April 10, 2008

MUSIC@MAIN - Violin Futura Trio-Duo-Solo : Szewczyk, Huls & Bruck

Event Type: Library Program

Age Group(s): Adult

Date: 4/10/2008

Start Time: 12:15 PM

End Time: 1:15 PM

Piotr Szewczyk, Max Huls & Andy Bruck perform exciting and innovative works for 1-3 violins!

Description:

VIOLIN FUTURA Trio-Duo-Solo

Piotr Szewczyk returns with an entirely different program from his original Violin Futura offerings given here in February. For this special performance Mr. Szewczyk will be joined by Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra colleagues Max Huls and Andy Bruck. This concert will feature the world premieres of several brand new pieces!

There will be a reception for the violinists and concertgoers following the recital.

MUSIC@MAIN concerts are free and open to the public, and reservations are not required.

Where:

Main Library

Hicks Auditorium (Conference Level)

303 North Laura Street

Jacksonville, Florida 32202

PARKING @ the MAIN LIBRARY

PROGRAM SELECTIONS

This presentation of VIOLIN FUTURA will feature a new group of pieces, many performed for the first time!

Piotr Szewczyk - First Coast Groove (World Premiere)(solo) 3'

Joel Hoffman - Square One (solo) 7'

Michael Fiday - Dharma Pops (duo) 10'

Michael Fiday - Lament from Aphorisms (solo) 3'

Carson Cooman - Virelai (World Premiere)(solo) 2'

Carson Cooman - Estampie (World Premiere)(duo) 4'

William Schirmer - Lyric (World Premiere)(solo) 2'

Sydney Hodkinson - Remnant (World Premiere)(solo) 4'

Piotr Szewczyk - Conundrum II (trio) 11'

VIOLIN FUTURA is an ongoing venture conceived and realized by Piotr Szewczyk. The violinist explains, "I created the project because I wanted to expand the contemporary violin repertoire with pieces that are fun to play and to listen to, and they bring something new and unique to the repertoire." It began with a recital of 15 solo pieces written especially for Mr. Szewczyk by composers from around the globe which he has performed at various festivals and venues in the United States and Europe, including his February 2008 Music@Main concert. To hear MP3 recordings of the original 15 pieces featured in Violin Futura, please visit http://www.violinfutura.com/.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Polish-born violinist and composer Piotr Szewczyk (b. 1977) attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and his Artist Diploma, and serving as concertmaster of several of the Conservatory's orchestras. He recently completed a 3-year fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, where he served as rotating concertmaster under Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas, and in September 2007 Piotr joined the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

The winner of the 2006 New World Symphony Concerto competition, Szewczyk has been described by the press as a “mature virtuoso” and a “gifted violinist with remarkable facility,” and his playing has been likened to that of the legendary Soviet violinist David Oistrakh by colleagues in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with numerous ensembles, and has given solo and chamber recitals in the United States, Poland, Germany and Austria.

Mr. Szewczyk has won a number of international awards for his compositions, and his works and have been performed by orchestral and chamber ensembles in Europe and the Americas. His award-winning string quartet Half-Diminished Scherzo was recently performed live on National Public Radio by the ALIAS Ensemble in Nashville.

For more information including a schedule of upcoming concerts by Piotr Szewczyk, please visit www.VeryNewMusic.com.

Violinist Max Huls joined the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in 1993 and was introduced to the First Coast as soloist in Bartók’s Second Rhapsody for violin and orchestra. He is a violin coach for the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in addition to his core membership in the JSO he is Concertmaster of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia.

Mr. Huls appeared variously as concertmaster, soloist and conductor with the Savannah Symphony, and was concertmaster of the Memphis Symphony and Opera Memphis. Max was on the faculty of the University of Memphis and Rhodes College, and while living in Memphis was much sought after as a studio musician, working with the rock group The Replacements and soul legends Patti LaBelle and Al Green, among many others. He has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, and the Eastern Music Festival.

Among his numerous local concerts and recitals, Max Huls has performed Paganini's demanding Twenty-four Caprices for Friday Musicale, and as a member of Duo Proto he plays violin and viola alongside his son, Victor Minke Huls. Mr. Huls frequently collaborates with award-winning pianist Christine Clark, and the Huls Clark Duo, who performed here in 2007, will return for the final Intermezzo Sunday Concert, on June 1, 2008.

Violinist and composer Andrew Bruck has been a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1993. His solo performances with the JSO have included J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (for violin, flute and harpsichord) and the "Autumn" Concerto from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and local recitals have featured his own original compositions.

Mr. Bruck and his wife, JSO violist Cynthia Kempf, met at the Yale School of Music while completing their master’s degrees, and their performance careers have since taken them throughout the country. The Avondale couple were artists-in-residence for over a decade at the Bay View Music Festival in northern Michigan, and as members of the Westbrook String Quartet they have enjoyed the mentorship of the Tokyo, Manhattan, Juilliard and Vermeer string quartets.

Prior to moving to Jacksonville Andy served as principal second violinist of the East Texas Symphony and as acting concertmaster of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. He has served on the executive board of the Jacksonville musicians’ union for several years, including as chair of the Jacksonville Symphony Players Association. An active champion of the arts, Mr. Bruck is a violin coach for the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and is on the summer faculty of Prelude Chamber Music Camp.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS

Vancouver native Joel Hoffman (b.1953) is Professor of Composition at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music and also remains an active pianist, appearing with the Chicago Symphony, the Belgian Radio and T.V. Orchestra, the Costa Rica National Symphony and the Florida Orchestra, among others. A selection of his honors include grants and awards from the American Academy-Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Columbia University, and the American Music Center. His works, which draw inspiration from such diverse sources as Eastern European folk musics and bebop, receive frequent international performances. More at http://www.joelhoffman.net.

Michael Fiday (b.1961) is Assistant Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, grants and residencies from BMI, ASCAP, American Composers Forum, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Ohio Arts Council. His music has been commissioned and played extensively throughout the United States and Europe by performers as diverse as the Atlanta Symphony, the Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, pianist James Tocco, and electric guitarist Seth Josel. More at http://www.michaelfiday.com.

Touted by Music & Vision Magazine as "one of the most versatile and active musicians of our time," composer Carson Cooman (b.1982) has written over 700 works which range from instrumental solos to opera, and recordings of his compositions have been issued on a number of different labels. An active performer, Cooman specializes in presenting new music for organ, and over 120 works have been written for him by composers from around the world. More at http://www.carsoncooman.com.

William Louis Schirmer (b.1941) is professor of music theory and composition at Jacksonville University, and he must be ranked as one of history’s most prolific composers—his ever-growing catalog now numbers over 4,000 works in all genres, and includes at least 258 symphonies, 403 piano sonatas and 217 string quartets! He received his training at the Cleveland Institute of Music (BM), the Eastman School of Music (MM), and Ohio State University (PhD). More at http://www.ju.edu/departments/majors/music_schirmer.aspx.

Sydney Hodkinson (b.1934), who holds the Almand Chair of Composition at Stetson University in Deland, studied composition at the Eastman School of Music, Princeton University and the University of Michigan, and previously has taught at Universities in Ohio, Virginia and Michigan, as well as at Eastman. He has written over 250 works in a wide variety of genres, and has been awarded numerous grants and prizes from the Guggenheim and Ford foundations, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Canadian Council, and other prestigious organizations. His music is widely performed, and recordings have been issued on several labels. More at http://www.stetson.edu/music/faculty/hodkinson.php.

MUSIC @ MAIN

The music continues! Join us for our next mid-week concert!

Start Here. Go Anywhere.

Library: Main Library

Location: Hicks Auditorium

Link: More information About VIOLIN FUTURA