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  Erato
Quartet Performs at SmithsonianThe highlight of a six-day winter-term trip to Washington, D.C., for four Conservatory students undoubtedly was the opportunity to perform at the Smithsonian Institution. Violinists Julia Sakharova and Gared Crawford, violist Jacob Adams, and cellist Elias Suarez performed as the Erato Quartet during the Intensive String Quartet Seminar in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Adams, Sakharova, and Suarez are sophomores; Crawford is a first-year student. The ensemble performed Haydn's String Quartet in C Major ("Emperor") and Ravel's String Quartet in F Major on the Smithsonian's historic Amati instruments in the museum's Hall of Musical Instruments. Kenneth Slowik, director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and artistic director of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, arranged for the group to perform and discuss music at several area schools, including the Washington Conservatory, the St. Albans School, the National Cathedral School, and the Washington International School. -Marci Janas '91 Roland Pandolfi Joins Horn Faculty Roland Pandolfi, principal horn with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra since 1966, joins Oberlin's faculty as professor of horn on July 1, 2001. He has, however, been a member of the Oberlin family since his marriage to Sara Mattson Pandolfi '60. The number of Obies among the Mattson family could fill a chamber ensemble. "Sara's four siblings, three cousins, an aunt and an uncle, and a grandfather all attended Oberlin," says Pandolfi. He will retire from the St. Louis Symphony at the end of the current season. He has appeared as soloist with the orchestra in performances of Mozart's second, third, and fourth horn concertos; Richard Strauss's Concerto No. 1; Bernhard Heiden's Concerto for Horn; Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings; and Schumann's Concertstucke. With Barry Tuckwell, he performed Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Horns and, with Herman Bauman, the Concerto for Two Horns by Haydn. "Roland Pandolfi brings to Oberlin a great performing and teaching legacy," says Dean Robert K. Dodson. "We are delighted to welcome him to our faculty." In addition to dozens of recordings made with the St. Louis Symphony, Pandolfi's discography includes Saint-Saens's Morceau de Concert with the Banff Camerata for Summit Records, and, for VOX, the Moss Music Group, Mozart's Quintet for Horn and Strings and Quintet for Piano and Winds; and Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds. In the 1960s, he was principal horn with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Pandolfi has taught at Webster University, Northwestern University, the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, and Southern Illinois University. He has presented master classes and workshops sponsored by the International Horn Society. In 1994, Barry Tuckwell joined him for a Southeast Horn Workshop on Beethoven's Sextet in E-flat Major. For 14 seasons, he taught and performed at the Banff Arts Festival at the Banff Centre in Alberta, as well as at the Affinis Seminar in Iida, Japan, and the Orford Festival in Quebec. Pandolfi attended the New England Conservatory of Music and has studied privately with Arnold Jacobs. -Marci Janas '91 Violinist Milan Vitek Joins String Faculty Violinist Milan Vitek – bestowed the RD (Knight of Dannenbrog, 1st Order) in 1999 by Her Royal Highness Margrethe II, the Queen of Denmark, for outstanding contributions to Danish cultural life – joins Oberlin's string faculty as professor of violin on July 1, 2001. He was visiting professor during the 1993-94 academic year. Vitek brings to Oberlin more than a quarter century of experience teaching violin to students from all over the world. Since 1974, he has been professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and, since 1992 at the University of Gothenburg's Academy of Music in Sweden. "Oberlin is pleased to welcome Professor Vitek to its string faculty," says Dean Robert K. Dodson. "His career has been illustrious in both performance and pedagogy. Our students will benefit greatly from his presence." Vitek has taught master classes in violin and chamber music at many institutions and festivals, including Keshet Eilon in Israel, the Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Education in England, and the Hong Kong Academy of Music. His summer program for advanced violin studies, which he founded in 1996 in Litomysl, the birthplace of the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, is held at Litomysl Castle, one of the most revered Renaissance castles in the Czech Republic. Vitek is a frequent juror at international violin competitions, including the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark, the Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition in Italy, the Sweelinck Violin Competition in The Netherlands, and the Brahms International Violin Competition. Vitek's students who have won international recognition at competitions include Nikolaj Znaider, first-prize winner at the 1997 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium and at the 1992 Nielsen Competition; Malin Broman, first-prize winner at the Washington International Competition; and Sunho Kim, first-prize winner at the 2001 Heino Eller International Violin Competition inTallinn, Estonia. Many of his former students hold concertmaster positions in top orchestras, among them the Royal Danish Symphony, the Danish Radio Symphony, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Helsinki Symphony, and the Malmo Symphony. He has also coached chamber ensembles to critical acclaim, including the Trio Ondine, winners of the Royal Northern College of Music Broadwood Piano Trio Competition in England. Vitek was first violinist of the Czech String Quartet, the resident chamber nsemble of McMaster University in Canada, where he served as associate professor of violin in the 1970s. He is also co-founder of Trio Pro Arte, with whom he recorded Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor, op. 49; Smetana's Piano Trio in G minor, op. 15; and the complete piano trios of Johannes Brahms. During the 1960s, he was leader of the Czech Nonet, the official chamber ensemble of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. An accomplished orchestral conductor, Vitek founded the Royal Academy Chamber Orchestra, with which he has toured Scandinavia, Germany, and Switzerland, performing with Yehudi Menuhin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Michel Debost, professor of flute at Oberlin. He has served as artistic director of the Danish Sinfonietta and Sweden's Camerata Romana Chamber Orchestra, and as guest conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony, the Orchestra of the Royal Danish Academy, and the Janacek Philharmonic, among many others. Other ensembles Vitek has founded or co-founded include the Danish Chamber Orchestra (he also served as artistic director) and the Prague Chamber Soloists, conducted by Vaclav Neumann. For the latter he also served as concertmaster. He has been soloist with numerous Czech, Polish and Danish orchestras. In 1959, Vitek won the International Youth Festival Violin Competition in Wales, and in 1961 he was a prizewinner at the Jacque Thibaud Inter-national Violin Competition in Paris. Vitek completed advanced diploma studies cum laude at the Prague Academy of Music with Professor J. Pekelsky. He also holds a diploma from the Brno Academy of Music, where he studied with Professor J. Remes. -Marci Janas '91 |