Visiting Violin Series set in School of Music

A new Visiting Violin Series will feature three events throughout the 2022-2023 academic year that bring guest violinists to SUNY Fredonia to work with students and perform in Rosch Recital Hall.

The series was organized by School of Music Assistant Professor Jessica Tong.

To add more interest to each event, regional luthiers will be on site with instruments to try and accessories available for purchase. It is an opportunity for students and community members alike, by bridging the gap and making these items more accessible, while also supporting regional small businesses. All events in the violin series are free and open to the public.

Violinist Ari Streisfeld will be featured in the first event on Sunday, Sept. 11, that includes a master class in Rosch Recital Hall at 1 p.m.; Payton’s Violins (luthier) in Mason Hall Room 1051 at 2:30 p.m.; and a concert by Dr. Streisfeld, with School of Music violin faculty, at Rosch Recital Hall at 4 p.m. The event is sponsored by Payton’s Violins in Rochester, N.Y.

Streisfeld has garnered critical acclaim worldwide for his performances of diverse repertoire and has established himself as one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary classical music. Praised for his “dazzling performance” by The New York Times and “scintillating playing” by New York Classical Review, Streisfeld is a founding member of the world-renowned JACK Quartet.

Recent season highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall (London), La Salle Pleyel (Paris), Teatro Colon (Argentina), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Bali Arts Festival (Indonesia), Carriage Works (Sydney, Australia), Venice Biennale (Italy), Carnegie Hall, The Library of Congress, The Morgan Library (New York), the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland) and the Salzburg Festival (Austria).

He has collaborated with many of today’s most prominent composers and has recorded for Mode, Albany, Carrier, Innova, Canteloupe, New Focus and New World Records.

Violinist Edwin Huizinga and guitarist William Coulter, who perform as the Fire & Grace duo, will be featured in the second event on Monday, Oct. 31, that includes a violin master class in Rosch Recital Hall and guitar master class in Mason Hall Room 1051, both at 6 p.m. and The String House (luthier) at Mason Hall Room 1051, at 7 p.m. The Huizinga-Coulter event is sponsored by The String House in Rochester.

Fire & Grace, an eclectic collaboration, explores the connective musical elements of classical, folk and contemporary traditions from around the world. Fire & Grace’s repertoire is vast, ranging from Bach to Vivaldi, tango to Celtic tunes, traditional Bulgarian to American fiddle tunes and waltzes, all played with a sense of discovery and commitment to the elements of passion and virtuosity – fire and grace – found in these diverse traditions.

Recent and upcoming performances include engagements at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Mozaic Festival, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, the Electric Earth Concerts, the Monterey Museum of Art and with Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas.

The group’s self-titled debut album combines melodies from Argentina, Bulgaria and Western Europe with dance elements from baroque and folk musical traditions.

Violinist Markus Placci will be featured in the third event on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, that includes a master class at Rosch Recital Hall at 1 p.m.; The String House (a luthier) at Mason Room 1051 at 2:30 p.m.; and a concert with Mr. Placci at Rosch Recital Hall at 4 p.m. The event is also sponsored by The String House.

Praised for having “magnificent personality, a superb energy, a total command and extremely convincing taste” (La Libre Belgique), Mr. Placci has performed throughout Europe, the United States, South America and Asia.

Since his solo debut at age 13 with the Bologna Symphony, Placci has appeared regularly with major symphony orchestras including the Barcelona Symphony, the Radio Television Orchestra of Spain, Baden-Baden Philarmonie, Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra Milan, Teatro San Carlo of Napoli Symphony, the St. Petersburg State Philharmonic and the Annapolis Symphony, among others.

He has been heard live on BBC Radio, Bartok Radio Hungary, RaiRadio, RTV Espana, and is the winner of international prizes such as the “Brahms Preis” in Germany and the prestigious “XXVI Vittorio Veneto Biannual Competition” in Italy.

Placci earned degrees from the Bologna Conservatory and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and studied extensively with both Zakhar Bron and Mela Tenenbaum. In 2005, Placci premiered the Violin Concerto, by Spanish composer J. Cervelló, to great acclaim, and in 2008 was appointed to the Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty. He plays on an 1871 J.B. Vuillaume violin, a copy of the “Alard” Stradivari.