Francesco Mastromatteo (DMA ’12) returns to Central Texas this month for two solo engagements with orchestra. On Sunday, September 22, Francesco makes his third appearance with conductor Robert Radmer and the Balcones Community Orchestra in the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A minor. And on Saturday, September 28, Francesco opens the season for the Round Rock Symphony Orchestra performing the Haydn Cello Concerto in D major with their new music director Stefan Sanders. For venue, ticket and more information, visit www.bcorchestra.org and roundrocksymphony.org.
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Among his many summer activities, Daniel Smith (DMA ’15), as a winner of the concerto competition at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with conductor Scott Yoo and the Festival Orchestra in the Richard F. Celeste Theater at the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center.
Diana Burgess (BM ’15), as member of the orchestral indie band Mother Falcon, performs a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR Music…
Francesco Mastromatteo (DMA ’12) has recorded the Ligeti Sonata for Solo Cello for MTSmusictosee in Italy. The short film, directed by Giulio Bottini, audio engineered by Patrizio Petrucci, was made at Palazzo Sforza Cesarine in Genzano di Roma.
Professor Tsang and the Longhorn Cellos are both referenced by Ariane Todes in her article “Spread the Love,” from the June 2013 issue of The Strad, which reports about the enormous influences of pedagogues Aldo Parisot and the recently deceased (April 28) Janos Starker. Arianne writes…
“The festival’s format was to have seven 50-minute masterclasses, a different professor and two students each, all in a row, from 9am to 5pm, with an hour for lunch and 10-minute breaks, over three days. The relentless pace of this immersion might not have led to in-depth problem solving, but then how much can be achieved in a masterclass anyway? The best classes tackled one or two problems and just nudged the students to think in a different way. For example, Bion Tsang (a Parisot student), in the limited time, encouraged the students to listen to themselves properly, and to learn how to teach themselves. He asked, ‘What can you self-assess?’ ‘Can you tell me what you’re doing to work on it?’ After getting one student to work on the consonant sound of a chord in the Elgar Concerto by singing it, and working out if she wanted a ‘ya’ or a ‘bam,’ he said, ‘You have to experiment on your own—a teacher can only tell you so much.’
“Another aspect [of the festival] that has developed is the participation of cello ensembles—something that is a key part of the Parisot training, with his Yale Cellos group. Some teachers brought ensembles made up of their students, and as well as the members taking part in the masterclasses, each group performed in the final concert. This culmination involved a wide ranging programme that showed what a versatile and exciting instrumentation massed cellos can provide. At one end of the spectrum was a sonorous arrangement of the Bach Chaconne performed by Bion Tsang’s Longhorn Cellos, sounding more like a Walton film score in this sound world, and taking on a romantic life of its own.”
The Longhorn Cellos are now on YouTube! Four members of the studio, Ying Zhang (DMA ’15), Anna Záborszky (MM ’13), Johannes Teppo (MM ’13) and David Campbell (DMA ’14), formed the Longhorn Cello Quartet and presented their first concert at Heller Hall on April 23, 2013. Here they are on YouTube performing Wagner’s “Feierliches Stück” from Lohengrin for Four Cellos…
Diana Burgess (BM ’15) is a member of Mother Falcon, an orchestral indie band born in Austin, Texas that has quickly become an award winning recording act and a top concert draw, performing in rock clubs while maintaining a presence in the performing arts scene scoring plays and films. The band releases its latest album You Knew on May 7. NPR Music presents a profile of the band and a sneak peak of the album in its entirety.
Michelle Ferry Williams (BM ’09), with the Orchestra at Temple Square of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, will be collaborating with internationally acclaimed baritone Bryn Terfel recording an album in May for Deutsche Grammophon. This CD—to be released in September 2013—will have an Americana feel with a touch of the Welsh heritage shared by Terfel and the Choir. In addition to the landmark recording session, Terfel will join the Choir for the Mother’s Day broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on May 12. The public is invited to attend the Sunday morning performance in the Salt Lake Tabernacle; no tickets are required.
Ariane Todes, Editor at The Strad, is in Fort Worth, TX covering the events at the three-day long TCU Cellofest 2013. She posted on The Strad Facebook page…
Advice from Bion Tsang in his Cellofest masterclass today: ‘Get into the habit of recording yourself. The most difficult thing for us is to have a direct connection between what the audience hears and what we hear in our ear.’
Yi Xin (DMA ’14) advanced to the final round of live auditions for the Principal Cello position in the Lyric Opera Orchestra in Chicago, IL. He was one of only four cellists remaining from 200 or so applicants worldwide. It was Yi’s first time competing for an opera orchestra position.
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the world’s great opera companies with Sir Andrew Davis as its Music Director since 2000. It is renowned internationally for its artistic excellence and financial strength. Lyric Opera has operated in the black for 24 of the past 25 years, a record among the country’s major not-for-profit music and performing-arts companies.
Longhorn Cellos 