Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Concert Series: The Artists
Dr. Hristo Popov - Artistic Director
“Virtuoso-violinist extraordinaire”, Hristo Popov, brings tremendous experience to the concert stage. Popov made his orchestral debut at the age of nine and since then has performed throughout the United States, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, and Mexico as both recitalist and concerto soloist. He is a founding member of Trio Casalmaggiore and has been playing with them since 1998. Hristo Popov is a prizewinner at the Kozian International Violin Competition, Silver Medalist at the California Young Artist Competition, winner of the Grand Prize at the International Institute of Music (Germany, USA), first place at the American String Teachers' Association Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared as guest artist in numerous festivals such as Park City International Music Festival, Plovdiv International Chamber Music Festival, and the Sofia Musical Weeks Music Festival. Popov has performed in major Performing Arts Centers in the United States including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - Los Angeles, Severance Hall - Cleveland, John F. Kennedy Center - Washington D.C, and Casa Verdi – Milan, Italy. Dr. Popov is a fierce advocate for the arts in several communities in Ohio. He serves as Artistic Director of the Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Concert Series, www.chagrinmusic.org, and is Founder and Artistic Director of International Festival for Strings & More in Sandusky, Ohio – an intense program for string studies that results in numerous performances. Currently, he is on the faculty at Youngstown State University and Western Reserve Academy in Ohio.
Joseph Rosen - Clariniet
Joseph Rosen graduated from the Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY in 1962. He worked towards his masters degree in performance at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. while teaching instrumental music in the Fairfax County Virginia public schools from 1962 – 1965. He was principal clarinetist in the Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria, VA orchestras during the same period. Mr. Rosen now resides and freelances in New York City. He participates each summer in chamber music festivals in the US, Canada, Europe and Korea. His principal teachers have been Harold Wright in Washington and David Weber and Ricardo Morales in New York.
Eriko Izumida - piano
Eriko Izumida has been faculty member of Baldwin Wallace Collage Preparatory/ Adult Education Department since 2000, and also staff accompanist at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. She is an active accompanist in the Cleveland area and is also teaching piano privately. Eriko was born in Tokyo, Japan, where she started piano studies at the age of 3. She attended the Royal Academy of Music in England and earned the Intermediate Certificate with Graeme Humphrey as her piano teacher. She came to the United States in 1995 to study piano with Dr. Thomas Hecht at the Cleveland Institute of Music and graduated from the CIM with a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance. Eriko also completed her Master’s Degree under the tutelage of Dr. Daniel Shapiro at the Institute. Her other teachers have included Jacques Rouvier, Ellen Mack, Anne Epperson and Robert McDonald. Eriko also studied the harpsichord at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Janina Ceasar.
New York Empire Trio
THE NEW YORK EMPIRE TRIO has established itself as one of the most exciting chamber groups of our times. Founded by three experienced musicians, the trio has performed in major cities in the United States and abroad. Their repertoire ranges from the early classics to the music of today performing works from the standard chamber music literature and little known masterworks with great success.
The New York Empire Trio is recognized for their innovative educational programs. They have given chamber music master classes at universities other schools around the country on regular basis. Their unique repertoire allows them much variety in presenting music to many different types of audiences.
The Trio members Hristo Popov – violin, Kalin Ivanov – cello, Joshua Pierce - piano are winners of many distinguished awards and have had prominent careers in their field. “Virtuoso-violinist extraordinaire”, Hristo Popov, is a prizewinner at the Kozian International Violin Competition, Silver Medalist at the California Young Artist Competition, winner of the Grand Prize at the International Institute of Music (Germany, USA), first place at the American String Teachers' Association Chamber Music Competition. Kalin Ivanov, cellist, is a prominent soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist who performs with: “dramatic urgency and expressive tone”(The Strad, London). A winner of the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition, he has performed in major performing centers in Europe and the United States. Grammy nominated pianist Joshua Pierce has performed with many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Moscow State Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has recorded over 200 works for MSR Classics, EMI Classics, Koch International Classics, Sony Classics, Vox and other labels.
Future plans include a European tour in the summer of 2009, and debut concerts in Washington D.C. and at Carnegie Hall in New York City. For more information on upcoming performances visit www.bulgarianvirtuosi.com/nyempiretrio.html.
Andrew Sords - violin
At the age of 23, violinist Andrew Sords is already a veteran of the concert stage. He is the winner of the 2005 National Shirley Valentin Violin Award, the 2004 and 2005 National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, the Fortnightly Music Club of Cleveland and the Festival de la Orquesta Sinfonica de las Americas Competition of the Casals Festival among others. In 2008, Sords received international exposure as the top Google Classical News story as well as topping the Top-40 Charts in Classical. Sords has recently toured with the Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky violin concerti to critical acclaim, and has quickly emerged as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. Sords completed his undergraduate education at the Cleveland Institute of Music with violin pedagogues Linda Cerone and David Russell, and performed for the legendary Midori in masterclasses in New York and at the University of Southern California. Most recently, Sords studied under internationally acclaimed violinist Chee-Yun at The Southern Methodist University of Dallas, Texas. Highlights for the 2008-2009 season include solo appearances with the Portsmouth Symphony, St. Augustine Orchestra, Balcones Chamber Orchestra, Parma Symphony, Suburban Symphony, and the Minnesota Philharmonic. In addition, Sords will perform with the Clear Lake Symphony, Medical Arts Symphony, and the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra. Re-invited by the Kent State Recital Series, Sords performed the complete Brahms sonata set with pianist Anita Pontremoli in a radio broadcast performance. Sords is the featured violinist in a documentary on violin technique. He was honored by Pulitzer Prize nominated Composer Kellach Waddle who dedicated his violin sonata to the young violinist. Sords performs on a 1912 Augustine Talisse violin. Please visit www.andrewsords.com, the official website of Andrew Sords.
Caroline Oltmanns - Piano
Praised by the press for her ‘finesse, power and liveliness’ Caroline Oltmanns has performed as a soloist in major concert halls in Europe, South Africa, and North America. Performances in the United States have included Steinway Hall and Weill Hall in New York City, Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, and Leo Bing Theater in Los Angeles. Regular recital tours to Germany, France and Switzerland have included venues such as Stadttheater Fürth, Grundigvilla Zirndorf, and Festival International de Piano Franz Liszt. During her concert tours of South Africa she appeared in Baxter Hall and Endler Hall, the Monument and at the universities of Pretoria, Potchefstroom and Johannesburg. Caroline Oltmanns’ playing has been heard on radio stations in Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Cape Town, South Africa. Radio interviews in Germany have been broadcast on Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, Radio Bremen, Hessischer Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Televised interviews and performances include Bayerisches Fernsehen, Channel 25 Chicago, and KVCR-TV San Bernadino. Caroline Oltmanns’ recently released and third solo album on Filia Mundi features Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata. Her world premieres and recordings of commissioned works for piano and large ensemble include concertos by James Wilding, Till McIvor Meyn, Edward Largent, Rainer Schmitz, Dave Morgan, and Tom Janson. Caroline Oltmanns has presented master classes in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa, and Canada. A Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University, her students have been accepted into prestigious programs in the US and abroad, and have pursued outstanding careers in music. Dr. Oltmanns is a native of Fürth, Germany. She received a Performance Diploma from the Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg, and consequently accepted a Fulbright Scholarship and the prestigious Stipendium der deutschen Wirtschaft for studies at the University of Southern California. Her musical mentors were John Perry, Robert Levin, Vitaly Margulis and Malcolm Frager. Caroline Oltmanns is an International Steinway Artist.