SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Musicians acclaimed throughout the world, including Grammy Award nominees and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients, will be taking part in the eighth annual Nevada Chamber Music Festival, presented December 28-31, 2011 by the Reno Chamber Orchestra.
Among the participating musicians:
- Festival artistic director and violist Theodore Kuchar
- pianist, recording artist, and Harvard professor Robert Levin
- Grammy Award-nominated violinist James Buswell
- cellist Wendy Warner, internationally renowned recording artist
- Yuri Gandelsman, hailed by theJerusalem Postas “undoubtedly one of the greatest violists of our time”
- Mark Kosower, Avery Fisher Career Grant winner and Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra
- several musicians from the Reno area, including cellist Dmitri Atapine and three Reno Chamber Orchestra members: violinist Ruth Lenz, cellist John Lenz, and pianist James Winn.
Scott Faulkner, Reno Chamber Orchestra executive director, said “It is Reno’s great fortune that such a distinguished group of musicians will be performing in our community this December. For that week, Reno will once again be the chamber music capital of the world.”
Theodore Kuchar, Reno Chamber Orchestra music director and the Festival’s artistic director, said, “We attract internationally renowned performers by scheduling the Nevada Chamber Music Festival in late December, when most musicians aren’t otherwise engaged.”
Presented every year between Christmas and New Year’s, the Nevada Chamber Music Festival features renowned musicians performing the masterworks of chamber music. The Festival has attracted increasingly large and enthusiastic audiences since it made its debut in 2004, including a record 2,295 in 2010.
Further details on the 2011 Nevada Chamber Music Festival, including concerts, venues and repertoire, will be announced on Monday, October 17.
More information on the Nevada Chamber Music Festival is available through the Reno Chamber Orchestra office at (775) 348-9413, or at www.RenoChamberOrchestra.org.
2011 Nevada Chamber Music Festival Artists
Theodore Kuchar (Artistic Director and Viola)
Theodore Kuchar is in his ninth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and his eighth as Artistic Director of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival. The most recorded conductor of his generation, with over 100 CDs to his credit, he also holds the positions of Music Director and Conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic, Janacék Philharmonic (Ostrava, Czech Republic), and Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela, and Resident Conductor at the Kent Blossom Music Festival.
Dmitri Atapine (Cello)
Dmitri Atapine is assistant professor of cello at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he also is a member of the Argenta Trio. He is also artistic director of the Ribadesella Chamber Music Festival in Spain. First Prize winner at the 2004 Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition (Mexico), Dr. Atapine has appeared as both soloist and recitalist on some of the world’s most coveted stages. His debut recording has been recently released on the Urtext label.
James Buswell (Violin)
Active as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor and educator, James Buswell has appeared with virtually all of the major orchestras in the United States and Canada, as well as with orchestras in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. His recording of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003. He is a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music.
Corey Cerovsek (Violin)
Corey Cerovsek has performed around the world in both solo recitals and with the world’s major orchestras. He has been featured twice on NBC’s Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno and on CBS’s Sunday Morning. His recording of John Corigliano’s Violin Sonata was nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award.
Ya-Fei Chuang (piano)
Prizewinner at the Cologne International Piano Competition at age 18, Ya-Fei Chuang has performed throughout the world, including appearances at the Beethoven Festival, the Bach Festival in Leipzig, the Ravinia and Tanglewood Festivals, and at Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie. She is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory, and teaches master classes in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
Yuri Gandelsman (Viola)
Hailed by the Jerusalem Post as “undoubtedly one of the greatest violists of our time,” Yuri Gandelsman is professor of viola at the Michigan State University College of Music. Since 2001 he has also been a member of the Fine Arts Quartet. He has been a member of the Moscow Virtuosi, and for 10 years served as principal violist of the Israel Philharmonic.
Bella Hristova (Violin)
Bella Hristova recently appeared as soloist at Lincoln Center, and has made solo appearances with orchestras across the United States, performed with the Chamber Music Society Two, and made return engagements to the Marlboro and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals. Ms. Hristova has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio.
Mark Kosower (Cello)
Avery Fisher Career Grant-winner Mark Kosower is the Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, and is a professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has appeared as guest soloist with orchestras worldwide, and has recorded extensively for the Ambitus, Delos, Naxos, and VAI labels.
Joan Kwuon (Violin)
Joan Kwuon made her Tanglewood Festival debut at the invitation of André Previn, and subsequently performed with him and the London Symphony at Carnegie Hall. She made her Reno Chamber Orchestra debut in February 2011, and has performed at the Nevada Chamber Music Festival. She has recently been appointed to the Cleveland Institute of Music Violin Faculty.
John Lenz (Cello)
John Lenz is professor emeritus of music at the University of Nevada, where he taught cello, French horn, theory, directed the orchestra, and performed with the Argenta Ensemble. A virtuoso performer on both cello and French horn, he currently serves as principal horn of the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Reno Philharmonic, and the Great Basin Brass.
Ruth Lenz (Violin)
Ruth Lenz is concertmaster of the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Reno Philharmonic, and Nevada Opera. She performs as recitalist, chamber musician, soloist and concertmaster in venues throughout the western United States, sharing the stage with such notable performers as Itzhak Perlman, Edgar Meyer, Luciano Pavarotti and Natalie Cole.
Robert Levin (Piano)
Robert Levin has performed with the world’s great orchestras and conductors, and has made recordings for most of classical music’s major record labels, including the complete concertos of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. Levin is also a noted theorist and Mozart scholar. He is president of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.
Carol Ou (Cello)
Carol Ou has performed in prestigious venues in New York, Boston, Taipei, and Kiev, and has recorded for the Naxos and CRI labels and Taiwan’s Chi-Mei Foundation. Ms. Ou has taught at Yale, MIT, Harvard University, and Gordon College. She is on the faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music, and serves as chamber music director of the Heifetz International Summer Music Institute in New Hampshire.
Robert Vernon (viola)
Robert Vernon is in his thirty-fifth season as principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra. He has performed with orchestras across America, and appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra in over 100 concerts in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He also chairs the viola department of the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Wendy Warner (Cello)
Wendy Warner is one of the leading cellists in the world. After garnering international attention with a first-prize win in the Fourth International Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 1990, audiences have watched Warner perform on many of the world’s most honored stages. A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Warner teaches at Roosevelt University.
Orion Weiss (Piano)
Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American pianists. In the past three seasons, he has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, New World Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and in summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Itzhak Perlman.
James Winn (Piano)
James Winn, professor at the University of Nevada since 1997, has performed widely in North America, Europe, and Japan. Dr. Winn has been solo pianist with the New York City Ballet, a member of the New York New Music Ensemble and Hexagon, and a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has been involved in world premieres and premiere recordings by many renowned composers, including thirteen Pulitzer Prize winners.
