Capital City Concerts 2007-2008 Concert Series

Ellen dePasquale began her violin studies as a Suzuki student in her native Philadelphia. At the age of nine she went on to study with the legendary violin pedagogue Jascha Brodsky, continuing as his student at the Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, Ms. dePasquale served as concertmaster of the orchestra and appeared as a soloist with the chamber orchestra. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree, she subsequently pursued graduate work at Indiana University with Miriam Fried before being appointed concertmaster of the Florida Orchestra in 1996. Ms. dePasquale participated in the Marlboro Music Festival for several summers and has appeared on many of the nationwide Musicians from Marlboro tours. In addition, she has performed at the Caramoor Festival, the Evian Music Festival, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, the Nevada Chamber Music Festival, and was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio. From 1999-2007, Ms. dePasquale served as associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. During her tenure with the orchestra, she frequently appeared as a soloist with the ensemble, most recently in Nielsen’s Violin Concerto during the 2004-2005 season. Other recent solo appearances have included engagements with the Florida Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Ms. dePasquale is very active as a teacher, maintaining a private teaching studio in addition to having been a member of the faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Encore School for Strings, the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, New World Symphony, Indiana University Summer Music Festival and the University of South Florida.

SUSAN DUBOIS

Susan Dubois was the sole viola winner of Artists International's 23rd Annual Auditions and was presented in her solo New York recital debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. She also was selected as a prizewinner and recitalist at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in the United Kingdom. Dubois has extensive experience as a chamber musician, performing and coaching throughout the Australia, South America and the United States as a faculty member of the American Festival for the Arts and a former member of the Rackham String Quartet. Through appearances at music festivals such as Marlboro and La Jolla, she has performed with such notable artists as Lynn Harrell, David Soyer, David Finkel, Donald Weilerstein, Menahem Pressler and Carter Brey. Susan Dubois holds bachelor and master of music degrees from the University of Southern California, and a doctorate of musical arts from The Juilliard School. A former viola teaching assistant for Karen Tuttle at Juilliard, she is currently professor of viola at the University of North Texas in Denton.

DANIEL GILBERT

Clarinetist Daniel Gilbert held the position of associate principal clarinet in the Cleveland Orchestra from 1995-2007. He is Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and teaches at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He also served as the Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 2000 to 2001. A native of New York City, Mr. Gilbert received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and both a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies certificate from The Juilliard School. Before joining the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Gilbert was active as a freelancer in New York, appearing regularly with groups including: The Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theater, New Jersey Symphony, Solisti New York, the Stamford Symphony and the New Haven Symphony, where he played principal clarinet from 1992 to 1995. Mr. Gilbert was a member of the Quintet of the Americas in 1994 1995. The group toured throughout the United States and was in residence at Northwestern University. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Heights Chamber Orchestra, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, Solisti New York and the Aspen Mozart Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician, playing regularly on the Cleveland Orchestra Chamber Series, the Cleveland Museum of Art Chamber Series and the Oberlin Chamber Music series. Mr. Gilbert's master classes and recitals have received critical acclaim throughout the world. His teachers have included David Weber, Robert Marcellus, Stanley Hasty, Richard Waller, Burt Hara and Judith Kalin-Freeman.

JESSE IRONS

Born in Berlin, Vermont, Jesse Irons has been praised by the Baltimore Sun as a “polished and sensitive” violinist, his performances “moving… with a perfect mix of passion and precision.” (Baltimore Magazine) He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, serving as graduate assistant in chamber music. Upon realizing he had spent six unrecoverable years of his life living in Baltimore, Jesse immediately moved to Boston. He wears his Red Sox cap whenever the Yankees are in town and/ pursues a Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory. Jesse’s many wonderful teachers include Pamela Frank and Nicholas Kitchen. A card-carrying chamber music fanatic, Jesse (in partnership with fellow Crier Jason) founded the Rivendell String Quartet, which had a nice little run, appearing in concert across the United States, as well as in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Singapore. When the Rivendell venture finally came to a close, Jesse concentrated on his own violin playing. He won a competition or two, performed in France, and subbed with the Baltimore Symphony, but Jesse felt a quartet-sized hole in his musical life – sure he was content to chip away at Brahms Concertos and Bach Fugues like a good little violinist, working towards fame and individual glory, but something was missing. In an effort to reconnect to the fun of music-making, Jesse decided to explore music outside the classical mainstream. He participated in a workshop on the music and traditions of the Silk Road, which culminated in multiple performances with Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hall. Great resume stuff, and inspiring music-making. Delving further into the improvisatory side of life, he worked with an experimental jazz string quartet and recently with (yet another) string quartet transcribing, reinventing, and performing music from throughout Asia for a Marco Polo-themed school presentation program. Jesse has decided that life is as good as the people you spend it with, and on that count is thrilled to be a member of A Far Cry. When he’s not playing violin, he’s usually sleeping. Quite the connoisseur of firm mattresses, Jesse estimates his sleep number to be up around 85 or 90. Jesse also enjoys unwinding by cooking elaborate meals for friends, particularly since his recent acquisition of a pasta machine – ask him about asparagus pesto ravioli!

KAREN KEVRA

Karen Kevra has won attention as one of the country's outstanding flutists through her distinctive warm and extroverted performances as a soloist and chamber musician, and has been hailed as "having a musical focus and depth seen in few flutists anywhere." Ms. Kevra's commitment to expanding the modern flute repertoire includes the premier recording of works by Louis Moyse (Works for flute and Piano of Louis Moyse-CRI CD888) which earned a 2003 Grammy nomination and accolades from numerous American Record reviewers. Fanfare Magazine called the disc, "A must for flute fanciers and anyone else with ears." Classics Today.com gave it their highest 10/10 rating and designated it as one of its top twelve discs in 2003. In addition to recent performances on French National Television, at Carnegie Hall and at the French Embassy in Washington D.C., Ms. Kevra was invited by violinist/conductor Jaime Laredo to perform as soloist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra on their 10 concert "Made In Vermont" Tour in the Fall of 2003. Her chamber engagements have included appearances with the Borromeo String Quartet, the Boston Chamber Music Society, Eugene Drucker-violin, Jaime Laredo-violin, Sharon Robinson-cello, and Jeffrey Chappell-piano. Ms. Kevra has recorded for the Albany, CRI, New World Records, and Elektra labels. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Capital City Concerts based in Montpelier Vermont, where she resides with her son Owen Kevra-Lenz, a concertmaster of the Vermont Youth Orchestra.. When she's not playing the flute, you can find her at home preparing Middle Eastern feasts, digging in her garden, or listening to her beloved Red Sox on the radio. Visit her website www.karenkevra.com Her Web site is at www.karenkevra.com.

KEVIN LAWRENCE

Praised for his "vibrant intensity," ( The Times, London) and playing "supremely convincing in its vitality," (Cleveland Plain Dealer) violinist Kevin Lawrence has consistently elicited superlative responses for his performances throughout the United States and Europe. His assertive style and strong musical personality have thrilled audiences at Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and in Houston, Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Rome, Prague, St. Petersburg, and Amsterdam, where the Dutch press described him as "simply miraculous." (Het Vaderland) In the fall of 2003 he made an extensive recital tour of Europe, including concert appearances in Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy. His release of the complete violin works of the American composer Arthur Foote on the New World label was "highly recommended" as "beautifully played" by the Washington Post, and heard on the Ken Burns series “Not for Ourselves Alone,” broadcast on PBS; his second CD of American violin sonatas, released recently by New World, was hailed as “vital playing” and “a labor of love” by Classics Today.com. Kevin Lawrence received his musical education at the Juilliard School as a scholarship student of Ivan Galamian and Margaret Pardee. While at Juilliard he also studied chamber music with Felix Galimir and continued his chamber music study with Josef Gingold at the Meadowmount School in Westport, New York. Appointed to the Meadowmount faculty by Ivan Galamian in 1980, he taught there each summer until 1994, when he became the Dean of the Killington Music Festival in Vermont. He served as Killington's Artistic Director from 1997 through 2004, when he founded the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Lawrence has given master classes throughout the United States, and in Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Russia and Venezuela. He currently serves as chair of the string department at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he has taught since 1990.

PAUL ORGEL

Born in New York City, Paul Orgel has concertized throughout the United States and Eastern Europe as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician. He has given notable concerts in such venues as New York's Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Jordan Hall, and the Gardner Museum in Boston, the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, and the San Francisco Conservatory. Critics have praised his playing for its “subtlety and attention to nuance” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “rare pathos” (New York Times), and “brilliant technique, sense of humor and fantasy” (Bridgeport Post).A versatile musician with wide-ranging interests and an extremely varied repertoire, Orgel has been associated with many composers including Messaien, Cage, Rochberg, and T. L. Read. He can be heard on recordings of music by Louis Moyse (Works for Flute and Piano) on the CRI label, a 2003 Grammy nominee, and on Capstone (Keyboard Fantasies by Curt Cacioppo). His solo recording, Music of the Holocaust featuring music by Karel Berman, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, and Viktor Ullmann, was released on the Phoenix USA label in 2005. As a chamber musician, Paul Orgel has been associated with the Yellow Barn Festival, was a founding member of the Interlochen Trio, and a long-time member of Music at Eden's Edge, an ensemble based in Boston's North Shore. He has collaborated with such artists as Jaime Laredo, the Chicago String Quartet, and the Quartetto di Venezia. Orgel was educated at Oberlin, the New England Conservatory, and Boston University. He holds a doctorate in piano performance from Temple University. Among his piano teachers were Russell Sherman, Lillian and Irwin Freundlich, and Harvey Wedeen. He is currently a member of the music faculty at the University of Vermont and is director of the Humanities Program Concert Series at Saint Michael's College.

THE PARIS PIANO TRIO

Régis Pasquier- violin, Roland Pidoux-cello,Jean-Claude Pennetier, piano

These three great French soloists have been connected by their love of chamber music since they were students together at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. In fact, they made their first tour together when Régis Pasquier was just 13 years old. Each graduated with top honors from the Conservatory (where they are all now professors) and rapidly established a major solo career. In all the years since, they have consistently made time to tour together on the continent, in England and in Canada . At the peak of their individual careers, they are making an increased commitment to the Trio, where they have the opportunity to express simultaneously their musical individuality and their total musical rapport. The Trio's first major tour of the United States, in January 1998, won superlatives from critics and presenters across the country, and it has since been re-engaged in major cities from Washington to Los Angeles. A very successful debut tour of Latin America in June 2000 has been followed by several return visits. The Trio's recordings include Tchaikovsky and Shostakovitch on the Lyrinx label in 1998, the trios of Schubert and Brahms, and the chamber music of Chausson on the Harmonia Mundi label, all released under the name "Les Musiciens," by which they are known in Europe. The extraordinary talent of *violinist REGIS PASQUIER* was recognized early, when he won first prize in both violin and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 12. He went on to win many other awards, including the Prize of the Academy of French Recording, the Georges Enesco Prize, the Charles Cros Prize, 1991's "best soloist" award from the Sixièmes Victoires de la Musique, and the Special Prize of the Nouvelle Academie du Disque. He wasnamed an Officier des Artes et Lettres by the French government in 1991. Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Paris Conservatory, he performs annually with major orchestras and in recital around the globe. His extensive discography includes the complete Mozart violin concertos on the Auvidis label.A true Renaissance man, cellist *ROLAND PIDOUX *has explored every avenue of classical music. Soon after completing his studies with André Navarra, Jean Hubeau and Joseph Calvet, he founded, with Jean-Pierre Wallez, l'Ensemble Instrumental de France. He has been a member of the Quatour Via Nova and the Trio Pasquier, and has performed with Isaac Stern, Pierre Fournier, Mistislav Rostropovitch, and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Previously a member of l'Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris under the baton of Rolf Leibermann, he also held a soloist chair in l'Orchestre National de France under Lorin Maazel. He served as artistic director for a series of recordings for Harmonia Mundi, and is currently Professor of Cello at the Paris Conservatory. From the time he began his piano studies at the age of three and a half, *pianist JEAN-CLAUDE PENNETIER* has distinguished himself, winning two first prizes at the Paris Conservatory and going on to win major international awards, including the Prix Gabriel Fauré and first prizes at the Concours Genève and Concours International de Montréal. When he was 30, he interrupted his performing career to broaden and deepen his musical experience through such diverse activities as conducting, composing, and participating in musical theatre and opera for children. After several years of exploration and enrichment, M. Pennetier resumed his performing career, and has recently appeared with l'Orchestre de Paris, l'Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine and the festivals of Prades, Naantali, Kuhmo, and Seattle.

BROOKS WHITEHOUSE

Brooks Whitehouse has performed and taught chamber music throughout the US and abroad, holding Artists-in-Residence positions at SUNY Stony Brook, the Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY, the University of Virginia, as a member of The Guild Trio, and The Tanglewood Music Center. The Guild Trio was a winner of both the "USIA Artistic Ambassador" and "Chamber Music Yellow Springs" competitions, and with them he has performed and held master classes throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Norway, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal, France and Australia. In 1991 The Guild Trio received a three-year grant from Chamber Music America for their unique music/medicine residency at SUNY Stony Brook's Medical School. The trio has been a frequent feature on National Public Radio's "Performance Today", and has also appeared on the University of Missouri's public television series "Premiere Performances", and "Front Row Center" on KETC-TV9 in St. Louis. As a soloist Whitehouse has appeared with the New England Chamber Orchestra, the Nashua Symphony, the New Brunswick Symphony, the Billings Symphony, and the Owensboro Symphony, and has appeared in recital throughout the northeastern United States. His performances have been broadcast on WQXR's "McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase", WNYC's "Around New York," and the Australian and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation networks. After his graduation from Harvard College, Brooks Whitehouse studied with Timothy Eddy and Norman Fischer, earning a MM and DMA degree from SUNY, Stony Brook. He is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he has spearheaded an annual series of weekend-long celebrations to honor historically important cellists whose musical collections have been acquired by the school.