Benjamin Faden, Senior Minor Recital, viola

Program

Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 (c. 1717-1723) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 —1750)
     I.   Prelude
     II.  Allemande
     III. Courante
     IV. Sarabande
     V.   Menuet I & II
     VI. Gigue

Blues for Benni (c. 1991) by Eduard Pütz (1911-2000)

Viola Concerto in E-flat Major  (c. 1779) by Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) 
     I.   Allegro
     II.  Adagio non troppo
     III. Rondo

Adagio (c. 1905) by Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967),

Arpeggione Sonata in A minor (c. 1824) by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
     I. Allegro Moderato

Until Next Time (c. 2010) Kenji Bunch (1973-present) 

Andante and Hungarian Rondo, Op. 35 (c. 1809) Primrose Edition by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) 
     I.   Andante
     II. Hungarian Rondo

Accompanist: Dr. Young Whun Kim

Biography

Benjamin Faden is a violist from Iowa City, Iowa, and a senior at WashU. Ben began his musical career at five years old at the Preucil School of Music, playing the violin. In eighth grade, seeking more excitement in his classical journey, he chose to switch to an objectively richer and more beautiful instrument: the viola. He has loved it ever since. After learning from a violin teacher throughout high school, it was not until college that he first began playing proper viola repertoire. This recital is the culmination of all that he has learned.

As a WashU student, Ben has become involved in many musical endeavors. He has taken lessons every semester, played in a chamber group for six semesters, and served as the principal violist of the WashU orchestra for three. He studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, and played with a conservatory chamber group, upping his viola game tremendously. Outside of the classroom, he has performed at weddings, formal dinners, and at nursing homes. He played in the pit orchestra for Cast and Crew’s Pippin, a student theater group, and he played Britney Spears’ “Toxic” by Britney Spears with a rock band. Additionally, he worked as a strings instructor in Webster Groves School District this year, teaching third graders the violin.

Outside of viola, Ben is an avid improviser — he is a member of K.A.R.L. Improv and the Camp Director of a nonprofit improv camp called “Yesandia” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After graduation, Ben intends to move to Chicago to work as an EMT before applying to medical school in 2027. He cannot wait to see where else viola performance can take him in the future.

Thank you

Thank you to my childhood violin and viola teacher Mary Neumann. If not for you, I could not have stuck with this instrument and would not be where I am today. Thank you, too to my current professor, Amy Greenhalgh. You have taught me why I should love this instrument, and I will be forever grateful for everything I’ve learned from you.