Trio 180
Ann Miller, violin
Vicky Wang, cello
Sonia Leong, piano
Igor Veligan, viola
Kathryn Schulmeister, double bass
Thursday, March 27, 2025
7:30 pm
Recital Hall
D’un matin de printemps (1917–1918)
Lili Boulanger (1893–1918)
Piano Trio in D minor, op. 120 (1923)
Allegro, ma non troppo
Andantino
Allegro vivo
Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Quintet in A major, D. 667, “Trout” (1819)
Allegro vivace
Andante
Scherzo: Presto
Andantino—Allegretto
Allegro giusto
Igor Veligan, viola
Kathryn Schulmeister, double bass
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Pause
Trio 180, the faculty piano trio-in-residence at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, is dedicated to its roles as performer, proponent of new music, and educator. In addition to giving concerts and masterclasses throughout the United States, the Trio has been featured on concert series in Mexico and Canada. This talented ensemble includes violinist Ann Miller, cellist Vicky Wang, and pianist Sonia Leong.
Trio 180 performs a wide range of music from the Classic era to the present and is an active advocate of new music. The Trio was awarded a Barlow Grant in 2006 to commission eminent composer Chen Yi’s first piano trio, Tibetan Tunes (Theodore Presser). The Trio also premiered Robert Coburn’s a depth of silence (2018); Robert Greenberg’s 180 Shift (2013); Reinaldo Moya’s Gothic Sea (2011, in honor of Trio 180’s tenth anniversary); François Rose’s Gently, Wild Rose Petals (2008); Derek Jacoby’s Trio No. 2 (2008); and Allan Crossman’s Icarus (2005). The Trio has also recorded works by Jorge Liderman (Suite del sur; Sidewalk, recorded on Albany Records); and Cindy Cox (Wave).
The Trio mentors young musicians and chamber music groups at University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, where all three members are on faculty. In addition, Trio 180 frequently performs at elementary and high schools throughout California, presenting varied and interactive programs designed to challenge and engage young students.
Lecturer in violin, viola, and chamber music, Igor Veligan, joined University of the Pacific's faculty in the fall of 2006. He also taught at American River College from 2004 to 2015. He holds a master's degree in violin performance and chamber music from Odessa State Conservatory. His teachers included Zoja Istomina and Galina Gritzenko.
Veligan founded the Odessa Conservatory String Quartet, which performed extensively in Ukraine, toured in Freiburg (Germany), Tokyo, and Niigata (Japan). He also performs extensively with pianist Natsuki Fukasawa, collaborates with various chamber ensembles and has been a guest violist with the Trio 180. He has also performed as a violist with the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento for the past ten years. Igor Veligan is an artist faculty member of the Hawaii Performing Art Festival and the Orfeo International Music Festival (Italy). He is a co-founder and artistic director of Chamber Music Festival at San Domenico Conservatory.
As an orchestra performer, Veligan serves as concertmaster of Pacific
Chamber Symphony. He served as a guest concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic, principal violist with the Reno Philharmonic and principal second violinist with the Monterey Symphony for ten years.
In 2013 Igor Veligan along with pianist Natsuki Fukasawa released an album Voices of Eastern Europe featuring violin and piano sonatas by Enescu, Skoryk, and Babadjanian. His recent solo appearances with symphony orchestra include Bartók’s Viola Concerto, Prokofiev’s Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, and others. Veligan is a founder and violin-viola teacher at the Young Talents Music School. Many of his students are winners of numerous local and state competitions.
Hawai‘i-born bassist Kathryn Schulmeister joined the faculty of University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music in fall 2023 where she serves as assistant professor of practice in double bass.
Praised for her “expressive and captivating performance” (Grammy.com), she enjoys a creative music practice as a versatile performer, educator and researcher. Recent honors include a 2020 Grammy Award nomination as a collaborating artist featured on Susan Narucki’s The Edge of Silence, a contemporary classical album of chamber works by György Kurtág on AVIE Records (2019).
Schulmeister has appeared as a soloist with leading international contemporary ensembles including Klangforum Wien, the ELISION Ensemble and Ensemble Vertixe Sonora. She has given solo performances at venues and festivals around the world including the Melbourne Recital Centre, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, ECLAT Festival Neue Musik Stuttgart, San Diego Museum of Making Music, soundSCAPE Festival, Vértice Festival and the Clive Davis Theater at the Grammy Museum. She is a member of the ELISION Ensemble, Fonema Consort, and Echoi Ensemble. She has performed as a guest artist with various adventurous ensembles including Delirium Musicum, Ensemble MusikFabrik, SWR Experimentalstudio Freiburg, Wild Up! and Ensemble Dal Niente.