THE PROGRAM

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Quintet in A Major, K. For Clarinet and Strings
Allegro
Larghetto
Menuetto
Allegretto con variazioni

INTERMISSION

CAROLINE SHAW
Entr’Acte, for string quartet

FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT
Quartettsatz, Movement for String Quartet

Arr. DANISH STRING QUARTET
Peat Dance, for string quartet

Arr. DAVID KRAKAUER
Der Gasn Nign, for clarinet and string quartet

Arr. DAVID KRAKAUER
Synagogue Wail for unaccompanied clarinet
Der Heyser Bulgar 

 

THE ARTISTS

CHARLES DIMMICK
CONCERTMASTER

Praised by the Boston Globe for his “cool clarity of expression,” violinist Charles Dimmick enjoys a varied and distinguished career as concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician. As one of New England’s most sought-after orchestral musicians, he is concertmaster of the Portland Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, appears regularly as concertmaster of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and has served as guest concertmaster for the Winston-Salem Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, and Arizona Musicfest. A frequent soloist, Charles has garnered praise, packed houses, and received standing ovations for what the Portland Press Herald has called his “luxurious and stellar performances” and his “technical and artistic virtuosity.” He lives in Melrose, MA with his wife, flutist Rachel Braude, and their daughter Chloe. Charles performs on a 1784 Joseph Gagliano violin.

 

AMY SIMS
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER

Los Angeles native Amy Sims is a busy free-lance Classical and Baroque violinist living in Boston, collaborating with musicians from the region in a wide range of musical genres from string quartets and intimate Baroque chamber ensembles to large ensembles including Portland Symphony in Maine, where she is the Assistant Concertmaster. She is a member of Boston Baroque, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She plays regularly with Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Handel and Haydn Society, and Rhode Island Philharmonic. Each August, Ms. Sims returns to the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, Wisconsin as its assistant concertmaster.

Before venturing to New England, Amy was the concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony from 2000-2010. With Bachelor and Masters degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music with professor Eudice Shapiro, Ms. Sims held the position of principal second violin of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra from 1994 to 2000 while free-lancing on the west coast, performing and recording newly commissioned works with Southwest Chamber Music as well as studio recording for major motion picture soundtracks and television commercials.

 

WILLINE THOE
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL VIOLA

Willine Thoe was raised in Hong Kong and started her musical career studying piano with her mother at the age of three.  Beginning violin at six and viola at eleven, she attended the highly selective Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Junior Division and attained the LTCL Performance Diploma from the Trinity College London (UK) in both piano and viola as a teenager.  She received her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance with high distinction from the Eastman School of Music, her Master of Music with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, and her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University.  Her principal teachers were John Graham, James Dunham, and Steve Ansell, and she has performed in master classes of Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian and Karen Tuttle.

She has been the Assistant Viola Principal of the Portland Symphony since 2009. She is also a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and can also be seen performing with various other ensembles in the area, such as the Boston Ballet, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

Willine maintains a private studio where she teaches viola, violin and piano.  Her students are often selected to perform in ABRSM Honors recitals. She resides in the Boston area with her husband and two sons.

 

WILLIAM ROUNDS
CELLO

A cellist with the Portland Symphony since 1988, William Rounds is also an extra player with the Boston Symphony and member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. With the Pops he has performed many hundreds of concerts, made recordings and TV tapings, been on 40 tours throughout the United States, Canada and Asia and played annually on live national television for their Fourth of July broadcast. As an extra with the Boston Symphony, throughout the last three decades he has performed with many of the major conductors and soloists of the day and toured throughout the world.

Originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, Mr. Rounds studied at Boston University with world renowned cellist-pedagogue George Neikrug. He received fellowships for study at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, and at the Tanglewood Music Center with the Boston Symphony, as well as being one of two American string players selected for the exclusive Villa Musica in Germany.

While a member of the Artaria String Quartet, Mr. Rounds performed throughout the United States and Germany, as well as toured with pop superstar John Denver. He currently performs with Ensemble Chamarre, a group dedicated to exploring the Quartet for the End of Time by Oliver Messiaen; other recent affiliations include the West Stockbridge Chamber Players and the Orlando Chamber Soloists. As a soloist, he has appeared throughout the United States, both in recital and with numerous symphony orchestras.

In addition to his classical career Mr. Rounds has recorded for Aerosmith, performed on the soundtracks for numerous movies, including the Oscar winning soundtrack to Schindler’s List, and has appeared as back-up to a wide range of popular artists from David Byrne to Jerry Vale. A committed teacher, Mr. Rounds is in demand for giving clinics and master classes, is on the faculties of Boston University and the University of Southern Maine, and has maintained a long affiliation with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras.

 

DAVID KRAKAUER
CLARINET

Only a select few artists have the ability to convey their message to the back row, to galvanize an audience with a visceral power that connects on a universal level. David Krakauer is such an artist. Widely considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet with his own unique sound and approach, he has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. In addition, his work has been recognized by major jazz publications around the world. He received a Grammy nomination as soloist with the conductorless chamber orchestra “A Far Cry“, received the Diapason D’Or in France for The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Osvaldo Golijov and the Kronos Quartet/Nonesuch) and the album of the year award in the jazz category for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for The Twelve Tribes (Label Bleu).

Krakauer began his journey with the music of his Eastern European Jewish cultural heritage at the end of the 1980s as the Berlin Wall was falling, and culture from “behind the Iron Curtain” began to emerge in the West. Inspired by these massive cultural shifts, he began to explore klezmer music as he sought to connect with his Jewish identity in a deeper way. He very quickly became a creator in his own right; first as a member of the ground-breaking band “The Klezmatics” (that launched the second klezmer revival of the early 90s), then as an integral part of John Zorn’s Radical Jewish Culture movement, and ultimately as a composer, soloist, and band leader in the klezmer genre.

Most recently Krakauer has been co-composing large-scale works with Kathleen Tagg including a klezmer fantasy for concert band, a concerto for klezmer clarinet and orchestra, “The Fretless Clarinet” (co-commissioned by the Santa Rosa Symphony, Eugene Symphony and Adele & John Gray Endowment Fund) with conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong, and the score for Minyan by filmmaker Eric Steel. As an esteemed educator, David Krakauer is on the clarinet and chamber music faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music (New School) and The Bard Conservatory, and the Accademia Chigiana summer program.