Arts* Skylight Opera Theatre* Gile & Linda Tojek Laurence and Rise Tucker Stacy Williams Norm & Prati Wojtal $99 and under Fred and Kay Austermann Farlin and Verla Caufield Joyce Gudeman Carol Goldstein David and Carol Jones Judy & Gary Jorgensen Ann Leys David and Maria Luce Milwaukee Chamber Theatre* Next Act Theatre* Mary Novak Jane O’Connell Karen Peters Present Music* Darlene Roberts Judith Ruland Fred & MaryBeth Schmelzer Mary Ellen Schmidt Sabina Silver George Simonds Robert and Alice Streicher Sherman & Donna Swanson Temple Hills Coffee* Joy Towell Thomas Varney Joy Towell Wisconsin Energy Foundation** *in-kind donations **matching gift
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Please note special added concert:
An Evening of Tango May 21, 2012, 7 PM Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Brookfield Frank Almond, violin Stas Venglevski, bayan Roza Borisova, cello Nell Buchman, piano Get tickets at wilson-center.com
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