30th Annual South Carolina ASTA
’Cello Choir Cellobration!
Friday and Saturday September 4 and 5, 2009
The SC-ASTA ’Cello Choir has been an annual event since it first took place at the University of South Carolina in Columbia in 1980. For the first 20 years it alternated annually between Furman and USC, and during the last several years it has also taken place at Bob Jones University and Converse College.
In 2009 for the first time it will take place in Charleston at the College of Charleston and Ashley Hall to be hosted by COFC cello professor Natalia Khoma. Our presenters and sponsors are – College of Charleston and Ashley Hall.
This year we are proud to present a guest clinician - word renowned cellist, professor at Michigan State University Suren Bagratuni.
The event will begin on Friday with afternoon master-classes and an evening recital in the Simons Recital Hall, and will continue on Saturday with rehearsals, clinics, all culminating in an early Saturday evening performance of cello choir music in Ashley Hall (Sottile –Thompson Recital Hall, Burges Auditorium, Davies Auditorium and Ashley Hall Arena).
This is a terrific event for ’cellists of all ages from near beginners to professionals.
Schedule:
Friday, September 4, 2009
2 pm – Registration
3 pm – Master Classes with Suren Bagratuni.and other clinicians
8 pm – Recital by Suren Bagratuni. Free admission to registered ’cello choir participants; Additional Tickets: $15/adult, $5/students
Saturday, September 5, 2009
8-8:45am Registration
9-10:30am - Cello Choir rehearsal
10:45-12pm – Cello Choir rehearsals and Clinics
12pm lunch
1:30-3 pm – Cello choir rehearsals and Clinics
3:15-4:45pm – Final rehearsal for concert
5:30 pm – Cello Choir concert
Free Admission
Additional information and brochures:
If you have questions contact Dr. Natalia Khoma, (517) 980-1295 nokhoma@yahoo.com
Visit our sponsors on the web:
College of Charleston
66 George st. Charleston, SC 29424
www.cofc.edu
Ashley Hall
172 Rutledge Ave. Charleston, SC 29403
www.ashleyhall.org
Clinician Bio
SUREN BAGRATUNI, Cellist
Hailed as "a cellist of uncommon attainments" by the Boston Globe, Suren Bagratuni was winner of the Silver Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky Competition while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. He has gone on to a distinguished international career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. In addition to performing throughout the former Soviet Union, he has toured Europe and the United States earning enthusiastic praise in both traditional and contemporary repertoire.
As soloist Mr. Bagratuni has performed with all the major orchestras in the former Soviet Union, including the Moscow Philharmonic under the direction of Valery Gergiev, and has also appeared with the Boston Pops, L'Orchestre Jeune Philharmonie in Paris, the Armenian Philharmonic, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Thüringen Philharmonic of Suhl, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Rostock and Erfurt, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Halle in Berlin, and the symphony orchestras of Chile, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. He was the guest soloist for the U.S. tour of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, opening the tour with a performance in Alice Tully Hall. A recent tour of South Africa included concerto appearances with the Cape town Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic in Durban. In 2006 he made his Korean debut with the orchestra of Daegu.
Recital and chamber music appearances have included guest invitations with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Newport Music Festival, Festival of the Hamptons, the "Russian Winter" Festival in Moscow, the El Paso Pro Musica Festival, the Niagara International Music Festival in Canada, the Bear Mountain Music Festival in Korea, the Alpenglow Festival in Colorado, the Masters de Pontlevoy Festival in France, the Nevada Chamber Music Festival, the Woodstock Cycle at the Maverick, the St. Gallen Festival in Switzerland, the International Music Festival Pernambuco, Washington's Phillips Collection, Detroit's Pro Musica series, the "Premiere Performances" series in St. Louis and international festivals in Italy, France, Switzerland, Mexico, and Taiwan. At Weill Recital Hall in New York he performed a suite for cello and piano by Ned Rorem, with the composer as pianist. He returned to the Weill for recital appearances with pianist Sergei Babayan. Their performance was later filmed at Steinway Hall in New York for NHK satellite television in Japan, and was aired there on "The Classical Hour" series. Other solo appearances have included recitals in Seoul, Taipei, Paris, Geneva, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and a highly praised Munich recital debut at the Gasteig; on tour in South Africa in Johannesburg, Cape town, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown; at the Krannert Center in Illinois, Worchester’s Mechanics Hall, and Jordan Hall in Boston. This past summer he was a guest artist with the Masters of Belesbat in France and the Muju Music Festival in Korea, to which he returns in 2008. This season he makes his recital debut with the Friends of Music in Westchester, and appears with the International Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary, the International Academy of Music Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in Italy, and the International Festival in Daejong, Korea.
Suren Bagratuni won critical acclaim for his first CD release on the Ongaku label, featuring works for solo cello. Fanfare called his Ongaku recording of the sonatas by Prokofiev and Shostakovich with pianist Adrian Oetiker "impressively bold accounts". His last recording with Mr. Oetiker was released on the BGR (Blue Griffin Recordings) label and includes sonatas by Debussy and Rachmaninoff, along with Stravinsky's "Suite Italienne." His latest BGR release is of the Bach Cello Suites, described in Fanfare as "captivating, occasionally controversial, and always expressive." Mr. Bagratuni also appears on a recording of Trios by Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff with the Moscow Conservatory Trio on the CMH label. Mr. Bagratuni has recorded for Melodiya, Marco Polo, and has been featured on CBC Radio Canada, the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Germany, WNYC in New York, NPR, and WGBH Radio in Boston.
In addition to his solo activities, Mr. Bagratuni is a member of the Nobilis Trio with pianist Stephen Prutsman and violinist Ruggero Allifranchini. Of this ensemble, L'impartial of Switzerland said, "they have a powerful impetus which they express through their individual mastery." In residence at Michigan State University, the Trio has toured South Africa, Italy and Switzerland, and made annual appearances in Brazil. Nobilis has recorded two television shows for NHK satellite TV in Japan. During the summer of 2006 Mr. Bagratuni made his debut at Music in the Vineyards with the Trio and as soloist.
Mr. Bagratuni is Professor of Cello at Michigan State University where he serves as Artistic Director of the annual Cello Plus Festival, called "one of the premiere classical happenings." Popular with local Michigan audiences, Mr. Bagratuni has appeared as soloist with the orchestras in Saginaw, Adrian and Lansing and in multiple recital appearances in venues across the state. He has presented master classes throughout Europe, the Far East, South Africa, Armenia, Canada and at many schools in the U.S. including the Peabody Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Mr. Bagratuni began his musical education there at the age of seven. He began performing at age ten, by age fourteen appeared as a concerto soloist, and by age 17 was a winner of National and International competitions. He continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory where he was tutored by professor Natalia Shakhovskaya and took lessons from legendary Daniel Shafran. In 1988, he won first prize in the Vittorio Gui International Competition in Italy. In the United States Mr. Bagratuni was awarded the Artist Diploma of the New England Conservatory of Music under the direction of professor Laurence Lesser. |
