IU Early Music Institute and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra partner for concerto competition and concert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 17, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University Jacobs School of Music students Maria Romero, Stephanie Raby and Toma Iliev were chosen as the winners of the second annual Indiana University Early Music Institute/Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra concerto competition Jan. 14.
The students will perform in concert with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra -- conducted by Barthold Kuijken, artistic director and internationally renowned Baroque flutist -- Saturday, Jan. 19, at 4 p.m. in Auer Hall. The concert will also include Jean-Philippe Rameau's Suite from "Dardanus," Jean-Baptiste Lully's Prologue/Overture from "Armide" and Georg Philip Telemann's Orchestral Suite in E Minor.
The jury for the final round of the competition, designed to provide early music students in the Jacobs School of Music an opportunity to perform with a professional period-instruments orchestra, included Gary Potter, retired Jacobs faculty member; Ingrid Bellman, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra cellist; and Kuijken.
Born in Belgium, Kuijken is an esteemed musician, conductor, scholar, teacher and editor. His 40-year career includes many performances with European period-instrument ensembles, as well as groundbreaking musical collaborations with his brothers Sigiswald and Weiland and early music luminaries such as Gustav Leonhardt and Alfred Deller.
The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, which includes many Jacobs School alumni, is a professional orchestra founded in 1997 by the members of Ensemble Voltaire. The ensemble performs music of the 17th and 18th centuries on historically accurate instruments, which gives its music an authentic and sometimes exotic feel.
About the Winners
From Valencia, Venezuela, María José Romero Ramos holds a Bachelor of Music and a Graduate Artist Certificate from the University of North Texas. She has performed professionally with the Denton Bach Society, Dallas Chamber Players series, San Francisco Bach Choir Orchestra and Mountainside Baroque. She has been a recipient of the Early Music America Summer Scholarship and has participated in the American Bach Soloists Summer Institute and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, where she was concertmistress of the student orchestra. Romero has also attended the Aspen Music Festival and School, among other summer festivals, as a full scholarship recipient. She was a member of the inaugural Sphinx Chamber Orchestra national tour, performing in the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall, among other venues throughout the country. Romero is currently a Jacobs fellow at IU, pursuing a Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Kevork Mardirossian and studying baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie.
Stephanie Raby studied with Deidre Ward at Chetams School of Music in England, who helped to inspire her to take up playing both modern and baroque violin professionally. In 2006, Raby moved back to the United Stated in order to pursue a B.M. in modern violin performance at the University of North Texas. There, she studied baroque violin with Cynthia Roberts and then viola da gamba with Pat Nordstrom and Allen Whear. In 2009 and 2011, Raby performed with the university's Baroque Orchestra at the Boston Early Music Festival. Additionally, she has played with ensembles such as the Denton Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, San Francisco Bach Choir, Vox Reflexa, Exordium and, most recently, she was a soloist with Aston Magna and Mountainside Baroque. Raby is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Early Music Performance at Jacobs under the guidance of Stanley Ritchie and is an active member of the viol consort Les Touches.
A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Toma Iliev has won prizes in numerous national and international competitions, including the W. A. Mozart Competition (Uppsala, Sweden, 2000), Music of Austria and Germany International Competition (Burgas, Bulgaria, 2005) and International Competition "Young Virtuosos" (Sofia, Bulgaria, 2005 and 2007). In 2007, he was admitted with a full scholarship to Louisiana State University and one year later, was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music. In 2010, he finished his Bachelor of Music degree in the violin studio of Kevork Mardirossian. In 2009, Iliev won an award at the IU Travel Grant Competition and participated in the International Beethoven's Hradec Competition in the Czech Republic. In 2011, he joined Stanley Ritchie's studio at the Jacobs School, minoring in Early Music Performance. He is pursuing a Master of Music degree. His interest in early music practice was also inspired by his work with renowned early music performers such as Jacobs faculty members Nigel North and Michael McCraw.
