Directed by Dr. Limor Toren-Immerman, the seventh annual Fresno State Violin and Viola Festival Gala Concert will feature guest artists Sergiu Schwartz and Steven Tenenbom along with middle and high school students from around the Valley.
The Violin and Viola Festival Gala Concert will be held at 8 p.m. March 2 in the Fresno State Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 general, $10 employees, and $5 students and seniors. Parking is free in lot P1.
In the program
J. Brahms, Quintet in G major, Op. 111, with Sergiu Schwartz and Limor Toren-Immerman, violins, Steven Tenenbom and Michael Chang, violas, Thomas Loewenheim, cello.
J. S. Bach, Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra, (Sergiu Schwartz and Limor Toren-Immerman, solo violins) and J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto number 6 (Steven Tenenbom and Michael Chang, solo violas) with the Festival Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dr. Thomas Loewenheim.
Master Classes
Ahead of the concert, the Fresno State Violin and Viola Festival offers an intensive training experience to violinists and violists on intermediate to advanced level.
The master classes will be conducted on Friday, March 1st, 2019, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Wahlberg Recital Hall, and on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019, in the Concert Hall. All classes are free and open to the public.
Schedule
Friday, March 1
- 3 p.m. to 5pm – Violin Master class
- 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Viola Master class
Saturday, March 2
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Violin Master class
- 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Viola Master class
- 8 p.m. Gala Concert
Guest Artists
Sergiu Schwartz’s international concert appearances have taken him to major music centers on four continents, including twenty European countries, Israel, Asia, Canada, and over forty U. S. states, as soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music concerts. He is featured on many recordings with a critically acclaimed discography. Mr. Schwartz combines his performing career with his position as Professor holding The William B. and Sue Marie Turner Distinguished Chair in Violin at the Schwob School of Music, Columbus State University, and as Visiting Professor at Haute Ecole de Musique et Conservatoire de Lausanne in Switzerland. Prof. Schwartz is the recipient of the 2013 Columbus State University Teaching Excellence Award and a nominee for the University System of Georgia Teaching Excellence Award. He regularly conducts master classes and lectures at music schools, colleges, and universities in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Israel. He also serves as a juror in major international competitions, such as Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Mozart, Sphinx, Blount-Slawson, and others. His students have been top prizewinners in prestigious international violin competitions.
Steven Tenenbom has established a distinguished career as a chamber musician, soloist, recitalist, and teacher. He has worked with composer Lukas Foss and jazz artist Chick Corea and appeared as guest artist with such eminent ensembles as the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, the Beaux Arts and Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trios, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has performed as soloist with the Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and toured with the Brandenburg Ensemble throughout the United States and Japan. His festival credits include Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Ravinia, Marlboro, June Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Music from Angel Fire, and Bravo! Colorado. A recipient of the prestigious Coleman Chamber Music award and a former member of the Galimir Quartet, he is currently a member of the renowned group TASHI and the piano quartet OPUS ONE. Mr. Tenenbom is on the faculties of The Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, The Bard College Conservatory of Music and New York’s Mannes College of Music. He has recorded on RCA Records with TASHI and the Guarneri String Quartet, and can also be heard on the Arabesque, Delos, ECM, Marlboro Recording Society and Sony Classical labels. Mr. Tenenbom plays a viola made in 1560 by Gasparo da Salo.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 