(Tuesday, April 25, 2023) Los Angeles – The Colburn School, one of the world’s preeminent schools for music and dance based in Los Angeles, will embark on its second international tour with four stops in London, Dublin, Berlin, and Paris in May 2023, featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Colburn’s Artist-in-Residence, faculty members cellist Clive Greensmith and violist Tatjana Masurenko, and Conservatory of Music students violinist Duncan McDougall, violinist Aubree Oliverson, and clarinetist Javier Morales-Martinez.
The ensemble will perform in London’s Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at Royal College of Music, Dublin’s Shaw Room at the National Gallery of Ireland, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal (which was designed by Frank Gehry, as is the Colburn Center – Colburn’s campus expansion project that will include a new concert hall and education facilities), and Paris’s Grand Foyer at the Théâtre du Châtelet. The programs include works by Bartók, Debussy, Dvořák, Messiaen, Ravel, Schumann, and more. Colburn School’s first international tour took the Conservatory’s flagship ensemble, the Colburn Orchestra, through Edinburgh and Dublin in August, 2018.
On May 4, 2023, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Clive Greensmith, and Tatjana Masurenko will also lead master classes at the Royal College of Music.
About the Artists:
For more than three decades, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed world-wide, recorded more than 50 albums, and built a reputation as one of today’s finest pianists. From the start of his career, he delighted in music beyond the standard repertoire, from jazz to opera, which he transcribed himself to play on the piano. His profound professional friendships crisscross the globe and have led to spontaneous and fruitful collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. Thibaudet has a lifelong passion for education and fostering young musical talent. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he makes his home. In 2017, the school announced the Jean-Yves Thibaudet Scholarships, funded by members of Colburn’s donor community, to provide aid for Music Academy students, whom Thibaudet will select for the merit-based awards, regardless of their instrument choice. Thibaudet’s recording catalogue has received two Grammy nominations, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. His most recent solo album, 2021’s Carte Blanche, features a collection of deeply personal solo piano pieces never before recorded by the pianist. He is the soloist on Wes Anderson’s 2021 film The French Dispatch; his playing can also be heard in Pride and Prejudice, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Wakefield, and the Oscar-winning and critically-acclaimed film Atonement. His concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Clive Greensmith was the principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the cellist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet for 15 years, from 1999 until 2013. Greensmith has collaborated with international artists, such as András Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alicia de Larrocha, and Emanuel Ax. Greensmith has given guest performances at prominent festivals worldwide. In North America, he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music at Menlo, Marlboro Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Ravinia Festival. Internationally, he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Deeply committed to the mentoring and development of young musicians, Greensmith has enjoyed a long and distinguished teaching career. In addition to a 15-year residency with the Tokyo String Quartet at Yale University, Greensmith has served as a member of the faculty at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal Northern College of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and New York University. He joined the faculty of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in 2013 as Professor of Cello and served as Co-Director of String Chamber Music Studies from 2013–2018.
Tatjana Masurenko is one of the leading viola players of our time. Her distinctive style is shaped by her expressive playing and her thorough and intensive musical studies. Alongside the great viola concertos by Walton, Bartók and Hindemith, Tatjana’s wide-ranging concert repertoire also includes
modern classical works by composers such as Schnittke, Gubaidulina, and Kancheli, and the rarely performed viola concertos by Hartmann and Bartel. Tatjana Masurenko has made solo appearances with orchestras including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Radio Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, and other leading orchestras in Europe and Asia. For some years now, Tatjana Masurenko’s major objective in her musical career has been the further development of the viola as a solo instrument, which also explains her commitment to contemporary music. She has given numerous first performances of new compositions, many of which are dedicated to her and originated on her initiative. Tatjana Masurenko is intensively dedicated to historical performance practice and especially to 19th-century playing and the romantic repertoire. For several years she has been engaged in playing the viola d’amore: thus, she interprets baroque and classical repertoire with passion, but at the same time she develops modern music on this baroque instrument with much interest in an experimental and innovative way with new sound ideas. Since 2002 she has been professor of viola at the internationally renowned Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig and since 2019 in the same position at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in Sion, Switzerland. She gives master classes in Europe and the United States and is artistic director of the International Viola Camp in Iznik (Turkey) as well as of a master class in Leipzig. Tatjana joined the Colburn School faculty in July 2022.
Praised for her evocative lyricism and joyful, genuine approach, young American violinist Aubree Oliverson is proving to be one of most compelling artists of her generation, distinguishing herself with clear, honest, and colorful performances, which have been described as “powerful… brimming with confidence and joy” (Miami New Times) and “masterful” (San Diego Story). She is in demand as a concerto soloist, and recent and forthcoming highlights include performances with the San Diego Symphony (under Edo de Waart), Utah Symphony (Conner Gray Covington), Pacific Symphony, Columbus and Des Moines Symphonies (Carl St. Clair), Roma Tre Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic (František Macek), and the Pasadena Symphony (Nic McGegan), in works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Haydn, Saint-Saens, Dvořák, and Barber. In 2021, she joined the Louisiana Philharmonic for a two-week residency during which she performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (under Carlos Miguel Prieto) as well as chamber music. In recital, having made her Carnegie Hall Weill Hall recital debut at age twelve, she has gone to perform to sold-out audiences at the Grand Teton Music Festival, SOKA Performing Arts Centre, and the SCERA Centre for the Performing Arts, and has upcoming recitals in Rome, Los Angeles, and in Ridgecrest, California as part of Midori’s Partners in Performance Recital Series. She has been featured on NPR’s From The Top numerous times.
Duncan McDougall is a 20-year-old Canadian violinist pursuing his undergraduate degree with Martin Beaver at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. As a soloist, he has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. A frequent award winner, he was chosen by CBC Music as one of Canada’s top 30 classical musicians under the age of 30, and was a Grand Prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition. He was honored to receive the National Gold Medal for violin performance and violin pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with acclaimed artists Clive Greensmith, Tatjana Masurenko, Teng Li, Jonathan Crow, Tessa Lark, and Yehonatan Berrick. He is a founding member of Trio Azura. He plays on a 1900 Scarampella violin on generous loan from the Colburn Collection.
Javier Morales-Martinez, from Los Angeles, CA, is currently pursuing a Masters degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music studying under Yehuda Gilad. Javier has appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and NPR’s nationally broadcast program, From the Top, where he was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. Javier has also won prizes at the National YoungArts Foundation, Backun International Clarinet Competition, Mondavi Center Young Artists National Competition, Silverstein Global Clarinet Contest, and the International Clarinet Association Solo Competition. As an orchestral musician, Javier has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Music, Orchestra of the Americas, and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, among others.
Programs:
London’s Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at Royal College of Music DEBUSSY Cello Sonata L 135 RAVEL String Quartet in F major MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time Tickets, £5
Shaw Room at the National Gallery of Ireland DEBUSSY Cello Sonata, L. 135 KLEIN String Trio BARTÓK Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, Sz. 111 DVOŘÁK Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81 Tickets, 15€ – 20€
Berlin, Pierre Boulez Saal DEBUSSY Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in D minor KLEIN String Trio BARTÓK Violin and Piano Sz 111 SCHUMANN Piano Quartet in E-flat major Op. 47 Tickets, 15€ – 55€
Paris, Grand Foyer at the Théâtre du Châtelet DEBUSSY Cello Sonata, L. 135 RAVEL String Quartet in F major MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time https://www.chatelet.com/
Please visit https://www.colburnschool.edu/european-tour-2023/ for details on tickets, dates and pricing.
About the Colburn School A performing arts institution located in the heart of Los Angeles, the Colburn School trains students from beginners to those about to embark on professional careers. The academic units of the School provide a complete spectrum of music and dance education united by a single philosophy: that all who desire to study music or dance should have access to top-level instruction.
Each year, more than 2,000 students from around the world come to Colburn to benefit from the renowned faculty, exceptional facilities, and focus on excellence that unites the community.
The Colburn Center, designed by Frank Gehry, is a multi-faceted campus expansion of the Colburn School. Located across the street from the School’s existing campus at the intersection of Olive and Second Streets, the Colburn Center will enable the School to expand its mission of presenting programs for the public. Gehry’s design includes Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall, a 1,000-seat in-the-round concert hall, four professional-sized dance studios, a 100-seat flexible studio theater, and gardens that bring fresh air and green spaces to the downtown landscape.
Learn more at www.colburnschool.edu.
Social Media Facebook.com/colburnschool Instagram and Twitter: @ColburnSchool YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/colburnschoollosangeles
Contacts: Jennifer Kallend jkallend@colburnschool.edu 215-622-6195
Lisa Bellamore lbellamore@gmail.com 323-500-3071
###