Date/Time
Thursday, July 26, 2018
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location
Powell Library Rotunda
10740 Dickson Plaza
Annelle K. Gregory & Benjamin Lash
Program
Reinhold Glière (1875–1956)
8 Pieces for Violin & Cello, op. 39
Prelude
Gavotte
Berceuse
Canzonetta
Intermezzo
Impromptu
Scherzo
Etude
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Sonata for Solo Violin, op. 115
Moderato
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Dimitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Five Pieces for Two Violins & Piano, no. 1 “Prelude”
(arr. A. Gregory)
Johan Halvorsen (1864–1935)
Passacaglia for Violin & Cello
(based on George Frideric Handel (1685–1759), Passacaille No. 6)
Annelle K. Gregory, violin
American violinist Annelle K. Gregory is a laureate of international competitions, concert soloist, and recording artist. She is the 1st Prize & Audience Choice Award winner of the 2017 National Sphinx Competition and laureate of the 2013 Stradivarius International Violin Competition. Gregory’s love of Russian music has led her to discover and revive forgotten works of great Russian composers, presenting these works in concert and in recordings. Her most recent project was the release of the first-ever CD of Rachmaninoff’s complete violin/piano works, recorded with Russian pianist Alexander Sinchuk (Bridge Records, 2017). The CD has received international acclaim and aired on radio stations across the U.S. and Europe. As a soloist, Gregory has performed with the symphonies of Houston, Nashville, Chicago Sinfonietta, Detroit, Kiev Virtuosi, San Diego, La Jolla, Santa Monica, California Chamber Orchestra, and Torrance. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and the Kennedy Center, as well as abroad in England, Germany, Portugal, Russia, and the Ukraine. Gregory graduated first in her class, summa cum laude from USC’s Thornton School of Music, where she studied under Glenn Dicterow. Other teachers include Michael & Irina Tseitlin and Alexander Kirov.
Benjamin Lash, cello
Cellist Benjamin Lash was a top prizewinner in the Washington International Competition. Recent concerto performances include Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra, and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Lash has participated in summer festivals including Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Sarasota Music Festival, Taos, Aspen, Holland International Music Sessions, Fortissimo Fest in Bulgaria, and Franco-American Chamber Music Festival in Missillac, France. Benjamin is a member of Sakura (http://www.sakuracellos.com/), a cello quintet based in Los Angeles which recently performed concerts in Cleveland and St. Louis, and also performed the world premiere of Thomas Mellan’s …on transcendence… with the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
Lash began studying cello at the age of six. In his early teens, as a first place winner of multiple Chicago area competitions, he performed concertos by Saint-Saens, Shostakovich, Hindemith, and Haydn. He received his Bachelors of Music from the Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studied with Ronald Leonard. Lash completed a Master of Music degree at the USC Thornton School of Music, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in cello performance. He is a recipient of the USC Music Faculty Endowed Scholarship and currently studies with Ralph Kirshbaum.
Acknowledgements
The festival is made possible by the Henry J. Bruman Trust, Professors Wendell E. Jeffrey and Bernice M. Wenzel, by a gift in memory of Raymond E. Johnson, and with the support of the UCLA Center for 17th– & 18th-Century Studies and Powell Library.