TITLE: The Cellos of Stradivari
SPEAKERS: Richard Belcher, Steven Honigberg, Alfredo Halegua, John Montgomery, & Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford
EVENT DATE: 2006/12/18
RUNNING TIME: 59 minutes
TRANSCRIPT: View Transcript (link will open in a new window)
DESCRIPTION:
Cellists Richard Belcher, Enso String Quartet, and Steven Honigberg, along with sculptor/instrument collector Alfredo Halegua, luthier John Montgomery and Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford of the Library's Music Division presented a lecture on Stradivari's cellos preceding the Enso String Quartet Concert.
Speaker Biography: Richard Belcher has performed as soloist with orchestras touring Australia and his native New Zealand. In 2001 New Zealand composer Patrick Shepherd's "Cello Concerto" was written for and dedicated to Belcher. He has been heard in recital throughout New Zealand and in the United States, and as a chamber musician in England, France, Canada and Costa Rica. He was also soloist with the University of Canterbury Cello Ensemble that toured New Zealand to great critical acclaim. Before moving to the U.S. in 1998, Belcher was successful in many competitions in New Zealand, including the National Concerto Competition and the National Music Competition. He was the winner of the Bernadette Richardson Competition and of the inaugural New Zealand Post Young Musicians Award in 1997. Belcher holds degrees from Yale University where, as a student, he was a guest on the Faculty Artist Series, and the University of Canterbury, where he graduated with Masters with Distinction and First Class Honours. As a member of the Enso String Quartet, he has held residencies at Northern Illinois University and, currently, at Rice University.
Speaker Biography: A member of the National Symphony Orchestra, Steven Honigberg has been featured numerous times as soloist with that ensemble. He won rave reviews for the 1988 world premiere of David Ott's "Concerto for Two Cellos" performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Maestro Rostropovich, with repeat performances on the NSO's 1989 and 1994 United States tours. Voted "Best New Chamber Music Series" by the Washington Post, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's chamber music series was directed by Honigberg from 1994-2002. He is a member of the Washington, D.C. based Potomac String Quartet. Honigberg graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with a Master's degree in Music.
Speaker Biography: Alfredo Halegua creates monumental public sculpture that combines elements that have traditionally been considered separate modes of artistic expression---architecture and sculpture---to serve a variety of functions, including buildings, fountains and urban design. One of his largest commissions was a prize-winner competitive project for the Charlotte-Macklenburg Government Center in Charlotte, N.C.
Speaker Biography: John Montgomery is fully trained in both instrument making and restoration and has been working since 1977 when he began as a Watson Fellow studying Hurdy Gurdy construction in France. He attended the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City, Utah, and trained under William Monical in New York City. He has been a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers since 1987. In 1983, he established John Montgomery Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.
Speaker Biography: Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford is a music specialist in the Library's Music Division.
The Library of Congress. (2006). The Cellos of Stradivari [Webcast]. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/
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