Music Academy Concerto Finalists Named
Instrumental Fellows will perform at The Lobero on July 26
For Immediate Release July 14, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Having bested the field at this year's Concerto Competition Finals, four accomplished instrumentalists will take featured soloist turns with the Academy Festival Orchestra at the Lobero Theatre on Saturday, July 26. Conducted by Daniel Hege, this year's Concerto Night concert will take place at 8 pm. Tickets will cost $51. The public also is invited to attend a dress rehearsal at 9:30 am on July 26. Admission to that event will cost $23.
Performing concerti will be Joshua Weilerstein, violin; Laura Odegaard, clarinet; Christopher Schmitt, piano; and John Stulz, viola. Pianist Sun-A Park was named alternate. In the event a finalist is unable to perform, Ms. Park will take the stage. Biographies appear below. All five musicians are attending the Music Academy of the West this summer.
Mr. Weilerstein will perform Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, op. 99; Ms. Odegaard will perform Copland's Clarinet Concerto; Mr. Schmitt will perform Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major; and Mr. Stulz will perform William Walton's Viola Concerto.
A total of 25 Music Academy Fellows took part in the 2008 Concerto Competition Finals on July 12. This year's judges were Mr. Hege, music director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Concertmaster Margaret Batjer; and Christopher Taylor, who serves as the Paul Collins Associate Professor of Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The Music Academy Concerto Competition begins with 55-60 Academy young artists auditioning for the opportunity to compete in the finals.
Named music director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in April 1999, Mr. Hege also has served as music director of the Haddonfield (NJ) Symphony (now known as Symphony in C), associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, music director of the Encore Chamber Orchestra in Chicago, and music director of the Chicago Youth Symphony, where he was twice honored by the American Symphony Orchestra League for innovative programming. Mr. Hege has guest conducted the Houston, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, Oregon, Colorado, San Diego, Columbus, and Phoenix symphonies; and the Rochester, Buffalo, and Calgary philharmonics. International engagements have included leading the Singapore Symphony and the St. Petersburg Symphony at the Winter Nights Festival. He has also made two recordings - a disc with the Baltimore Symphony and the Morgan State University Choir featuring works by Adolphus Hailstork, and a CD with the Syracuse Symphony featuring works by Verdi, Barber, Debussy, Respighi, and James Johnson.
The Lobero Theatre is located at 33 East Canon Perdido Street in Santa Barbara.
The Music Academy will present the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's opera A Wedding as well as performances by conductor Peter Oundjian and the Takács Quartet as part of the Academy's 61st Summer Festival. The Academy is presenting 188 events over the course of its 2008 Summer School and Festival, which began on June 23 and will conclude on August 16. Additional highlights will include a performance by the Canadian Brass, and conducting turns by Nicholas McGegan, Anne Manson, and George Manahan. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events are presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
For information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. The Music Academy will broadcast live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall beginning in October. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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Concerto Competition Finalist Biographies
Josh Weilerstein, 20, born in Rochester, New York, is an undergraduate at New England Conservatory, where he studies with Lucy Chapman. He has attended Kneisel Hall, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, and the Perlman Music Program. Mr. Weilerstein has appeared as concertmaster with NEC's Symphony and Sinfonietta, and performed under the batons of Simon Rattle, James Levine, David Robertson, John Williams, and Gustavo Dudamel. He also has appeared as a soloist with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYOV) and the American Philharmonic. In October he was invited to participate in the SBYOV's first U.S. tour and was subsequently named the orchestra's only American permanent member. As a conductor, Mr. Weilerstein has studied with Ludovic Morlot and Shi-Yeon Sung of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has guest conducted the NEC Youth String Chamber Orchestra and the American Philharmonic. He attended the Music Academy in 2007.
Laura Odegaard, 25, born in St. Paul, Minnesota, graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a bachelor's degree, earned a master's degree at the University of Southern California, and is pursuing a doctoral degree at USC under the guidance of Yehuda Gilad. She performs as associate principal clarinetist with the Debut Orchestra and has taken first prize in the Sigma Alpha Iota Competition. This year Ms. Odegaard soloed with the Contemporary Music Ensemble at USC. She has also performed in the National Repertory Orchestra and attended the Aspen Music Festival and School. She attended the Music Academy in 2006.
Christopher Schmitt, 21, born in Fairfax Station, Virginia, is currently studying at Juilliard with Julian Martin as the recipient of the Lois Smith and Henry Steinway scholarships. For four years he has been the recipient of scholarships from the Chopin Foundation of the United States, which also sponsored Mr. Schmitt's performance at Miami's Gusman Concert Hall. Mr. Schmitt has soloed with numerous orchestras in the Virginia area, including the Little River Symphony and the Richmond Philharmonic. In 2004 he received a Level I award at the ARTS Competition (National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts), and as a result has performed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Congressional Club, both in Washington, D.C., and at the foundation's headquarters in Miami.
John Stulz, 19, born in Columbus, Ohio, is an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, where he studies with Donald McInnes, Midori Goto, and Peter Marsh. Mr. Stulz has participated in both the Wethersfield and the Musicorda chamber music festivals, and has performed with Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quartet, members of the Altenburg Trio, and Midori Goto. An avid enthusiast for contemporary music, he performed John Corigliano's Sonata for Violin and Piano with Christopher O'Riley on National Public Radio's "From the Top" in 2005, and is currently a member of the Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Donald Crockett. Mr. Stulz performed the American premiere of Krzysztof Meyer's String Quartet Number 12 with his string quartet at USC and, last spring, the West Coast premiere of Elliott Carter's Figment IV for solo viola. He attended the Music Academy in 2007.
Sun-A Park, 20, born in Pusan, South Korea, began piano lessons at age 4. She is currently studying under Yoheved Kaplinsky at Juilliard, where she is a recipient of the Susan Rose Piano Fellowship. Ms. Park has performed as a concert pianist in the United States, Korea, Japan, China, and Italy, appearing as a soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Plainfield Symphony, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at Aspen, and the Newark Symphony, among others. Her numerous honors include winning the 2007 William Garrison - Franz Liszt Competition and first prizes at the Pacific Piano Competition in Vancouver, the Kingsville International Competition, and the Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Chioggia Competition in Italy.
