Musical Arts International, Inc.

 

The lyricism, romanticism and virtuosity of Larissa Dedova’s performances have brought her love and affection of audience and critical acclaim. Her performance of D-minor Brahms Concerto with Fairfax Symphony, the Washington Post described it as “performance that went straight to the heart of the music”. Larissa Dedova holds both Masters and DMA in Piano Performance from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied with Lev Oborin and Evgeny Malinin. She was a winner of the Bach Intl. Comp. in Leipzig and “Pro Piano” International Piano Competition in New-York, among others. In 1994 MS Dedova was named "The Honored Artist of Russia".4CD set "Complete Solo Piano Music by Debussy" was released by Centaur Records in May, 2011. 

Larissa Dedova has appeared in solo and chamber recitals in concert halls throughout the world at such venues as Carnegie, New York, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, Great Hall of St. Petersburg Philharmonic, St. Petersburg, Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo, Teatro Ghione, Rome, Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow, Neue Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Schauspielhaus, Berlin, Salle de Tanneurs, Tours, Lignano Festival Hall, Lignano, Neue Welt Hall, Zwickau and Bulgaria Hall, Sofia. 

As soloist, she has played with famous orchestras, including St.Petersburg Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Kiev Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Budapest, Moscow Philharmonic and Estonian State Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

Mikhail Volchok  studied in the best schools in Russia: with Professor Yakov Zak at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and with Professor Pavel Serebriakov at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg for his BM, MM and DMA obtained at the age of 25.After completing his studies, Mikhail Volchok devoted his carrier to both performing and teaching. In 1975-1979 he taught at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Since 1990 he taught at the Central Music School of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. It is his talent both as pianist and a pedagogue that led him outside Moscow, to train students of the highest level. He was invited to attend Music Seminars in Italy, Croatia, South Korea, and to impart some of his abilities to master-classes in Germany, Switzerland, France and the United States. Mikhail Volchok taught as a visiting professor at the Music Academy "Ino Mirkovich" in Croatia. In 1976 he won the gold medal at the 5th Bach Intl. Comp. in Leipzig.In 1996 Piano Duo “Dedova-Volchok” became the winner of the Intl. "Pro Piano" Competition in New-York.Mr. Volchok compositions, including a piano sonata, piano concerto, Capriccio for 15 instruments, Dialogues for two pianos as well as piano trio and cello sonata. His Three Poems of Anna Ahmatova for soprano, flute and piano were premiered in Basel, Switzerland in July 2016.They are both Professors of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.





Simon Maurer, violin, grew up in Switzerland in a family of six children, all of whom became professional musicians. He performs chamber music and solo throughout the eastern US, Europe and China. A founding member of Gabriel Chamber Ensemble, he has performed with them for over 24 years. He is also a member of the Trio Clavino and the Ravel Trio. He teaches violin, viola, cello and bass.

Agnes Maurer, viola, is a native of France. At the age ofsixteen, she joined the Ensemble Instrumental Andrée Colson. In 1976, she came to the US and studied with Karen Tuttle at the Peabody Conservatory. She is Principal Violist with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia, with Allentown Symphony, with Anthracite Philharmonic and with the Shippensburg Festival Orchestra. 

Dr. Stephen Framil, cello, is the Music Director & onductor of CAMERATA PHILADELPHIA, and is currently the Symphony Orchestra Music Director & Conductor at Eastern University.

Daniel Lau, A versatile pianist, violinist and conductor, attended Loma Linda University, where he served as concertmaster of the orchestra and 1st violinist of the LLU String Quartet. Graduating with a BA in Piano Performance - high honors, he won the coveted Dean's Award. He then attended the Peabody Conservatory, becoming a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda honorary society. His major teachers include Lillian Freundlich,  Anita Norskov Olsen, Samuel Sanders, and Jerome  Lowenthal. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Washington Adventist University.



“Superb and bracing” - Fanfare Magazine

“Technically immaculate and often very eloquent, with a finely calibrated sense of dramatic flow.” - The Washington Post

Since its founding in 1997 pianist Ya-Ting Chang from Taiwan; violinist Peter Sirotin from Ukraine; and cellist Fiona Thompson from England, have performed over 500 concerts in the US, Europe and Asia. The group has also recorded 15 CDs including most recently a cycle of the complete Haydn Piano Trios released on Centaur Records. The Mendelssohn Piano Trio's extensive repertoire of over 100 works embraces music from all periods of the genre's history. Ensemble members are superb soloists in their own right, having enjoyed diversified musical careers that transcend international boundaries and range from solo appearances with various orchestras to chamber music collaborations with such artists as Earl Carlyss, Ann Schein, Ronald Leonard, Igor Zhukov, Natalia Gutman, as well as many other musicians of international stature. The Washington Post described their Brahms as “unfathomably beautiful” and “electrifying,” while praising their “technically immaculate” and “rich in psychological insight” Tchaikovsky. American Record Guide hailed the Mendelssohn Piano Trio’s recording of Smetana and Suk piano trios as “brilliant,” and Fanfare magazine lauded their recording of complete Haydn Piano Trios as “bracing as a breath of crisp winter air, enlivening and rejuvenating in a way that earlier performances were not.” European reviewers noted “freshness and energy” in “unusually emotional” interpretations of Haydn piano trios, while Audiophilia magazine praised these recordings as “warm, sonorous and lively.”

Program: includes Tom Benjamin Aperitif (1983), Camille Saint Saens Trio in F Major, Op. 18, Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor.

Latvian Lutheran Church, 400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850

Mendelssohn Trio flier

Brochure and Ticket Order Form

---



This talented duo, Karen Ashbrook, hammered dulcimer, wooden flute, penny whistle, Paul Oorts, harp guitar, cittern, mandolin, and musette accordion,  plays a delightful variety of European folk music and entertains audiences with tales of travel and historic music trivia.  Their performance on several unusual instruments will be engaging and instructive, as well as including some familiar songs!

In 1976, Karen built her first hammered dulcimer as a high school project.  In pursuit of Irish 

music, she lived overseas five years, learning her craft in the pubs of England and Ireland, while also taking time to travel in Europe and Asia. Based in the Washington, DC area, Karen teaches and performs on dulcimer and is also a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP), providing therapeutic music for hospital and hospice patients. She has numerous CDs on the Maggie’s Music label. Starry Starry- celestial music from the heart is her most recent recording. Playing the Hammered Dulcimer in the Irish Tradition, book/CD set is a standard text in dulcimer literature. Karen is active in the revival of the dulcimer or hakkebord in Belgium. Sponsored by Muziekmozaïek (the Flemish folk music guild), in 2007 Karen produced the first dulcimer tutorial (for fifth-tuned instruments) in continental Europe, Learn to Play the Hammered Dulcimer, a DVD and booklet with instruction in English, Dutch and French. Karen is a 2017 recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards!" Karen has long been something of a heroine to me... Her style is at times traditional, then moves surprisingly at a tangent, making it more interesting in an unexpected way. And her whistle playing is excellent."   Irish Edition, Philadelphia

Paul started his musical career playing in his local village band in the town of Halle, Belgium. 

Many instruments were to follow!  Much of the duo’s repertoire comes from Paul’s research with the old manuscripts of the Belgian Carilloneurs (bell-ringers) and the European dance masters from the 17th and 18th centuries.  Paul has become a true ambassador of Belgian folk music to America, teaching those rediscovered tunes in workshops at festivals. Paul plays regularly for Contras and English Country Dances, plays with the Rigatoni Brothers —an Italian Mandolin trio, and conducts “Carillon,” a hammered dulcimer orchestra.  In his spare time, he teaches French and Italian at Loyola University in Baltimore. “Oorts… is an exceptionally versatile Belgian musician and scholar.” The Washington Post.

Li-Ly Chang, piano, will perform European  pieces with Asian pentatonic influences, and her original works.

Calvary Lutheran Church, 9545 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Cultural Crossroads of Europe Flier