The Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle presents
Winter Nights
February 17th, 2013
5:00 p.m. at Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall
200 University Street, Seattle, WA 98101
Featuring Alexandre Dossin,
Winner of the 2003 Martha Argerich International Piano Competition,
Performing a richly varied program of works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff
and
Kwan Bin Park (violin), Kevin Krentz (cello), and Artistic Director, Natalya Ageyeva (piano), performing Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67
Hosted by KING FM’s Sean MacLean
We also invite you to join us for a pre-concert recital at 3:30, showcasing the talented winners of our 2012 Russian Piano Festival/Competition
Program
Alexandre Dossin
P. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Selections from The Seasons, op. 37a
May (White Nights)
August (Harvest)
October (Autumn’s Song)
S. Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Selections from Preludes
c# minor, op. 3/2
B-flat Major, op. 23/2
g minor, op. 23/5
E-flat Major, op. 23/6
c minor, op. 23/ 7
S. Prokofiev: (1891-1953)
Selections from Visions Fugitives, op. 22
1- Lentamente
5- Molto giocoso
10- Ridiculosamente
14- Feroce
17- Poetico
20- Lento irrealmente
Toccata, op. 11
Kwan Bin Park (violin), Kevin Krentz (cello), and Natalya Ageyeva (piano)
Shostakovich:
Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67
Artist biographies
Alexandre Dossin
Considered by Martha Argerich an “extraordinary musician” and by the international critic a “phenomenon” and “a master of contrasts,” Alexandre Dossin keeps an active performing, recording and teaching careers.
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he lived until he was 19, Alexandre spent nine years studying in Moscow, Russia, before establishing residency in the United States.Currently a tenured professor at the University of Oregon School of Music, Alexandre Dossin is a graduate from the University of Texas-Austin and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia. He studied with Hubertus Hofmann and Dirce Knijnik at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, with Boris Romanov (Merzliakovsky Pre-Conservatory School in Moscow) and was assistant of Sergei Dorensky at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow, Russia) and Willliam Race and Gregory Allen at University of Texas at Austin (USA).
A prizewinner in several international piano competitions, Dossin received the First Prize and the Special Prize at the 2003 Martha Argerich International Piano Competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other international awards include the Silver Medal and second Honorable Mention in the Maria Callas Grand Prix, and Third Prize and Special Prize in the Mozart International Piano Competition, in addition to several prizes in Brazil.
He performed numerous live recitals for public radio in Texas, Wisconsin, Washington and Illinois, including returning engagements at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. Dossin has performed in over twenty countries, including international festivals in Japan, Canada, United States, Brazil and Argentina, in some occasions sharing the stage with Martha Argerich.
He has CDs released by Musicians Showcase Recording (Alexandre Dossin, 2002), Blue Griffin (A Touch of Brazil, 2005), and Naxos (Verdi-Liszt Paraphrases, 2007, Kabalevsky Complete Sonatas, 2009, Kabalevsky Complete Preludes, 2009, Russian Transcriptions, 2012) praised in reviews by Diapason, The Financial Times, Fanfare Magazine, American Record Guide, Clavier and other international publications. Conductors with whom he has performed include Charles Dutoit, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Keith Clark and Michael Gielen, with orchestras including the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Brazilian National Symphony, Mozarteum University Symphony, Petrobrás Symphony and Tchaikovsky Conservatory Symphony Orchestras. Alexandre Dossin was featured in the main interview and on the cover of Clavier magazine (May, 2008) and is an editor and recording artist for Schirmer Performance Editions series (Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons in 2009, Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young and Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives in 2010, Liszt Consolations and Liebesträume, 2011, Rachmaninoff Preludes op. 3/2 and op. 23, 2012).
Dossin is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society and the President of the Oregon Chapter of the American Liszt Society. He lives in Eugene with his wife Maria and children Sophia and Victor. Further info: www.dossin.net.
Natalya Ageyeva
Natalya Ageyeva has dazzled audiences throughout the United States and internationally, including Italy, Austria, and Israel, as well as on tour in her native Russia. Her performances have also been broadcast several times locally on KING-FM in Seattle and televised in Moscow and Chicago. She has appeared at a broad range of venues, including the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia, Carnegie Hall in New York, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, and the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow. Her pianism prompted one reviewer to write “Immediately apparent was a tremendous technique at the command of a sharp musical intelligence and fingers of steel.”
Her artistry has earned her awards and recognition around the world, including the Young Artist Competition in Moscow, Rotary Club Scholarship in Chicago, Brechemin Scholarship at the University of Washington, Solo Competition Award from the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, the Green Lake Music Festival Competition in Wisconsin, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in New-York, and the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy. An artist of great versatility, Ageyeva has performed as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestras internationally. She has also been an active participant in many music festivals, including the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival, Methow Valley Music Festival in Winthrop (WA), Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series in Seattle, Second City Chamber Series in Tacoma (WA), First Sunday at the Commons Series in Bainbridge Island (WA), Seattle Symphony Chamber Music Series in Seattle (WA), Olympic Music Festival (WA), and Green Lake Music Festival (WI).
Ageyeva began formal piano lessons at the age of thirteen when she was accepted by the prestigious Special Music School for Talented Children in Moscow, and graduated with honors in the Masters Program from the world-renowned Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where she studied with Valeriy Kastelsky. While at the Moscow Conservatory, Ageyeva was offered extensive solo and orchestra appearances throughout the former Soviet Union. She completed her doctoral degree at the University of Washington with distinguished pianists Bela Siki and Robin McCabe. She has also worked with well-known pianists John O’Conner, Victor Merjanov, and Helene Grimaud, and collaborated with conductors Vladimir Vais, Alexander Rudin, and Peter Erös. Ageyeva previously taught at Moscow Conservatory and University of Washington, and has adjudicated piano competitions in Chicago, Seattle, and Vancouver BC. Ageyeva is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle. It is starting its sixth successful year of bringing high-level chamber music to the Seattle area.
In addition to growing the Foundation, she is currently focusing on her solo career and chamber music performances. Ageyeva is a member of recently formed “Thirty Fingers” group with pianists Deborah Dewey and Lisa Bergman. For more information, please visit www.natalyapiano.com.
Kwan Bin Park
Kwan Bin Park, violin: He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music, where he was a recipient of the Gluck Fellowship. He won the silver medal at the Zinetti international Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy, competing with groups from twenty different countries as the representative of the United States. His other awards include finalist at the National Chamber Music Competition at Greenlake, Wisconsin, and also finalist at the 2005 Brahms International Competition in Austria. Mr. Park has performed in Numerous venues around the world such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Merkin HallIn New York; Benaroya and Nordstrom Recital Halls in Seattle; Busan and Seoul National Arts Centers in South Korea. He has toured extensive in Europe in cities such as London, , Paris, Vienna, Poertschach, Munich, Verona, Barcelona and Amsterdam.Mr. Park’s performance of Daron Hagen’s complete cycle of piano trios in his 2010 Naxos CD as described as “played with prowess and finesse, deserves every second of your attention”, by Daniel Gilliam of National Public Radio, won five Best American Contemporary Classical Album of 2010 by NPR. He has been the artistic director of Mukilteo Christmas Concert for 17 years..
Kevin Krentz
Kevin Krentz, cello, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Although he began his musical life as a cellist at 12, he soon dropped the cello to sing for the rest of his youth. He only decided to devote his energies to the cello at the age of 20 after finally deciding on a career in music after such a late start.
He then studied with Gary Hardie at Baylor University where he was three quarters of the way through a pre-med program. Kevin made quick progress and thereafter studied with Florian Kitt of the Hochschule in Vienna, was assistant to Owen Carman, at Michigan State University and The Meadowmount School for Strings, and was assistant to Toby Saks at the University of Washington. Kevin has performed in Masterclass for Janos Starker, Matt Haimovitz, Paul Katz, and Timothy Eddy. From his late start, Kevin has gone on to perform throughout the U.S. as well as Austria, Italy, Canada and Great Britain as recitalist and soloist.
In 2000 Kevin was a winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, with his clarinet, piano, and cello trio, In Flight 3. With Finisterra, Kevin was a winner in the 2005 Greenlake National Chamber Music Competition where they also won the Audience Prize. In 2004 Finisterra won the Silver Medal at the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy against ensembles from every continent and 20 countries. In 2006, Finisterra was invited by the famed Florestan Trio to perform in London. In addition to his chamber music credits, Kevin has also won several concerto competitions and the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Award/Tour Competition. He has been featured on NPR in multiple broadcasts of live performances as well as KING FM’s Live! By George program and has performed throughout the U.S. to critical acclaim.
Since 2007, Kevin has been Artistic Director of the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. The Festival draws musicians from all over the nation to perform for sold out crowds in a fabulous barn perched a thousand feet above the glorious Methow Valley.
As cellist of the Finisterra Trio, Kevin has performed across the US and Europe and is an Artist-In-Residence at the Phoenix Series in New York City as well as the Seasons Concert Hall and Fall Music Festival in Yakima, Washington where he is also Director of Chamber Music. Finisterra Trio is known for a wide-ranging repertoire of standard masterworks as well as very new works, some of which they have commissioned, including well-known American composer, Daron Hagen’s Piano Trios 3 and 4. All four of Mr. Hagen’s piano trios were recorded and released in 2010 on the Naxos label where they have been earning thrilled reviews.
Kevin was Assistant Principal Cellist for Gustav Meijer in the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the prestigious Chamber Music Ann Arbor Spring Festival as well as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and the Methow Valley Music Festival among others. Kevin is very active as a recording studio session player in Seattle where he can be heard on many major films, as well as commercials, video games, and CD’s from Dave Matthews Band to Evanescence. Kevin can also be heard as the solo cellist on the movie, Bordertown, starring Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez, and Martin Sheen. Sought after for his ability to improvise his own parts, Kevin can be heard on many different artist’s projects. Kevin is a dedicated and well-known teacher in Seattle and has presented at the American String Teachers Association National Convention.
Mr. Krentz plays a cello by Robert Young, made in 2008, and is inventor of the only technology to play-in violin family instruments that actually plays their strings at fortissimo for weeks, changing pitch every 12 hours, to speed them to their best sound. violinplay-in.com
Sean MacLean, the afternoon host at Seattle’s Classical 98.1 King FM, is an international award-winning composer and pianist whose works have been performed by North American and European choirs and orchestras, including London’s BBC Symphony. He received his masters in composition from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Pulitzer Prize winners Lukas Foss and Jacob Druckman. Fascinated by each link in the chain of music production, from composer all the way to listener, he started a recording business, Standing Wave Audio, while living in Paris for five years. He followed with radio production for WGBH in Boston. Longing for a life in Seattle, where he had run in rainforests and paddled with otters, he made the move to King FM in 2005. In his free time, Sean plays guitar and Remora, an electroacoustic harp-guitar of his own invention. He is a published travel photographer, but now concentrates on his Northwest surroundings, where he enjoys moonlight kayaking, telemark skiing, and kitesurfing.