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Art of the Cello Tamรกs Varga, cello Frank Almond, violin Stephen Beus, piano

Monday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m.

Bader Recital Hall, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

Art of the Cello

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progr a m

Sonata for Solo Cello (1948-1953)

Dialogo Capriccio

Gyรถrgy Ligeti (1923-2006)

Ghirlarzana, for Solo Cello (1950)

Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)

Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 109a

Andante

Quasi minuetto lento Vivace Tamรกs Varga, cello

Hans Gรกl (1890-1987)

Intermission Piano Trio in C, Op. 87

Allegro moderato

Andante con moto

Scherzo: Presto

Allegro giocoso

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Frank Almond, violin Tamรกs Varga, cello Stephen Beus, piano

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Ta m á s Va r g a

Tamás Varga was born in Budapest in 1969 and began studying the cello at age of seven. In 1992 he completed a degree with honors at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where his teachers included László Mezö, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág. Mr. Varga was also highly influenced by such artists as Miklós Perényi, Menahem Pressler and Uzi Wiesel, the last of whom accepted him as a scholarship student at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv.

Tamás Varga is Principal Cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) as well as the Vienna State Opera. A regular soloist with the VPO, he performed under Giuseppe Sinopoli, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach, Adam Fischer. In addition to his 2003 BBC Proms debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Mr. Varga has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music engagements across Europe, Canada, South Africa, Australia and Japan.

Mr. Varga is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. As a member of the Ensemble Wiener Collage and the Wiener Kammerensemble, he regularly appears in the Wiener Konzerthaus and Salzburg Festival, among other European venues.

He has collaborated with such artists as Hildegard Behrens, Marjana Lipovsek, Ferenc Bognár, Philippe Entremont, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vásáry, Karl Leister, Peter Schmidl, Wolfgang Schulz and the Bartók-Quartett.

Tamás Varga particularly enjoys playing music on original instruments, and has performed the Haydn and some of the Vivaldi and C.P.E.Bach cello concertos with the Orfeo Orchestra Budapest. In 2004 he presented and recorded the complete Bach solo suites, the sixth of which he performed on a five stringed Baroque instrument. An avid teacher, Mr. Varga has given master classes in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Australia as well as in South Africa. He served as a tutor for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, for the New World Symphony as well as for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra and was teaching at the International Orchestra Institute in Attergau, Austria for several years.

In the last years, Tamás Varga has recorded more than 20 CDs for labels such as Camerata Tokyo, Naxos, Hungaroton, King Records, Cavalli Records.

Art of the Cello

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F RA N K A L MO N D

Violinist Frank Almond holds the Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the MSO after holding positions as Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, and Guest Concertmaster of the London Philharmonic with Kurt Masur. Other guest Concertmaster appearances have included the Seattle Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, and the Grand Tetons Music Festival. He continues an active schedule of solo and chamber music performances in the US and abroad including recent appearances with the Ojai Festival, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Music in the Vineyards, and various solo appearances with orchestras. He has been a member of the chamber group An die Musik in New York City since 1997, and also founded and directs the acclaimed Frankly Music chamber series based in Milwaukee. At 17, he was one of the youngest prizewinners in the history of the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy, and later was one of two American prizewinners at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, documented in an award-winning PBS film.

In addition to his work with An die Musik, Mr. Almond’s work as a chamber musician has generated collaborations over the years with many of today’s top institutions, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Hal Leonard Corporation, the Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, and countless other summer festivals.

He has recorded for AVIE, Summit, Albany, Hal Leonard, Boolean, Innova, Newport Classic, Wergo and New Albion, has appeared numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today, and was twice nominated for a Grammy. In 2013 AVIE will release A Violin’s Life featuring works and composers directly associated with the “Lipinski” Stradivarius.

Mr. Almond holds two degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. Other important teachers included Michael Tseitlin, Felix Galimir, and Joseph Silverstein. He has held several academic positions and is currently on the faculty at Northwestern University.

When he’s not traveling around playing the violin he lives in Milwaukee with his wife and two young daughters. He plays on a violin by Antonio Stradivari from 1715, the “ex-Lipinski”. In 2012 he was featured with the MSO in an episode of NatGeo’s America’s Lost Treasures. He continues to write the popular online column nondivisi.

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STEPHEN BEUS

In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the 2006 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).

As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.

Equally active as a soloist, Mr. Beus has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon) and has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City), and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Georgia, China, France, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Morocco.

His 2012-2013 season includes performances with the Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Tucson, and Muncie Symphonies, chamber recitals with the Jupiter Players in New York City, and solo recitals in the United States and Europe.

Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”

Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, where his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics and Harmonia Mundi labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Miami University of Ohio.

For more details, visit www.stephenbeus.com Art of the Cello

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F RA N K LY M U S I C B OAR D O F D I R E C TORS

Linda Tojek, President Barbara Wanless, Vice President Marta Haas, Secretary Calvin C. Kozlowski, Treasurer Frank Almond Dr. Russell Brooker Linda Tojek Isaac Thompson Patricia Crump Jean Holmburg Judy Keyes Linda L. Saladin Wendy Slocum Frank Almond, Artistic Director Linda L. Saladin, Executive Director For more information please visit: http://www.franklymusic.org or email us at franklymusic@me.com and check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

Call 414.940.8770 if you wish to be added to the mailing list, or join online.

Please go to www.franklymusic.org to purchase tickets 2 012 - 2 013 F r a nkly Mu s ic s e a s o n pat r o n s $5,000 to $9,999 Frank Almond $3,000 to $4,999 Patrice Bringe Greater Milwaukee Foundation Judith A. Keyes Greater Milwaukee Foundation $2,000 to $2,999 CAMPAC Robert and Mary Jane Denton James and Linda Saladin Michael & Jeanne Schmitz Joe and Jeni Tate - hosts of the 2012 fundraiser Don & Kate Wilson $1,000 to $1,999 Dr. Christine Bryke and Dr. Anthony Garber Greg Chrisafis 6

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Megan Holbrook and Eric Vogel Charles & Jean Holmburg Angela Johnston Sanford & Katharine Mallin Peter & Wendy Slocum $500 to $999 Dr. Frank Almond James and Roberta Caraway Franklyn Eisenberg Michael Gonzalez Doyne and Marta Haas David Lindberg* Christel Mildenberg Mary Ellen Mitchanis Bill & Gwen Niewoehner Roger and Nancy Ritzow Dr. Thomas and Harriet Russell Joan Urdan Wisconsin Lutheran College *

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Milwaukee Chamber Theatre* Milwaukee Repertory Theater* Mary Novak Jane O’Connell Jamshed and Deborah Patel Karen Peters Darlene Roberts Judith Ruland Fred & MaryBeth Schmelzer Mary Ellen Schmidt Sabina Silver George Simonds Robert and Alice Streicher Sherman & Donna Swanson Temple Hills Coffee* Joy Towell Thomas Varney Joy Towell Wisconsin Energy Foundation** *in-kind donations **matching gift

Art of the Cello

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mark your calendars for our next event!

CD Preview Concert of

A Violin’s Life Frank Almond Violin

William Wolfram Piano

February 25th, 2013 7pm Schwan Hall Wisconsin Lutheran College tickets at www.franklymusic.org

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