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 | Sanford Allen
Violinist Sanford Allen was appointed Director of the Clarion Concerts
in Columbia County's Leaf Peeper Series after the death of its founder Newell Jenkins. Mr. Allen started his study of the violin at the age of seven and entered the Juilliard School of Music at age ten, continuing at the Mannes College of Music under Mme. Vera Fonaroff. In 1962 he became the first black musician ever to become a regular member of the New York Philharmonic. Regarding his recording of Cordero's violin concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Strad magazine said: "Its virtuoso challenges are thrillingly met by Sanford Allen a fabulous player who was, incidentally, the first African-American to gain a regular
place with the New York Philharmonic in 1962. Despite the challenging nature
of the writing, the listener's attention is held effortlessly throughout due
largely to the extraordinary commitment and finesse of Allen's playing.
Indeed the intensity generated by this impassioned performance is nothing
short of overwhelming. Well worth seeking out". His solo appearances with orchestra have included the Quebec, Baltimore, Detroit Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic. He served on the advisory panel of the New York State Arts Council and was also a member of the Executive Board of the Kennedy Center National Black Music Colloquium and Competition. In 1998, Mr. Allen gave a premiere performance of Sir Roland Hanna's Sonata for Violin and Piano
at the Kennedy Center in Washington, joined by the composer.
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 | Anthony Elliott
Maestro Elliott was first encouraged to pursue conducting by the late Karel Ancerl, of the Czech Philharmonic. His conducting studies were under the direction of Vilem Sokol and Derrick Inoyue. He has participated in conducting master classes sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League under the direction of Pierre Boulez and Andre Previn. Mr. Elliott was also invited to give a workshop for conductors at the Midwestern Conference of Music Education at the University of Michigan. He also conducted the Plymouth Symphony and the Washington, Texas, North Carolina, Alaska and North Dakota All State Orchestras. His activities as a conductor also include choral works, ballet and collaborations with Pinchas Zukerman, Nathaniel Rosen and Alice Neary. He has worked with the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra and served as Assistant Music Director of the Marrowstone Music Festival and Music Director of the Houston Youth Symphony and Ballet. Mr. Elliott was the Grand Prize winner of the Feuermann International Solo Cello Competition in 1987 and has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Institute Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He is a Professor of Music at the University of Michigan and a member of the performing artist faculty at the Aspen Music Festival.
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 | Sergiu Schwartz
Sergiu Schwartz's active international career has taken him to major music
centers on 3 continents, including 20 European countries, Israel and over 40
U. S. states, and as soloist with over 200 orchestras, in recitals and chamber
music concerts. Recent solo orchestral engagements include the Dresden Staatskapelle, Jerusalem Symphony, and London Symphony. Mr. Schwartz has
worked with Sergiu Comissiona, James Judd, and Bruno Weil. He
has performed in major concert halls, including New York's Lincoln Center
and Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center and Barbican, Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls. He has been featured in broadcasts for the BBC, NPR and CNN, and has recorded for Vox, Naxos, and others. He has also conducted the European Community Chamber Orchestra, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Israel's Atlas Camerata and many others. Mr. Schwartz studied at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv. He continued
his studies with Yfrah Neaman at Guildhall School in London and The Juilliard School to study with Dorothy DeLay. His honors include major prizes in international violin competitions and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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 | Marcus Thompson
Marcus Thompson, Violist, has appeared as soloist and recitalist, and in
chamber music series throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Far East, with the orchestras of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, the National Symphony, the Boston Pops and the Czech National Symphony in Prague. He performed the West Coast Premiere of the Harbison Viola Concerto with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Premiere with the Chicago Sinfonietta, and recently gave the Boston Premiere with the New England Conservatory Honors Orchestra. This season he received critical acclaim for performances of the Penderecki Viola Concerto with the MIT Symphony Orchestra in Boston and London, U.K. Mr. Thompson has been a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society since 1982. He has been a guest of the Audubon, Borromeo, Cleveland, Emerson, Orion, Shanghai, and Vermeer String Quartets, and a frequent participant at chamber music festivals in Anchorage, Seattle, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and others.
Born and raised in The Bronx, NYC, Mr. Thompson earned a doctorate degree
at The Juilliard School. He currently lives in Boston where, as Robert R.
Taylor Professor of Music, he heads programs in chamber music and
performance studies at MIT and is a member of the viola faculty at New
England Conservatory of Music.
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 | Susan Wadsworth
Susan Wadsworth is the Founder and Director of Young Concert Artists, Inc., dedicated to discovering and launching the careers of gifted musicians from all over the world. YCA started the careers of many great artists, including Murray Perahia, Pinchas Zukerman, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, and Dawn Upshaw. Mrs. Wadsworth has received Honorary Doctorates from the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and New England Conservatory, and, in 2001, she was decorated by the Republic of France as a "Chevalier dans l'ordre des arts et des lettres," which honors those who have promoted French culture. She has served on numerous competition Juries, including the New Jersey Symphony Young Artists Competition and the Yale School of Music. She is on the Advisory Committees of the Avery Fisher Prize Program and the Van Cliburn Competition. She has been a consultant to the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and is an Honorary Board Member of Young Concert Artists Trust in London, England, which she helped to found. Mrs. Wadsworth studied piano with the distinguished Polish pianist and teacher Mieczyslaw Munz. She earned a BA in English from Vassar College, where she studied piano and violin, and was a member of the Vassar Orchestra. Mrs. Wadsworth attended the Fontainebleau Conservatory in France, studying with Jean Casadesus and Nadia Boulanger. She is married to the pianist Charles Wadsworth.
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