Janice

A Classic Collision!

Classical gets with entangled with

tango, jazz and folk

Friday, March 30, 2007, 2007 at 7:30pm
Trinity Presbyterian Church (Map)
5500 Morriss Road, Flower Mound TX 75028
(Just south of Marcus HS, on the other side of the road.)

A Class Collision! I love this title! It sums up what the program is all about - the combination, or "collision" if you will, of a canonized European classical composer with two New World composers.

For me, the glue between all the works on this program is the jazz influence. Ravel's trio was written before his tour of the USA, so it doesn't have the obvious jazz references that his later works did (the piano concerto for instance), but I think that the strong rhythms and syncopations in this work are an early clue to his later interest in jazz.

Piazzolla was very influenced by jazz, particularly the aspect of spontaneity and improvisation. Schoenfield's music really sounds like classical/jazz fusion to me, with bits of ragtime and honky-tonk as well. Of course, tango and folk are very much present in these works - and tango originated as folk music, so everything is connected in some way.

All three composers had rigorous classical training, which served as the basis for their later experiments. I think that "a classical collision" perfectly conveys the idea of their unique and individual musical languages

Fehlauer talks about Piazzola

"What I love about Piazzola's music is that he combines his own classical training with the rhythmic intensity of traditional Argentinean tangos, and then adds the freedom of jazz improvisation. The result is that Piazzola's tangos are very sophisticated and passionate at the same time.

"He can take a musical device that we think of as primarily intellectual, such as a fugue, and turn it into a purely emotional experience. His music is a fascinating blend of the traditional (such as tango rhythms), and the experimental (some wild harmonies!) I feel that his music is always honest; the emotion is genuine, not merely dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, and he's not ashamed to wear his heart on his sleeve."

Canadian pianist Janice Fehlauer began her musical studies in Chilliwack, British Columbia. After receiving an Associate Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in both piano and violin, she went on to complete a B.Mus at the University of British Columbia, where she studied with Jane Coop and Rena Sharon.

Throughout her training, Janice has been invited to participate in masterclasses with eminent musicians such as Anton Kuerti (Banff Institute), Vadim Monastyrsky (Rubin Academy, Jerusalem), Rudolf Jansen (Franz-Schubert-Institut), Ben Heppner, Malcolm Martineau and Charles Castleman (Eastman).

In 2006 Janice won the UNT Concerto Competition, and appeared as a soloist with the UNT Symphony Orchestra playing the Bartok Concerto No. 2.

In addition to her solo performances, Janice is a dedicated collaborative artist, and has performed extensively with members of Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Song Circle, and Brio String Quartet. She worked as a collaborative piano assistant at UBC, and was recently appointed rehearsal pianist for the UNT Opera Theatre.

Her performances have been broadcast and recorded live on Rogers 10, Bravo!TV and NowTV. In 2004-2005 Janice performed regularly for the UBC Learning Exchange, a group of artists who sought innovative and non-traditional ways of presenting classical music to the underprivileged in Vancouver's downtown eastside.

Janice has maintained a private teaching studio since 1996, and was appointed to the faculty of the Chilliwack Academy of Music in 2000. She is currently a graduate piano student at the University of North Texas, where she studies with Dr.Pamela Mia Paul.

Veronika Vassileva began playing violin at the age of seven at the “Musikschule der Hofer Symphoniker” in Germany studying with her father Peter Vassilev. She began competing at the age of ten and won first prizes at the annual national competition “Jugend musiziert” for solo and chamber music for five consecutive years.

She gave her concerto debut in Germany with the “Hofer Smphoniker” at the age of ten with Bruch Concerto in G minor, followed by a concerto debut in France with the Lille Symphony Orchestra and in Bulgaria with the Russe Symphony performing Vieuxtemps Concerto No.5 and Mozart Concerto No. 5, respectively.

different genres. She was featured in “Talents from Hof “ concerts performing arrangements for electric violins of Piazzolla’s Café 1982 and Zacharias’s Dixie for Two Violins.

She participated in numerous master classes given by Professor Maja Glezarova (Russia), Professor Felix Andrievski (United Kingdom), Vasko Vassilev (Spain), and distinguished Professor Igor Ozim (Switzerland), as well as Almita Vamos, Taras Gabora, and Robert McDuffee (United States).

Veronika chose to come to the United States in 2002 in order to study with Professor Julia Bushkova. In January 2003, she won the First Prize of the annual Concerto Competition of the University of North Texas as the first ever freshman in the history of the College of Music. In the Summer 2005, she was the violist of the Amir String Quartet in Residence for the Strings in the Mountains Festival, where she also took viola lessons from renowned professor Yizhak Schotten (University of Michigan) and violin lessons from Michelle Kim (New York Philharmonic).

From Spring 2005 until Fall 2006, she was the co-concertmaster of the University of North Texas Symphony and Chamber Orchestras under Maestro Anshel Brusilow.

In the summer 2006, Veronika attended the Manchester Music Festival in Manchester, Vermont, and got invited back to tour New York and Vermont in October 2006 with the Manchester Chamber Orchestra. Veronika has been an undergraduate student at the University of North Texas since 2002 and has given four recitals

Born in Germany, cellist Eric Smith later moved to Texas where he started his musical career in grade school on trumpet, trombone, and cello. He began his formal studies on cello at the age of 15 with Dr. Marcia Fountain, and a year later won a position with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra where he performed under the baton of Maestro Gurer Aykal for two seasons.

At the age of 18, he left El Paso to pursue studies at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Mr. Eugene Osadchy, where he was twice honored as a Winspear Scholar. He has also been the recipient of other numerous scholarships including the Dean’s Camerata Scholarship, Collegium Scholarship, and the Im Sik Kim scholarship. At UNT, he has performed with many ensembles including the UNT Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Opera Theatre, Baroque Orchestra, and Nova Ensemble.

As both soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Smith has performed in festivals and concerts throughout California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and New York. As a member of the Amir Quartet, Eric was young artist-in-residence at Strings in the Mountains Music Festival for two seasons, presenting concerts throughout Colorado, including a guest appearance at the Crested Butte Music Festival.

He has performed with many ensembles including the El Paso, Shreveport, East Texas, Abilene and Orchestra of the Pines Symphonies, and as a baroque cellist, with the Orchestra of New Spain and Denton Bach Society.

An avid educator, he uses his talents to educate younger cellists and string ensembles. He has taught with the UNT String Project, keeps a studio of more than 20 students, as well as has been the facilitator for the North Texas Cello Clinic for the past 3 years.