CONCERT | PIERROT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

PROGRAM

DANZóN No. 2 (1994)

– Arturo Márquez (b. 1950)

– arr. Bobby Lapinski (b. 1989)

L’APRES-MIDI D’UN SCHOENBERG (2012) (World Premiere Performance)

– Richard Brooks (b. 1942)

– Libretto by Nancy Bogen (b. 1932)

PIERROT LUNAIRE, Op. 21 (1912)

– Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

UNT Pierrot Chamber Players

Dr. Arturo Ortega, conductor

Christian Gonzalez, flute/piccolo

Bobby Lapinski, clarinet/bass clarinet

Veronika Vassileva, violin/viola

Eric Smith, violoncello

Eva Polgar, piano

Heidi Dietrich-Klein, soprano

Katrina Burggraf-Kledas, alto

Nathan Hodgson, tenor

Daniel Myers, baritone

Michael Cervantes, technical director

Arturo Ortega, conductor, has been hailed by audiences as one of the most dynamic conducting talents of his generation.  He has garnered accolades on some of the most venerable concert stages of Latin America and Europe.  Classically trained as a pianist and percussionist, he left both for the conductor’s baton at an early age, making his professional debut at the age of 20.  His earliest conducting training began with Terence Frazor, at the time Music Director of the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra and of the New School or Music in New York City.  Frazor introduced him to a host of orchestras with whom he was associated, further promoting his young but prodigious talents elsewhere.  He was then invited to study with Christopher Wilkins, Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony.  Arturo was privileged to work with that orchestra, which regularly hosted guest conductors and soloists of international standing, many of whom became mentors and collaborators.  He then went to study with Anshel Brusilow, a protégé of the world-renowned conductor Pierre Monteux, and former concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  On his first summer under Brusilow’s mentorship Arturo was invited with full scholarship to study with Charles Bruck, another protégé of Monteux, at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.  Having forged a long and fruitful relationship with Brusilow, Arturo stayed at UNT, eventually obtaining a doctoral degree in conducting under his tutelage.  He has enjoyed guest-conducting associations with leading orchestras in the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe.  Before completion of his formal studies he was named one of two finalists for the Assistant Conductor position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Arturo has received personal letters of praise by such luminaries as Placido Domingo, Zdenek Macal, Gil Shaham, and Marilyn Horne.  In addition, he has enjoyed collaborations with such artists as Jon Nakamatsu and Leon Fleischer, among others.  Specializing in music of the post-romantic and twentieth century eras, his current focus is in the works of Mahler, Shostakovich, Bernstein, Schoenberg, and Latin American composers such as Chavez, Revueltas, and Marquez; and as an advocate of new music he has also led a number of world premier performances.  In his spare time he enjoys coaching young musicians and conductors and spending time with his beloved dog, Fenway.

Christian Gonzalez is in demand as a performer and music educator in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.  Although primarily a clarinetist, he has studied, performed on, and taught all woodwind instruments. Aside from his teaching schedule, Mr. Gonzalez performs extensively as a freelance musician and teaches privately on flute.  Christian holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University and a Master of Music degree in Multiple Woodwinds from the University of North Texas College of Music.  While at UNT he taught chamber music and woodwind methods as a Teaching Fellow, and also performed and recorded with the Wind Symphony as a member of the clarinet section.  Although he has had the pleasure of studying with numerous teachers of music and woodwinds, Gonzalez’ primary flute teachers are Terri Sundberg, Terri Sanchez, and Linda Cotter.

Bobby Lapinski is an active clarinetist, teacher, and arranger.  He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in clarinet performance at the University of North Texas College of Music where he studies with Dr. Kimberly Cole Luevano. At UNT he has performed and recorded extensively with the North Texas Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Concert Orchestra. Bobby also currently serves as a Teaching Fellow in Chamber Music and coaches undergraduate chamber ensembles; and he is currently a recipient of a Graduate Assistant Tuition Scholarship.  Outside of the university Mr. Lapinski has performed on woodwinds for a variety of musical theatre productions in the DFW metroplex; and he has also been involved with recording projects with the Dallas-based Lone Star Wind Orchestra. In addition, he has maintained an active clarinet studio and his students have received high honors at solo and ensemble festivals and have placed in a variety of ensembles.  As an arranger he has been in demand for myriad of ensembles including solo and chamber works, choir, marching band, concert band, and orchestra; and many of his arrangements have been recorded and performed in concert.  Originally from Maryland, Bobby earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Towson University (Baltimore, MD) studying clarinet with Dr. Marguerite Levin, and his master’s degree in clarinet performance, also from the University of North Texas.

Born into a family of musicians, Veronika Vassileva received intense musical training from an early age. She was three when she started ear training and playing the piano with her mother, and at the young age of five was accepted in the Sofia Music School in Bulgaria as extraordinarily musically talented. Under the tutelage of her father, Ms. Vassileva added the violin at age seven and made her concerto debut three years later performing as the winner of the first prize at the German national competition “Jugend musiziert”. Throughout her teens she was a regular soloist with orchestras in Germany, France, and Bulgaria.  After receiving her Abitur (German high school graduation diploma before continuing on to college), Ms. Vassileva pursued further studies in the United States: as a violinist, she received a Bachelor cum laude from the University of North Texas (UNT), a Master of Music with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago, and as a violist and baroque violinist she is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the University of North Texas. Ms. Vassileva’s teachers include prestigious musicians like Vasko Vassilev, Igor Ozim, Maja Glezarova, Taras Gabora, Felix Andrievski, Julia Bushkova, Igor Borodin, Roland and Almita Vamos, Ytzhak Schotten, Ilya Kaler, Cynthia Roberts, George Papich, and Susan Dubois. She is professionally sought after on all three instruments and in various musical styles performing and traveling nationally as well as internationally in chamber music, chamber orchestra, or symphonic orchestra settings.  As a soloist with orchestra, some of Veronika’s achievements in the US are winning the concerto competitions of each of the universities she has attended, including being the first freshman in the history of UNT to win the Grand Prize. As an orchestra musician, Veronika has been co-concertmaster, section leader, and principal violist of the UNT and DePaul Symphony Orchestras respectively, the principal leader in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and she has played in various professional orchestras in the Dallas/Ft.Worth, Chicago, and New York City areas. As a member of small chamber music groups, Veronika has been part of and traveled with the Shostovsky Piano Trio, Amir String Quartet, with UNT’s Graduate String Quartet the Bancroft String Quartet, and her Early Music String Quartet Quartet Galant. Recently, she performed at the prestigious Chamber Music International alongside Iun and Ko Kawasaki, Susan Dubois, and Eugene Osadchy. As a large chamber group musician, Veronika has been in the leading roles of period instrument groups like Denton Bach Society, Dallas Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, La Follia, Texas Early Music Project, and La Novella Baroque.  Veronika held the Teaching Assistant position at UNT for chamber music for three consecutive years, was on the violin and viola faculty of the Music Institute of North Texas in Frisco and the Lone Star Academy in Flower Mound, Texas during the 2012-2013 school year, and in the summer of 2013 was invited to serve on the violin faculty for the annual Dallas String Orchestra Camp. She is currently a private violin and viola instructor at Argyle Music Academy in Argyle, Texas, and Wakeland High School in Frisco, Texas. Her students have won prizes at the All State Competitions and hold principal roles at the All State and Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras.

Praised by critics for his “flawless lightness and grace”, cellist Eric Smith has been called “the very model of an elegant cellist” (Dallas Morning News).  Eric has made himself known throughout the U.S. and abroad as a multi-faceted musician performing styles from early music on period instruments, to contemporary music.  As a soloist, chamber musician, and continuo player, Eric collaborates with ensembles including the Dallas Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, Texas Camerata, Ars Lyrica, Ensemble VIII, Denton Bach Society and the Denton Bach Players, Dallas Chamber Players, Bach Society of Houston, Mountainside Baroque, New York’s Concert Royal, New York Baroque Dance Company, Rumbarrocco, and the Orpheus Chamber Singers, whose latest recording he is featured on.  His performances have been featured on NPR’s Performance Today, in addition to a live broadcast of Bach’s Cello Suites.  Eric has appeared as a guest artist and recitalist at festivals including the Boston Early Music Festival, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Crested Butte Music Festival, American Renaissance and Baroque Music Festival (Bolivia), Cervantino Festival (Mexico), Les Nuits Baroques (France), and was an artist-in-residence at the Strings in the Mountains Music Festival in Colorado.  In addition to performing as cellist of Quartet Galant, Eric has performed chamber music with such notable artists as violinist Andres Cardenes and the Miami String Quartet, as well as principal players of the New York Philharmonic.  Eric attended the University of North Texas studying cello under the tutelage of Eugene Osadchy and early music with lutenist Lyle Nordstrom, where he was honored as a Winspear scholar.  Eric also attended the International Baroque Institute at the Longy School of Music where he studied baroque cello with Phoebe Carrai, and has studied viola da gamba with Mary Springfels.

Hungarian pianist Éva Polgár, a renowned performer of traditional and contemporary music, is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance as a student of Adam Wodnicki at the University of North Texas, where she also holds a Teaching Fellowship in the keyboard department. Every year since 2011, the Hungarian State has awarded her the Eötvös Scholarship for postgraduate studies and research abroad to sponsor her education in the United States. A graduate of the Franz Liszt University (Budapest, Hungary) and Sibelius Academy (Helsinki, Finland), Éva has won top prizes in piano competitions across the world. In 2012 she was both the Budapest Concert winner and the Concerto winner in the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. She was awarded solo concerts in Budapest, London and Washington, D.C.; and concerto appearances in Pasadena, CA, and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. She is active as a concert pianist, chamber musician, and recording artist. She has performed concerts in Hungary, Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Colombia, and the United States. Most recently in 2014 Éva was recognized with UNT’s prestigious Sherman/Barsanti Inspiration Award for her originality and dedication in her creative pursuits. Her previous mentors include Jenő Jandó and Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris.

Heidi Klein, soprano, has enjoyed performing vocal music of various genres throughout her career. Ms. Klein, who holds a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from Indiana University, is particularly dedicated to the interpretation of contemporary music and has premiered numerous compositions. The technical demands inherent to the performance of contemporary music have proven invaluable in Klein’s interpretation of early music as well.  Ms. Klein performs regularly in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. In addition to her work as a soloist in varied concert venues, she enjoys singing with such ensembles as the Orpheus Chamber Singers, The Orchestra of New Spain, the Dallas Bach Society and the Denton Bach Society. She has also performed and recorded with Dallas’ new music ensemble, Voices of Change. Ms. Klein maintains an active voice studio in her home and has served as adjunct instructor of voice at the University of North Texas. She is featured on three compact disc recordings: CEMEsonics: The Threshold of Sound; Music of SEAMUS, Volume 7; and with Voices of Change, The Chamber Music of David Dzubay.

Katrina Burggraf-Kledas has performed professionally in the Dallas area for nearly two decades. Her eclectic career has seen everything from Purcell solos in Westminster Abbey, to Stockhausen’s Stimmung in Deep Ellum, to her solo debuts with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, singing Mozart’s Requiem under the baton of Jaap Van Zweden, and the Fort Worth Civic Symphony performing Elgar’s Sea Pictures. She recently was privileged to complete a very successful solo recital opening the Highland Park United Methodist Church Chapel Music Series. She is currently in her fourteenth season with the Orpheus Chamber Singers who joined Houston’s Ars Lyrica for Bach’s Magnificat in November 2012 in Houston and Dallas. Their JFK tribute concert at Dallas City Performance Center in November of 2013 made the Dallas Morning News music critic’s top ten list for the year’s concerts. She also performs regularly with Vox Humana, the Dallas Bach Society, the newly formed Project Eve, and the Orchestra of New Spain, with whom she traveled to Bolivia for the Baroque Music Festival in May 2012, and the Cervantino Festival in and around Mexico City in October 2012. She also continues to enjoy being a paid singer/soloist in many of Dallas’ finest churches. Burggraf-Kledas’ recorded solo work includes, Vox Humana’s new Naxos label release “Into the Night”,  “With Angels and Archangels”, “The Royal Standard”, “Francisco Courcelle, Masses for Celebration”(Dorian label), and a recently released Orpheus Chamber Singers Christmas Cd, “Gifts of Christmas”.  She also recorded modern composer Joseph Klein’s “Zwei Parabeln nach Franz Kafka” on the Centaur Label in collaboration with the University of North Texas.  As well as singing throughout the US, she has performed in Great Britain’s gorgeous cathedrals, including Canterbury, Lincoln, Westminster Abbey, Southwark, Lichfield, and St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, and her singing has also taken her to Italy (the Duomo, Assisi, and the Medici Villa). In April of 2014, she reprised her solos in Mozart’s Requiem as well as teaching voice lessons and master classes, even instructing a singer’s yoga class at the campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. In August of 2014, Katrina will perform in the National Cathedral in D.C., St Thomas Fifth Avenue, and St John the Divine in NYC, with the Church of the Incarnation. She returns to New York in the fall of 2014 for an exciting modern music program at the Austrian Cultural Forum.  Katrina lives in Arlington, TX with her husband, and one daughter who has recently flown the nest for college.

Nathan Hodgson is a recent graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton. During his time at UNT, Nathan has been involved with the Chamber Choir (now University Singers) and the A Cappella Choir for their tour to South Korea and performance at the 2013 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas. Nathan has also performed with the UNT Collegium Singers for the world premiere of the new Bärenreiter edition of the Monteverdi Vespers edited by faculty and graduate candidates at UNT and a performance in the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival taking place in Boston, Massachusetts.

Daniel Myers is a voice performance major at the University of North Texas College of Music.  His principal teachers have included the Grammy award winning tenor, Richard Croft, as well the celebrated pedagogue Inci Bashar.  Other vocal coaches include Jonathan Owen and Karen Kaibel. Hailing from Missouri, he has been in demand in that part of the country in recent years.  He was a two-time member of the MMEA All-State Choir under the direction of Dr. Sandra Snow and Dr. Tim Sharp.  His excerpt performance from Reefer Madness earned him the highest ranking at the Missouri Thespian Conference as well as the opportunity to repeat his performance in Lincoln, NE at the International Thespian Festival.  In addition, he has sung extensively throughout the St. Louis area both in theatre, choral, and concert settings.  In 2011, he received a scholarship for his performance in Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ production of Adolphus Hailstork’s Joshua’s Boots.  A versatile performer and vocalist, Daniel’s repertoire includes opera, lied, musical theatre, jazz, gospel, folk, and barbershop.  He has made appearances throughout the continent singing in such cities as Nashville, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Portland, and Toronto.

Michael Cervantes is a violinist originally from San Antonio, Texas. Currently residing in Denton, Michael is a student of Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas College of Music. He has participated in a master class with Axel Strauss (San Francisco Conservatory) as well as coachings from Paula Bird, Craig Sorgi, Bruce Berg, George Papich, and Steve Harlos. As an active chamber musician recent and upcoming performances include Grieg’s String Quartet No. 1, Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro, Schumann’s Piano Quintet Op. 44, and Beethoven’s Violin Sonata, Op.12, no.1. As a proponent of new music, Michael enjoys collaborating with composers to present and record new works in many genres including classical, experimental, country and jazz. He has performed in and beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, including European cultural centers such as Austria and Germany.

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