The String Academy is excited to welcome back one of our most distinguished alumni, Dr. Erin Aldridge, to Milwaukee as she presents a guest recital on Friday, March 19th. Dr. Aldridge graduated from the String Academy in 1993 and went on to receive her doctorate degree. She is currently Professor of Violin at UW-Superior. She will be joined by pianist Chih-Yi Chen. Together they will be performing Mozart’s Sonata No. 1 in G Major, K. 301, Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 by Anton Webern, the Ravel Violin Sonata, and will finish with Brahm’s heroic Sonata No. 3 in d minor, Op. 108.
- When: Friday, March 19, 2010, 7:30 P.M.
- Where: Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall
- Admission: Free and open to the public
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| Artist Profiles | |
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 Erin Alderidge Erin Aldridge has won numerous awards as both soloist and chamber musician and has been featured throughout Europe, South America, and the United States. She was a featured soloist at the John Downey Festival in London, performing the world premiere of his Irish Violin Sonata. In Solonsa, Spain she was a guest soloist and chamber musician at the AIMS festival. She has also performed numerous concerts throughout Uruguay as well as throughout the United States with the Dorothea Trio. She is a well sought after performer and pedagogue, and has been published in Strings Magazine. Dr. Aldridge attended Indiana University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance. She received her Master’s degree and Performer’s Certificate in Chamber Music Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was a member of the Leonard Sorkin Institute of Chamber Music under the direction of the Fine Arts Quartet. She continued her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance. Her primary teachers include Mimi Zweig, Josef Gingold, Nellie Shkolnikova, Rostaslav Dubinsky, Efim Boico, and Vartan Manoogian. In 2003, Dr. Aldridge joined the music faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She serves as Associate Professor of Violin, Director of Orchestras, and is a member of the faculty piano trio Trillium. |
 Chih-Yi Chen, piano Pianist Chih-Yi Chen‘s versatile qualities as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative player have distinguished her a rarity amongst all pianists. Her solo activities include concerts with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra with conductor Irwin Hoffman, and her latest appearances with the IU Wind Ensemble of a new piano concerto written by Stephen Paulus was praised “a fantastic performance” by the composer. Her works with a group of especially talented young violinists “the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi” directed by Mimi Zweig have given her recognitions as a specialist in violin repertoire and an increasingly sought-after ensemble player. Her concert appearances with the Violin Virtuosi have taken her throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, and her recent tours to France, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and Japan have been extremely successful and have made significant impact on young pianists around the globe. Ms. Chen had been a faculty member at the IU Piano Department teaching piano accompanying and coaching collaborative pianists. She had also been the official pianist of the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi since 1998 and a faculty member of the IU Pre-College String Program since 2000. Recently she has appeared with violinist Joshua Bell in the Emmy Award nominated documentary “Circling Around”. |
Pianist Chih-Yi Chen’s versatile qualities as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative player have distinguished her a rarity amongst all pianists. Her solo activities include concerts with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra with conductor Irwin Hoffman, and her latest appearances with the IU Wind Ensemble of a new piano concerto written by Stephen Paulus was praised “a fantastic performance” by the composer. Her works with a group of especially talented young violinists “the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi” directed by Mimi Zweig have given her recognitions as a specialist in violin repertoire and an increasingly sought-after ensemble player. Her concert appearances with the Violin Virtuosi have taken her throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, and her recent tours to France, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and Japan have been extremely successful and have made significant impact on young pianists around the globe. Ms. Chen has also appeared in numerous masterclasses with artists such as violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Janos Starker, and has collaborated with countless musicians such as violinists and prize winners Barnabas Kelemen and Soovin Kim, violists Yuval Gotlibovich and Atar Arad, and cellist and pedagogue Csaba Onczay. She is a regular guest at the Indiana University Summer Festival and her upcoming concerts include a recital with Hungarian violinist Vilmos Szabadi. Ms. Chen has recently developed a series of accompanying courses at Indiana University for the undergraduate pianists and has been particularly successful in training potential accompanists.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Ms. Chen began to show a remarkable gift as a pianist at an early age of 3. After finishing high school education with honors, Ms. Chen came to the United States and continued her musical studies at Indiana University, where she completed her bachelor and master degrees. She had worked with Lev Vlasenko, former chairman of the piano department at Moscow Conservatory, Michel Block, and the pianist of the former Borodin Trio Luba Edlina-Dubinsky.
Ms. Chen had been a faculty member at the IU Piano Department teaching piano accompanying and coaching collaborative pianists. She had also been the official pianist of the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi since 1998 and a faculty member of the IU Pre-College String Program since 2000. Recently she has appeared with violinist Joshua Bell in the Emmy Award nominated documentary “Circling Around”.
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