Last modified: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
IU Summer Series showcases the talents of Jacobs faculty and other nationally known musicians
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Summer Music Festival's Chamber Music and Solo Recital Series offers an extraordinary array of national and international musicians highlighting IU Jacobs School of Music faculty.
The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio will perform during the IU Summer Music Festival's Chamber Music Series.
This year's series, which begins June 16, will feature a number of performances by eminent faculty members, such as violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson in the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, pianist Yael Weiss and violinist Mark Kaplan in the Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio, and violist Atar Arad.
IU Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler, pianist and founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio, and Arad will join guest artists Carmit Zori, violinist, and Amir Eldan, cellist, to perform two piano quartets during the "Menahem Pressler and Friends" concert on June 18, which will be broadcast live on WFIU with American Public Media's Performance Today host Fred Child.
"When planning the series, we try to start with Jacobs faculty members and then build programs around them," said Mimi Zweig, professor of violin and string pedagogy and director of the IU String Academy. "I like to bring in groups that also are inspirational for the students in the String Academy where they get their master classes or private instruction."
Zweig explained that the festival grew partially out of the IU String Academy, which offers serious young string players an intensive and varied four-week program under the direction of an outstanding faculty at one of the world's most renowned schools of music. "The aim was to have the young people perform at the highest level possible."
The chamber series is peppered with internationally known musicians from the Jacobs School faculty. On June 22, audiences can enjoy a performance by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, which includes pianist Joseph Kalichstein alongside Jacobs faculty Laredo and Robinson.
Members of the trio, and the trio itself, have won many accolades. In 2002 the trio was the winner of Musical America's "Ensemble of the Year." Laredo, who was a pupil and friend of the late IU Distinguished Professor Josef Gingold, is a Grammy-winning violinist and conductor. He has performed worldwide for more than 40 years as a soloist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician.
Robinson, who is married to Laredo, is an acclaimed cellist, winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award and on the Jacobs School faculty. She has made numerous television appearances, including on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, The Kennedy Center Honors on CBS and a profile on CBS Sunday Morning. She received a Grammy nomination for a recording of Brahms string sextets with Laredo, Isaac Stern, Cho-Liang Lin, Michael Tree and Yo-Yo Ma.
Kalichstein, a pianist, was born in Tel Aviv and came to the United States in 1962. His principal teachers included Joshua Shor, Edward Steuermann and Ilona Kabos at The Juilliard School. He is the first Chamber Music Advisor to the Kennedy Center, an appointment that grew out of his close association with the center over many seasons. He has given solo recitals there, appeared many times with the National Symphony Orchestra and played a major role in chamber music festivals devoted to Brahms and Beethoven.
"I think this series is so exciting, and I think you could place this festival anywhere in the world, and it would come with accolades," Zweig said. "We have a variety of esteemed performers, an excellent choice of repertoire and a high level of performance in this festival. It's the performers who bring their level of artistry and a heightened level of excitement to the audience.
"The Jacobs School of Music faculty is leaving its footprints on international stages," Zweig continued. "We have such a variety of faculty performing not only at the IU Summer Music Festival, but also at other music festivals around the world. These musicians have reached a high level of performance and teaching on an international scale, so of course, they are sought after by the Jacobs School because the Jacobs School is looking for excellence."
The Biava Quartet will perform in Bloomington during the IU Summer Music Festival
Nationally known musicians affiliated with the Jacobs School through the summer string and piano academies and workshops will make an appearance as well. The Biava and Penderecki Quartets return, with Penderecki performing June 29 and July 1, and Biava appearing June 17 and 27, and July 2 and 6.
Soloists to look forward to this year include Jacobs faculty pianists Edward Auer and Evelyne Brancart; summer academy guest pianists Junghwa Moon Auer, Jeannette Koekkoek, Logan Skelton, Cory Smythe and Daniel Schene; cellists Amir Eldan and Joseph Keizer; violinists Erin Aldridge, Sara Caswell, Susan Baik and William Harvey; and tenor Alan Bennett.
The 2008 Chamber Music and Solo Recital Series is further expanded this year by the inclusion of three percussion concerts that feature Jacobs faculty and one the world's most celebrated marimbists, Gordon Stout.
Some events are free and some require tickets. A Festival Pass, discounted by more than 50 percent, is offered to the general public (with further reductions for any full-time student). Tickets and Festival Passes are available now. Tickets are available at the MAC Box Office (info: 812-855-7433), online at www.music.indiana.edu/events, or through Ticketmaster at 812-333-9955. The Musical Arts Center Box Office is located on Jordan Avenue between Third and Seventh Streets, and is open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For a complete list of Summer Music Festival performances and further information, visit https://music.indiana.edu/summer. For more information on Child's Bloomington visit and how to hear the live broadcast of Pressler and Friends, visit https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/8282.html.
