presents

Finale Concerto Concert 10th Annual Palm Beach Atlantic International Piano Festival with

PBA Symphony Lloyd Mims, music director with featured soloists

Marija Seselgyte, Lithuania Joshua Lubben, USA Christian Wachter, Austria Elodie Vignon, France Gulnara Fatykhova, Russia and soloists

Mandy Henrichsen, USA Parker Trefz, USA Escarlata Pan Zhou, Spain Elena Seselgyte, Lithuania Arvindan Thekkadath, Canada Nikolai Saratovsky, Russia Friday, February 26, 2016 7:30 p.m. DeSantis Family Chapel

u Program u Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Marija Seselgyte, violin Joshua Lubben, cello Christian Wachter, piano

~ Intermission ~ La ci darmen la mano (from Don Giovanni)

W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Mandy Henrichsen, soprano and Parker Trefz, baritone Variations on “La ci darem la mano,” Op. 2

Frederick Chopin (1810-1849)

Elodie Vignon, pianist Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Serge Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Gulnara Fatykhova, pianist American Vignettes

Marlene Woodward-Cooper Escarlata Pan Zhou Elena Seselgyte Arvindan Thekkadath Nikolai Saratovsky

u About Our Soloists u Gulnara Fatykhova was born in Kazan, Russia. She graduated from the Kazan State Conservatory (2011), as a student of professor A. Starikov. She is the prizewinner of the Regional Bach Competition (2005) and also holds the diploma of the Gubaidullina’s International Competition (Kazan, 2006) and of the All-Russia Festival (2014). Fatykhova was selected as the Best Accompanist of the Vocal Competitions for Nizhnekamsk (2007, 2008), Tver (2007) and Kazan (2014). She also participated in the International Piano Competition in Almaty (2006) and the Liszt Piano Competition in Wrocław (2008). Since 2011, she has served on the faculty of the Kazan State Conservatory as an accompanist for the voice department. Since 2014, Fatykhova has been a member of the ICPA studying under Maestro Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri. She has participated in master classes of P. Entremont, A. Diev, A.

Sandler, B. Wollenweber, J. Lowenthal, M. Béroff and J.Ph. Collard. In addition, she has performed at concerts and festivals in Russia, Lithuania, France, Belgium and the U.S. Currently, Fatykhova perfects her art under Professor Daniel Blumenthal at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Mandy Henrichsen is a PBA student from Seattle, Washington. A junior voice performance major, she studies with Marilyn Mims. She won the 2015 concerto competition and performed with the PBA Symphony. She has had leading roles with PBA’s Opera Workshop, having most recently performed the role of the Countess in Act II of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. She recently was the first place winner in the Junior Women Division of the Gold Coast Chapter Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Joshua Lubben began private study on violin and piano at an early age in his native Iowa. After years of successful solo and ensemble performance in competitions, recitals and concerts, Lubben branched out to the cello and soon achieved equal success as a cellist, even performing as a soloist with the New River Orchestra while in high school. This summer, Lubben will be soloing in the Lubben Trio with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia. Composing since the age of 7, he has written music for both ensemble and orchestral settings and was recently featured in the Norton Museum’s “Art after Dark” concert series. While majoring in music composition at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Lubben studies composition with Dr. Timothy Thompson, piano with Marlene Woodward-Cooper and cello with Dr. Claudio Jaffe. Apart from his work in the classical field, Lubben performs regularly in a folk ensemble with his brothers and has multiple albums airing on the radio. Escarlata Pan obtained a Master in Piano Interpretation at the Valencian International University studying with Eugen Indjic. She graduated in piano from the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Joaquín Rodrigo” in Valencia. She has studied with Clara Romero, Carla Cosmi and Jesús Ángel Rodríguez. Pan has participated in master classes with Graham Jackson, Joseph Mardón, Fernando Puchol, Andrew Zolinsky, Nelson DelleVigne Fabbri, Chin Chuan Chang and Josep Colom. She has performed in such noted venues as the “Marqués de Dos Aguas” palace, the Club Diario Levante, the professional musical conservatories of Torrente, Carcaixent and Catarroja, the Clemente auditorium, Torrente auditorium, the Cultural Center of Picaña, Catarroja and the Cartuja of Valldemossa. Nikolai Saratovsky is an internationally acclaimed Russian concert pianist. He began his piano studies at the age of 6 and gave his first solo recital when he was only 9. He entered the prestigious Central Music School in Moscow at the age of 15 and was then accepted to study at the Moscow State Conservatory under the guidance of professor Elena Richter. He was also invited to study at the Juilliard School by professor Jerôme Lowenthal. In 2010, he graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory with the Academic Excellence Award, and completed his masters in 2013. Saratovsky’s musical development is credited to world renowned artists such as Dmitry Bashkirov, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Philippe Entremont, Jerôme Lowenthal, Michel Beroff and Artiom Agazhanov.

Saratovsky’s passion for the education of a growing generation of young musicians has led the artist to give master classes and public lectures. He is regularly invited to give master classes in Tokyo, and in 2012 he participated in the 31st Yokohama International Piano Concert at Minato Mirai Small Hall. In 2014 he took part in a workshop for children in Minato Mirai Great Hall in Yokohama and at a Japanese elementary school for children with disabilities. Saratovsky has had concert engagements in major concert halls in Russia, Spain, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Japan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Canada and the U.S. He has also performed with orchestras in Russia, Portugal, Spain and Japan. In 2015, he joined the ICPA program. Saratovsky is the recipient of numerous awards including the Russian President Award in recognition of his musical accomplishment. His awards include the Ferrol International Piano Competition (Spain, First Prize, 2011), the Moscow Central Music School International Piano Competition (First Prize, 2005), the International Piano Competition “Arcangelo Speranza” (Taranto, Italy, Second Prize, Audience Prize, 2014) and the International Piano Competition “Spanish composers” (Madrid, Spain, Second Prize, 2013). Elena Seselgyte was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. She graduated from Vilnius Music Conservatory in 2010 and then enrolled in the Lithuania Music and Theatre Academy. In 2012, she studied under Professor Daniel Blumenthal at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and had the opportunity for one semester of study at the Vienna Conservatory as an Erasmus exchange student. Seselgyte has participated in master classes of N. Delle-Vigne Fabbri, M. Beroff, Ph. Entremont, R. Roux, V. Nosina, N. Seriogina, B. Vainiunaite, M. Rubackyte and A. Kouyoumdjian. She is also an avid chamber musician and performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in Lithuania, Belgium, France and the U.S. Marija Seselgyte, violin, was born in Lithuania in 1996. She began her formal music education at the age of 7. In 2015, Seselgyte graduated from Vilnius Tallat-Kelpsa Conservatory under tutor Undine Jagelaite. In the fall of 2015, she started her studies at the National Lithuania Music Academy. Seselgyte is a prizewinner of several competitions including the International Radovicius Competition (2010, 2014), the International Competition for Young String Players “Gradus and Parnassum” (2010,2014) in Lithuania and the International Young Musician Competition, “Citta di Filadelfia” in Italy (2015). She has participated in the master classes of Petru Munteanu, Michael Gaisler, Kati Sebèstyen and Dalia Stulgyte´-Schmalenberg. Arvindan Thekkadath was born in Ottawa, Canada, and began playing piano at age 6, and started formal training at age 18. His background in jazz allowed him to perform with various jazz ensembles and orchestras beginning at age 15. Soon after, he began to intensely study classical music and was quickly suggested to study with Prof. Nelson DelleVigne Fabbri at the École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot.” Since then, he has performed in master classes and concerts in such halls as Salle Cortot, Debussy’s home,

the Canadian ambassador to France’s residence and the Hellenic Foundation of Paris. He has also performed in the Catedra Chopin Festival in Mallorca. He has studied with Philippe Entremont, Josep Colomb, Robert Roux, Boaz Sharon, Ramon Coll, Alain Panes and Jurgis Karnavicius. Parker Trefz is a PBA student from Sarasota, Florida. A senior voice performance major, he studies with Lloyd Mims. Trefz is a member of the Palm Beach Opera Chorus and has been a featured soloist with the PBA Oratorio Chorus and Concert Choir. He has had leading roles with PBA’s Opera Workshop, having most recently performed the role of the Count in Act II of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Elodie Vignon received a “Golden Medal” at the Conservatory of Lyon in 2001 and then joined the class of American pianist Daniel Blumenthal at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Additionally, she has pursued a chamber music specialization course at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. From 2010 on, Vignon has studied with Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri as a member of the Bell’Arte Foundation. She has greatly benefitted studying with Philippe Entremont, Jerôme Lowenthal and Jean-Philippe Collard. Vignon started performing publicly at a very young age, expanding her concert performances over the years from her home region in France (playing at the Embarcadère, the Elipse de Ste Foy-les-Lyon and the Theatre of Gleizé), to the main Belgian concert halls (Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts) and finally to main venues abroad (the Netherlands, Lithuania, Spain, Italy and USA). Vignon has recorded a solo CD, playing works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. Christian Wachter was born in Palo Alto, California, and grew up in Vorarlberg, Austria. At age 14 he began piano studies at the University of Vienna as well as the Conservatory of Music in Colmar, France. He recently graduated from the École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot.” After studying full time with Rena Shereshevskaya and Eric Berchot, he currently perfects his art under the instruction of Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri. Wachter performed with professional orchestras in his teens, and has recently given solo performances and played at chamber music events in Belgium, the U.S., Germany, Italy, France and Spain. He has received additional instruction from Benjamin Kaplan and Nicole Simon-Laroche and attended master classes with Alexander Jenner, A. Queffelec and Elisso Virsaladze. Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Italian virtuoso, was born in Argentina and studied with Magda Tagliaferro, Claudio Arrau and Gyorgy Cziffra. In addition to his performing and recording career that spanned several continents, he is a famed international piano pedagogue. He is professor of piano at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot” and was appointed professor extraordinaire at the Chapelle Musicale “Reine Elisabeth” in Belgium. He gives frequent master classes in France, USA, Canada, Russia, Lithuania, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and China. He was collaborator for the festivities of the European Union Day in Seoul, South Korea, by special invitation of the European ambassador. Cultural and pedagogical

broadening is an important goal of his duties as general director of the Bell’Arte Foundation. He is also the artistic director of Musica Braine l’Alleud, the Paris International Summer Sessions and the EMS Music Group. He is the founder and artistic director of The International Certificate for Piano Artists, a pedagogical program in collaboration with the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot,” Palm Beach Atlantic University, Lithuania National Academy and numerous other international institutions. Delle-Vigne Fabbri also serves frequently on the jury panel of numerous international competitions often serving as president of the jury. Marlene Woodward-Cooper is professor of music and coordinator of keyboard studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music and did additional studies at the Juilliard School of Music. She joined the PBA faculty in 1970, having moved to Florida to pursue a career as a professional musician. She has performed and composed music since she was 8 years old. Several of her teaching pieces for piano have been published by Belwin, and newer compositions, especially for four-hands, have been performed extensively and recorded. She has been the staff accompanist for the Palm Beach Opera (1965-1987), the accompanist for the Choral Society, pianist/organist at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, a founding member of the Society Trio of the Chamber Society of the Palm Beaches and a well-known solo pianist and accompanist in South Florida. She has appeared as soloist with the PBA Symphony on numerous occasions, and has frequently served as an adjudicator for various competitions. In 1992, she was voted PBA Professor of the Year and is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Woodward-Cooper teaches piano, accompanying, keyboard literature and pedagogy. An avid painter, she also serves as pianist at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Lake Worth. Her latest work is the encore piece for eight hands on one piano, entitled American Vignette, to be performed at the end of the final concert of the festival. THE INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE FOR PIANO ARTISTS - program is organized in collaboration with the École Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot.” It offers the opportunity for high-level artists to work closely with some of the world’s top artist-pedagogues. Courses of study take place in Paris, as well as at the Fondation Bell’Arte in Braine l’AlleudBrussels, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Spain, China, Lithuania, Taiwan and Florida. The present Palm Beach Atlantic International Piano Festival is part of this program and is hosted by the Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Music and Fine Arts. The purpose of this unique program is to provide participants with the benefits of artistic coaching and career guidance from prestigious artist-teachers who represent diverse piano traditions. Participation in the International Certificate Sessions is highly competitive. A limited number of students from around the world are chosen for the program each year. These students are admitted to a special yearly course during which they are coached by a team of distinguished piano maestros. In addition to the program’s artist faculty, select world-renowned artists are invited as special guests. Consideration is given to any pianist of a high technical and artistic level interested in performing professionally or in a professional teaching career. In the latter case, a live audition is requested. There is no age limit for the International Certificate for Piano Artists.

Fondation Bell’Arte, based near Brussels, Belgium, was born from a profound human and musical ideal. Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, internationally known pianist and pedagogue, considered it a duty of the elders to share their personal experience and knowledge with young upcoming artists, traversing borders and nationalities. The Fondation is, above all, a place where different cultures can meet through art, stimulating artistic creation. The International Certificate for Piano Artists is an expression of this underlying philosophy – gathering young gifted pianists from all around the world to grow together in their new careers, while being accompanied and supported by the great masters of the program’s faculty: Philippe Entremont, who was the ICPA’s president during more than 10 years; Jerome Lowenthal, ICPA’s vice-president; the late Lazar Berman; Francois-Rene Duchâble; the late France Clidat; Michel Béroff, Jean-Philippe Collard; Robert Roux; Josep Colom, Mikhaïl Karpov and Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, ICPA’s founder and artistic director. Since September 2015, the ICPA is placed under the new presidency of the French-Belgian composer Jean Kluger.

u Tonight’s concert is in collaboration with u International Artists of the ICPA Jean Kluger, President Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Artistic Director

Fondation Bell’Arte aisbl

39bis, chaussée d’Alsemberg 1420 Braine l’Alleud tel: 0032.2.647.59.94 - 0032.2.385.15.50 e-mail: [email protected]

~ Thanks to our Sponsors ~ Bob Luptak and Steinway Gallery of Boca Raton The Hyatt Place Hotel Estibaliz Gastesi and the Bak Middle School of the Arts Stefanie Katz-Shear and the Dreyfoos School of the Arts ~ Thanks to our Host Families ~ Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bung Mr. and Mrs. Joe Kuharchik Ms. Agnes Musch Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hughes

Violins

u Personnel u

Patrick Clifford, concertmaster Belen Clifford, principal 2nd Kelsey Lin Michael Lubben Susan Rodberg Susan Snow Lehins Aragon Romel Fuenmayor Simona Talberga Carlos Jacques Viviana Soto

Violas

Renata Guitart, principal Alexa Lora David Pedrazza Laura Sinclair

Cellos

Barbara Corcillo, principal Erin Cascioli Andrew Jeffrey Derek Watral Aziz Sapaev

Basses

Oboes

Sara Lynch Hollie Wetzel Callyn Parker

Clarinets

Dennis Hayslett Thomas Sievert

Bassoons

Laura Winters Michael DiGregorio

Horns

Howard Katz Amanda Rosenbaum Samantha Lovely Cara-Lyn Mulholland

Trumpet

Johammee Romero Nick Pastis

Trombone

Dick Dupere Erik Smith

Stephen Scarlata, principal Nathan Brand

Tuba

Harp

Tympani and Percussion

Dana Esposito

Flutes

David Suarez Trina Watts Mary Johnson

Sandy Lopater

Annaliese Walrath Jed Maness Christine Bodensiek