Russell Podgorsek (b. 1980) - Duo Concertante (World Premiere)
Paul Seitz (b. 1951) - Relevant Dialogues (in two movements)
Libby Larsen (b. 1950) - Bid Call
I. Rapidfire
II. Traige
III. Rapidfire with Bodran
The Irrelevants: Carrie Koffman and Tim Deighton
About the Artists:
Daniel Avshalomov is violist of the American String Quartet. Before joining the Quartet, he was principal violist for the orchestras of the Spoleto, Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals as well as for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra. He performed as solo violist with the Bolshoi Ballet and was a founding member of the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. A frequent guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet, he has also been featured artist with such groups as the Da Camera Society, Marin Music Fest and La Musica di Asolo, and has shared the stage with Norbert Brainin, Misha Dichter, Maureen Forrester, Bruno Giuranna and the Juilliard and Tokyo quartets. Mr. Avshalomov gave the premiere in New York of Giampaolo Bracali's Concerto per Viola, which has also been broadcast in Europe by RAI. His essays and criticism appear in respected musical journals, and he has prepared editions of contemporary viola works for publication. His most recent recording, Three Generations Avshalomov (Albany Records), was featured on NPR's All Things Considered and in Classical Pulse. Recent solo appearances have included recitals in Vermont, New York, Florida, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. He is a faculty member of Manhattan School of Music as well as Aspen Music School. For balance he climbs mountains. His instrument is by Andrea Amati (Cremona, 1568).
Pianist Joanne Polk has been
catapulted into the public eye because of her traversal of the complete
piano works of American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944). In March 2000,
Ms. Polk celebrated the centennial of Beachís Piano Concerto in C-sharp
minor by giving the work its London premiere with the English Chamber
Orchestra at the Barbican Centre under the baton of Paul Goodwin. A few
days later, Ms. Polk performed the same concerto with the Women's
Philharmonic in San Francisco with conductor Apo Hsu in a performance
described as "brilliant" by critic Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco
Chronicle. He went on to describe Ms. Polkís performance as "an enormously
vital, imaginative reading. Her playing was expansive in the opening
movement, brittle and keen in the delightful scherzo. She brought a
light touch to the foreshortened slow movement and fearless technical
panache to the showy conclusion."
Empress of Night, released
on Arabesque Recordings, is the fifth volume of Ms. Polk's ongoing survey
of Beach's piano works, and includes the Piano Concerto with the English
Chamber Orchestra, again with Paul Goodwin conducting. The first recording
in the Beach series, by the still waters, received the 1998 INDIE award
for best solo recording. In the fifth volume of the series, Morning
Glories, Ms. Polk joins the Lark Quartet in three outstanding chamber
music works by Amy Beach. Two all-Beach performances at Merkin Concert
Hall, which featured Joanne Polk and the Lark Quartet, were applauded
by the New York Times, that reviewed Polkís performances as
"polished and assured." The American Record Guide reported, "Polk
and the Larks played their hearts out. We in the audience shouted
ourselves hoarse with gratitude."
Prior to recording the complete
piano music of Amy Beach, Ms. Polk recorded lieder and chamber music
for Arabesque Recordings. Completely Clara: Lieder by Clara Wieck
Schumann, Ms. Polk's debut CD for Arabesque Recording featuring
Metropolitan Opera soprano Korliss Uecker, was selected as a "Best of
the Year" recording by the Seattle Times and was featured on
Performance Today on National Public Radio. Ms. Polk's most
recent CD for Albany Records, Callisto, was released in January 2004
and features the solo piano music of Judith Lang Zaimont. She has
recorded a CD of Amy Beach songs, with baritone Patrick Mason
for Bridge Records, due for release in 2005.
Ms. Polk has performed in solo
recitals; with chamber ensembles; and as a soloist with orchestras in
Europe, the United States and Australia. With composer Judith Lang
Zaimont, she cofounded American Accent, a New Yorkñbased contemporary
music group specializing in coveted repeat performances of new
works.
Ms. Polk received her bachelor of
music and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School and her
doctor of musical arts degree from Manhattan School of Music.
She has recently given master classes at the Summit Music Festival
and at the University of Minnesota and joined the piano faculty
of the Castelnuovo di Garfagnana Music Festival in Italy in the
summer of 2004. She is presently the director of the Precollege
Division at Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Polk is an exclusive
Steinway artist.
Tim Deighton is
Associate Professor of viola at Penn State University, where he
also teaches chamber music, viola literature and pedagogy, and
directs the Penn State Viola Ensemble. A native of New Zealand,
he received a bachelor of music and first class honours degree
from Victoria University of Wellington, an artist diploma from
the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, and a
doctor of musical arts degree in violin and viola from the University
of Kansas. He is a National Recording Artist for Radio New Zealand,
and was a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
In 2002 Deighton was
recognized as Outstanding String Teacher of the Year by the
Pennsylvania-Delaware String Teachers Association. A regular
contributor to musical periodicals, his articles have appeared in
such publications as Strings, the American String Teacher, Journal
of the American Viola Society, the New York Violist, and
VIOLOZ (the Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Viola
Society). In 1999 he organized and directed "ViolaFest," a three-day
event at Penn State, involving more than 200 violists from across
North America and abroad.
Having long held a fascination for
new music, he has performed International, U.S., European, and Australasian
premieres of numerous works, several of which were commissioned by or written
for him. As a member of the contemporary chamber music duo "The Irrelevants,"
he and saxophonist Carrie Koffman have commissioned and premiered many new
works. They appeared at the 2003 World Saxophone Congress and at the XXXII
International Viola Congress in June 2004. In April 2001 he was featured
as an invited performer at the XXVIII International Viola Congress, where he
performed several new works for solo viola. His first solo CD, featuring
music for viola by New Zealand composers, was released in 2002 on the Atoll
label. His playing on this disc was described in The Strad as "brilliant
and differentiated," and the CD was ranked by the New Zealand Listener
one of the Top 10 classical recordings of 2002.
Deighton appears frequently in
recital with his wife, pianist Ann Deighton. During the summer he serves
on the faculty of the International Musical Arts Institute (IMAI) at
Fryeburg, Maine. Other recent solo and chamber music appearances at
festivals have included Music at Penn's Woods (PA), The Pierre Monteux
Festival (ME), the Gold Coast Music Festival (CA), the Dublin International
Symphonic Festival, Ireland, Rencontres Musicales Internationales des
Graves, France, and the Adam New Zealand Festival of Chamber
Music.
Carrie Koffman joined the
faculty of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford in the fall
of 2003. Prior to this, she held positions as Assistant Professor of
Saxophone at Penn State University, Assistant Professor of Saxophone
at the University of New Mexico, and taught at Boston University.
Recent performances have included
the Faenza International Saxophone Festival in Italy; a tour throughout
New Zealand; the Xi'an International Clarinet and Saxophone Festival
in China; the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan; the Virginia
Arts Festival; the International Viola Congress; the World Saxophone
Congress; the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conventions;
and the International Double Reed Convention in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Koffman has been a featured
soloist with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Pennsylvania Centre
Chamber Orchestra, the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hartt
Wind Ensemble, the PSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the UNM Wind
Symphony. Among her ensemble performing credits are appearances with
the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut, Sequitur in New York
City, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra,
and the Santa Fe Symphony.
She is a member of the
contemporary chamber music duo, "The Irrelevants," with violist
Tim Deighton. Additionally, she appears frequently as a soloist,
chamber musician, and clinician throughout the United States.
Commissions and premieres include compositions by Lawrence Blind,
Michael Colgrass, Stephen Michael Gryc, Michael Mauldin, Gunther
Schuller, Christopher Schultis, James Sellars, and William Wood,
in addition to several works commissioned by "The Irrelevants."
Koffman's saxophone students
have won numerous competitions. She also formerly taught saxophone
for the All-State Program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts,
and was the Director of Bands at Belleville South Middle School in
Belleville, Michigan. Koffman is a graduate with high honors from
the University of Michigan where she studied with Donald Sinta,
and the University of North Texas where she studied with James
Riggs and Eric Nestler.
The Irrelevants:
Carrie and Tim first met as members of the music
faculty at Penn State University. Their collaboration as performers
began as the result of discussions about their pedagogical philosophies
and surprise at the similarities in their approaches to music making
and teaching. They became intrigued by the sonic possibilities
created by the saxophone and the viola together, and began searching
for musical vehicles that would allow them to further explore this
sound combination.
They discovered a few interesting
existing compositions, but felt that the potential was largely
untapped, so they began to look for composers who shared their curiosity
about this sound. The Irrelevants have commissioned and premiered works
by composers Charles Griffin, Michael Kimber, Mark Kuss, Martin Lodge,
David Macbride, Russell Podgorsek, Dan Roman, Paul Seitz, Bruce Trinkley,
Joseph Turrin and Michael Williams. They have also given first
performances of new versions of works by Libby Larsen and Hilary
Tann.
The Irrelevants have performed
throughout the United States, New Zealand and in Italy, including
appearances at the World Saxophone Congress and the International
Viola Congress. The venues in which they perform range from academic
institutions and new music festivals to community chamber music series.
Although Carrie now lives in Connecticut, the duo continues to
thrive.
The duo's name
refers to the combination of these two "underdog" instruments.
As they continue performing together however, Carrie and Tim are
amazed by both the complementary sonorities that they produce and
by the new composite sound of their two instruments together.
About the Music:
These Three Canons were composed in October 2006 at the request
of Timothy Deighton, viola professor at Penn State University, to
be premiered by him and violist Daniel Avshalomov in a shared recital
for the New York Viola Society on December 4, 2006. Canons 1 and 3
are exercises in twelve-tone composition. While I rarely compose in
this idiom, I find the process of making engaging music out of
pre-compositionally determined sets of pitches to be intriguing.
Thank you, Arnold, Alban, Anton, et al. Canon 2 is not twelve-tone;
it could be considered an homage to 20th-century composer and violist
Paul Hindemith. Violists will recognize the similarity of the canon's
opening to music heard in both the first movement of Hindemithís
Trauermusik for viola and strings and the "Grablegung" movement of
his symphony Mathis der Maler. - Michael Kimber
In 2000 Michael Kimber composed a work for either solo saxophone
or solo viola, Monolog i Krakowiak (Soliloquy and Krakovian Dance).
While this has been performed successfully in both the U.S. and Poland,
the idea of making it into some sort of ensemble piece persisted in the
composer's mind. A request by The Irrelevants for a duo offered the
necessary stimulus, and the happy result was Dialog i Krakowiak, with
the two players sharing the original solo material in alternation with
new material. The first movement, Dialog, performed tonight,
opens with
a dramatic and improvisatory viola solo; this material recurs in varied
form, once with saxophone and again with viola. The mood of the Dialog
is at first pensive and reflective, even somber. After becoming
plaintive, even passionate, it reaches a peaceful conclusion.
The Duo Concertante was written for Carrie Koffman
and Tim Deighton, The Irrelevants. The instrumentation proved to be
somewhat problematic but also very intriguing. The two textures that
made the most sense to my ears immediately were stark unison and complete
chaos. In navigating between those two textures (while mostly avoiding
the saxophone-melody-with-viola-chord-accompaniment) the piece reaches
its critical mass at the times where the listener is unsure of which
instrument he or she is actually hearing. The piece is structured after
the Baroque dance suite that both violists and saxophonists (strangely)
are familiar with playing. The Courante/Corrente and Giga/Gigue differences
reflect the Italian roots of the viola versus the French origin of the
saxophone (at first mismatched and later righted). The Al-Emande and
Zarzuela-bande reflect another international overlap, namely that of
the "Arab" world (Morocco perhaps) and of Spain. The inclusion of
Quadruples is a mathematical extension of the variation technique,
Double (the Doubles of the Doubles). - Russell Podgorsek
Composed for The Irrelevants, the duo of saxophonist Carrie Koffman
and violist Tim Deighton, the title of the composition, Relevant
Dialogues, refers to the duo, of course, but also represents
two specific formal goals of the composition. "Relevant" is defined as
"having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand," and I
wanted these movements to be entirely distinct and yet connected with
one another in terms of specific pitch/interval motives. A "dialogue"
is "a conversation between two people," and I wanted to explore a kind
of musical conversation in which the audience could follow both the
introduction of new ideas by one individual as well as the unspoken
processing of the listening partner. The two conversationalists
exchange these roles, of course, and, sometimes, perform them
simultaneously (as in the conversations we all have). Movement 1
is filled with references to familiar bluegrass fiddle riffs, without
the traditional song form of the real thing - a kind of synthetic
bluegrass. Movement 2 is the most vocal, introspective and contrapuntal
of the three. - Paul Seitz
Bid Call resulted from the investigation that
saxophonist Paul Bro and I have of finding musical form in American
language traditions. In the last piece that Paul and I collaborated
on, Holy Roller, we looked at the revivalist preacher's musical form.
However, I had been studying auctioneering patter for a long time,
and it suddenly dawned on me that our new piece should explore
auctioneering patter. In the auction business they call it "bidcall"
and people train a long time to develop their own patter and style.
So, this piece is all about auctioneers, styles, pitches, timing,
and complex and wonderful rhythms. Originally scored for saxophone
and cello, this new version of Bid Call for saxophone and viola
was made for The Irrelevants. - Libby Larsen
About the Composers:
Michael Kimber, violist
and composer, is a member of the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and
the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, teaches viola at Coe College, performs
with Red Cedar Chamber Music and the Iowa City Viola Quartet, is on the
Performing Artists Roster of the Iowa Arts Commission, and is an
active member of the Iowa Composers Forum.
He has performed widely in North
America, Europe, and Australia with ensembles as diverse as the Kronos
Quartet, the Atlanta Virtuosi, and the Oread Baroque Ensemble. As a
viola soloist he has been heard on Australian Broadcasting Commission
programs and on National Public Radio's "Performance Today," and often
performs recitals of his own music for solo viola. During a long
career as a viola professor, first at The University of Kansas, then
at The University of Southern Mississippi, he also served as principal
violist of the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Kansas City Camerata,
and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. Every summer he returns to Kansas
City as violist of the Summerfest chamber music series and has served
as its composer-in-residence.
His music is performed throughout
the U.S. and abroad. In 2002 he received the prestigious Music Composition
Award of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. More recent honors
have included premieres of his music by eminent violist Patricia McCarty
in Boston and by the viola/saxophone duo The Irrelevants at the International
Viola Congress in Minneapolis; commissions to compose works for the Valley
High School String Orchestra in West Des Moines, the Iowa City Community
String Orchestra, the West High School Orchestra in Iowa City, and the
Cedar Rapids Symphony Brass and Percussion Ensemble; and having his work
chosen as the theme music for Iowa Public Radio's "Symphonies of Iowa"
concert series.
Russell Podgorsek, violist and
composer, is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music (CT) and the
University of Dayton (OH) where he studied with David Macbride, Larry
Alan Smith and Phillip Magnuson. His wide range of performance experience
extends from singing with the Dayton Opera, to playing with his tango
quartet Cinco de Gallo, to performing with percussionist Dennis
Sullivan as the Perceval duo.
Active as both a performer and
composer, his works have been performed by artists such as John Wesley
Wright, the Fireworks ensemble (NY) and Robert Black with the Hartt
Bass Ensemble at concert halls and universities both in the Midwest
and on the East Coast. In December the Hartt Wind Ensemble will premiere
his "Sinfonia Concertante No. 2" with harp soloist Annabelle Taubl.
As a member of the Perceval duo he performed a number of his own works
including "Songs for the Sane" and "A Contest for the Future" at last
summer's Woodstock Fringe Festival in Woodstock, New York. In February
his "Four Songs" was performed in Maryland by tenor John Wesley Wright
and cellist Jeff Schoyen. Russell was also recently featured in Canada
performing solo and chamber works with violist Jamie Arrowsmith
including the premiere of part of his "Sinfonia Concertante" and a
new piece for viola solo. He has been awarded a number of grants and
fellowships including a Creative Connections Award (formerly Meet the
Composer).
Composer Paul Seitz is a native of Racine,
Wisconsin. His primary composition teachers have included Stephen Dembski,
Fred Lerdahl, Joel Naumann and Robert Crane. He received his D.M.A. in
Composition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His opera, The
Children of the Keweenaw, with libretto by Kathleen Masterson,
was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music Festival and premiered in
2001. William Ivey, former chairman of the National Endowment for the
Arts, interviewed by NPR after the premiere, said that The Children of
the Keweenaw "demonstrates the enduring power of opera to connect
with great stories." Music by Paul Seitz has been performed by many
professional artists and ensembles as well as by many young artists,
including high school All-State and Honors Orchestras in sixteen states.
Highlights of 2004-2005 have included the premiere of Selamiut:
The Sky Dwellers, commissioned by the UNLV Wind Orchestra for
the ensemble's 2005 CD (on the Klavier label), "Spiritual Planet,"
as well as Chicago performances of Five Witnesses by the Barossa
Quintet, performances of In the Moment's Light by the high
school All State Symphony Orchestras of Wisconsin and Georgia,
conducted by Louis Bergonzi, and performances at the International
New Music Festival in Las Vegas. Dr. Seitz has been a lecturer in
music theory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a visiting
professor in music theory and composition at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas. His compositions are available from Theodore Presser Co.,
Latham Music, Alliance Publications and Paul Seitz Music Publications,
on line at www.paulseitz.net.
Libby Larsen is one of
America's most prolific and most performed living composers. She has
created a catalogue of over 200 works spanning virtually every genre
from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral and choral
scores. Her music has been praised for its dynamic, deeply inspired,
and vigorous contemporary American spirit. Constantly sought after for
commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles and orchestras
around the world, Libby Larsen has established a permanent place for
her works in the concert repertory.
Larsen has been hailed as "the
only English-speaking composer since Benjamin Britten who matches great
verse with fine music so intelligently and expressively" (USA Today);
as "a composer who has made the art of symphonic writing very much her
own." (Gramophone); as "a mistress of orchestration" (Times Union); and
for "assembling one of the most impressive bodies of music of our time"
(Hartford Courant). Her music has been praised for its "clear textures,
easily absorbed rhythms and appealing melodic contours that make singing
seem the most natural expression imaginable." (Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Libby Larsen has come up with a way to make contemporary opera both
musically current and accessible to the average audience." (The Wall
Street Journal), "Her ability to write memorable new music completely
within the confines of traditional harmonic language is most
impressive." (Fanfare)
Consistently sought-after
as a leader in the generation of millennium thinkers, Libby Larsen's
music and ideas have refreshed the concert music tradition and the
composer's role in it.
"Music exists in an infinity
of sound. I think of all music as existing in the substance of the
air itself. It is the composer's task to order and make sense of
sound, in time and space, to communicate something about being
alive through music." - Libby Larsen
January 21, 2007, 2:30 p.m.
Donnell Library Center
Collegial Concert 1
Dennis DeSantis - The Walls Get Painted Overnight (2000)
John Pickford Richards, Viola
George Gershwin (arr. Alan Arnold) - Three Pieces for Viola and Piano
I. Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
II. Andante con moto e poco rubato
III. Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
Tania Susi, Viola
Mark Evans, Piano
David Liptak - The Play of the Winds (2000)
Jonathan Vinocour, Viola
Intermission
Stratis Minakakis - Sonata for Viola Sola (2003)
I. Threnos (Lament)
II. Metastasis (Transposition)
III. Mnemosenon (Memorial Service)
Jonathan Vinocour, Viola
Kenneth Jacobs - "Approaching Northern Darkness"
(Concerto for Viola)
Second Movement
Sheila Browne, viola
David Brunell, Piano
Robert Fuchs - Sonata in D minor, Op. 86 (1909)
Allegro moderato ma passionate
Andante grazioso
Allegro vivace
Ed Klorman, Viola
Yi-Fang Huang, Piano
April 1, 2007, 3:00 p.m.
Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, 263 West 86th Street
Collegial Concert II
Michael Kimber - Celebration Fanfare
Paul Seitz - Animas (There is a Wild River...)
Robert Gardner - View from the Rear Window
Michael Kimber - Three Quirky Pieces
Penn State Viola Ensemble, Tim Deighton, Director
(Erin Ambrose, Marlina DeFelice, Alysa Harder, Tsung-Hui Huang, Nathan Johnson-McDaniel, Katharine Kauffman, Rebecca Lewis, Emily Mechling, Lauren Morrow, Hannah Sams, Eric Schoon, and Ofir Tomer. Joined, in Animas, by conductor Francisco Varela.)
Robert Schumann - Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73
Zart und mit Ausdruck
Lebhaft, leicht
Rasch und mit Feuer
Daniel Perret, Viola
Hiromi Fukuda, Piano
Joseph Haydn - Divertimento (1st Movement)
Benjamin Grossman, Viola
Christine Ims, Piano
Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Viola Solo, Op. 25, No. 1
Isabel Hagen, Viola
Franz Schubert - Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione
and Piano, D. 821 (1st Movement)
Erik Grossman, Viola
Christine Ims, Piano
Maxwell Raimi-"Quaaludes and Feud", for Four Violas
Violists: Ronald Lawrence, Liuh-Wen Ting, Eddy Malave and Ann Roggen
Moto Osada - Kaguyama Dance for Viola and Piano
Jessica Meyer, Viola
Blair McMillen, Piano
April 29, 2007, 7 p.m.
Christ and St. Stephen's Church, 120 West 69th Street
Doris Lederer, Viola
Jane Coop. Piano
York Bowen - Sonata in C minor
York Bowen - Phantasy
Arnold Bax - Sonata for Viola and Piano
About the Artists:
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Doris Lederer has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival and toured with Music From Marlboro. She has appeared as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Ms. Lederer has been a jury member of the Coleman Chamber Music Competition and represented the United States as a jury member at the Eighth Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2004.
Ms. Lederer is currently on the faculty at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine, the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program in Idyllwild, California, and the Chautauqua Institution in New York. She has also served on the faculties of The International Festival at Round Top, Texas and The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, as well as the annual Audubon Quartet's Intensive String Quartet Seminars.
As a member of the Audubon Quartet since 1976, Ms. Lederer has performed extensively throughout the world and given master classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories, the Yale School of Music, The Chautauqua Institute, as well as the Audubon Quartet's annual String Quartet Seminar.
Born in Istanbul to European parents, Ms. Lederer grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she began her study of the viola at age nine with Vilem Sokol. She studied with Georges Janzer at Indiana University and subsequently attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Michael Tree, Karen Tuttle, Felix Galimir and Mischa Schneider.
Ms. Lederer's four solo CD albums, entitled An English Fantasy for Viola and Harp, Music of Arnold Bax and York Bowen, The Passion of Bliss, Bowen and Bridge and Music by York Bowen, which features the Bowen Viola Concerto have been released by Centaur Records. She can also be heard on disc as a member of the Audubon Quartet on the RCA, Telarc, Centaur, Orion and Opus One labels.
Jane Coop is one of the most in demand and established pianists Canada has ever produced. With performances in halls around the world, she consistently engages audiences with her inspired performances and exhilarating programming. She has toured extensively throughout North America, Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Japan. Her recitals have graced the international stages in cities like New York, London, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Prague, Beijing and Tokyo.
As a concerto soloist, Ms. Coop has worked with such eminent conductors as John Eliot Gardiner, Andrew Davis, and Rudolf Barshai. She has also appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, Seattle and Oregon Symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, Bavarian Radio Orchestra and every major orchestra in Canada. With Maestro Mario Bernardi, Jane has recorded two full CDs of concertos. Her first recording was with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and her second concerto disc, with the CBC Radio Orchestra. Next season sees Ms. Coop performing with such orchestras as the Toronto Symphony and Scotia Symphony.
An active recording artist with a current discography of thirteen titles on both Skylark Records and CBC Records, Ms. Coopís recordings have received multiple Juno nominations [Canada's highest recording honour] and continue to garner such praises as ìone of the finest Chopin discs of the decadeî [InTune Magazine] and ìCoop is totally convincing through-out, with an ear for beautiful phrasing and delicate texture amidst the vigorous bravura displays.î [Wholenote Magazine]
Equally at home in chamber repertoire, she has collaborated with many of Canadaís leading instrumentalists and is frequently invited to perform at chamber festivals throughout North America. With violinist Andrew Dawes, the two have recorded and performed the complete Beethoven Sonata Cycle throughout Canada. Jane is a regular guest artist and teacher at the prestigious Kneisel Hall Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. This season will see Ms. Coop continue her performances throughout Canada with highlights including recital tours of British Columbia and Ontario.
Ms. Coopís major teachers were Anton Kuerti and Leon Fleisher. She currently resides in Vancouver, where she is Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of British Columbia.
Jane Coop is a Steinway Artist.
