Chamber Music Festival at UMKC

July 18 - 28, 2009

A collaborative endeavor of Heartland Chamber Music Academy and Stringen do.

Chamber Music Festival Downloadable Brochure

Heartland Chamber Music Academy and Stringendo are joining forces to offer an exciting and expanded 10-day chamber music festival on the UMKC campus. Musicians will be placed in chamber music ensembles and be coached daily by our distinguished faculty in preparation for the final concert. Both an Advanced and Junior Division will be offered and students will participate in either the full orchestra or chamber orchestra accordingly. Participants will also perform in and observe daily master classes led by faculty and guest artists, and Dr. Paul will be back for some more entertaining music history lessons. Junior Academy students will have daily sessions on alternative styles and techniques exploring innovative areas, including electronic music, composition and improvisation.

Information for Participants

DAILY SCHEDULE Please see above. Check back for more detail!

LUNCH All participants, including those staying in the residence halls, should budget approximately $7.00 - $8.00 per day for lunch. (Residence hall participants should also budget for dinner.) The UMKC cafeteria will be open for lunch Monday - Friday. Participants staying in the residence hall will be eating here, and commuters will have the option of joining them or bringing a brown bag lunch. On Saturdays and Sundays the cafeteria will be closed. Residence hall participants will be taken to local eateries for lunch; commuters should plan to bring a brown bag lunch.

PARKING PASSES are not necessary for parents dropping off and picking up commuting students. Parking passes are necessary only if you plan to park on-campus during the day throughout the Festival. If you have not pre-ordered a parking pass but would like to purchase one, you can do so in person at the UMKC Parking Operations Office, located at the Administration Building on Oak Street.

CONCERT DRESS for all participants will be as follows: Black pants or skirt, black shoes, black socks, Chamber Music Festival T-shirt.

STUDENT PERFORMANCES will be on July 27 and 28. Groups 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 17, 20, 21, and Orchestra II will perform on July 27. Groups 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, and Orchestra I will perform on July 28.

JUNIOR ACADEMY AND ADVANCED ACADEMY Because of the extremely high level of artistry of all Chamber Music Festival 2009 participants, it will not be necessary to hold a Junior Academy. All students, regardless of their orchestra placement, will be experiencing the same Festival curriculum and will not be divided according to ability level.

What to Bring (all participants)

Your instrument.
All necessary accessories and supplies: an extra set of strings, plenty of reeds, a mute, cleaning supplies, etc.
Folding music stand labeled with your name.
Your music.
Brown bag lunch or money to purchase lunch at the UMKC dining hall (commuters.

What to Bring (residence halls)

Adequate supply of clothes (coin laundry will be available).
Necessary toiletries.
Extra towels (OPTIONAL--some towels will be provided).
Food (OPTIONAL--can be stored in in-room refrigerators and/or prepared in in-room microwaves).
Money to purchase lunches and dinners at the UMKC cafeteria and/or area restaurants.

What NOT to Bring (residence halls)

Cooking appliances such as hot plates, electric kettles, etc.
Cigarettes, candles, incense, or other flammable items.
Bed linens (PROVIDED).

Chamber Music Festival Faculty

BENNY KIM has become one of the most successful and acclaimed violinists of his generation, having performed on five continents and in nearly twenty countries. As the Washington Post observed, "Kim's emotional depth and musical carriage are his real drawing cards. His is a style that touches the peak of romantic violin playing." His spectacular performances of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Utah Symphony, conducted by Keith Lockhart, resulted in the Salt Lake City Tribune writing, "Kim's titanium technique was only surpassed by his and his violin's exquisite, pearly colorations." In recent seasons Benny Kim has performed with the symphonies of Ann Arbor, Cape Cod, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Long Beach, and with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Utah, Denver, San Diego and Phoenix. Internationally, he has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Orquésta Sinfonica Nacional de México, and the major orchestras of South Africa. He has been a regular at the festivals of Aspen, Bravo! Colorado, Chamber Music Northwest, Music from Angel Fire, Santa Fe, SummerFest La Jolla, Tucson, and Vancouver. He has collaborated with many of today's new generation of conductors, including Keith Lockhart, Marin Alsop, Robert Bernhardt, Enrique Diemecke, Raymond Harvey, Alasdair Neale, Eiji Oue and Christopher Wilkins. As a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has collaborated with many renowned artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Lynn Harrell, and Gary Graffman. With Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, Benny Kim appears on two recordings for EMI - Bella Italia and Night and Day. He can also be heard on recordings on Koch International and Centaur. As recitalist, Mr. Kim has performed in virtually every major city in the United States, including two critically acclaimed engagements at New York's 92nd St. Y and in recital at Washington DC's Kennedy Center. A passionate proponent of bringing the arts to the people, Mr. Kim continues to give school-concerts, lecture- demonstrations, and "informances" to students at all levels, senior citizens, and various other groups. As Mr. Kim states, "I want to reach as many people as possible who would not otherwise have the opportunity to be touched by music." Benny Kim is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. He now makes his home just outside Kansas City where he is currently associate professor of violin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. His early studies were with Doris Preucil and Almita Vamos.

VICTORIA OLSON, viola, received a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado where she was a teaching assistant to Denes Koromzay of the Hungarian Quartet. Ms. Olson has extensive chamber music experience including performances as violist with the William Jewell Trio, Summerfest, Rocky Ridge Music Center and over 100 school performances with the Colorado Camerata String Quartet sponsored by the Denver chapter of Young Audiences. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Tennessee and has held principal positions with the Colorado Springs Symphony, Breckenridge Music Institute and the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. She also performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival. Ms. Olson was the viola instructor at William Jewell College for ten years and continues to maintain a private studio. She is co-principal with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and is the founding Artistic Director of the Heartland Chamber Music Academy.

LAWRENCE FIGG, cello, received his bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and was a semi-finalist at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1986. He lived in Paris for five years doing extensive chamber music and solo performances as well as studio work for French radio and television. While in Paris, he was invited to play a season with Pierre Boulez's modern music ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain. He then moved to Bordeaux where he was a member of the Orchestra National Bordeaux Aquitaine for nine years, the last five serving as Principal Cellist. Mr. Figg is currently a member of the Kansas City Symphony and co-principal cellist with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra.

CHIA-FEI LIN, a graduate of Cleveland Institute of Music, is currently a member of the Des Moines Symphony. Ms. Lin is the winner of the 1995 Taiwan National Violin Competition, the 2006 Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City Concerto Competition and the 2006 UMKC Concerto Competition. Ms. Lin is also a recipient of the 2004 and 2006 Kansas City Musical Club Fellowship. As a soloist, she has performed with the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, National Taipei University of Arts String Orchestra and UMKC Conservatory Orchestra. Ms. Lin has participated and performed in numerous music festivals and summer programs in Europe, Asia and the United States: Taiwan Connection Festival, Salzburg Mozarteum Academy, Carl Flesh Academy and Aspen Music Festival, to name a few. Ms. Lin is also a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at UMKC Conservatory under the tutelage of Professor Benny Kim, and she joined the UMKC Conservatory Academy violin faculty in 2004.

JACKIE LEE, violist, is a recipient of top prize awards in the Cleveland Institute Concerto Competition, the Ekstrand Competition and the National Viola Competition of Taiwan. As an active chamber musician, Mr. Lee was a member of the Satori Quartet, the recipient of the Fellowship of Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Juilliard Quartet Seminar. Satori Quartet was appointed Young Artist Quartet-in-Residence at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. The quartet was invited to perform at the Aspen Music Festival and Bravo Music Festival and also to conduct a series of outreach programs to more than a dozen of schools and over 2,500 students throughout the Colorado area. Besides serving as a faculty member at the UMKC Community Music and Dance Academy, Mr. Lee’s other teaching activities include the Youth Programs of the Aspen Festival, the Bravo Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival and Taiwan National Institute of Art Summer Chamber Music Academy. Mr. Lee received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Viola Performance as well as a Bachelor degree in Audio Recording Engineering at the Cleveland Institute. He is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the UMKC Conservatory of Music & Dance.

DAVID KOVAC started to play violin at the age of four and later, at the Janácek Conservatory in Ostrava, decided to play viola. He is a founding member of the Golden Mountain String Trio. This ensemble was accepted to the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in New Hampshire during the summer of 1995. After the festival, Mr. Kovác received a scholarship to the Longy School of Music in Boston, where he completed his Bachelor of Music degree. In 1998, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst offered the trio Graduate Teaching Assistantships in chamber music and orchestra. Mr. Kovác was the principal violist of the UMass orchestra and played with many other orchestras in the Boston area. In 2001, he received his Master of Music degree from UMass-Amherst. In 2002, Mr. Kovác was offered a Graduate Assistantship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he is a member of the Graduate String Quartet and is pursuing a doctoral degree in viola performance. His principal teachers include Pavel Vítek, Michelle LaCourse, and Charles Treger. Mr. Kovác has taught at the Dana Hall School of Music in Wellesley and the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont. Mr. Kovác is active as a chamber musician and orchestral player. He has played over hundred performances throughout Europe and United States with the Golden Mountain String Trio in addition to many others with the Graduate String Quartet at UMKC and with his wife, pianist Michaela Kovácová.

MARY POSSES, (B.A., M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A., Yale University) has appeared throughout the U.S. in solo, orchestral, and chamber concerts, including performances in New York’s Tully Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum; has been an invited performer and speaker at many National Flute Conventions; and is a sought-after competition adjudicator. Since joining the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance faculty in 1977, she has received two of the University’s awards for outstanding teaching and has developed a Flute studio with a national reputation for excellence. Her students are frequent winners and finalists in major local, regional, and national competitions; are awarded numerous prestigious grants; regularly win places for further study in other leading music programs and top summer festivals; and enter highly successful music careers. Dr. Posses also serves as a Coordinator of the Conservatory’s student chamber music program and is Coach of the UMKC Gradate Fellowship Woodwind Quintet. In 2007, she spent two weeks as an invited guest artist at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, where she performed and gave flute and chamber music master classes. Actively involved in contemporary music, she has premiered works for flute by such leading American composers as James Mobberley, Harvey Sollberger, and Yehudi Wyner. Dr. Posses studied with Thomas Nyfenger; her other teachers include Julius Baker, Samuel Baron, Frank Bowen, Erich Graf, and Marcel Moyse.

KEITH BENJAMIN joined the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance as professor of trumpet in 1989 with a doctor of musical arts degree and a Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. While in New York, he was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and held principal chairs in three other orchestras. Current orchestra positions include principal trumpet in the Colorado MahlerFest, and extra trumpet for the St. Louis and Kansas City Symphonies. In addition to orchestral playing, Dr. Benjamin is an active recitalist and chamber musician, and is first trumpet in the Missouri Brass Quintet. He has commissioned and premiered numerous works, including compositions of Samuel Adler, James Mobberley, Eugene O'Brien, and many others. Kansas City also affords him the opportunity to have a lively professional career as a commercial, studio, and lead trumpet player, including recording the "signature spot" for CNBC-TV. Dr. Benjamin is partnered with Los Angeles organist Melody Steed in "Clarion", a trumpet & organ duo which emphasizes 20th century music. The duo recently released Clarion: New Vintage, their second disc on Gothic Records, this one consisting of all commissioned American works. Dr. Benjamin is a clinician for the Selmer/Bach companies.

PAUL HIGDON (Music Theory / Music History) is an assistant professor of music at St. Louis Community College where he coordinates the music department at the Florissant Valley campus. In 1998, he earned a doctorate and was nominated the following year by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music for the prestigious Dissertation of the Year award. A frequent recitalist, Higdon has played in many parts of the Midwest as well as Malaysia.

ROBERT OLSON earned degrees from Northern Illinois, Michigan State and the University of Washington and had further study at the Vienna Hochschule for Music as a recipient of the coveted Fulbright Scholarship. In addition to the two orchestras and opera program he conducts at UMKC, he is also the conductor for the Kansas City Ballet, the Longmont Symphony (Colorado), and is the Artistic Director and conductor of the Colorado Mahlerfest, which has achieved international praise through his critically acclaimed CD’s and performances.

CHRISTOPHER KELTS Former assistant conductor of the Kansas City Ballet, Chris Kelts is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music & Dance. He also received two Master of Music degrees from Illinois State University: one in viola performance, and the other in orchestral conducting. Chris is the assistant conductor for the Opera program at the Conservatory of Music, conducting everything from Monteverdi's Il Ritorno di Ulysses in Patria (1605) to Floyd’s Susannah (1956). In addition to conducting opera, Chris is on faculty for “String Fling”, a summer string institute through Missouri State University. In 2007, he was awarded the “Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant” award for excellence through the University of Missouri-Kansas City. When not conducting, Chris plays chamber music in the Kansas City area and teaches a small studio. He is the current music director and conductor of the East Jackson County Youth Symphony.

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