Patchogue Theatre 11/25/07

Hailed as “outstanding” by The Strad, Jennifer Stumm earns accolades worldwide for her unique musical voice and commanding stage presence. As recipient of First Prize and the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Award in the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Ms. Stumm is the first solo violist in the 55-year history of the CAG Competition to win the jury’s unanimous vote. Other recent prizes include highest honors in the William Primrose Viola Competition and the Vriendenkrans Concours of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, both in 2005.

With diverse musical interests and a performance schedule that propels her in numerous directions, Ms. Stumm is a leading voice for her generation and an ardent advocate for her instrument. She has appeared in major venues and cities including Alice Tully Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester playing Don Quixote with Yan-Pascal Tortellier conducting and on the Rising Stars Series of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Her broadcast performances include those on the BBC 3 as well as the Dutch and German National Radio Networks. In the 2006-2007 season, she gives her New York recital debut on the CAG Winners Series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with additional engagements in London, Montreal, Amsterdam, Denver and a series of performances and educational residencies across the American South.

Deeply committed to chamber music, Jennifer Stumm is a member of the London-based Aronowitz Ensemble and a regular participant at the International Musicians Seminar, both in Cornwall, England and on tour. Among her collaborative partners are members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri, Juilliard and Alban Berg Quartets, the ensemble L’Archibudelli and pianist Christopher O’Riley. Ms. Stumm has spent three summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and appeared at the Steans Institute at Ravinia, the Aldeburgh Festival, Kronberg Academy and Switzerland’s Verbier Festival.

A native of Atlanta, Jennifer Stumm began viola studies at the age of eight. She holds a Bachelors of Music degree from The Curtis Institute where she was a student of Karen Tuttle. While in Philadelphia, she pursued concomitant interests in astrophysics and politics at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Stumm followed her Curtis Institute degree with a Masters of Music from The Juilliard School. Currently, she divides her time between musical commitments in the U.S. and Europe, where her recent mentors have been violist Nobuko Imai and cellist Steven Isserlis. She plays a 1767 Mantegazza viola.

SUSIE PARK, VIOLIN

Hailed as “prodigiously talented” (Washington Post) and praised for her “freedom, mastery and fantasy” (La Libre, Belgium), Susie Park is gaining worldwide recognition for her emotive range and dynamic stage presence. Concertizing around the world she has appeared as soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay in California, all of the major Australian orchestras including those of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania, West Australia and Canberra, Korea’s KBS orchestra, the Lille National Orchestra under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin in France and the Wellington Sinfonia, New Zealand. Highlights of this season include performances of Mozart’s Sinfonie Concertante with Jaime Laredo and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Alice Tully Hall, New York, recitals in Jordan Hall and the Gardner Museum in Boston, a live radio recital for WGBH Boston and appearances in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the 92nd St. Y in New York, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Centre and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

A passionate chamber musician, Ms Park is the newly appointed violinist of the most sought-after trio in the world, the Eroica Trio. The Grammy®-nominated Eroica Trio thrills audiences with flawless technical virtuosity, irresistible enthusiasm and sensual elegance. During the 2007-2008 season, the Eroica Trio will celebrate its 20th Anniversary Season with a cross-country bus tour to coincide with the release of the Trio’s eighth CD for EMI featuring all-American music, including a new arrangement of music from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" commissioned by the Eroica. Miss Park is also in professional residency at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Centre Two. She will be performing in the 2006-2007 season with such Society members as Wu Han, Gary Hoffman and Ida Kavafian. She has participated in numerous tours with Musicians from Marlboro to critical acclaim as a result of her three consecutive summers in residence at the Marlboro Music Festival. Collaborations include performances with members of the Guarneri Quartet, Kim Kashkashian, Samuel Rhodes and Jaime Laredo and her numerous festival appearances include Music from Angelfire in New Mexico, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, England, the Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Austria and Israel’s Keshet Eilon. Ms. Park is also a founding member of ECCO, a conductor-less chamber orchestra comprised of some of the most talented young chamber musicians, soloists and principal string players in major American orchestras. Translating this diversity of experience and virtuosity into a unified ensemble approach, ECCO combines the strength and power of an orchestral ensemble with the personal, intimate nature of chamber music.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Ms. Park first picked up the violin at age three making her solo recital debut at the age of five in a Suzuki showcase. Prior to moving to the US, Ms. Park studied in the preparatory division of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has taken master classes with Yehudi Menuhin, Pinkas Zukerman, Pamela Frank, Steven Isserlis, Menachem Pressler and with members of the Juilliard and Emerson string quartets. Ms. Park holds her Bachelor of Music degree from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music where she studied under the tutelage of renowned violinists Jaime Laredo and Ida Kavafian. She served as Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony in the 2001-2002 season, and as Concertmaster of the 2002 New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall. She currently studies with Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried in the Artist Diploma program at the New England Conservatory.

Jennifer Stumm , viola, Susie Park, violin

Jennifer Stumm: First Prize, 2006 Concert Artist's Guild International Competition

Also appearing in this series: Parker String Quartet on September 23 and Amstel Saxophone Quartet on October 21.