2nd Performance I 2018-2019 Academic Year I Conservatory of Music I University of the Pacific
RESIDENT ARTIST SERIES Friday I September 14, 2018 I 7:30 pm Recital Hall
ANN MILLER violin SONIA LEONG piano Guest Artist BENJAMIN MITCHELL clarinet
CONCERT PROGRAM I SEPTEMBER 14 I 7:30 PM Ann Miller, violin; Sonia Leong, piano Sonata for Piano and Violin in F Major, Op. 24, “Spring” Allegro Adagio molto espressivo Scherzo: Allegro molto Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Contemplations I. II. “the sick moon” III. IV.
Alyssa Weinberg (b. 1988)
With Benjamin Mitchell, clarinet Intermission Largo for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
With Benjamin Mitchell, clarinet Concerto, Op. 14 Allegro Moderato Andante Presto in moto perpetuo
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Benjamin Mitchell Clarinetist Benjamin Mitchell is the founder and president of Kaleidoscope, a conductor-less orchestra comprised of some of the leading musicians in Los Angeles. Additionally, he has appeared as a regular substitute with the Houston Symphony and was invited for multiple summers to the Aspen Music Festival and Lucerne Festival Academy. At Lucerne, Benjamin performed as principal clarinet under the direction of Pierre Boulez, with extensive coaching from members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Through his work with Kaleidoscope, Benjamin has received outstanding reviews from the LA Times, Huffington Post, and was recently honored by Musical America as one of the most innovative people in classical music. He has also developed community partnerships for many free performances at schools, hospitals, homeless shelters, and other underserved parts of Los Angeles. A strong interest in contemporary music has led Benjamin to work closely with composers including Thomas Adès, Krists Auznieks, George Benjamin, Pierre Boulez, Elliot Carter, Donald Crockett, Viet Cuong, Lukas Foss, Saad Haddad, Will Healy, Ted Hearne, David Hertzberg, Yuan-Chen Li,
Paul Moravec, Charles Peck, Matthias Pintscher, Adam Schoenberg, Gunther Schuller, Peter Shin, Alyssa Weinberg, and Pamela Z. As a chamber musician, Benjamin has performed with principal members from the Berliner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, TonhalleOrchester Zürich, Eighth Blackbird, and at the Thy Kammermusik Festival in Denmark. Last summer he also premiered a new clarinet quintet by Alyssa Weinberg with the Enso String Quartet. Benjamin holds degrees from UCLA, USC, Rice University, Indiana University, and the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. He is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and a graduate of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles. Ann Miller A celebrated violinist, Ann Miller has appeared in concert ha lls thr o u gh o u t N o r th America, Europe, and Asia. A proponent of new music, Ms. Miller made her New York debut as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble in Alice Tully Hall in the North American premiere of David Matthews’ Concerto No. 2. She has performed with the ensemble Continuum in venues in Mongolia and Ukraine as well as New York City. In addition, Ms. Miller participated in an exchange program between the Juilliard School and the Lucerne Festival Academy which culminated in performances in Switzerland and New York under the direction of Pierre Boulez. Recent solo appearances include performances of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Tartini’s Devil’s Trill with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, the Brahms Violin Concerto with the University of the Pacific’s Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the St. John’s Chamber Orchestra, and Brahms’s Double Concerto with cellist Ira Lehn and the Mariposa Symphony in Yosemite National Park. As a recitalist, Ms. Miller frequently collaborates with pianist Sonia Leong and has appeared on Old First Concerts in San Francisco and the University of the Pacific’s Resident Artist Series. Their album of music by Beaser, Ysaÿe, and Bartók entitled Perspectives on Light and Shadow was released in 2015. Ms. Miller is an associate professor of violin at the Conservatory of Music of the University of the Pacific. She holds her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School, and she received her Bachelor of
Music, summa cum laude, from Rice University. Her teachers have included Ronald Copes and Kathleen Winkler. Her chamber music coaches have included Jerome Lowenthal, Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Norman Fischer, James Dunham, Paul Katz, and members of the Juilliard and Tokyo string quartets. Ms. Miller has participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar and has spent summers at Kneisel Hall, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In addition to her passion for music, she enjoys running, reading, and vegetarian food. Sonia Leong Pianist Sonia Leong has performed in Canada, the United States, England, Romania, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. She has appeared with the Filharmonica de Stat Dinu Lipatti in Satu Mare, Romania, the Banff Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Stockton Symphony, the St. John Chamber Orchestra, and has performed live on Radio Suisse Romande in Geneva. She was a prizewinner at the Concours Piano 80, Switzerland, and a finalist at the Concorso Pianistico Nazionale “Città de Cesenatico,” Italy. From 2001 to 2003, she played with Music Now, a new music ensemble based in Sacramento. She appears regularly on the Sierra Chamber Society concert series, both with her trio and in other chamber music combinations. Ms. Leong studied at the University of British Columbia, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Université de Montréal, as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, on a Commonwealth Scholarship. Her principal teachers include Robert Silverman, Julian Martin, and Marc Durand. She has participated in festivals at the Banff Centre; Orford, Quebec; Scotia Festival; Ladevie, France; and Ernen, Switzerland (with György Sebök). The St. Galler Tagblatt (Switzerland) wrote of Ms. Leong’s “ richly colorful and tender playing,” saying “she balances intelligence and sensitivity, revealing the depths of each score.” The San Francisco Classical Voice described her “sensitive and accomplished touch,” and wrote “Leong… played the brilliant piano part effortlessly and with a great deal of flair.” Dr. Leong has taught at the University of Puget Sound, and currently teaches at the University of the Pacific, where she is a founding member of the in-residence piano trio, Trio 180.
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