Colburn School and American Viola Society Announce Three Evening Recitals as part of the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition

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Thursday, June 6, 2024, Los Angeles, CA) – The Colburn School announces three featured evening recitals performed by some of today’s most esteemed violists as part of the 2024 Primrose Composer and violist Jessica Meyer performs a concert of her works for loop pedal and viola on June 19, celebrated chamber musician, soloist Tatjana Masurenko performs on June 20, and Atar Arad and Steven Dann and Primrose jury chairman Ayane Kozasa perform on June 21.

Los Angeles
California
United States

(Thursday, June 6, 2024, Los Angeles, CA)– The Colburn School announces three featured evening recitals performed by some of today’s most esteemed violists as part of the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition and American Viola Society Festival. Composer and violist Jessica Meyer performs a concert of her works for loop pedal and viola on June 19, celebrated chamber musician, soloist, and Colburn faculty member Tatjana Masurenko performs on June 20, and distinguished Primrose jury members Atar Arad and Steven Dann and Primrose jury chairman Ayane Kozasa perform on June 21. Ayane Kozasa replaces Tim Frederiksen, who has withdrawn as Primrose Competition jury chairman due to visa delays.

Single tickets are $10-$20 and available atcolburnschool.edu/calendar. In addition, all pass-holders for the American Viola Society Festival receive complimentary access to the competition rounds and recitals.Register here to attend.

These events will also be livestreamed athttps://www.colburnschool.edu/livestream/ and on the Violin Channel.

Jessica Meyer, whose first composer/performer portrait album Ring Out (Bright Shiny Things, 2019) debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, will be presenting a recital of self-composed works for loop pedal and viola on June 19 at 7:30 pm in Colburn’s Zipper Hall. Her works have been performed in venues from the Kennedy Center to Carnegie Hall, by musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and her first Symphonic Band piece was commissioned and toured by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. At home with many different styles of music, Jessica can regularly be seen as a soloist, premiering her chamber works, performing on Baroque viola, improvising with jazz musicians, or collaborating with other composer-performers.  Ms. Meyer is equally known for her inspirational work as an educator. In 2023, she joined both the Viola and Chamber Music Faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

Tatjana Masurenko, Colburn School Viola Faculty and Richard D. Colburn Viola Chair, will perform a recital featuring works by Rubinstein, Beethoven, Roslavets, Dimitri Terzakis and Prokofiev on June 20 at 7:30 pm in Zipper Hall. As a performer, Masurenko has made solo appearances with leading orchestras in Europe and Asia and has been a welcome guest at major international festivals as both soloist and chamber musician for many years. As an educator, Masurenko has been professor of viola at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig since 2002 and has held the same position at at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in Sion, Switzerland since 2019. She also acts as artistic director of the International Viola Camp in Iznik (Turkey).

On June 21 at 7:30 pm in Zipper Hall the Colburn School will host a recital featuring Primrose Competition jurors. This recital will include performances by jurors Ayane Kozasa, Atar Arad and Steven Dann and feature works by Paul Wianko, Mary Kouyoumdijan, Reena Esmail, Tessa Lark, Pierre de Bréville and juror Atar Arad. 

Ayane Kozasa, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet, is the winner of the 2011 Primrose International Viola Competition. Since this achievement, she has appeared on stages across the world, and as a passionate advocate for the expansion of viola repertoire, has commissioned multiple new works featuring the viola. Kozasa is currently a member of the duo Ayane & Paul with composer and cellist Paul Wiancko and of Owls, a quartet collective with violinist Alexi Kenney and cellists Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko. Other collaboration highlights include performances with world-renowned artists such as Tessa Lark, Steven Banks, Nobuko Imai, and the Kronos Quartet. As a seasoned orchestral performer, Kozasa has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, Philadelphia Orchestra, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, where she served as principal violist from 2012 to 2016.

Atar Arad is a recipient of the American Viola Society’s Career Achievement Award (June 2018) and the International Viola Society’s Silver Alto Clef 2018 “in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the viola” (November 2018). After winning First Prize at the 1972 International Viola Competition in Geneva, he performed extensively as a soloist with major orchestras and at prestigious European festivals. Arad was also a member of the Cleveland Quartet, which he joined in 1980, and toured globally with them, collaborating with renowned musicians. He has recorded for labels such as RCA, CBS, and Telarc, and appeared at major festivals including Aspen, Edinburgh, and Salzburg. He also served as Professor of Viola at the Eastman School of Music and has taught at the Aspen School, Rice University, and Carnegie Mellon University. Currently, Arad is a Professor of Music (viola) at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and teaches at various summer institutes. A composer since 1992, his notable works include a Solo Sonata for Viola and multiple string quartets.

Steven Dann has served as Principal Viola for a range of prestigious orchestras including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As a guest principal, he has played with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. A dedicated chamber musician, Dann is a member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Axelrod String Quartet, Zebra Trio, and the Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble. His collaborations include performances with Sir Andrew Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. He has recorded for Sony, Naxos, and ATMA Classique, among others. Dann's repertoire spans from solo works by Mark-Anthony Turnage to rediscovered pieces by Rebecca Clarke. He teaches at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music and coordinates chamber music programs at Domaine Forget and Music by the Sea Festival.