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Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind
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Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind, was born in Switzerland, daughter of renowned writer and poet Franz Fassbind. Enchanted with music at a very young age, she began playing the piano at the age of four and made her first public appearance at age six. She studied with Theodor Lerch and later with Sava Savoff at the Zurich Konservatorium and Musikhochschule, where she earned the National Teacher's Certificate at the age of 20. |
The same year she played her debut at the Tonhalle Zurich. At the Mozarteum Salzburg she studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, who decisively motivated her playing for many years. She received her Artist Diploma in Zurich 1968. The following years she worked with American composer Richard Faith and studied composition withRobert McBright at the University of Arizona.
Mrs Ingolfsson-Fassbind lived for seven years in Reykjavik. There she recorded and lectured on piano music with special attention to baroque and the second Viennese School. Under the direction of Maestro Karsten Andersen she recorded the Schoenberg piano concerto for the composer's hunderth birthday celebration. She toured regularly as a soloist and recitalist and made numerous recordings for European radio stations. Earning high acclaim from critics as well as audiences she toured Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland performing the Goldberg variations on 11 concert stages.
Since 1980 she has lived in the United States. Devoting herself to chamber music and teaching, she has worked, performed, and recorded with many noted artists. With two of her daughters she founded the "Ingolfsson Trio", which for several years gave concerts in the United States and in Europe. The trio also recorded for European radio and television and for PBS in the United States.
Mrs. Ingolfsson-Fassbind is a member of BMI, the American Composer's Guild, with works published by International Music Company in New York and is preparing an extensive analysis of the Goldberg variations. She is a dedicated pedagogue with over 35 years of experience in teaching. She has taught at the Konservatorium and Musikhochschule Zurich, and at the Music College in Reykjavik, Iceland. She has also given master classes in Germany and the United States. Several of her former students enjoy successful careers in music, as performers, musicologists, and music educators. During the past 13 years her students have continued on to Mannes School of Music in New York, Julliard , and the Mannhattan School of Music. Many have won local and international competitions. For many years she has been doing research on the development of the musically gifted child. In 1987 she joined the faculty at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. In 2001 she founded her own school for piano and string playing: "The Leopold Mozart Academy".
In the spring of 2002, Mrs. Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind was nominated and selected for “Who’s Who among America’s Teachers”. Later that same year, she was nominated for ‘Who’s Who among American Women”, “ Who is Who in The World” and “Who is Who in Education” In February 2003 she was awarded a Grant for “strong commitment to excellence in music education” by the Willmington Piano Company. In 2004 her Biography was included in the second edition of “Great Minds of the 21st Century” by the American Biographical Institute. |
Mirjam Ingolfsson (cello) |
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Hailed as "a young poet of
the cello", Mirjam Ingolfsson was born in Iceland
and began her studies at the age of four. At seven she
toured Europe and the United States, and recorded the
Bach G Major Solo Suite for Belgium State Radio. One year
later, she made her solo debut with the Charleston Symphony
Orchestra during the 1983 Spoleto USA Festival. Since
then she has been featured as soloist with orchestras
such as the Icelandic Symphony, Concerto Soloist of Philadelphia,
Tuscaloosa Symphony, and the Birmingham Chamber Orchestra. A
sought after recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Ingolfsson
has also concertized in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, and the United States. |
Her performances have been featured
on radio and television, including NPR, Icelandic State Radio
and Television, "CBS Sunday Morning", and PBS.
Ms. Ingolfsson is a winner of gold
medals, scholarships, and top prizes in numerous competitions
such as the ASTA Pennsylvania State Competition, the Graham
Stahl Cello Competition, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra
Young Artist Competition. She has been selected to participate
in a host of prestigious events, including the Piatigorsky
Seminar and Festivals throughout the United States and Europe
including the Schleswig Holstein Festival Master classes.
She has participated in Master classes of Margret Rowell,
Janos Starker, Lynn Harell, Boris Pergamenschikow, and Paul
Katz, as well as Orlando String Quartet, Budapest String Quartet,
and the Emerson String Quartet.. Her acclaimed CD with works
by Australian composer David Hush on the CRS label has been
broadcast on 2MBS-FM of Sidney, Australia.
Ms. Ingolfsson is a graduate
of the Curtis Institute where she studied with Orlando Cole.
She has received her Master's Degree and Professional Studies
Certificate from Temple University and is currently studying
with Professor Nathaniel Rosen in New York City
In addition to graduating with
highest honors, she was elected a member of Pi Kappa Lambda,
a National Music Honor Society, and was selected for "
International Who 's Who in Music" and "Who's Who
Among Students in American Colleges and Universities".
She is currently teaching at the Leopold
Mozart Academy, Haddonfield School for performing Arts, and
NBS at Haverford. She has just recently been chosen to participate
in the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, formerly, Concerto
Soloists of Philadelphia. |
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Filipino violinist Lorenzo Raval is acclaimed for his versatility and dedication to the numerous aspects of the instrument – as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. Born and raised in Quezon City, Philippines, Mr. Raval earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Temple University as a student of Helen Kwalwasser. Prior to his move to the United States, he was a longtime scholar and protegé of Alfonso Bolipata, and also attended the University of the Phillipines as a violin and music education major. He was also a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts. His chamber music coaches have included Alfonso Bolipata, Rhonda Rider, Jeffrey Solow, Valissa Willwerth and Lambert Orkis, and he has performed at the masterclasses of Pamela Frank, Oscar Yatco, Alexandru Tomescu, Thanos Adamopoulos, the Alexander String Quartet and the Biava Quartet. |
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A two-time prizewinner at the Philippines’ National Music Competition for Young Artists in 1999 and 2002, Mr. Raval has appeared as soloist in the Philippines with the Metro Manila Community Orchestra, the University of Santo Tomas Symphony Orchestra and the Pundaquit Chamber Players, and has given recitals at Temple University’s Rock Hall, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Francisco Santiago Hall and Corpus Hall at Casa San Miguel.
Mr. Raval was co-concertmaster of the Temple University Symphony Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and Alice Tully Hall in New York in the Spring of 2010 and was also violinist with the Temple Composers’ Orchestra and the Great Hall Chamber Orchestra. He was the first concertmaster of the Metro Manila Community Orchestra from its 2000 inaugural season to 2006, and was first violinist with the Asian Youth Orchestra in its 2001 and 2002 tours of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, China, Japan and Taiwan.
Mr. Raval also plays the viola, currently as a member of the F.A.E Quartet. He was also first violinist of the Corpus String Quartet and was violinist and violist with the Pundaquit Chamber Players, performing chamber music in concert halls and alternative performance spaces in Manila, Zambales, Ilocos, Boracay, and Davao. Mr. Raval has collaborated with violinists Alfonso Bolipata, Oscar Yatco, JoAnna Farrer and William Harvey, cellists Ramon Bolipata, Renato Lucas, Victor Coo and Jeremiah Shaw, pianists Jourdann Petalver, Kim Barroso, Clement Acevedo and Becky Lu, violist Frank Shaw, hornist Danielle Kuhlmann, and members of the iO Quartet, Clarion Chamber Ensemble and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a teacher, Mr. Raval held the Resident Artist post at Casa San Miguel in Zambales from 2001 to 2006, where he taught violin, viola, music theory, and coached and conducted the Pundaquit Virtuosi, an ensemble composed of the best young string players from the Zambales province in the Philippines. |
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Natalia Hancharonak (Music Theory and Music History) |
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NATALLIA HANCHARONAK was born in Minsk, Belarus. She has been studying piano since the age of six. She was educated at rigorous magnet schools of the arts in Belarus, which required passing yearly exams for continued study. Natallia did her 9-11th grade studies at the Republican College of Belarus Academy of Music. She completed her last year of high school in the United States, received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance at Eastern University, and is currently a student of Harvey Wedeen at Temple University, majoring in piano pedagogy.
Since 2005, Natallia Hancharonak has been teaching Music History, Music Theory & Solfeggio at the Leopold Mozart Academy. For the school year 2009/2010, she will be joining its piano faculty. Miss Hancharonak has held duties as Assistant Church Music Director, a choir director and instrumental and vocal accompanist at the Word of Life Church in Trevose, Pennsylvania. |
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Clarinetist/Composer, was selected at age nineteen to perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Baltimore Symphony. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and his master’s degree from Temple University as a graduate assistant. His post-graduate studies were at the Rome (Italy) Festival Institute and with the principal clarinetist of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. |
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As a winner of the Rome Festival Orchestra Competition, Mr. Russo appeared as soloist performing Rossini’s Theme and Variations—a work that he revised and edited (in the clarinet and piano reduction) in its published version and commercially recorded for CRS Master Recordings. Mr. Russo has taught at Temple University, Combs College of Music, and the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. He regularly gives master classes in composition/clarinet and chamber music.
He presents solo appearances and recordings throughout the United States, Germany, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine. In addition he is founding president and artistic director of the Contemporary Record Society/CRS Artists dedicated to the contemporary composer. Mr. Russo has been a clinician for the Yamaha Company, the Buffet Co and. the Selmer Music Corporation, giving master classes at universities and conservatories here and abroad. He has also appeared as composer and soloist with such ensembles as the Unam Philharmonic, (MexicoCity) Halle Orchestra, the Hungarian Symphony, the Rome Festival Orchestra, the Manila Symphony and the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra in the Ukraine, As composer, he has guest conducted the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Symphony Society, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, the Peabody Institute Wind Ensemble and the Temple University Wind Ensemble, among others.
John Russo and Lydia Walton Ignacio established the Chamber Art Soloists in 1971, which has a catalogue of recordings on phonograph and compact discs of over 1500 musical compositions; many are world premiere recordings. These include numerous instrumental and vocal works performed by such distinguished artists as Samuel Baron, Katherine Ciesinski, Marilyn Costello, Lukas Foss, John de Lancie, Lorne Munroe, and other prominent members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as distinguished faculty members from prestigious music institutions. This catalogue represents numerous recordings, involving composers, of which the majority includes American contemporaries. Russo has researched and lectured on the music of numerous composers, including his compositions.
Mr. Russo has concurrently held associations with numerous organizations. A published composer, Mr. Russo has been commissionedand his works have been commercially recorded by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic as well as music faculty members at various institutions. His music is published by Dorn Publications, Henri Elkan Publisher, Ludwig Music Company, Southern Music, Thedore Presser Co., M M B Music, Tenuto Publications, AM Publications and Lake State Publications. |
Galina Sakhnovskaya (voice)
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Born in Moldova, lyric soprano Galina Sakhnovskaya has emerged as a young artist of remarkable versatility and great vocal beauty. Galina made her operatic debut with the Delaware Valley Opera Company in Philadelphia singing the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci in 2001, while still attending the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music which she completed in 2003 with a Master's Degree in Vocal Performance. Ms. Sakhnovskaya's recital stage debut occurred in 2004 and was presented by the Tri-County Association for the Emerging Artists. The recital program included Lieder und Gesänge, Opus 59 by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann's Liederkreis, Opus 39, collection of songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and The Nursery by Modest Mussorgsky. The latter is one of the most exceptional in Galina's repertoire and the one for the interpretation of which she has been highly praised: |
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"...Sakhnovskaya handled Mussorgsky's cycle "The Nursery" beautifully, expressively capturing both childish and adult voices..."Washington Post (May 2, 2006).
Although at the start of her career, Ms. Sakhnovskaya's impressive voice and sensitive musicianship has lead to performances in numerous cities in the United States as well as Denmark, Germany, Israel, Moldova, and St. Petersburg, Russia. Her repertoire encompasses a vast gamut and includes lieder, chamber music, oratorio, and operatic repertoire sung in various languages, including German, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, English, and Spanish.
"Galina possesses a most glorious soprano voice... her contributions to music have always been of the highest caliber, amply demonstrating her vocal and intellectual flexibility and accomplishment... she is a great singer and performer." (John Shirley- Quirk, International baritone)
Poèmes pour Mi by Olivier Messiaen is another, most difficult work, which Galina, being one of few singers, has performed with great success in the United States and abroad. The most recent performance of Poèmes pour Mi was heard at the Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, in April 2007 where Galina has also performed Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Block for Soprano, Piano, Violin, and Violoncello, Opus 127 by Dmitry Shostakovich. In Spring 2010, Ms. Sakhnovskaya performed in recitals with her husband Mikhail Yanovitsky in Philadelphia, Denmark, and Sweden, singing Prokofiev's Five Melodies, Op. 35, and Vier Letzte Lieder by Richard Strauss with great success.
In oratorio Ms. Sakhnovskaya has performed as a soprano soloist in the Lord Nelson Mass and Theresa Mass of Haydn, Handel's Messiah, J. S. Bach's Magnificat, and the Neue Liebeslieder, Opus 65 by Brahms. Galina feels equally at home in the operatic repertoire, having successfully performed many operatic roles, some of which are Nedda in I Pagliacci, Musetta and Mimì in La Bohème, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Her other operatic roles include Violetta in La Traviata, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, the title role in Iolanta, Marfa in Tsar's Bride, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Ms. Sakhnovskaya has been the recipient of several awards and scholarships which include Washington International Competition in Washington DC, Center for Contemporary Opera Competition in New York, Giulio Gari Foundation International Vocal Competition in New York, New York Vocal Artists Competition, Peabody Conservatory Graduate Performance Diploma Scholarship and grant, and Mayor's Scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania where Galina received her undergraduate degrees in music and computer science engineering. Galina has also been chosen to participate in the International Music Competition of the ARD in Munich. |
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