American Romanian Festival 2017 Program Book

CONCERTS & FILM SERIES

americanromanianfestival.org

WELCOME TABLE OF CONTENTS Board Members Staff Introduction Thank You Sponsors & Donors Letter to the Audience

2 2 3 3 4 5

EVENTS October 13, 2017 / Opposites: Chamber Concert at Wayne State University October 14, 2017 / Celebrating 100 Years of Lipatti!

October 23, 2017 / From the Countryside: Chamber Orchestra Concert November 5, 2017 / Opposites: Chamber Concert at Kerrytown Concert House December 1, 2017 / Celebrating Dinu Lipatti & Romania: Chamber Concert November 11 & 12, 2017 / 8th Annual Romanian Film Series

6 7 8 9 10 11

ARTISTS Valentin Mihai Bogdan Kazimierz Brzozowski Robert Conway Sheryl Hwangbo David LeDoux Kypros Markou Hang Su Marian Tănău Zhihua Tang

13 14 15 15 16 16 17 18 18

BOARD MEMBERS Marian Tănău, President Maureen D’Avanzo Franz Herbert Silviu Pala John Rakolta Jr. Lori Runco John Santeiu Jr. Charles Slater, Secretary-Treasurer

2

STAFF Logan Skelton & Marian Tănău, Artistic Directors Maria Clesiu, Education Liaison (Romania) Lori Newman, Operations (USA) Joan Olkowski, Website & Design Ramona Uritescu-Lombard, Movies Curator

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

ARTISTS. 2017 FESTIVAL. 2017 FESTIVAL

The American Romanian Festival Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster mutual understanding and promote American and Eastern European music and culture. The festival is filled with concerts and events celebrating these two societies.

The 2017 festival kicks off on October 13 at Wayne State University with the chamber music concert entitled “Opposites.” The following day, this year’s guest, Valentin Mihai Bogdan, will perform one of his works in the chamber concert “Celebrating 100 Years of Lipatti!” The festival will continue with three more chamber music concerts on October 23, November 5, and December 1. In addition, the 8th Annual Romanian Film Series at the University of Michigan Museum of Art will be held on November 11 and 12.

For more information about the festival’s events and the 2017 “Romanian Culinary Evening & Music” at Schoolcraft College, please visit americanromanianfestival.org.

THANK YOU Lisa Borgsdorf – Manager of Public Programs, University of Michigan Museum of Art Norah Duncan – Chair, Department of Music, Wayne State University Kypros Markou – Professor & Director University Symphony Orchestra, Wayne State University Katy Mattingly – Assistant to the Chair, Germanic Languages & Literature, University of Michigan Johannes von Moltke – Chair, Germanic Languages & Literature, University of Michigan Lori Newman – editing Joan Olkowski – website & design Matthew Pons – Stage Department Head, Detroit Symphony Orchestra John Rakolta Jr. – Romanian Honorary Consul in Detroit Alina Sălcudeanu – Responsible Foreign Affairs, Romanian Film Centre The Santeiu Family Sheri Sytsema-Geiger – Chief Administrator, Germanic Languages & Literature, University of Michigan Ramona Uritescu-Lombard – UM Lecturer in Germanic Languages & Literature

americanromanianfestival.org

3

SPONSORS & DONORS. SPONSORS

The American Romanian Festival Inc. programs are supported by our generous sponsors.

DONORS GOLD LEVEL Elizabeth Greve & Franz Herbert John & Terry Rakolta Jr. John & Judy Santeiu Jr. Marian & Jennifer Tănău Wayne State University, Department of Music SILVER LEVEL Ann & James Nicholson Silviu & Gela Pala BRONZE LEVEL Dragos Galusca Charles & Carol Slater FRIENDS CIRCLE Tom Adams & Diana McArthur Ioan & Georgeta Atanasiu Linda Bancroft Cecilia & Mircea Big Lucian & Silvia Bogdan Barbara & John Brana

4

Paul & Barbara Burakoff Liviu Capatina Marcy Chanteaux Dana & Vanja Chemalovic Bob & Esther Churella Doug & Minka Cornelson Mircea & Daniela Cure Maureen & Jerry D’Avanzo Doina David Ileana Dragnea Anne & Kevin Ellils Viorica Fuchs Andrea Geamanu Adrian & Ella Gheorghiu Sanda & Daniel Grosu Nick & Judy Ioannou Jeannette Jackson Dr. Anna Jonascu-Devine Cristina Muresan & Rabah Hadjit Iuliana & Ovidiu Niculescu Terence & Linda Ocallaghan Razvan Pala Claudia Petrescu Wiley Pickett Jr.

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

Pavel Popa Marge Predeteanu Dorel & Anca Sala John III & Liza Santeiu Mark Santeiu Peter & Jennifer Santeiu Mark Sercu Ionel & Viorica Simplicean Lisa & Logan Skelton Alex Stancovschi Diane & Alen Thompson Laura & Dan Zetu

LETTER TO THE AUDIENCE DEAR AUDIENCE MEMBER,

Welcome to the events of the 2017 American Romanian Festival Inc. This year, we have an array of performances featuring works by Romanian and American composers as well as Romanian film screenings and a Culinary Evening at Schoolcraft College, featuring traditional Romanian food reinterpreted in the hands of the master chefs at the American Harvest Restaurant.

This year, we celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the birth of Dinu Lipatti, one of the most renowned Romanian pianists of all times. A few of the festival’s performances are dedicated to his memory and work.

Now in its 12th year, the American Romanian Festival Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster mutual understanding and promote American and East European music and culture. A specific focus of the festival is to encourage 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 that take place in Romania and the USA Founded in 2005, the organization supports cultural exchanges with Americans participating in events in Romania and Romanians participating in events in the USA. The American Romanian Festival Inc. and its events would not exist without the unwavering support and generosity of the Board of Directors and all who generously give to the organization. We are deeply grateful!

Thank you for your support and for your participation in the festival as an audience member!

Sincerely,

Marian Tănău, President

americanromanianfestival.org

5

CONCERT Opposites CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT Friday, October 13, 2017, 11:30 a.m.

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

FREE ADMISSION ARTISTS Sheryl Hwangbo, violin Marian Tănău, violin Hang Su, viola David LeDoux, cello Zhihua Tang, piano

CO N C E R T P R O G R A M George Enescu (1881–1955) Piano Quintet in D Major I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo vivace III. Andante IV. Allegro con spirito Steve Reich (b. 1936) Different Trains for String Quartet and Pre-Recorded Performance Tape I. America – Before the War II. Europe – During the War III. After the War (Played without pause)

6

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

CONCERT. Celebrating 100 Years of Lipatti!

RECITAL CONCERT Saturday, October 14, 2017, 3 p.m.

Steinway Piano Gallery 2700 E. West Maple Rd. Commerce Charter Township, MI 48390

ADMISSION / $20 ARTISTS Valentin Mihai Bogdan, piano

CONCERT PROGRAM Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, D 899 Dinu Lipatti (1917–1950) Fantasie, Op. 8 (selected movements) George Enescu (1881–1955) Romanian Rhapsody, Op. 11, No. 1 (concert transcriptions for solo piano by the composer) – I N T E R M I SS I O N –

Valentin Mihai Bogdan (b. 1981) Etudes for Solo Piano I. Introduction II. Basso Ostinato III. Sets IV. Aug(Mented) Paul Constantinescu (1909–1963) Trei Piese Pentru Pian (Three Pieces for the Piano) I. Joc (Dance) II. Cantec (Song) III. Dans din Dobrogea – Toccata (Dobrogean Dance)

Tudor Ciortea (1903–1982) Suite for the Piano I. Colind (Carol) II. Joc (Dance) III. Cantec (Song) IV. Joc (Dance) V. Bocet (Funeral Song) VI. Joc (Dance)

americanromanianfestival.org

7

CONCERT From the Countryside CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT Monday, October 23, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

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

FREE ADMISSION ARTISTS Kypros Markou, conductor Robert Conway, piano Kazimierz Brzozowski, piano Wayne State University Orchestra VIOLIN I Hai Xin Wu* Chance McDermott Sean O’Connell Amanda Baune Elise Komer Larissa Verley

VIOLIN II Dr. Laura Roelofs* Raymond Li Isaac Weiss Phillip Sylvester Jocelyn Palmer VIOLA John Madison* Madison Hilborn Gabriel Paese Gabriel Bray

CELLO Judith Vander Weg* Christian Sands Gavin Langley BASS Larry Hutchinson* Mitchell Anderson FLUTE Catherine Butler

CLARINET Laurence Liberson+ BASSOON Isaac Bartol *Wayne State University faculty +Detroit Symphony Orchestra

CO N C E R T P R O G R A M Cornel Ţăranu (b. 1934) Sequences

Cindy McTee (b. 1953) Adagio

Dinu Lipatti (1917–1950) Symphonie concertante, Op. 5 I. Molto maestoso II. Molto adagio III. Allegro con spirito

Aaron Copland (1900–1990) Appalachian Spring I. Very slowly II. Fast/Allegro III. Moderate/Moderato IV. Quite fast V. Still faster/Subito allegro VI. Very slowly (as at first) VII. Calm and flowing/Doppio movimento VIII. Moderate. Coda/Moderato – Coda

– INTERMISSION –

8

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

CONCERT. Opposites CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT Sunday, November 5, 2017, 7 p.m.

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

ADMISSION $5–$30 ADMISSION: $15–$30; STUDENTS: $5 Payments Accepted: Cash, Credit Card, Check ARTISTS Sheryl Hwangbo, violin Marian Tănău, violin Hang Su, viola David LeDoux, cello Zhihua Tang, piano

CONCERT PROGRAM

George Enescu (1881–1955) Piano Quintet in D Major I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo vivace III. Andante IV. Allegro con spirito Steve Reich (b. 1936) Different Trains for String Quartet and Pre-Recorded Performance Tape I. America – Before the War II. Europe – During the War III. After the War (Played without pause)

americanromanianfestival.org

9

CONCERT Celebrating Dinu Lipatti & Romania CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT Friday, December 1, 2017, 11:30 a.m.

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

FREE ADMISSION ARTISTS Marian Tănău, violin David LeDoux, cello Robert Conway, piano

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

Dinu Lipatti (1917–1950) Sonatina for the Left Hand George Enescu (1881–1955) Piano Trio in g minor I. Allegro molto vivace II. Allegretto grazioso III. Andante IV. Presto

10

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

FILM SERIES. Two Lottery Tickets

The Treasure

FILM SCREENING & TALK Saturday, November 11, 2017, 3:30 p.m.

Helmut Stern Auditorium, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

FILM SCREENING & TALK Saturday, November 11, 2017, 5:30 p.m Helmut Stern Auditorium, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

FREE ADMISSION

FREE ADMISSION

Two Lottery Tickets

The Treasure

Două Lozuri, 2016; Paul Negoescu, Comedy, English Subtitles, 86 minutes

Comoara, 2015, Corneliu Porumboiu, Drama, English Subtitles, 89 minutes

Three men from a provincial town are in urgent need of money and decide to buy a lottery ticket. They win the lottery but soon after, their ticket gets stolen.

Costi leads a peaceful life until one day when his neighbor pays him an unexpected visit and shares with him that his grandparent’s garden has a buried treasure. He offers Costi half of what they will find, pending that Costi will rent a metal detector. Costi eventually accepts the proposal.

TRAILER youtube.com/watch?v=j6GvCvAS22Q Q & A TO FOLLOW

TRAILER youtube.com/watch?v=_f1pZHTh6K0 Q & A TO FOLLOW

americanromanianfestival.org

11

FILM SERIES Everybody in Our Family

By the Rails

FILM SCREENING & TALK Sunday, November 12, 2017, 3:30 p.m.

Helmut Stern Auditorium, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

FILM SCREENING & TALK Sunday, November 12, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

Helmut Stern Auditorium, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

FREE ADMISSION

FREE ADMISSION

Everybody in Our Family

By the Rails

Toata lumea din familia noastra, 2012, Radu Jude; Comedy, English Subtitles, 107 minutes

Dincolo de calea ferata, 2016; Cătălin Mitulescu, Drama, English Subtitles, 88 minutes

Marius, a divorced father, is frustrated that his five-year-old daughter Sofia lives with her mother. When he wants to take his daughter with him on holiday, he is told that she is ill.

Suspecting a lie, he insists to take her with him, leading to a series of comic mishaps, lies, police interventions, all to the tune of children’s songs. With famed Romanian actress Stela Popescu.

Radu has come back from Italy after a year and finds his wife totally changed.

They spend the night trying to rediscover themselves. The distance has created distrust and confusion between them, but Radu hopes for a new beginning.

TRAILER youtube.com/watch?v=StNH7O2IYm8

TRAILER youtube.com/watch?v=bE_brOVaWH8 Q & A TO FOLLOW

Q & A TO FOLLOW

12

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

ARTISTS. Valentin Mihai Bogdan PIANO + VISITING COMPOSER

A native of Romania, pianist and composer Valentin Mihai Bogdan serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Mississippi University for Women.

As a pianist, he has won awards at national and international competitions such as the Ellis National Duo Piano Competition, Varna International Piano Competition, The American Prize, Wayne State University Concerto Competition, and many more. In the United States, he has concertized in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and West Virginia. Internationally, he has performed in Europe, Asia, and North America, including France, England, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Jordan, and Canada.

He has appeared as a soloist with the Assisi Performing Arts Orchestra (Italy), Starkville Symphony, the Arizona Western Concert Band, and the Wayne State Symphony Orchestra.

As a composer, Valentin has had pieces performed in Europe and North America, at the Assisi Festival of Performing Arts (Italy), Festival Miami, Music at MOCA Concert Series, the Oregon Bach Festival, and at new-music concerts hosted by the College Music Society, NACUSA, the Society of Composers Inc., and the International Trumpet Guild. His music was premiered by musicians of the Cleveland Symphony

Orchestra, Beta Collide, Grambling State University Wind Ensemble, Grambling Chorale, Black Bayou Brass Trio, and the AWC Wind Ensemble. In the past two years, he has fulfilled commissions by trumpet virtuosi James Zingara and Randall Sorensen and ensembles including the University of Alabama Birmingham Trumpet Ensemble, the Starkville-MSU Symphony, and the AWC Concert Band. He was also commissioned by the Dranoff Two Piano Foundation of Miami. Valentin was named the 2010 Florida State Music Teachers Association commissioned composer of the year and the 2015 Mississippi Music Teachers Association commissioned composer.

Recordings of Valentin’s music are released on Ablaze Records, Parma Records, and independently on iTunes and CD Baby. He is a graduate of Wayne State University, Michigan State University, and the University of Miami, with degrees in piano and music composition. �

americanromanianfestival.org

13

ARTISTS Kazimierz Brzozowski PIANO

After his concerto debut at the age of 14, Kazimierz Brzozowski frequently performed as a soloist with the Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra, in addition to giving a series of concerts in Hungary. As a student in Warsaw, he often appeared in recitals at the Academy of Music, Chopin Society, Warsaw Musical Society, National Philharmonic Hall, and at Zelazowa Wola – Chopin’s birthplace. He has made recordings for Polish Radio and Television and recorded compact discs with music by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Szymanowski, Liszt, and Bartók. His recordings are also included in the popular CD sets “Living With the Classics.”

Mr. Brzozowski’s performance highlights include a New York City Carnegie Hall debut; performances in Warsaw with the Polish National Radio Orchestra, recorded live for Public Radio and Television; concerts at the Mozart Festival and the Chopin Festival in Warsaw; recitals for the Chopin Foundation in Florida; and concerts in Japan.

Kazimierz Brzozowski currently resides in Michigan, where he has frequently performed in recitals and as a soloist with symphony orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He performs in his native Poland as well, in recitals and as a soloist with Philharmonic orchestras.

He is a graduate of the Warsaw Chopin Academy of Music (M.M.) and the University of Michigan (DMA). He has received awards from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, Ann Arbor Musical Society in Michigan, the

14

University of Michigan, and the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. He is a prize winner at the Polish National Piano Festival and Chopin Society Competition in Warsaw. In July 2016 at the 20th International Piano Festival in Nałęczów, he was decorated with the Medal of Merit for Polish Culture, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland in recognition of his artistic and pedagogical achievements. At the same time, he received Appreciation Awards from the Mayor of the City of Nałęczów and from the Lublin Voivodeship Marshal for his cultural contribution to the city and the region. Mr. Brzozowski is a Steinway artist.

Dr. Brzozowski is the founder and director of the International Music Festival, which is held annually in Naleczow, Poland. This event, now in its 20th year, attracts international high school and college students for intensive study and performances, both solo and with chamber orchestra. Faculty and guest artists come from Poland, the United States, Russia, and Japan.❖

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

ARTISTS. Robert Conway

Sheryl Hwangbo

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 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.❖

Violinist Sheryl Sul Hwangbo joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Born in South Korea, Sheryl began her violin studies at age six. As an active soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician, Sheryl won various competitions in the Midwest and participated in the Verbier Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival, among others. During her studies, Sheryl served as a concertmaster of the Juilliard and MSM Orchestra. She won the Juilliard Concerto Competition which led to a solo performance with the Juilliard Orchestra. Sheryl received her Bachelor of Music degree from Cleveland Institute of Music, Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, and Professional Studies degree from Manhattan School of Music. Primary teachers include Paul Kantor, Ronald Copes, Glenn Dicterow, and Lisa Kim. ❖

PIANO

VIOLIN

americanromanianfestival.org

15

ARTISTS David LeDoux

Kypros Markou

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 2012 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. Last summer, David returned to his faculty position with the Eastern Musical Festival in Greensboro, NC. David lives in Madison Heights, and David includes among his hobbies reading, running, and movies.❖

Kypros Markou is Director of Orchestral Studies at Wayne State University and Music Director of the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra. Guest conducting engagements include concerts with the Sinfonia Varsovia, Krakow Philharmonic, Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cyprus State Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción in Chile, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Rochester Philharmonic in New York. He has served as cover conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony as well as the Detroit Symphony for Maestros Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Eri Klas, Jerzy Semkow, Gunther Herbig, and others. Previous conducting positions include Music Director with the Westmoreland Symphony in Pennsylvania, Music Director of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra in Florida and the Cyprus Radio Orchestra, Associate conductor of the Canton Symphony in Ohio, conductor of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and the University of Pittsburgh Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the Somerset Summer Music Festival in Pennsylvania. He was also Associate Conductor of the New England Conservatory Symphony under Gunther Schuller in Boston.

A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London and the New England Conservatory in Boston, he also attended Indiana University where he studied with the legendary Ruggiero Ricci. He has won conducting fellowships from the Aspen Festival and the American Symphony Orchestra. He also won a violin fellowship

CELLO

16

CONDUCTOR

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

ARTISTS. Hang Su VIOLA from Tanglewood. In 1978, he was invited to participate in the Cleveland Orchestra’s Conductors Symposium under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel and was a finalist for the assistant conductor post with the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1989, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Seton Hill College in Pennsylvania and in 2011, he received the Board of Governors Award at Wayne State University. He has recorded CDs with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, and London Octave featuring music by Bartók, Dvořák, Foote, Herbert, Foss, Sierra, and Suk. His performances have been featured on Public Radio Stations in the USA, BBC Radio 3, and in other countries. In addition to his conducting, he remains active as a violinist.❖

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, 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. ❖

americanromanianfestival.org

17

ARTISTS Marian Tănău

Zhihua Tang

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. ❖

Zhihua Tang is assistant professor in collaborative piano at the Michigan State University College of Music.

Tang has enjoyed an active performing career around the world and has been praised for her extraordinary versatility and profound artistry. Over the years, she has collaborated with some of today’s leading musicians: violinists Joshua Bell, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Yuval Yaron, Robert Chen, David Kim, Jonathan Carney, Yoonshin Song, Emmanuelle Boisvert, and Yuan-Qing Yu; cellists Robert deMaine, Haiye Ni, and Wei Yu; violist Mahoko Eguchi; flutists Maxim Rubtsov and Jeffery Zook; bassists Alexander Hanna and Kevin Brown; and oboist Dwight Parry.

Her chamber music partners have included numerous principal players from many major symphony orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, National, Detroit, and Dallas among others. Since 2011, she has performed frequently with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In May 2013, she appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Detroit Symphony under Leonard Slatkin as part of Carnegie Hall’s annual Spring for Music Festival.

Tang was the top prize winner of the Beethoven Sonata Competition in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Central Division of the MTNA Collegiate Artist Competition, Chopin Competition in Chicago. She has also received honorable mention at the XII International

VIOLIN

18

PIANO

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL INC. 2017

ARTISTS.

Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Poland. As a concerto soloist, she has performed on different continents with many orchestras, including the Detroit Civic Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Ballet Orchestra, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, her performance of the Beethoven “Emperor” Concerto with the Detroit Civic Orchestra at Detroit Orchestra Hall was broadcast live on Detroit WRCJ radio. As a recitalist, she has performed extensively across Europe, the USA, and Asia in major music venues such as Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna, Rackham Hall in Ann Arbor, Detroit Orchestra Hall, Beijing Zhongshan Music Hall, and Shanghai Centre Theatre.

She has held teaching positions at Alma College, Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, the University of North Dakota, and Summer Music Camp at Bowling Green State University. As an avid advocate for music in the community, she has worked as a chamber music coach in the Detroit Civic Youth Ensemble, one of the premier youth music organizations in the country. She has been frequently invited to give performances and master classes throughout the United States and her native China.

A native of Shanghai, China, Tang began her piano studies at the age of five with her father. She attended the Shanghai Conservatory, where she was a recipient of the Fei Minyi Fellowship and Shen Xingong Scholarship. She received a master of music degree from Indiana University as a scholarship student of Menahem Pressler.

She later completed her DMA degree at the Michigan State University College of Music under the tutelage of Deborah Moriarty.

She has also worked with some of the most important pedagogues including Paul-Badura Skoda, Russell Sherman, Joseph Kalichstein,

John Perry, Anton Kuerti, Martin Katz, Janos Starker, Elly Ameling, and Pamela Frank.

Additionally, she has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Music Festival, Orford Music Center, and Gilmore Piano Festival. ❖

americanromanianfestival.org

19

MISSION

MISSION

The American Romanian TheFestival American Inc. Romanian is a nonprofit Festival organization Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster whose mutual mission understanding is to foster mutual and promote understanding and promote American and EasternAmerican Europeanand music Eastern and culture.

European A specific music and culture. A specific focus of the festival isfocus to encourage of the festival cultural is to awareness encourage and cultural awareness and understanding between understanding people of culture, between musicians, people of and culture, artistsmusicians, of and artists of the United States andthe Romania.

United The States festival and Romania. organizesThe educational, festival organizes educational, cultural, and artistic events cultural, which and take artistic place events in Romania which take andplace in Romania and the USA. Founded in 2005, the USA. the Founded organization in 2005, supports the organization cultural supports cultural exchanges with Americans exchanges participating with Americans in eventsparticipating in Romania in and events in Romania and Romanians participating Romanians in eventsparticipating in the USA. in events in the USA.

THANK YOU FORTHANK MAKING YOU A DIFFERENCE FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE

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

americanromanianfestival.org americanromanianfestival.org