American Romanian Festival 2014 Program Book

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL

2 14 CONCERTS & MASTER CLASS

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WELCOME TA B L E O F CO N T E N T S

Board Members Staff Thank You Sponsors Space to take notes

BOARD MEMBERS

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E V E N TS

October 12, 2014 / Chamber Concert at Kerrytown Concert Hall: Ligeti, Garrido-Lecca, Piazzolla & Mellits 4 October 14, 2014 / Chamber Concert at Macomb County Community College: Ligeti, Porumbescu, Ochoa & Mellits 5 October 17, 2014 / Violin Master Class with László Benedek at Wayne State Universtiy 6 October 17, 2014 / László Benedek Recital at Wayne State Universtiy 7 October 19, 2014 / Chamber Concert at Wayne State University: Ligeti, Ochoa, Piazzolla & Mellits

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ARTISTS

László Benedek Robert Conway David LeDoux Hang Su Marian Tănău

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL 2014

Marian Tănău, President Maureen D’Avanzo Franz Herbert Silviu Pala John Rakolta Jr. John Santeiu Jr. Charles Slater, Secretary-Treasurer S TA F F

Logan Skelton, Artistic Director Maria Clesiu, Education Liaison (Romania) Felicia Secosan, Operations & Public Relations (Romania) Lori Newman, Operations USA THANK YOU

Nick Ioannou Beth Kohler, Director of Development, Schoolcraft College Foundation Ramona Uritescu-Lombard, UM Lecturer in Germanic Languages and Literature Lori Newman, editing Joan Olkowski, design Claudia Petrescu, Professor, Political Science Department, EMU John Rakolta Jr., Romanian Honorary Consul in Detroit Deanna Relyea, Executive Director of Kerrytown Concert House Dr. James Ryan, Executive Director for Development and Governmental Relations, Schoolcraft College The Santeiu Family Norah Duncan, Interim Chair, Department of Music, Wayne State University

SPONSORS. 2014 SPONSORS

The American Romanian Festival programs are supported by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Wayne State University Department of Music, Walbridge, and our generous sponsors.

GOLD LEVEL

Anonymous Romanian Friend Walbridge, John & Terry Rakolta Jr. Marian & Jennifer Tănău S I LV E R L E V E L

Wayne State University Detroit Symphony Orchestra BRONZE LEVEL

Silviu & Gela Pala Charles & Carol Slater FRIENDS CIRCLE

Ioan & Georgeta Atanasiu Lucian & Silvia Bogdan Barbara Brana Barbara & Paul Burakoff Liviu Capatina Vanja & Daniella Cemalovic Marcy Chanteaux & Bill Stein Robert & Esther Churella Doug & Minka Cornelson Maureen & Jerry D’Avanzo Dr. Anna Davina & Paraschiva Jonascu Ileana Dragnea Anne & Kevin Ellis Ella & Adi Gheorghiu Franz Herbert & Elizabeth Greve Maria Hunciag Nick & Judy Ioannou Jeannette Jackson Linda Joy & Brad Carol Razvan Pala Claudia Petrescu Magdalena Predeteanu Eugen Raica John III & Liz Santeiu Mark Santeiu Family Peter & Jennifer Santeiu Elena Schiopu Lisa & Logan Skelton Nicolae Stan Liz Stern & Hugh Huntley Alan & Diane Thompson

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CONCERT Chamber Concert at Kerrytown Concert Hall: Ligeti, Garrido-Lecca, Piazzolla & Mellits Sunday, October 12, 2014, 7:00 p.m.

Kerrytown Concert Hall 415 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

$15 ADULTS

$10 STUDENTS

ARTISTS

László Benedek, violin Marian Tănău, violin Hang Su, viola David LeDoux, cello Robert Conway, piano

CO N C E R T P R O G R A M

György Ligeti (1923–2006) String Quartet No. 1, “Métamorphoses nocturnes” Allegro grazioso Vivace, capriccioso A tempo Adagio, mesto Presto – Prestissimo Molto sostenuto – Andante tranquillo Più mosso Tempo di Valse, moderato, con eleganza, un poco capriccioso Subito prestissimo Subito: molto sostenuto Allegretto, un poco gioviale Allarg. Poco più mosso Subito allegro con moto, string. poco a poco sin al prestissimo Prestissimo Allegro comodo, gioviale Sostenuto, accelerando – Ad libitum, senza misura Lento

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL 2014

Celso Garrido-Lecca (b. 1926) Danzas populares andinas (Peruvian Dances from the Andes) I. Alegre II. Ritmico III. Andante IV. Alegre – INTERMISSION –

Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) I. Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) Marc Mellits (b. 1966) String Quartet No. 2, “Revolution” I. Groove Canon II. Mara’s Toys III. December 1989 IV. Groove Machine

CONCERT. Chamber Concert at Macomb County Community College: Ligeti, Porumbescu, Ochoa & Mellits Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 7:00 p.m.

Lorenzo Center, Macomb County Community College Campus 44575 Garfield Rd, Clinton Twp, MI 48038

$15 ADULTS

$10 STUDENTS

ARTISTS

László Benedek, violin Marian Tănău, violin Hang Su, viola David LeDoux, cello

CO N C E RT P R O G R A M

György Ligeti (1923–2006) String Quartet No. 1, “Métamorphoses nocturnes” Allegro grazioso Vivace, capriccioso A tempo Adagio, mesto Presto – Prestissimo Molto sostenuto – Andante tranquillo Più mosso Tempo di Valse, moderato, con eleganza, un poco capriccioso Subito prestissimo Subito: molto sostenuto Allegretto, un poco gioviale Allarg. Poco più mosso Subito allegro con moto, string. poco a poco sin al prestissimo Prestissimo Allegro comodo, gioviale Sostenuto, accelerando – Ad libitum, senza misura Lento

Ciprian Porumbescu (1853–1883) Ballade – INTERMISSION –

Armando Guevara Ochoa (1926–2013) Peruvian Skapes I. Cuzco II. Vilcanota III. Yaraví IV. Huayno Marc Mellits (b. 1966) String Quartet No. 2, “Revolution” I. Groove Canon II. Mara’s Toys III. December 1989 IV. Groove Machine

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MASTER CLASS Violin Master Class with László Benedek at Wayne State University Friday, October 17, 2014, 3:00 p.m.

Schaver Recital Hall, Old Main, Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48201

FREE ADMISSION ARTIST

László Benedek, violin

MASTER CLASS

Visiting American Romanian Festival violinist László Benedek will conduct a masterclass on Friday, October 17, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Wayne State University’s Shaver Music Recital Hall. The Master Class is open to violin students from Wayne State University. László Benedek is a graduate of the Liceul de Muzica of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and later of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where he obtained his Master’s degree in music. He continued studies as an Artist Diploma student at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music where he studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus, Piotr Milewski, Peter Oundjian, and Henry Meyer.

In May of 1995, Mr. Benedek won the James Paul Kennedy Award at the Music Department of Bowling Green State University. One year later, he won First Prize at the annual Starling Competition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ohio, where he became the concertmaster of its Philharmonic Orchestra.

László Benedek resides in Lima, Peru, with his wife and two children and is on the faculty of the National Music Conservatory in Lima.

His violin students have won over fifty prizes at national violin competitions and have been selected on more than forty occasions to perform as youth soloists with the National Symphony Orchestra in Peru.❖

– S PA C E TO TA K E N OT E S O N PA G E S 1 4 & 1 5 –

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL 2014

CONCERT. László Benedek Recital at Wayne State University Friday, October 17, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Schaver Recital Hall, Wayne State University 480 W Hancock St, Detroit, MI 48201

FREE ADMISSION ARTISTS

László Benedek, violin Robert Conway, piano

CO N C E RT P R O G R A M

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) Scherzo in c minor (from F-A-E Sonata) III. Allegro Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) (arr. Kreisler) Slavonic Dance No. 1 in g minor, Op. 46, No. 2 Pablo de Sarasate (1844–1908) Romanza Andaluza (Spanish Dance No. 3), Op. 22, No. 1

Armando Guevara Ochoa (1926–2013) Danza Criolla Ciprian Porumbescu (1853–1883) Ballade Constantin Dumitrescu (1847–1928) Dans ţănănesc for cello and piano, Op.15 Ion Scărlătescu (1872–1922) Bagatelle

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) (arr. Kohansky) “Danza ritual del fuego” (“Ritual Fire Dance”) from El amor brujo Celso Garrido-Lecca (b. 1926) Danzas populares andinas (Peruvian Dances from the Andes) I. Alegre II. Ritmico III. Andante IV. Alegre

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CONCERT Chamber Concert at Wayne State University: Ligeti, Ochoa, Piazzolla & Mellits Sunday, October 19, 2014, 3:00 p.m.

Schaver Recital Hall, Wayne State University 480 W Hancock St, Detroit, MI 48201

FREE ADMISSION ARTISTS

László Benedek, violin Marian Tănău, violin Hang Su, viola David LeDoux, cello Robert Conway, piano

CO N C E RT P R O G R A M

György Ligeti (1923–2006) String Quartet No. 1, “Métamorphoses nocturnes” Allegro grazioso Vivace, capriccioso A tempo Adagio, mesto Presto – Prestissimo Molto sostenuto – Andante tranquillo Più mosso Tempo di Valse, moderato, con eleganza, un poco capriccioso Subito prestissimo Subito: molto sostenuto Allegretto, un poco gioviale Allarg. Poco più mosso Subito allegro con moto, string. poco a poco sin al prestissimo Prestissimo Allegro comodo, gioviale Sostenuto, accelerando – Ad libitum, senza misura Lento

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL 2014

Armando Guevara Ochoa (1926–2013) Peruvian Skapes I. Cuzco II. Vilcanota III. Yaraví IV. Huayno – INTERMISSION –

Cornel Ţăranu (b. 1934) Sonata Ostinato Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) I. Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) Marc Mellits (b. 1966) String Quartet No. 2, “Revolution” I. Groove Canon II. Mara’s Toys III. December 1989 IV. Groove Machine

ARTISTS. László Benedek VIOLIN

A graduate of the Liceul de Muzica of ClujNapoca, Romania, László Benedek won an assistantship in 1993 to Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where he obtained his Master’s Degree in Music. He continued studies as an Artist Diploma student at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music where he studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus, Piotr Milewski, Peter Oundjian, and Henry Meyer.

In May of 1995, Mr. Benedek won the James Paul Kennedy Award at the Music Department of Bowling Green State University. One year later, he won First Prize at the annual Starling Competition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ohio, where he became the concertmaster of its Philharmonic Orchestra.

His professional experience includes concerts in the USA, Romania, Hungary, Chile, and Ecuador. In Peru, where he has been a resident since 1996, Benedek has been a soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lima, the Chamber Orchestra of the Catholic University, the Symphonic Orchestra of Arequipa, the Symphonic Orchestra of Huánuco, the Symphonic

Orchestra of Trujillo, and the Chamber Orchestra of Radio Filarmonía, Lima. As a member of the Transylvanian Philharmonic Orchestra, he participated in several tours of Italy, Spain, and France. As the first violinist of the Lima String Quartet, he has participated in festivals in Washington, DC, Texas Christian University, and the Festival Semanas Musicales de Frutillar in Chile.

Since 1996, Mr. Benedek has been the first violinist of the Lima String Quartet. Between 1996 and 2002, he served as Concertmaster of the Lima Philharmonic Orchestra and is now the Concertmaster of the Orquesta Ciudad de los Reyes in Lima.

Since 2000, Mr. Benedek has taught at the National Music Conservatory in Lima. His violin students have won over fifty prizes at national violin competitions and have been selected on more than forty occasions to perform as youth soloists with the National Symphony Orchestra in Peru. Some of Mr. Benedek’s students are currently enrolled at prestigious conservatories and music schools in the USA, Germany, and France where they qualified for full scholarships. László Benedek resides in Lima, Peru, with his wife and two children.❖

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ARTISTS Robert Conway PIANO

Robert Conway is an associate professor of piano at Wayne State University, where he is also the director of the piano area. Since 1989, he has performed regularly as orchestral keyboardist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has been a soloist with them on several occasions. In 2013, he performed the solo piano part to Symphony No. 4 by Charles Ives in Carnegie Hall as part of the Detroit Symphony’s presentation of the complete symphonies of Ives. He has served as a musical representative of the United States as an Artistic Ambassador of the United States Information Agency on a month-long tour of South Asia and the Middle East in 1997, as well as acting as a Department of State Cultural Envoy to Jamaica in 2005 and Azerbaijan in

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2008. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has appeared at numerous national and international festivals, performed concertos with many orchestras, collaborated with prestigious composers, given countless premieres and is featured on several recordings on numerous labels. In 2009, he performed as part of the American Romanian Festival in Timisoara and Sannicolau Mare, Romania. Conway received a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the New England Conservatory and Master’s and Doctoral degrees in piano performance from the University of Michigan. His principal teachers were Theodore Lettvin, Rudolf Kolisch and Eugene Bossart.❖

ARTISTS. David LeDoux C E L LO

David LeDoux has appeared as a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony, the Skaneateles Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Tulsa Philharmonic, the Oklahoma State University Symphony, the Louisiana Sinfonietta and the Mid-Texas Symphony.

LeDoux is an active and avid chamber musician, including many years with the Syracuse Society for New Music. As a committed private teacher, he spent last year as a cello instructor for Imagine Syracuse, a music program in an inner-city

school which was modeled after the El Sistema program in Venezuela.

Previous professional engagements for David have included serving as Principal cellist with the Baton Rouge (LA) Symphony, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Symphony and the Louisiana Sinfonietta. This summer David will be returning to his faculty position with the Eastern Musical Festival.

David and his wife currently reside in Madison Heights, and David includes among his hobbies reading, running, and movies.â?–

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ARTISTS Hang Su VIOLA

Hang Su was born in Zhengzhou, China, grew up in Beijing, and matured in the United States. A three-time recipient of the Léni Fé Bland Scholarship, Su was also granted the Alfred Charles Mobus Jr. Scholarship while studying at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California. The firstprize winner of the California Young Artist Competition, he has also won the Idyllwild Arts Concerto Competition and the National Debut Competition held by the Young Musicians Foundation.

Su has performed concerts throughout the USA and China in halls including Kennedy Center, Annenberg Hall, Royce Hall, Schoenberg Hall, California Center for the Arts, Newman Hall, Bovard Auditorium,

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Zipper Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Wilshire Ebell Theater, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Beijing Concert Hall.

Su has been the Principal Violist of the International Chamber Orchestra, Debut Symphony Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, and twice received a full scholarship to participate in the Music Academy of the West.

As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists such as Ralf Gothóni, Arnold Steinhardt, Ronald Leonard, Dennis Trembly, Margaret Batjer, Peter Stumpf, and members of the Ysaÿe Quartet.

Su has studied with Paul Coletti, Ralph Fielding, Xiaolong Liu, and Donald McInnes.❖

CONCERT. Marian Tănău VIOLIN

Photo by Roxana Pop

Romanian-born violinist Marian Tănău first picked up the violin at age four and began his musical education in his hometown of Timisoara in Romania. He graduated from Liceul de Muzica “Ion Vidu,” where he studied violin with Maria Cleşiu. He then left for the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca and the Conservatorul de Muzica “G. Dima,” where he earned an Artists Diploma. Later in the USA, he earned a graduate degree from Bowling Green State University.

Tănău joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1995. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Romania and the USA and is an active chamber musician. In 2004, Tănău joined the violin faculty at Wayne

State University. In 2005, he was awarded a sabbatical year and moved temporarily to Romania where he joined the music faculty at the National College of Art “Ion Vidu,” and the Music Conservatory of the West University from Timisoara.

His recording of the Violin Sonata by Paul Paray, recorded for Grotto Productions, received praise from critics in the prestigious Strad, Gramophone, and Fanfare Magazines.

Marian Tănău is the founder and president of the American Romanian Festival, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote American and Romanian music and culture to audiences in the USA and Europe. ❖

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NOTES

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NOTES.

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MISSION The mission of the American Romanian Festival is to create a bridge between the two cultures, helping to foster mutual understanding. A specific focus of the festival will be to promote cultural awareness and understanding between people of culture, musicians, and artists of the United States and Romania. The festival organizes educational, cultural, and artistic events which will take place in Romania and the USA. The organization supports cultural exchanges with Americans participating in events in Romania and Romanians participating in events in the USA. The American Romanian Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, please make checks payable to the American Romanian Festival and mail to: American Romanian Festival, Inc. 1407 Ferdon Road Ann Arbor, MI 48104

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