Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Curtis on Tour

The Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative

of the Curtis Institute of Music

PERSONNEL

Bella Hristova, violin

David Ludwig, spoken introductions

FREE ADMISSION

Strings Attached: The Violin Story with Bella Hristova and David Ludwig

Bella Hristova and David Ludwig will demonstrate the history of the violin in a lecture-recital that features music from centuries of virtuosic repertoire—from Bach to Paganini to John Corigliano’s Red Violin. The duo will share what makes these pieces special for the instrument, and how playing techniques and the violin itself have changed throughout history. Ms. Hristova, a Curtis alumna and a soloist who tours internationally, plays on a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin.

Curtis on Tour in Nantucket

Curtis on Tour returns to Nantucket for a tenth season, as seasoned performers with international touring careers share the stage with dazzling young alumni. Violinist Bella Hristova, a 2008 graduate, has been called “a player of impressive power and control” (Washington Post). A Curtis-trained violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz combines an active performing career with leadership of the school. They are joined by fellow alumni Timotheos Petrin, cello; Maria Ioudenitch, violin; and David Ludwig, chair of composition studies at Curtis, for events across the island July 18- 22. 

Programs include a lecture-recital at Nantucket Dreamland on the history of the violin featuring music from centuries of virtuosic repertoire, a mid-day Pop-Up Concert of violin and cello works at the Unitarian Universalist Church, and performances of Shostakovich and Ravel string quartets at the Nantucket Atheneum and Siasconset Casino (members-only program). Remarks by Dr. Ludwig uncover the complexities of the music and provide a glimpse into the mind of the composer. For more information, visit www.curtis.edu/Nantucket.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 Bella Hristova, violin

 Acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova is a young musician with a growing international career.  The Strad has praised, “Every sound she draws is superb,” and The Washington Post noted that she is “a player of impressive power and control.”  Ms. Hristova’s 2017-2018 season features her characteristically rich and wide ranging musical life. She will perform and record Beethoven's 10 Sonatas for Piano and Violin in a nation-wide recital tour presented by Chamber Music New Zealand, with acclaimed pianist Michael Houstoun.  Ms. Hristova also performs standard concerto repertoire and those by American composers Lukas Foss, Samuel Barber, and David Ludwig, appearing with the Chautauqua, Austin, and Milwaukee symphonies, among others.  As part of her busy and varied career, she performs recitals and chamber music throughout the U.S.

Ms. Hristova has performed extensively as soloist with orchestra including with Pinchas Zukerman and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, with the New York String Orchestra under Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pasadena, Charleston, Asheville, Greenwich, Vermont, Kansas City, Delaware, Columbus symphonies and Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río, Asturias Symphony Orchestra, Centro Nacional de la Música-la Orquesta, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Korea’s Cheongju Symphony Orchestra.  She has performed recitals at Merkin Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston, the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Alys Stephens Center for the Performing Arts, Free For All at Town Hall, the Shanghai International Music Festival, and Seoul National University.  Her  recording,  Bella Unaccompanied (A.W. Tonegold Records), features works for solo violin by Corigliano, Kevin Puts, Piazzolla, Milstein, and J. S. Bach.  A proponent of new music and composers, Ms. Hristova commissioned iconic American composer, Joan Tower, to compose "Second String Force" for Unaccompanied Violin, in 2015, which  she  premiered and performed in recitals throughout the US and abroad.

A sought-after chamber musician, Ms. Hristova performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at many music festivals including the Young Concert Artists Festivals in Tokyo and Beijing, the Musica Viva Festival in Sydney, Australia, the Grand Teton Festival, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Lake Tahoe Summerfest, Lake Champlain Music Festival, the Brevard Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival.  She has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio.

Bella Hristova is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, First Prize in the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, First Prize in the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, and Laureate of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.  She was awarded YCA’s Helen Armstrong Violin Fellowship, the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists, and the Gordon and Harriet Greenfield Foundation Artist Management Fellowship of YCA.

As a result of winning the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Ms. Hristova made a critically acclaimed concert tour of New Zealand, and a similarly acclaimed CD of solo violin works by the Belgian virtuoso Charles de Bériot (Naxos). Music Web International praised her first recording, “…this disc is an absolute winner… …The musical diversity of these pieces is a delight. None of which would count for much if they were not played with the extraordinary virtuosity and musical maturity of Bella Hristova. … Hristova combines jaw-dropping technical prowess with real style.”

Born in Pleven, Bulgaria to Russian and Bulgarian parents, Ms. Hristova began violin studies at the age of six. At twelve, she participated in master classes with Ruggiero Ricci at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 2003, she entered the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with Ida Kavafian (YCA Alumna) and studied chamber music with Steven Tenenbom. She received her Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University in 2010.  Ms. Hristova plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin, once owned by the violinist Louis Krasner.

 David Ludwig, composer

 David Ludwig is “a composer with something urgent to say” (Philadelphia Inquirer). His music has been described as “arresting and dramatically hued” (The New York Times) and “supercharged with electrical energy and raw emotion” (Fanfare). Ludwig has written for many prominent artists, including Jonathan Biss, Jennifer Koh, the Dover and Borromeo quartets, eighth blackbird, ECCO, and orchestras including the Philadelphia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and National Symphonies. In 2013 his choral work, “The New Colossus,” was selected to open the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. In 2012 NPR Music selected him as one of the Top 100 Composers Under Forty in the world.

This season’s highlights include the premiere of a concerto written for pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, commissioned by the Bravo! Vail music festival in honor of their thirtieth anniversary. Ludwig was also awarded a prestigious Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Performance Grant to support the creation of The Anchoress, a new song cycle for the PRISM Quartet, Piffaro “The Renaissance Band,” and soprano Hyunah Yu. The work will open the 2018 season for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Recent highlights include a violin concerto written for his wife, acclaimed violinist Bella Hristova; the concerto was commissioned by a consortium of eight orchestras across the United States. Other recent commission and performances include Titania’s Dream for the KLR Trio, Swan Song for Benjamin Beilman commissioned by Carnegie Hall, and Pictures from the Floating World commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra for bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Ludwig is the recipient of the First Music Award, a two-time winner of the Independence Foundation Fellowship, and a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, as well as awards from New Music USA, American Composers Forum, American Music Center, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has had multiple residencies at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies, the Isabella Gardner Museum and Marlboro Music. Ludwig has served on the faculty of Yellow Barn and the Ravinia Steans Institute, and is Artistic Director of the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program.

Born in Bucks County, P.A., Ludwig comes from several generations of eminent musicians including grandfather Rudolf Serkin and great-grandfather Adolf Busch. He holds degrees from Oberlin, The Manhattan School, the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig serves as the director of the composition faculty of Curtis and is the Gie and Lisa Liem Artistic Advisor and director of the Curtis 20/21 Contemporary Music Ensemble. 

 ABOUT CURTIS

The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. One of the most selective schools in the United States, Curtis accepts four percent of applicants each year on average, and a tuition-free policy ensures that talent and artistic promise are the only considerations for admission.

With a small student body of about 175, Curtis ensures that each young musician receives an education of unparalleled quality, distinguished by a “learn by doing” philosophy and personalized attention from a faculty that includes a high proportion of actively performing musicians.

Curtis students hone their craft through than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings each year and programs that bring arts access and education to the community. This real-world training allows these extraordinary young musicians to join the front rank of performers, composers, conductors, and musical leaders, making a profound impact on music onstage and in their communities. To learn more, visit Curtis.edu.

ABOUT CURTIS ON TOUR

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. An embodiment of the school’s "learn by doing" philosophy, it offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty.  In addition to performances, musicians offer master classes, interactive programs, and community engagement activities while on tour. Curtis on Tour also facilitates solo performances of Curtis students and alumni with professional orchestras and recital series. Since the program was established in 2008, students, faculty, and alumni have performed more than 200 concerts in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.