February 22, 2015

5:00 p.m.

Benaroya Nordstrom Recital Hall

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Please also join us for a pre-concert recital featuring winners of the

2014 Russian Piano and Chamber Music Festival/Competition.

Performers

Natalya Ageyeva – piano
Christopher Bowlby – piano
Ivona Kaminska – piano
Kevin Krentz – cello
Mikhail Shmidt – violin

Program

1. Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, for piano, four hands
2. R. Glier 8 pieces, Op.39 for violin and cello
3. A. Rosenblatt, Tango for violin, cello, and piano

Natalya Ageyeva

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.

 

Ivona Kaminska and Christopher Bowlby

Ivona Kaminska & Christopher Bowlby

Pianists Ivona Kaminska and Christopher Bowlby have established themselves in the Pacific Northwest and internationally as a sought-after piano duo team, as soloists, instructors of gifted students, and as clinicians and lecturers at prestigious festivals. Co-founders of the Seattle International Piano Festival (“SIPF”), they have changed the musical landscape in the Northwest, bringing international artists and talent of all ages from abroad to the audiences of Seattle. Together, they also created the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah in 2005, which today is a renowned institution for those seeking great education and performing opportunities.

Dr. Kaminska maintains a busy concert schedule as a soloist and chamber musician, having performed in such venues as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, and Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Atherton Recital Hall in Hawaii, the Mozarteum Festival in Austria, the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Castello Visconteo Sforzesco di Galiate, Italy, Salle Cortot, Paris, and many others. Sought-after as an adjudicator, she was invited to join the jury as part of the 2014 Thalberg International Piano Competition in Naples, Italy. As an established educator and lecturer, she presents often for MTNA chapters. Her lecture on the “Secrets of Winning a Piano Competition” was featured at the Music Teachers’ National Conference in New York City in 2012. Dr. Kaminska regularly lectures on performance issues of the music by Frederic Chopin and J. S. Bach, and was interviewed several times by the music journal “Twoja Muza”. Dr. Kaminska has been invited throughout her career to teach and perform in numerous summer master classes and festivals, such as the Ashland International Piano Institute in Oregon, Tsar’s Village International Master Courses in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Puget Sound Chamber Music Workshops. Every summer she teaches at the Summer Institute of the Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle, Washington.

Since arriving in Seattle in 2002, Dr. Christoper Bowlby has established himself as one of the most sought-after piano pedagogues, lecturers, and adjudicators. Aside from his successful career as an instructor of highly-accomplished piano students, Dr. Bowlby is also director and vice-president of the Seattle International Piano Festival and Competition, as well as program director of the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, Washington. As an accomplished teacher of many award winning students, in 2012, Dr. Bowlby was invited to present on a joint panel, the “Secrets of Winning a Competition” during the Music Teachers’ National Conference in NYC.
Having performed in such prestigious musical centers as the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York City, Benaroya Hall and Meydenbauer Center in Seattle, Atherton Recital Hall in Honolulu Public Radio, among others, his playing has been acclaimed for its warmth and sublime integrity. Upcoming engagements include performances at the prestigious Salle Cortot in Paris, the SOU piano series in Oregon, Southern Louisiana Piano Festival, and was invited to join the jury as part of the 2014 Thalberg International Piano Competition in Naples, Italy.

 

Kevin Krentz

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

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