BGSU College of Musical Arts Puts the Violin in the Spotlight

Written by Penny Kruse
Published: August 27, 2014 at 9:38 PM [UTC]

The 2014-15 academic year at Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts, Bowling Green Ohio, will showcase numerous outstanding violinists in performances and mini-residencies. The first event will be a recital by Greg Fulkerson, Violin Professor at Oberlin and NYU, and BGSU pianist Thomas Rosenkranz on Sept. 16, 8 p.m., Bryan Recital Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. The theme of the recital is “Beyond Minimalism” with repertoire by Philip Glass, Stephen Dembski, John Adams, Peter Flint Jr. , Andrew Shapiro and Conrad Cummings.

Former Assistant Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra Stephanie Arado will be a guest artist-in-residence from Sept. 22-26. In addition to teaching individual violin lessons, she will give a public master class on Sept. 23, 2:30-5 p.m., Bryan Recital Hall and perform a recital that evening at 8 p.m. with BGSU pianist Laura Melton in the same venue. Repertoire will include works by Stravinsky, Mozart, Adams and Szymanowski. Arado will also teach Audition Repertoire for the Violin on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 3:30 p.m., in Room 3010 of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

Each year, BGSU hosts the New Music Festival. Begun in 1990, this annual event celebrates the contemporary arts through concerts, panels, art exhibitions, seminars, master classes and papers. This year’s festival from Oct. 15-18 will include the BGSU Philharmonia Concert, under the direction of Emily Freeman Brown, featuring Romanian violinist Ioana Galu performing BGSU composer Marilyn Shrude's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Libro d'Oro on Oct. 18, 8 p.m., in Kobacker Hall. Galu is a BGSU alumna who earned the Doctorate in Contemporary Music in 2012.

The second violinist who will be an artist-in-residence is Canadian David Gillham from the University of British Columbia and a member of the Arianna String Quartet. He will be at BGSU from Oct. 27-30, performing a recital on Oct. 27, 8 p.m., in Bryan Recital Hall and a master class on Oct. 28, 2:30-5 p.m., in the same venue. On Oct. 29, 3:30 p.m., in Room 3010, Gillham will teach Audition Repertoire for the Violin.

From Nov. 4-8, Violinist Caroline Chin will be in residence. She will give a public master class on Nov. 4, 2:30-5 p.m., in Bryan Recital Hall. On Nov. 5, 3:30 p.m., Room 3010, she will teach Audition Repertoire for the Violin. As a part of BGSU’s Fall String Festival for high school string players on Nov. 8, the BGSU Philharmonia will feature Chin in Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in a concert at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. Described by the Chicago Sun Times as “…riveting and insightful, who lights up in passages of violin pyrotechnics,” Chin has an extensive career as a soloist and chamber music. She is also a proponent of new music.

The MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music sponsors a concert series entitled Music at the Forefront. On Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. in Bryan Recital Hall, the Fidelio Trio will perform a concert. The group consists of Irish musicians’ violinist Darragh Morgan and pianist Mary Dullea and Scottish cellist Robin Michael.

The spring semester will begin with more great chamber music on Jan. 12, 8 p.m., in Bryan Recital Hall. The Prima Trio features violinist Gulia Gurevich, clarinetist, Boris Allakhverdyan and pianist Anastasia Dedik.

The BGSU Philharmonia is fortunate to have Noah Bendix-Balgley, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and first concertmaster designate of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Randolph Kelly, principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony perform Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante on Feb. 7, at 8 p.m., in Kobacker Hall.

Guest violinist residencies continue with Martin Norgaard from Feb. 16-20. Norgaard is the Music Education String Specialist at Georgia State University. He also publishes the Jazz Wizard series for Mel Bay. He has done extensive research on the brain and improvisation. As a part of his residency, he will give improvisation lessons to BGSU string students. On Feb. 18, 10 p.m., he will perform with the BGSU Jazz Faculty at 149 North in Bowling Green. Talented high school students interested in alternative styles may submit recordings for an opportunity to play for Martin Norgaard to krusep@bgsu.edu by Jan. 15.

Music at the Forefront presents another exciting program featuring composer Neil Rolnick, violinist Jennifer Choi, and pianist Kathleen Supove. Choi and Supove will perform Rolnick’s music, including Hammer & Hair and Dynamic RAM & Concert Grand, Fiddle Faddle, and solo laptop works on Mar. 2, 8 p.m., at the Clazel Theater, 127 N. Main, Bowling Green.

Brian Lewis, Professor of Violin at the University of Texas at Austin will be at BGSU from Mar. 2-6 for his Guest Violin Residency. Pianist Thomas Rosenkranz will join Lewis on Mar. 3, 8 p.m., Wolfe Center for the Arts, Conrad Room. Lewis is also the Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies that is held at The Juilliard School every other year. Master classes and other events will be arranged. Talented high school students may submit recordings for an opportunity to play for Brian Lewis to krusep@bgsu.edu by Feb. 1.

The final Guest Violin Residency will feature Katie Lansdale from The Hartt School of Music between Apr. 6-10. Lansdale will perform a recital on Apr. 10, 8 p.m. Bryan Recital Hall, with BGSU pianist Robert Satterlee. Master classes and other events will be arranged. Lansdale has recorded and performed live the complete Solo Works for Violin by J.S. Bach. Joseph Magil remarked, American Record Guide, May/June 2002, "One of the most intelligent sets of the Sonatas and Partitas that I have heard." Lansdale won the Schlosspreis for Performance at the Salzburg Mozarteum for her performance of Bach.

Contact Information: www.bgsu.edu/music, Dr. Penny Thompson Kruse (www.pennythompsonkruse.com, 419-372-2757, krusep@bgsu.edu)

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