the quarter note

From the Executive Director

As we start this new semester, I am energized by all that the String Academy has accomplished this past year and look forward to the 2001-2002 school activities.
 
We look forward to presenting world-renowned cellist Gary Hoffman in a gala concert on October 21st in celebration of our school s first decade of excellence in string education. We will also honor Harry Franke for his many years of philanthropic deeds in Milwaukee with the school s Arts Leadership Award. This is sure to be a memorable afternoon, so please open up this page for more details.

The String Academy has entered cyberspace! We are proud to announce the creation of the SAW web site. We thank the Harry F. and Mary Franke Idea Fund for its generous support of our new endeavor. SAW parent Wei Yao is our webmaster and has created a wonderful web page. Read inside for an article about our site: www.stringacademyofwisconsin.org.

Summer is a time for fun, but at the String Academy it also was a time to work hard and make great strides. Our summer music session was fantastic with inspiring concerts, Festive Week of Strings activities, a new crop of string players, and a wonderful week with participants at our teacher training workshop. SAW faculty also enjoyed surprise visits and calls from alumni. It is wonderful to hear about their activities and plans. Don't miss the alumni news section inside. 

We anticipate enjoying the results from a summer of industrious work as we gear up for our Fall concerts and recitals. SAW students will perform close to thirty concerts and recitals from now until mid-December. I am also delighted to announce that SAW violinists have once again been invited to solo on the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerts this season. Eight young students are busy practicing now in preparation for six performances with the orchestra in October. Check out our web site for more details.

Each year I marvel at the many musical activities and projects that our school and its hardworking students, faculty and staff accomplish. However, none of this would be possible without the generous support by private donors, corporations, foundations, and the countless number of volunteer hours that we receive from our Board of Directors, SAW families and
others. These numerous kinds of support are greatly appreciated by the entire school and we give our sincere thanks to all. 

In this issue, we wish to spotlight one of the named scholarship funds here at the String Academy: the Maurice F. Kipen Memorial Scholarship Fund. This fund, created in 1993 by daughter Kaye Kipen Berman and her husband, Mark H. Berman, has generously given needy students the opportunity to study at our school. Please read inside the delightful
article about Mr. Kipen, who was a violinist and true music lover, and his lifelong contributions to the Milwaukee music scene.

SAW Gala Anniversary Concert


  In celebration of more than ten years of music-making and successful string education, the String Academy of Wisconsin will present internationally renowned cellist Gary Hoffman along with Milwaukee pianist, Stefanie Jacob, in concert on Sunday, October 21, 2001 at 3:00 pm in the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall at UWM. The program will include works by Bach, Couperin, Beethoven, and Franck and will feature a guest appearance by SAW students and alums.
Gary Hoffman is one of the outstanding cellists of our time. He combines instrumental mastery, great beauty of sound, and a poetic sensibility in his performances. Mr. Hoffman gained international renown as the first North American to win the Rostroprovich International Competition in Paris. He tours the world regularly on major recital, festival and chamber music series, and works often with such well-known conductors as James Levine, Andre Previn, and Pinchas Zuckerman. An Artist member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Hoffman currently resides in Paris and is a recording artist with RCA, Sony, and EMI labels.

At this event, we will also honor Milwaukee philanthropist Harry F. Franke with the String Academy s Arts Leadership Award. Known for his wit and generosity, Mr. Franke has been described as the Poetic Ambassador of Philanthropy . The Harry F. and Mary Franke Idea Fund of the Milwaukee Foundation was established in 1987 and has provided numerous scholarships to young students and over 166 grants to local non-profit organizations. The Franke fund facilitates early-stage development of an idea or project which has the potential to make a positive impact in our community. So many organizations, including our school, have greatly benefitted from the Franke Fund. Besides providing funding for scholarships and projects, the Franke s meet regularly with scholarship recipients and attend productions
of the Milwaukee performing arts groups supported by the fund. We are proud to honor Harry and salute him for his wonderful leadership and giving to the Milwaukee community.

If you have tickets from last year's Gala Concert, please call the String Academy office at 414-963-4729 for an exchange.

If you don't, tickets are now available for our Anniversary Gala at $10, $20, and $30. For ticket information, please call the String Academy office at 414-963-4729. In addition to the gala event, on October 19th Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Jacob will perform for MPS schoolchildren who, last year, were introduced to music making in twenty special informances by SAW faculty and students. These events are made possible through a generous grant from the Helen Bader Foundation's Celebrate Strings Initiative.

Spotlight on the Maurice F. Kipen Memorial Fund

The Maurice F. Kipen Memorial Scholarship Fund, one of a number of named scholarship funds at SAW, was established at the String Academy in his memory by daughter Kaye Kipen Berman and her husband, Mark H. Berman. It was created to aid children who would not otherwise be able to afford music lessons. This fund has generously helped needy young string players since 1993. We are grateful for the continuing support by Kaye, Mark and others with this named scholarship fund.

Maurice F. Kipen was a violinist and great lover of music. Kaye Kipen Berman wrote the following article about his interesting life and contributions to the music world in Milwaukee and elsewhere. 

Maurice F. Kipen was born in Paris, France in 1905, the son of Russian immigrant parents. His father had a little shoe store on the banks of the Seine River. After several floods ruined his shoe stock, the Kipen family emigrated to the United States when Maurice was seven years old.

The family struggled to make ends meet and Maurie was often left to amuse himself and his little sister. He took to drumming in different rhythms with two forks against the old coal stove. A neighbor suggested that the Kipens introduce him to music lessons.

Joey Lichter, a well respected young orchestral leader at the time, agreed to teach Maurie the violin . So swift was his progress under various local teachers, that he was accepted on full scholarship to study with Leon Sametini at the Chicago Musical College. Sametini, who was recognized as one of the finest violin pedagogues of his time, continued to mentor Maurie for five years. During those years, Maurie practiced eight or nine hours a day until he had learned all he could from the Master.

Maurice returned home where he became the Emcee of the new Uptown Theater, a movie and vaudeville theater. He was a great success as Emcee and conductor of the theater orchestra until the talkies ruined the need for live music. He also performed at the Jackson Theater, the Astor Hotel, the Pabst Theater and as Concertmaster with the first Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. After joining the staff as Concertmaster of the orchestra at WTMJ, Maurice was the featured soloist on numerous broadcasts. He was also developed as a radio personality with several different personas on such programs as Don Alvardos and His Magic Violin . He was known as one of the finest gypsy violinists of his time and received several offers from Big Band leaders such as Paul Whiteman and Vincent Lopez. But Maurice was a family man and knew that he would not be happy going out on the road.

In 1942, Radio City opened and the WTMJ and FM orchestra relocated to the new facility. Maurice was named Music Director of WTMJ and WMFM. He also went to New York to make master recordings for Muzak. Maurice had many programs in which he performed and conducted. He became so well known and revered, that he sometimes had to leave the studio through the back door. It seemed that some of the ladies in his listening audience fell in love with his character, Don Alvardos, who was pictured in newspaper ads as a handsome gypsy violinist. In reality, Maurie paled by comparison.

Maurie was best known for the Kilowatt Hour, the Gypsy Four, the Black and Gold Ensemble, the Allis Chalmers Orchestra Radio Show, the Blue Room and during World War II for a program called Those Who Serve , which featured the likes of Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope and Jack Benny as guest artists.

Maurice continued as Musical Director, solo violinist and radio personality until 1960 when the live orchestra gave way to canned music. He stayed with WTMJ as a known personality until his death in 1962 at age 57.

Festive Week of Strings

Summer at the String Academy got off to a great beginning with Festive Week of Strings 2001. There were over 30 participants (ages 9 and up) and faculty at the camp. Six chamber music groups and the Festive Week Orchestra rehearsed and coached daily with artist-faculty Scott Cook, Dinorah Marquez, Olga Miliaeva, Toshie Onai-Olsen, Betsy Pabón and Elizabeth Van Gelderen. Students enjoyed learning about baroque music and period instruments in a
special workshop by distinguished guests Patricia Ahern and Pablo Mohave. Students finished up the week with a wonderful Grand Finale Concert that featured chamber works by Telemann, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Schubert. The orchestra held the audience spellbound in a lovely rendition of John Williams Theme from Schindler s List and finished the concert, literally with a bang , from the camp canons (faculty, actually) in an unforgettable
arrangement of Tchaikovsky themes. Don't forget to mark your calendar for Festive Week of Strings 2002 slated for June 10-15, 2002.

Named Scholarships

The String Academy also gratefully acknowledges the following scholarship funds which have been established and perpetuated at our school:

Frances Brooks Memorial Scholarship
Jeanette B. Norquist Scholarship Fund
Helen and Bernard Soref Scholarship Fund
Gunter Zweig Memorial Scholarship Fund
Mimi Zweig Endowed Scholarship Fund

Additional gifts to any of these funds, including the Maurice F. Kipen Memorial Scholarship Fund, are always welcome, as are gifts to the SAW Friends organization.

www.stringacademyofwisconsin.org

The String Academy has reached the Internet!! We are excited to announce that we now have our own web site! One can learn about String Academy upcoming events, programs and course offerings; the school s history and mission; board of directors and advisory board members; faculty, and much, much more.

We wish to thank the Harry F. and Mary Franke Idea Fund for their generous grant and support which have helped make this project possible. We also want to thank Wei Yao, creator and webmaster of our site. Wei is a SAW parent volunteer and her work and expertise have been invaluable with this project.

Please view our site soon and check out the wonderful pictures of the school in action. Our address is: www.stringacademyofwisconsin.org 

Summer Session 2001

The sounds of summer at the String Academy included our new beginners on both violin and cello, our traditional violin groups and cello groups, SAW orchestra, and chamber music.

After six weeks of classes and rehearsals, our students performed in a concert on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 in the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall at UW-M.

The newest String Academy students, including beginning violinists Lydia Fojtik, Benjamin Johnson, Brigid McBride, Ben Lowe, Rachel Lowe, William Schlueter, Samantha Yang and Ji-Young Yoo and beginning cellists Thomas Camilleri, Jean Bernard Kadjo, Ahna Lipchik, Eric Mone, Freddie Pickett and Katie Wasielewski began the concert with a beginners blast off.

The SAW orchestra, conducted by David Anderson, followed with an enthusiastic reading of an arrangement of Vivaldi s Autumn from the Four Seasons and Kabalevsky's The Clown . In addition to group presentations by our various levels of violinists and cellists, violinists John Springmann and Alex Ayers, violist Rachel Wunsch and cellist Eoban Binder
performed movement one of Haydn s String Quartet, Opus 76, #2. The fourth movement of Schubert s Trio #2 in B flat Major was played by violinist Jonathon Yu, violist and coach Betsy Pabón, and cellist Adam Ayers. The excitement culminated in an exuberant performance of the first and fourth movements of  Tchaikovsky s Souvenir di Florence.

Violin Teacher Workshop

Fourteen participants from across the U.S. came to work with SAW faculty members Darcy Drexler and Elizabeth Pabón and SAW founder Mimi Zweig in a four-day workshop on the UWM campus July 20-23. The workshop dealt with the Top Ten Topics Related to Teaching the Violin to Children . Participants received hands-on training in the fundamentals of violin playing and correction of bad habits, obtained information on new music for young children,
Internet resources and repertoire sequences, and also observed demonstration lessons (beginner through advanced) with SAW students. SAW students Myra Werner, Joey Pickett, Daniel Yeager, Ashley Barret, Alex Ayers, and Juliette Cucunato presented a concert for the attendees. Students Jeannette Jang, Brian Zhang and Summer Beginners William Schlueter, Samantha Yang, Ji-Young Yoo, Rachel Lowe and Ben Lowe helped in demonstration lessons
given throughout the workshop sessions.

Thank You!

Thanks to the SAW Board of Directors, led by chair Don Wallace, for their time, effort and expertise throughout this past year.

The String Academy would not be able to function without the caring and helpful support of so many people each year. We want to express our appreciation to numerous individuals for their time and effort in supporting our school. This past year the following people donated their time and expertise: Micki Sausen (development and grant writing); D. C. Palmer
(computer technical assistance); Richard and Susan Pierce-Ruhland (recording of concerts and concert organization); Jan Keleher (concert organization); Wei Yao (web master); Don Chevako and Jim Stollenwerk (Flower Sale delivery drivers); Monica Bloom (graphic artwork); and SAW Board member Lynne Hindman (Flower Sale organization and computer work). 

We thank Dr. Nadia Moussavi for her generous donation of a new computer for the String Academy office.

Thanks to Corporations and Foundations

We wish to thank the following corporations and foundations for their generous support this
past year:

Amateur Chamber Music Players Association
American String Teachers Association
Helen Bader Foundation
Richard and Kay Bibler Foundation
Werner and Jermaine Buchel Foundation
Anna M. and Patrick Cudahy Foundation
Charles and Dorothy Watkins Inbusch 
Foundation
Herbert Kohl Charities
Miller Brewing Company
Milwaukee Arts Board
Milwaukee Foundation:
Adelaide F. Banaszynski Fund
Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Fund
Jean Hutchinson Arts Fund
Spear Arts Education Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
Mr. Holland s Opus Foundation
Anthony Petullo Foundation
Jane Pettit Foundation
State Financial Bank
Wisconsin Arts Board

A special Thank You to Schaum Publications for all of their hard work and help with our newsletter and brochure printing and mailing during the past decade.

Wish List

Xerox machine: newer model preferred
Volunteers for:
Anniversary Gala Concert on October 21

If you are able to help us with any of these requests, please contact Heidi Knudsen in the SAW office at 414-963-4729.

Calendar of Events

mid-Oct Honors recitals (TBA)

Oct 21 SAW Anniversary Gala featuring cellist Gary Hoffman at 3 pm in the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall at UWM

Nov 10 (Sa) Fall Concert dress rehearsal
Nov 17 (Sa) Fall Concerts (10 am and noon in Kenwood United Methodist Church

Nov 21-25 Thanksgiving break
Dec 8 (Sa) Master classes
Dec 14 (F) Semester II deposit due
Dec 15 (Sa) Solo Recital Marathon (9 am-4 pm) in the UWM Music Building

Dec 16 Winter break begins

Jan 7 Lessons resume

SAW students can be heard twice a month at solo recitals held on Saturdays at 12 noon. Call the SAW office for details and come hear our students - free and open to the public!

Flower Sale

The String Academy certainly did its part in helping beautify southeastern Wisconsin this Spring. Our flower sale was extremely successful and helped raise over $8,400 for the school.

Special thanks go to all the SAW families who helped in selling and delivery day work.

Delivery Day was busy with hard work, beautiful flowers (once again from Shady Lane Greenhouse in Menomonee Falls) and lots of fun. We wish to thank Brass Bell Music Store at Bayshore Mall and Shar Products, Inc. for their donations to our Flower Sale raffle incentives.

Please mark your calendars for flower ordering from SAW in March 2002!

Reminder

You can help support our school by participating in Pick'n Save's WE CARE program. Our customer number is 731100. Register your name as a String Academy supporter and Pick'n Save will donate 1% of your purchases every time you shop there to our school. It all adds up and it only takes a minute to register. See your store s Customer Service rep for details the next time you're there.

Faculty News

Scott Cook participated in the AIMS Music Festival in Graz, Austria, serving as assistant
principal cellist.

Trischa Loebl participated in the final concert of the Wisconsin Cello Society s Symposium held last March at UWM. Led by Wolfgang Laufer, the weekend activities included cello master classes, discussions, and performances. SAW student Eoban Binder also participated.

Alumni News

SAW alum Philip Springmann joined his brother Daniel Springmann, Jeannette Jang, Leigh Miller, Andy Havas and Craig Bate to perform movements from Tchaikovsky s Souvenir di Florence on the 2001 Summer Finale concert. This is the second summer that SAW students and alums have collaborated in chamber music.

SAW alum Travis Leanna spent the summer attending violin master classes in Poland, Germany and Italy. In each country, he studied with a master teacher and gave performances at the end of each session. Travis is a sophomore violin major at the University of Illinois-Urbana.

SAW alumna Mary Schuh serves as concert mistress of the Fort Dodge Symphony Orchestra in Iowa. Ms. Schuh studied at the String Academy with James Przygocki from 1990 to 1992. 

Student News

Melita Tyler won gold medals in the WI NAACP ACT-SO competition in violin and photography and thus attended the national competition this July in New Orleans, LA. She is attending the University of WI-Madison this September.

Jonathon Yu performed in the Myron Kartman master class this summer at UWM's Summer Music Institute. Jonathon is a student of Elizabeth Pabón.

SAW violinist Juliette Cucunato provided music for UWM s recognition luncheon for retiring
professors in July. Juliette is a student of Darcy Drexler.

Jeannette Jang was a finalist in the MSO Young Artist Competition. She performed the first movement of the Barber Violin Concerto. Jeannette performed side-by-side with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a concert on Tuesday, May 22, 2001. Jeannette also won a full tuition scholarship to continue her music studies at UW-Madison after participating in a competition last June. Jeannette is a student of Katherine Brooks.

Violinists Alex Ayers, Ashley Barret, Esther Hui, Wyatt Underhill, Chaunte Ross, Daniel Yeager, Jonathon Yu and Brian Zhang will solo with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on six October youth concerts. The students will perform the Vivaldi Double violin concerto in a minor.

Former SAW student, Andrew Ryba (age 9), was accepted as a scholarship student after competitive audition rounds at the Juilliard School of Music pre-college program. He currently studies with Margaret Pardee in Long Island, NY. Before moving away from Milwaukee, Andrew was historically the youngest winner of SAW s annual practice
competition - at age 4!. Good luck with your studies, Andrew!

Katie Saletri was awarded a music scholarship and plans to study violin with Klara Fenyo Bachall at UW-Oshkosh this fall. 

Sarah Stollenwerk will attend Illinois Wesleyan in the fall. In addition to her liberal arts studies, Sarah received a scholarship to continue with private violin lessons.

Mackenzie Carlin earned a first place trophy and a $50 cash prize in her age category in this summer s Fourth of July talent competition in St. Francis. Mackenzie, accompanied by her mother, Judy Carlin, performed the third movement of the Seitz G Major Concerto.

Juliette Cucunato and Elyse Underhill participated in the Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival in July. Directed by UWM cello professor, Stefan Kartman, this music festival, new to Milwaukee, was a wonderful success. Artist faculty and participants came from all over the world to participate.

String Academy of Wisconsin

Gala Aniversary Concert

featuring Gary Hoffman, cello; Stefanie Jacob, piano


October 21 at 3 pm at UWM Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall


Call 414-963-4729 for tickets and information