CSO Musicians to be Featured Soloists in DIALOGUES
By: Gabrielle Sierra Oct. 19, 2011
Great musical conversations will abound when Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni conducts the Columbus Symphony and Symphony soloists in artistically engaging dialogues. The program includes Gabrieli, Canzon in echo; Vivaldi, Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets; Vivaldi, Concerto in G Minor for Two Cellos; Handel, Concerto Grosso in G Minor; Strauss, Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon; and concludes with Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major. Premiered in 1800, the first of Beethoven's nine symphonies showcases the composer's unique artistic voice, as well as his personal and comedic twist on the musical vocabulary of earlier Classical patriarchs.
A graduate of the Montreal Conservatory, Jean-Marie Zeitouni has emerged as one of Canada's brightest young conductors with an eloquent yet fiery style in repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. He was installed as Music Director of the Columbus Symphony in October 2010, and also serves as principal conductor and artistic director designate of I Musici de Montréal, a prestigious Canadian chamber orchestra. Jean-Marie also enjoys a long association with Les Violons du Roy, a celebrated chamber orchestra based in Quebec City, first as conductor-in-residence, then as associate conductor, and since 2008, as principal guest conductor. Over the years, he has led the ensemble in more than 200 performances in the province of Québec, across Canada, and in Mexico. In 2006, he recorded his first CD with Les Violons du Roy entitled Piazzolla which received a 2007 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year in the category of Solo or Chamber Ensemble. They also recorded two subsequent CDs-Bartok (2008) and Britten (2010).
Tom Battenberg is the CSO's Acting Principal Trumpet. Currently In his 46th season with the CSO, he also plays in the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, leads his own jazz, Dixieland, and dance bands, is a composer and arranger, and is a frequent soloist in area churches. From 1966 to 1992, Battenberg was a member of the School of Music faculty at The Ohio State University where he taught trumpet and performed in the faculty brass quintet and the High Street Stompers faculty Dixieland band. He was the Assistant Director of the OSU School of Music from 1987 to 1992, and now is a Professor Emeritus of Music. Battenberg holds a BM from The Ohio State University and a MM from Arizona State University.About CSO featured soloist Jeff Korak, trumpet
Jeff Korak has been a member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra as Second Trumpet since 1999. He has been a member of many orchestras across the US and Europe, including the St. Louis, New Mexico, La Coruna (Spain), and Stavanger (Norway) Symphony Orchestras and the Santa Fe Opera. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education at the University of North Texas and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance at Northwestern University. His major teachers include Dr. Leonard Candelaria, Vincent Cichowicz, and Luther Didrickson. About CSO featured soloist Luis Biava, cello
CSO Principal Cello Luis Biava began studying at a very early age with his uncle, Miguel Uribe, in his native Colombia. He has also studied with Gabor Rejto, Elsa Hilger, Oliver Edel, Samuel Mayew, and Leonard Rose, and attended the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. Biava has performed with the symphonies of Columbus, Savannah, University of Michigan, Temple University, Bogota, Filarmonica de Bogota, and the Antioquia Symphony of Medellin. He has also recorded the Faure Elegy with the Columbus Symphony. Biava has performed extensively as a chamber musician with Camarata, a Columbus group dedicated to a variety of repertoire and ensembles. He was Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Cadet Orchestra for four years, has guest conducted the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, the Guatemala National Symphony, the Bogota Philharmonic, and is currently Music Director of the New Albany Symphony. He also performs with the Biava-Uribe Trio which includes his wife, violinist Ariane Sletner, and his aunt, pianist Blanca Uribe, and is cellist with the High Street Four string quartet. About CSO featured soloist Pei-An Chao, cello
Pei-An Chao has been a full-time member of the Columbus Symphony since 2000, and was appointed Assistant/Associate Principal Cello in the 2009-10 season. Prior to joining the CSO, Chao spent two years with the New World Symphony, a training orchestra in Miami designed to help young musicians pursue orchestral careers. She has a bachelor's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a master's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has performed in prestigious festivals such as Tanglewood, Kent/Blossom, Sarasota, Pacific, Spoleto, and Colorado. Chao performs regularly in chamber music concerts around central Ohio and coaches the Columbus Symphony youth orchestras. She has also coached the Youth Philharmonic of Central Ohio and was a mentor for the New Albany Symphony. In addition to maintaining a busy private teaching studio, her teaching enagements include Ohio Wesleyan University and Ohio University. About CSO featured soloist David Thomas, clarinet
During his previous position as Principal Clarinetist of the Kennedy Center Orchestra in Washington, DC, Thomas was well known in the area for his numerous solo and chamber music recitals. Beyond his many appearances as soloist with the Columbus Symphony, Thomas has performed concertos with the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony, and the National Chamber Orchestra. At age 18, he won first prize in competitions sponsored by the International Clarinet Society and the Music Teacher National Association. Born into a Foreign Service family, Thomas grew up as a world traveler, living in India and Iran as well as Washington DC. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, collecting antique quilts, cooking, gardening, and writing for his blog, The Buzzing Reed.About CSO featured soloist Betsy Sturdevant, bassoon
Betsy Sturdevant's career as a bassoonist began at 15 when she won the second bassoon position with the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra. While attending the Eastman School of Music, she studied with K. David Van Hoesen and performed as second bassoonist of the Rochester Philharmonic for three years. During summers at Aspen, Colorado, and Chautauqua, New York, she studied with renowned Japanese bassoonist Ryohei Nakagawa. After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from Eastman, she won the principal bassoon position with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Sturdevant has also performed at the summer festivals of Boulder, Colorado; Plymouth, New Hampshire; and Spoleto, Italy. She has served on the faculties of Capital University and Otterbein College and now teaches privately. She has been featured as bassoon soloist with orchestras in Ohio, Indiana, and New York. About composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/1557-1612)
Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist, and one of the most influential musicians of his time. He represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms. Like his uncle, Andrea Gabrieli, he worked briefly at the Munich court, then became organist of both St. Mark's Cathedral and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, posts he held for the rest of his life. His own fame and influence were widespread and crucial, notably in northern Europe and he represents the highest point of the High Renaissance Venetian school. He composed motets and mass movements (Symphoniae sacrae, 1597, 1615, MSS), instrumental ensemble music (1597, 1615, MSS) and organ works (1593, MSS), as well as a few madrigals (1587 and anthologies).About composer Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Born in Venice and nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist. He is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. About composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Handel, a German-British Baroque composer, is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concertos. Born in Germany, he received critical musical training in Italy before settling in London and becoming a naturalized British subject. His works include Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Handel's music was well-known to many composers, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.About composer Richard Georg Strauss (1864-1949)
Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, An Alpine Symphony, and Metamorphosen. Strauss was also a prominent conductor throughout Germany and Austria. Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style. About Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He is considered to have been the most crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. Symphony No. 1 in C major was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. It remains unknown exactly when Beethoven finished writing this work, but sketches of the finale were found from 1795, and it was published in 1801. The piece was premiered on April 2, 1800, at the K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg in Vienna. The concert program also included his Septet and Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as a symphony by Mozart, and an aria and a duet from Haydn's oratorio The Creation. This concert effectively served to announce Beethoven's talents to Vienna. www.columbussymphony.com
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