Weekend pick: Cello Fresno International Music Festival at Fresno State concludes with an emotional tribute to a famed teacher
One hundred years ago, a pivotal figure in Thomas Loewenheim’s life was born: Janos Starker, the famed cellist and pedagogue. As co-artistic director of the Cello Fresno International Music Festival, Loewenheim was in a position to help celebrate his mentor’s birthday. The result is a gala highlight concert honoring Starker and featuring a dazzling list of cellists who had Starker as a teacher.
Loewenheim writes:
This year, all the guest artists are former students of Mr. Starker, which adds a unique and emotional aspect to the festival, making it very special. Many of us spent many years in Bloomington, Indiana, learning from the master and share many fond memories from his teachings. So far, the master classes have been an inspiration to all of us, and reuniting with my former class mates and seeing them teach and work with the students has been informative and a transformative experience for the next generation of cellists who attend the festival.
Two highlights of the festival are the showing of a film that Professor Emilio Colón made of Mr. Starker’s last performance, with some anecdotes of his life. The film will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 11 a.m. The second highlight is the Centennial Celebration Gala Concert, which will take place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.. Both events will be at the Fresno State Department of Music Concert Hall. The gala concert will present the two cello ensembles conducted by Cara and Emilio Colón, a short presentation about Mr. Starker, works for cello and orchestra by David Popper featuring the faculty of the Cello│Fresno Festival, and Richard Strauss’ tone poem: Don Juan with the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra. We chose to feature the works of David Popper, the famous cellist and composer, since he was the teacher of Mr. Starker’s teacher. Starker recorded a CD of Popper’s works for cello and piano, and made all of us study his etudes, which he called the “bible of cello players.”
Festival attendees have been gathering for three days of master classes, lectures, clinics and cello ensemble rehearsals. Faculty guest artists include Meredith Blecha-Wells, Thomas Landschoot, Jing Li, Jonathan Ruck, and Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun, representing many of the top music programs in the United States.
General tickets for the gala concert are $15, $10 seniors, free for Fresno State students.
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