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| A Russian Soul: The Life and Music of Tchaikovsky Artist Bios |
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Steven Isserlis |
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Guest Artists:
Daniel Phillips |
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Todd Phillips |
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Nicholas Cords |
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Mark Holloway |
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Eric Jacobsen |
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Jeremy Denk |
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Karen Ziemba |
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| Steven Isserlis |
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| Steven Isserlis is a cellist whose passion, musicality and technique have made him beloved around the world, among young and old alike. He is known for his ability to turn audiences into his circle of friends, for his creativity in creating special chamber music programs, and his brilliant performances with the world’s greatest orchestras and musicians. This season he is making a tour of China with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, appearing with the Minnesota and National symphonies and the Berlin Philharmonic, and presenting a three-concert series on the Romantic Generation here at the 92nd Street Y, focusing on Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schubert. He has released dozens of recordings, most recently the complete Solo Cello Suites by Bach on the Hyperion label, which has won many awards, including Gramophone Magazine’s Instrumental Disc of the Year.
With his fresh, open style and approachable personality, Steven especially enjoys writing and playing for children. He has written two musical books for young readers; the first, a history of the lives of six great composers, Why Beethoven Threw the Stew, was published in 2001; and a sequel, entitled Why Handel Waggled His Wig, with a chapter on Tchaikovsky, was published in 2006. Both books have been translated into many languages. A recent CD, Children’s Cello, features many short, fun pieces by composers from all over the world. He also spends time with music students by regularly giving master classes at music schools and universities.
Steven plays most of his concerts on the “De Munck” Stradivarius cello of 1730, made when Stradivarius was about 86 years old. This cello was played by the great cellist Emmanuel Feuermann (1902-1942), who made many famous recordings on it. It is owned by the Nippon Music Foundation of Japan; they kindly loan it to Steven, who has described this instrument as his “dream cello.... It has everything.” |
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Guest Artists:
Daniel Phillips |
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| Violinist Daniel Phillips was born into a musical family – Todd is his brother. Daniel began violin studies when he was four years old, and his teacher was his father, who had played with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He continued his studies at The Juilliard School of Music, and he has appeared as soloist with many of the country's finest orchestras and performs at international music festivals. Daniel has toured and recorded with a string quartet composed of classical music stars violinist Gidon Kremer, violist Kim Kashkashian and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Together with Todd, Daniel is a founder of the Orion String Quartet, which is performing all 16 of Beethoven's string quartets in London this season to open a new concert hall. The quartet has had music composed especially for them by composers as diverse as Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea. Its website is www.orionquartet.com. |
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| Todd Phillips |
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| Violinist Todd Phillips was only thirteen years old when he made his first appearance as an orchestra soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has since appeared with orchestras throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He is also a leader and conductor of orchestras around the world, including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Camerata Nordica, and the Brandenburg Ensemble. Todd is also a founder with his brother Daniel of the Orion String Quartet, which is currently the Quartet-in-Residence of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also participated in the music festivals of Marlboro, Spoleto, Santa Fe, Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Lockenhaus, and he has gone on several tours with Musicians from Marlboro. Among his many recordings is Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon; Mozart will be the focus of the January Family Music Concert. |
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| Nicholas Cords |
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| Violist Nicholas Cords believes in promoting music from all over the world. He and Family Concert cellist Eric Jacobson are both members of the multi-cultural Silk Road Project, which has taken him around the world, and the string quartet Brooklyn Rider. The quartet is dedicated to creative programming and expanding the quartet repertoire and has released two recordings, including one with Persian spike fiddle master Kayhan Kalhor. Nicholas is a member of numerous other ensembles, including the Caramoor Virtuosi, An Die Musik and the Metropolitan Museum Artists in-Concert. He has been a soloist with such leading American orchestras as the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras and the Chicago Symphony, and he is a frequent guest at the Schleswig-Holstein, Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Smithsonian Folklife music festivals, among others. Nicholas has appeared on Chinese National Television, The Late Show with David Letterman and Good Morning America, and was part of a weekly chamber music show for WQXR-FM, “On A-I-R (Artists-in-Radio).” |
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| Mark Holloway |
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| Guest Artists Violist Mark Holloway is an active musician in the U.S. and abroad, and he is especially familiar to New York audiences. He currently plays as a substitute with the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and American Symphony, where he has appeared as principal violist, and he was principal violist of the New York String Orchestra. He has performed at the 92nd Street Y, Bargemusic and at the Caramoor Festival in recital and with the "Rising Stars" and Caramoor Virtuosi. Mark was also principal violist of the Haddonfield Symphony and at Tanglewood, member and guest principal violist of both the Portland Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and soloist and guest principal violist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. His festival appearances include Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff and Giverny. He met Steven at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England, which Steven directs. Next season Mark will join Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two, a three-year residency program for young emerging artists. |
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| Eric Jacobsen |
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| Cellist Eric Jacobson joins violist Nicholas Cords as members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and the Silk Road Project, which was organized by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma to promote multi-cultural artistic exchange. In October 2007, they appeared with the Silk Road Ensemble at the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics in Shanghai, and this season he tours India with the Ensemble. Eric also organizes and conducts the orchestra, The Knights; this season the Knights will tour Ireland, perform at the opening of the Dresden Music Festival and release two albums in the spring—one with music of Shostakovich, and the other with music from the "New World." This season Eric will release his own DVD of the first Bach Cello Suite with animation by Kevork Mourad. In New York, Eric regularly appears at Bargemusic and the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival. His website is www.jacobseneric.com. |
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| Jeremy Denk |
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| Pianist Jeremy Denk is a friend of the Family Series—this is his fifth appearance here. He has performed as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis and San Francisco symphonies; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and the Philharmonia of London. Jeremy is also an avid chamber musician; he was an artist-in-residence at the 2008 Gilmore Keyboard Festival and has appeared at the Italian and the American Spoleto, Santa Fe, Seattle, Marlboro and Verbier festivals. It was at the 2004 Spoleto Festival that Jeremy first met violinist Joshua Bell. They now regularly perform and record together as close musical partners. Jeremy is also famous as a blogger; his website is www.jeremydenk.com, and his blog is called “Think Denk.” It has been praised by critics ranging from the New Yorker to the Web’s “Top Ten Sources” |
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| Karen Ziemba |
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| Karen Ziemba received the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Tony and Drama Desk awards for her performance as Georgia Hendricks in the musical Curtains. She received all three awards for playing The Wife in Contact at Lincoln Center Theatre. Ziemba’s other Broadway appearances include Never Gonna Dance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony nomination); Steel Pier (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations); A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Crazy for You, and Chicago. Off-Broadway she appeared in And The World Goes ‘Round (Drama Desk Award), I Do! I Do! (Drama Desk nomination) and in leading roles at the New York City Opera in 110 in the Shade and The Most Happy Fella. For Encores! at City Center she starred in Bye Bye Birdie, The Pajama Game, Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and Allegro. Regionally, she has performed at the theaters in Washington, D.C., Hartford, Rochester (NY), Williamstown (MA) and San Francisco. Her film and TV appearances include The Producers,Scrubs, the three Law & Order series, The Kennedy Center Honors; and numerous PBS specials, including Gershwin at 100 and Evening at the Pops. |
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© 2009 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved. |
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