2007 Performances

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
Hill Recital Hall
Birmingham Southern College
7:30 P.M.

TransBAMAgiNations

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
Ivan Sokolov, piano

The idea for a duo collaboration with pianist/composer Ivan Sokolov was sparked after reading violin and piano sonatas at the Seattle home of Elena Dubinets, a Russian musicologist who had invited each of us to perform with the Seattle Chamber Players as guests in their 2004 Icebreaker II: Baltic Voices, an international conference of contemporary music from the countries of the Baltic Sea. We played through the Shostakovich Viola Sonata, which was inspired in mood and motif by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and is permeated by autobiographical quotations from his own symphonies. Vanya then exclaimed that he would like to compose his own Solnechnaya (Sunlight) Sonata for violin and piano that we would premiere in a duo recital during the upcoming season at Birmingham-Southern College. We contacted Charles Mason and Dorothy Hindman to request a duo composed by each of them and were midstream in our planning when Dr. Mason was awarded the 2005 Samuel Barber Rome Prize in Music Composition. The triple duo project was then relocated to Seattle where the Washington Composers Forum presented the TransMagiNations program and then onto Rome where we performed at Villa Aurelia at the American Academy in May 2006 as the culmination of their year in Rome. The current program was augmented from a call for scores in October 2006 by BAMA (Birmingham Art Music Alliance) composers and we are at long last bringing the project back home to Alabama under the title TransBAMAgiNations

Ivan Sokolov has performed as a soloist throughout the former Soviet Union and Europe. He is a regular participant in contemporary music festivals in Russia and abroad, including at the Alternativa, Moscow Autumn, December Nights festivals, the Schleswig-Holstein festival, Almeida Festival London, the Copenhagen Culture festival and others.

www.artmusic.org

Birmingham News Review

Program Notes

 

 

Friday, March 23, 2007

Palo Alto, California
Stanford Hospital Atrium
12:30 P.M.

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Dmitriy Cogan, piano

Brahms Violin Concerto & Sonata No. 1 in G major

 

 

 

Sunday, March 25, 2007

San Mateo, California
Bayside Performing Arts Center
2025 Kehoe Avenue
3 P.M.

Karen Bentley Pollick, Violin

Brahms Violin Concerto in D major with Redwood Symphony

Watch a video collage

Brahms Video Clip

 

 

 

May 6 – 13, 2007 

Czech Republic Tour

May 6 in Pilsen
May 7 in Snezne
May 8 in N. Mesto
May 11 at Zbiroh Castle
May 13 in Pisek

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Dennis Parker, cello

May 7, 8, and 13

  • Ravel: Sonata for violin and cello
  • Vicar: Homage to Fiddlers
  • Eggert: Dance Card for violin and cello
  • Schulhoff: Duo for violin and cello
  • Vicar: Lullabies for violin and piano

May 11

  • Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for violin and (viola) cello, K.364
  • Williams: Scherzo alla Marcia, from Symphony No. 8
  • Dvorak: Serenade in D minor for wind instruments, Op. 44

With the Wind Ensemble of the Prague Castle Guard and Czech Police Band
Vaclav Blahunek – Conductor

Press Release

 

 

June 7 and 9, 2007

Berkeley, California
8 P.M. Thursday and Saturday
Zellerbach Hall

Berkeley Edge Fest

Paul Dresher Electro-Acoustic Band
John Duykers, tenor

Paul Dresher’s The Tyrant

See the Edge Fest web site for more information

Read several Reviews

 

 

 

 

June 8, 2007

Mill Valley, California

7:30 P.M. Friday

Private House Concert

Violinist/violist Karen Bentley Pollick and multipercussionist Ian Dogole possess a far-reaching musical vision, traversing the realms of Bach, Bartók and Brahms, segueing seamlessly into free improvisation, morphing into Finnish tango and then onto Corea, Gershwin and Monk by way of a Danish salsa. Never constrained by preexisting formulas, their musical adventures transport listeners to previously uncharted musical landscapes. It’s an aural/visual feast for the senses. Join us in the intimate setting of a Mill Valley living room with exquisite views for an evening of spirited and ever-shifting musical dialogues. Limited seating, so please call to make reservations.

 

 

 

June 14, 2007

Amelia Island
11 A.M.
Historic Nassau County Courthouse

Coffee Concert with Richard Stolzman

Richard Stolzman, clarinet
Vega String Quartet
William Ransom, piano

Program includes works by
Gershwin, Wolf, Puccini, Weber and Schulman
written or arranged for clarinet

See www.aicmf.com/festival.htm for more information

 

 

 

 

July 27 – 30, 2007

Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival

7 P.M. Friday, July 27
Highlands
and
5 P.M. Saturday, July 28
Cashiers

William Preucil and Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
Miles Hoffman and Paul Murphy, viola
Christopher Rex, cello
William Ransom, piano

  • Saint Saéns: Sonata for violin and piano
  • Dvorak: Viola Quintet in E-flat major

5 P.M. Sunday, July 29
Highlands
and
7 P.M. Monday, July 30
Cashiers

Charae Kreuger and Christopher Rex, cello
Karen Bentley Pollick, violin, viola, and hardangerfele
Philip Thomson, piano
Garfield Lemonius and Glenda Norcross, dancers

  • Bach: Cello Suite
  • Chopin: Grand Polonaise for cello and piano
  • Liszt: Mephisto Waltz for piano
  • Piazzolla: Tangos for piano trio
  • John Halle: Rozology for violin and piano
  • Ole Saxe: Tango Orientale for viola and piano
  • Odd Bakkerud: Fanitullen for Norwegian hardangerfele

See http://h-cmusicfestival.org for more information

 

 

 

 

July 31, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
7 P.M.
Birmingham International Center Atrium
1910 Third Avenue North

Just Plain Folks Southeastern Roadtrip Showcase

See www.jpfolks.com for more information

 

 

 

 

August 24, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
7 P.M.
Alys Stephens Center
1200 10th Ave. S.

Theresa H. and James Bruno Magic City Chamber Music Festival

Yakov Kasman, piano
Denise Gainey, clarinet
Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
Michael Fernandez, viola
Charae Krueger, cello

Manuel Ponce: String Trio

Béla Bartók: Contrasts

Robert Schumann: Quartet for piano and strings in E flat Major, Opus 47

 

 

 

 

 

September 5, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
7:30 P.M.
Hill Recital Hall
Birmingham Southern College

September 6, 2007

Tuscaloosa, Alabama
5:00 P.M.
Westervelt Warner Museum
8316 Mountbatten Road NE

September 10, 2007

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
School of Music Recital Hall
Louisiana State University
8:00 P.M.

Works by Ivan Sokolov

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Dennis Parker, cello

Solnechnaya (Sunlight) Sonata for violin and piano (2005)

Sonata for viola and piano (2006)

Sonata for cello and piano (2002)

Trio for violin, cello, and piano (2000)

The three sonatas are cyclical and share a similar theme and are featured on our recordings <amberwood>and Homage to Fiddlers.

 

September 7, 2007

Tuscaloosa, Alabama
12 Noon
Frank Moody Music Building
810 2nd Avenue

Convocation–Seeing Through Sound:  works by Ivan Sokolov

 

 

September 11, 2007

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
School of Music Recital Hall
Louisiana State University
8:00 P.M.

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Dennis Parker, cello

Maurice Ravel: Sonata for violin and cello

Jan Vicar: Homage to Fiddlers

Scott Eggert: Dance Card for violin and cello

Erwin Schulhoff: Duo for violin and cello

Dorothy HindmanMonumenti

 

 

 

October 11, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
Brock Recital Hall
Samford University
7:30 P.M.

Mason/Robertson Award Recognition

Works of Charles Norman Mason:

Hradcanska for flute, violin, cello and piano

Oh What a Beautiful Morning! for string quartet

Three Legged Race for piano trio

Incantesimi for violin and piano

Read a Review in the Birmingham News

 

 

 

October 15, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
Pearson Auditorium
Miles College
2:00 P.M.

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Adam Bowles, piano

Charles Mason: Incantesimi

Robert Boury: Two Blues

John Halle: Rozology

Ole Saxe: Tango Orientale for viola and piano

 

 

 

November 10, 2007

Birmingham, Alabama
Hill Recital Hall
Birmingham Southern College
7:30 P.M.

Karen Bentley Pollick, violin

Paul Bowman, guitar

Monroe Golden: Ten Strings for violin and guitar

Mary Elizabeth Neal: Duo for violin and guitar

Matthew Scott Phillips: Fate for violin and guitar

Read a Review in the Birmingham News

 

 

 

 

December 14, 2007

Carbondale, Colorado
Steve’s Guitars
19 N. 4th
8 P.M.

FEAST

FEAST has created a completely new sound in music. Combining rigorous classical training with the timeless melodies andy rhythms of the great Irish, Spanish, and American musical traditions, as well as Classical music, their concerts are greeted with wild enthusiasm and standing ovations. FEAST offers a program of delightful variety: brilliant and soulful group numbers are interspersed with soulful duos, solos and trios. The emotional palette ranges from tear-jerking versions of “Danny Boy” to humorous versions of classic songs, and all-out rockin’ versions of hot fiddle tunes. The result is a stunning and unforgettable musical banquet.