Concert: Paintings of Song

November 15, 2003, 7:30p.m.

One performance only!

The Music Center of the Northwest

Performers

[Finisterra, piano trio] - [Karen Janes, bass] - [Stuart Lutzenheiser, tenor] - [Barb Fraley, soprano] - [Erika Bramwell, horn]

is Seattle’s most exciting new chamber ensemble. Known to thier audiences for the tremendous energy and drama with which they play, the piano trio is quickly making a reputation for themselves. Kwan Bin Park, violin; Kevin Krentz, cello; and Natalya Kalendarev, piano try to bring a different kind of concert to their audience. They look to create concerts that satisfy on as many levels as possible; drama, humor, simpleness, sophistication... They seek to create an experience that feeds not only the intellect, but the heart as well in the tradition of the great performers of old.

Originally formed at the University of Washington, the trio was first brought together to be the School of Music’s headline chamber ensemble. Since that time they have gone on to perform throughout Seattle including the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Workshop, and the Methow Valley Music Festival among others.

Finisterra is:

A Native of Atlanta, Georgia, Kevin Krentz, cello began his musical life as a vocalist, only devoting all his energies to the cello at the age of 21. As an active recitalist and soloist, Kevin has performed throughout the East Coast and Midwest as well as in Austria and Italy. A prizewinner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, he also has won several concerto competitions and most recently won the prestigious Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Award/Tour Competition. As a result, he has been featured on KING FM's Live By George program and toured Washington to critical acclaim prompting one reviewer to say Kevin has “a rich, singing tone and a masterly technique...This was a tour de force of virtuosity.” Another said, “Krentz seems literally to draw the music from the depths of his cello. . . and liquid tones flooded the audience.” He is also cellist for Brechemin Three and a frequent recitalist around the US.

Born in South Korea, Kwan Bin Park, violin began studying the violin at age of ten and by age eleven he began attending Juilliard pre-college where he studied with Sally Thomas. His teachers have included such luminaries as Gabriel Banat, Denes Zgmondy, Joseph Fuchs, Stephen Clapp, Ron Patterson and Ruggero Ricci. He then went on to finish both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music from the Juilliard School of Music during which he was a Gluck Fellow for three years. He has performed as soloist with the Princeton Youth Orchestra and the Philadelphia College Symphony. In addition to being first prizewinner at the Stokes Competition, Kwan Bin has been awarded the William Randolph Hearst award and the Dorothy Delay Violin award.

Kwan Bin has worked with such renowned conductors as Kurt Masur and Leonard Slatkin. He has attended the Meadowmount Institute, the Kneisal Hall Chamber Music school, and the Torre Mountgri Chamber music Festival. He was also a founding member of the Corelliard Chamber Orchestra and toured with them extensively. Mr. Park has played solo and chamber music concerts throughout Spain, Germany, Canada, South Korea and the United States. Currently residing in Seattle, he has been a guest artist at the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music series. The Seattle PI proclaimed his performance as “technically assured and sensitive”. Kwan Bin is currently the violinist of Brechemin Three.

Natalya Kalendarev, piano, was born in Moscow, Russia and started playing piano at the age of thirteen. She was accepted to the Special Music School for Talented Children in Moscow and by the age of sixteen was performing solo recitals as well as with orchestras throughout the former Soviet Union. In 1992 Natalya was accepted at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and studied there until 1997 with Professor Kastelsky, graduating in 1997 with honors. During her second year at the Conservatory she was invited to study at Judson College in Illinois for one year and awarded a full scholarship from the Rotary Business Club. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 1998 she joined her husband in the United States and was accepted as a DMA student in piano performance at the University of Washington, School of Music to study with Professor Bela Siki in 1999. Natalya was awarded the Brechemin Scholarship for 1999 and 2000 and became an active member of Brechemin Piano Trio at the school. Over the last two years they have performed a number of concerts in Seattle, including participation in the Seattle Chamber Music Festival She also recently won both the 2002 Ladies Musical Club Competition and the University of Washington School of Music Concerto Competition. As part of the Seattle Ladies Musical Club award, Natalya has been featured on King FM’s Live by George program and toured the state of Washington. Currently, Natalya is on the faculty at the MusicWorks NorthWest.

Seattle native Karen Janes began her double bass studies at age thirteen. In high school, she was principle bassist for Thalia Youth Symphony and also played with Seattle Youth Symphony under Vilem Sokol. As a member of the America's Youth in Concert All-Nation Orchestra, she performed at Carnegie Hall and toured Europe. She received an orchestra scholarship to the University of North Texas, where she studied double bass with Dr. Edward Rainbow. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the Univeristy of North Texas.

Ms. Janes joined the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980, becoming principal double bassist in 1981. She is also Faculty Double Bassist and Retreat Manager for Midsummer Musical Retreat. She has performed in the bass sections of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, and been principle double bassist for the Tacoma Opera Orchestra and Philharmonia Northwest. She has also performed as double bass soloist with the Rain City Symphony in Seattle. Ms. Janes teaches double bass privately in Issaquah, and has had several students perform at the state level of the high school solo and ensemble contest.

In addition to her double bass work, Ms. Janes is sought after as a piano accompanist for singers and instrumentalists throughout the Pacific Northwest. A published composer in collaboration with singer / composer Janet Stimson, her works have been performed at Midsummer Musical Retreat, the local Metropolitan Opera Council, Everett Community College and the National Association of Teachers of Singing national convention.

Stuart Lutzenhiser, tenor, is a Bellevue native and a frequent soloist with local arts groups. Educated at Western Washington University and the prestigious Indiana University where he was awarded a Performer's Certificate as an outstanding recitalist, he has appeared with Tacoma Opera, Bellevue Opera, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Vancouver Opera and Seattle Opera, as a member of their Preview Artists program. A regular with local symphonies and choral groups, he has performed with the Yakima Symphony, Thalia Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Whatcom Symphony, Bremerton Symphony and can be heard on the Seattle ProMusica CD of the Rachmaninov Vespers. An advocate of music of the Twentieth century, Stuart performed the world premieres of Corigliano's Of Rage and Remembrance and McGary's St. Mark's Passion. Recent appearances include the title role in Verdi's Stiffelio with the renowned Pocket Opera of San Francisco and Puccini's Tosca with North Bay Opera.

Barb Fraley, soprano, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Arts Management, with a minor in Vocal Performance, from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in 1993. Mainly a choral singer, Barb has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA and on tour in Germany, France, and Switzerland. Barb has also served as soloist and section leader in several church choirs in Virginia and Pennsylvania.