The Boston Trio violinist, Irina Muresanu, has won international acclaim as an outstanding young soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Muresanu has achieved top prizes in numerous international violin competitions. These include the Montreal International, Queen Elizabeth Violin, UNISA International Sting, Washington International, and the Schaefer String Competitions. She is the winner of the Po Musicis International Award, the Presser Music Award and the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association.
The Boston Globe has come to praise her as “…not just a virtuoso, but an artist,” and the Los Angeles Times has written that her “musical luster, melting lyricism and colorful conception made Irina Muresanu’s performance especially admirable,” while Strad Magazine called her Carnegie/Weill Hall performance “…a first-rate recital.” Muresaby has participated in recent concerts with the Boston Pops, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva), the Syracuse Symphony, the Metropolitan Orchestra (Montreal), the Transvaal Philharmonic (Pretoria), the Orchestre de la Radio Flamande (Brussels), the Boston Philharmonic, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra, among others. Irina Muresanu has collaborated with Kim Kashkashian, Cynthia Phelps, Sharon Robinson, Ronald Thomas, Andres Cardenes, Ilya Kaler, and Nathaniel Rosen. Ms. Muresanu’s performances have been frequently cited as among the “Best of” classical music performances by the Boston Globe, and her recital in the Emerging Artist BankBoston Celebrity Series was named one of the Top 10 musical events by TAB Magazine. Irina is also often heard on Boston’s WGBH and other NPR radio stations. As an active chamber musician, Ms. Muresanu has appeared in a variety of festivals and venues which include, Bargemusic in New York; the Rockport Festival in Massachusetts; Bay Chambers concert series and Bowdoin Festival in Maine; the Strings in the Mountains festival in Colorado; Maui Chamber Music Festival in Hawaii, Reizend Music festival in Netherlands; Festival van de Leie in Belgium; and the Renncontres des Musiciennes festival in France. Ms. Muresanu’s discography includes the Thomas Oboe Lee concerto on the BMOP label, works Elena Ruehr dedicated to Irina Muresanu on Avie Records, the integrale of William Bolcom violin and piano sonatas with pianist Michael Lewin on the Centaur label, and the Guillaume Lekeu and Alberic Magnard late Romantic violin and piano sonatas (with the pianist Dana Ciocarlie) for the AR RE-SE French label. The artist has also recorded the world premiere recording of Marion Bauer’s Sonata for Violin and Piano (with pianist Virginia Eskin) on Albany Records, a CD with works of Andy Vores, and a CD featuring chamber works of Erich Korngold released by the VPRO Radio Amsterdam. Irina Muresanu currently serves on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory. She is a Bucharest, Romania native and has received the prestigious Artist Diploma and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the New England Conservatory. Irina Muresanu plays an 1856 Joseph Rocca violin and a Charles Peccat bow, courtesy of Mr. Mark Ptashne. Irina Muresanu will be performing alongside The Boston Trio on February 9 at 2 PM at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School in Waverly, Iowa.
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“Whenever this trio plays, drop everything and go hear them!” hailed the Boston Globe during The Boston Trio’s Tanglewood debut at Ozawa Hall. Since their formation in 1997, the trio has quickly become one of today’s most exciting chamber ensembles. The trio is known for their superb sense of ensemble and wondrous balance. These virtuosic and profound musicians are committed to creating exceptional and daring performances of standard and contemporary repertoire.
Violinist Irina Muresanu, cellist Jonah Ellsworth, and pianist Heng-Jin Park each have distinguished careers as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and have appeared with major orchestras and premier chamber music festivals throughout the United States and Europe. Highlights for the ’17-’18 season include the trio’s second performance at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, a tour of Florida featuring a performance at the Flagler Museum and a return to the Sanibel Music Festival, and tours from California to Maryland to upstate New York. Recent highlights for the Boston Trio include performances at UCLA, Detroit Pro Musica, University of Arkansas, Maui Classical Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Virtuosi Concerts in Winnipeg, and performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Boston Philharmonic. The Boston Trio has been invited to perform on numerous prestigious music series including the Bank of America Celebrity Series, Seiji Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood, Sanibel Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Utica, Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series, ‘First Monday’ series at NEC, Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine, Harvard Musical Association, Concerts at the Point, Brigham Young University, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Howland Chamber Music Circle, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Boston Classical Orchestra, and a nationally televised performance at Belgrade Music Festival at Kolarac Foundation Hall in Serbia. The Boston Trio has collaborated with such artists as the Borromeo Quartet and Bill T. Jones Dance Company and has been frequent guests on Boston’s WGBH Radio and NPR. The trio has coached chamber music at the Tanglewood Institute of Music and served as Ensemble-in-Residence at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge from 1997 to 2004. The ensemble was in residence at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. The Trio is committed to bringing chamber music to a broader audience through outreach activities at public schools and assisted living centers. The individual members serve on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, the Boston Conservatory, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and are in demand as master class teachers throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. Learn more about the ensemble at https://www.bostontrio.com/ Join pianist, John Krebs and composer and violinist, Philip Wharton at their performance Sunday, January 19. The musicians will be performing at 2 p.m. in the Narthex of St. Paul´s Lutheran Church and School in Waverly, Iowa.
Iowa native, Krebs holds degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland. Krebs has been teaching at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas for the past 20 years. At Hendrix, he has taught music theory, music history and literature, an opera survey course, jazz history and studio piano. He has also served as chair of both the Hendrix music department and humanities area. Krebs has performed in Canada, Germany, Scotland, Slovenia and Thailand. He has been an active member of Music Teachers National Association at the local, state and national levels, and in 2011 he was named an MTNA Foundation Fellow. He previously taught at Central Missouri State University and Prince George's Community College and was a professor of music at Luther College from 1989-92. Few artists enjoy such high praise for both of their disciplines as composer and violinist Philip Wharton. Of his playing, The New York Times proclaimed, “a rousing performance!” and The Waterloo Courier wrote, “a golden tone with breathtaking execution.” His compositions, heralded from coast to coast, are described by the New York Concert Review as, “…decidedly contemporary…both engaging and accessible.” Writing from symphony to song, past seasons saw the Santa Fe Opera’s remounting of Two Saintes Caught in the Same Act as part of their apprentice scenes program, the Grammy-nominated Borealis Wind Quintet perform his Quintet on their concert tours, his chamber symphony, Passing Season performed by regional orchestras, premiere of his Symphony, his tribute to Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, a song cycle entitled Fools, and concerts with Grammy-nominated soprano, Caroline Worra. Other projects include collaborations with author Janet Burroway and illustrator John Vernon Lord to create musical settings of their books for children: The Giant Jam Sandwich, The Truck on the Track, and a vocal monodrama, The Perfect Pig. Recent recordings include Albany Records’ release of his Flute Sonata--performed by flutist, Katherine Fink, and pianist Rose Grace, Crescent Phase Records’ release of his Woodwind Quintet--performed by the Madera Woodwind Quintet, and Kenneth Thompkins’ (principal Detroit Symphony Orchestra) recording of his Alto-Trombone Sonata. Join us this Sunday to enjoy the music of John Krebs and Philip Wharton. Most people know that the (normally catchy) verse that repeats itself multiple times in modern songs is called a chorus, but what most people don’t know is that the chorus was created during the Baroque era of classical music. This was from the year 1750 to the year 1820 and is also known as the “golden age of music.” An increase in instruments and instrumental music, as well as an increase in solo voices really define this classical music era. During this time, the sonata, symphony, fugue, concerto, the opera, and mixed vocal-instrumental music styles were born.
Baroque music forms a major portion of the "classical music" canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to.This style of classical music is the first that comes to mind when one considers “Classical” music. Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi were prevalent during the Baroque era. The Classical era followed the Baroque era and took the structures of classical movement into different creative directions. It was during this era that Mozart, Hadyn, and Beethoven composed their music. Classical music is normally very serious and conventional, and closely follows certain musical principles. Because of this, many people don’t recognize the connection between music and composers from the classical era to modern genres and artists. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and many other composer’s music continues to be played and listened to around the world today. Classical music is a genre that has stood the test of time, in more ways than one. Classical music structure and inspiration has continued to shape the way music is written across genres. Classical music was never written to transcend generations, but that is exactly what it did. People listen to classical music when the want to study, when they want to wind down and relax, when they want to hear the passionate instrumentals, and when they want to feel the emotions that classical music evokes. People listen to classical music without even knowing that they are. The genre has made its way into movie soundtracks, video game backgrounds, cartoons, and you can even find it hidden in quite a bit of mainstream music. Many popular songs today are based on a few main chords and sequences that originated during the classical era. A lot of artists, such as Radiohead, Muse, and OneRepublic, include classical styles of sweeping string bands, complex piano and organ music, unconventional time signatures, and reliance on harmonies. Some artists also get their inspiration directly from specific composers and pieces from the classical era. The band Little Mix used Pavane’s “Fauré” in their song, “Little Me.” The intro to Lady Gaga’s popular single, “Alejandro,” is the tune from Monti’s “Csárdás.” Beyoncé even made her own version of Shubert’s “Ave Marie.” All of these artists have been influenced strongly by classical music, and modern artists continue to take cues from the classical era. Join the Mirandola Ensemble as they perform, "Jewel of the Baroque", a program featuring anthems of Henry Purcell, excerpts of Claudio Monteverdi's Sestina and sacred works of Jean-Baptiste Lully.
The Mirandola Ensemble is performing at 2 p.m. in the Narthex of St. Paul's Lutheran Church & School in Waverly, IA. The Mirandola Ensemble was established in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2011. The group is a professional choral ensemble that is dedicated to promoting the highest standards of choral music, the notion of choral music as “high art” in the Western tradition, and the aesthetics of the Renaissance. The Mirandola Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization and has served multiple years as a Class Notes Artist-in-Residence for Classical Minnesota Public Radio. The group’s name comes from the esteemed Renaissance philosopher, Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (1463-1494), who wrote in his sentimental treatise “Oration on the Dignity of Man”: "[Adam,] to you is granted the power, contained in your intellect and judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine." The Mirandola Ensemble has been inspired by Mirandola’s philosophy to not take life too seriously. They believe that vocal music should be not only entertaining and fun, but also enlightening. They aims for the highest standards in vocal music performance through the use of the most recent scholarships and elite professionals in the field today. The group is comprised of the vocalists Nick Chalmers, artistic director and tenor; Andrew Kane,baritone; Matthew Culloton, bass; Clara Osowski, alto; Alyssa Anderson, mezzo soprano;Chelsie Propst, soprano; Hannah Armstrong Stanke, soprano; Krista Costin, mezzo-soprano;Brody Krogman, bass-baritone; Ben Kunkel, classical guitarist and Christopher Ganza, a continuo. The group’s studio albums “Unquiet Thoughts: The Lute Songs of John Dowland” and “Nymphs & Angels” are available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and other streaming music services. |