Silvian Iticovici, faculty recital, violin

with guest, Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, piano 

Program:

Capriccio per Krzysztof Penderecki (1993) Cindy McTee                                                                          
                                   
Violin Sonata No. 10, Op. 96 (1812) Ludwig van Beethoven
                                    
Sonata for Violin and Piano, L. 140 (1917) Claude Debussy
     I. Allegro vivo                                                        
     II. Intermède: fantasque et léger
     III. Finale: très animé                   

Intermission

Divertimento for Violin and Piano (1932)                       Igor Stravinsky  
     I. Sinfonia                                                             
     II. Danses suisses
     III. Scherzo
     IV. Pas de deux: Adagio, Variations, Coda        
 

Biographies:

A native of Romania, Silvian Iticovici, violin, is a renowned international soloist and collaborator. He received his master’s degree from the Bucharest Conservatory and continued his studies with Yehudi Menuhin, in London and Amsterdam, Ivan Galamian, in New York, and Norbert Brainin in England. Mr. Iticovici won second prize in the 1969 International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland and was the recipient of the Andre Gertler prize in the 1972 International Bach Competition in Leipzig. He has recorded for the Suisse-Romande Radio and was a member of the Camerata of Lysy, Switzerland. Mr. Iticovici has been a member with the St. Louis Symphony since 1976 and is currently the Second Associate Concertmaster Emeritus. He has performed numerous concerti as a soloist with the St. Louis Symphony and has been an active chamber musician with Chamber Music Society of St. Louis and the Discovery series. Mr. Iticovici has been featured in concerto performances with the Bacau Philharmonic and Philharmonic “Moldova,” both in his native Romania, performing the works of Britten and Shostakovich.  He also was featured in 2005 with the University City Philharmonic Orchestra performing popular music from the film “The Red Violin,” by John Corigliano. In 2011, Mr. Iticovici was featured in a Japan Disaster Relief Concert in California sponsored by the American Association of Japanese University Women. In 2014 he performed a concert entitled  “End of Soviet Music - Shostakovich and Beyond” for the Danforth University Center - Chamber Series. In addition to his performing duties, Mr. Iticovici has been a member of the faculty of Washington University since 1985.

Collaborative pianist Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek lives in Boston, where he has taught on the faculty of New England Conservatory since 2007.  A passionate devotee of instrumental and vocal chamber music, he has made frequent appearances on the Jordan Hall stage with faculty colleagues, students and alumni from the string, woodwind and voice departments.  In 2014 he joined oboist John Ferrillo and bassoonist Richard Svoboda in the premiere of Andrew List’s Journey Toward the Eternal Flame as part of the Boston Woodwind Society’s Double Reed Day at NEC, and rejoined these same colleagues for a performance of the Poulenc Trio at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the summer of 2015.   Damien made his German debut alongside saxophonist Kenneth Radnofsky and violinist Elmira Darvarova in a program of David Amram’s chamber music at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe.  He can be heard in collaboration with Radnofsky, trumpeter Seelan Manickam, soprano Margot Rood and composer Heather Gilligan on the 2017 Albany Records release Living in Light.   Damien is artist member of Music for Food, a musician-led initiative to fight hunger in our home communities.

Also an active contributor to the field of opera, Damien brings a wealth of experience as a classically trained vocalist, and has prepared professional singers for roles at international opera houses.  He has served on the music staff at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis since 2008, and can be heard alongside members of the Saint Louis Symphony in the 2014 world premiere recording of Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27, starring Stephanie Blythe and conducted by Michael Christie.  An avid linguist, Damien has studied and coached more than a dozen languages, and is frequently sought out for his expertise in Slavic song and operatic repertoire.