MISSISSIPPI CHAMBER CIRCLE Formed in 2006 by the string faculty of the School of Music at The University of Southern Mississippi, the Mississippi Chamber Circle (MCC) is a group devoted to the performance of string chamber music and the development of string education. Each year, the MCC presents several concerts in Hattiesburg and throughout the Southeast. The group collaborates with artists from music schools and symphonies in the area, as well as with selected Southern Miss string students. The MCC is interested in reaching out to local communities through educational concerts and performances on university campuses. During the past few years, MCC has performed string chamber music works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Milhaud, Shostakovich and Magnuson.
ALEXANDER RUSSAKOVSKY, cello • STEPHEN REDFIELD, violin • HSIAOPEI LEE, viola The University of Southern Mississippi School of Music | 601.266.5543 | www.usm.edu/music
STEPHEN REDFIELD Violinist Stephen Redfield, D.M.A., is a member of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music faculty in Hattiesburg. Throughout the year Stephen acts as concertmaster of the Santa Fe Pro Musica, and each summer plays with the Victoria Bach Festival, where his performances as concertmaster and soloist have been produced on discs and broadcast nationally. He also leads the second violin section in the Sunriver Festival, and is a long-time member of the Oregon Bach Festival orchestra, where he has participated in numerous recordings, including the Grammy Award-winning disc “Credo.” Stephen was more recently named concertmaster of the Arizona Bach Festival. Dr. Redfield is featured widely as a soloist and a chamber musician. During 2009, Mendelssohn’s 200th birth-year, Stephen performed both Mendelssohn violin concertos, and toured with his three violin sonatas. As a member of the Sebastian Ensemble with harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh, he will return to Lima, Peru for the 2011 Festival Internacionál de Música Antigua. Specializing in J.S. Bach’s Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Obligato, this period performance group has toured throughout the United States, as well as in Spain, Japan and Cuba.
HSIAOPEI LEE Hsiaopei Lee, violist, has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestra player spanning three continents. She has presented solo recitals throughout the United States and Asia and collaborated in chamber music in such cities as New York, Paris, and Taipei. As a member of the Dayton Philharmonic, Taipei Philharmonic, and Aspen Chamber Orchestras, Hsiaopei has performed under David Zinman, James Conlon, Robert Spano, David Robertson, and Michael Stern to name a few. A native of Taiwan, Hsiaopei received her fundamental musical training in Taipei, completed her master degree in music education at Columbia University and holds the doctoral degree in viola and chamber music performance at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Dr. Lee joined the string faculty at The University of Southern Mississippi in 2005, where she performs with the Mississippi Chamber Circle. She serves as principal violist of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, she formed Gulf Coast Viola Society with violists in the area. She is currently the president of the local chapter of American Viola Society. During the summers, Dr. Lee teaches and performs at the Orfeo International Music Festival in the Italian Alps.
ALEXANDER RUSSAKOVSKY A graduate of Yale University and the University of Santa Barbara, cellist Alexander Russakovsky has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music performances in Russia, Israel, Europe and the United States. A founding member of the Jerusalem Academy String Quartet, he also performed in the Chamber Music Series of the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Barge Music in New York City and with the Western Slope Music Festival in Colorado. In the fall of 2001 Dr. Russakovsky joined the music faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He also has served on the faculties of the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Bonefro, the IV Violoncello Biennal in Peru and the CICA Chamber Music Festival. Most recently, Dr. Russakovsky has given master classes and recitals in Taiwan, Israel, and Latin America. A recipient of many awards, he won the Angela and Maurice M. Clairmont Competition in Tel Aviv, the Performing Arts Foundation Competition in Santa Barbara and the 1999 Career Grant of the Esperia Foundation.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dr. Hsiaopei Lee • Assistant Professor of Viola • The University of Southern Mississippi 118 College Drive #5081 • Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001 601.266.4718 • Hsiaopei.Lee@usm.edu