Vijay Venkatesh & Mark Travis

PROGRAM:

Beethoven: Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1, "Quasi una fantasia"

Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight"

Beethoven: Sonata No. 15 in D major 'Pastorale', Op. 28

Vijay Venkatesh

Hailed by the Herald-Tribune for his “dazzling pianism verging on the impossible, effortless technical command and authority with a sense of poetry and refinement that belies his years,” Indian-American pianist Vijay Venkatesh has been recognized on three continents as a pianist with profound musicianship, sparkling pianism and an innate sense of partnership. Vijay has rapidly established a major international reputation as top prizewinner in the San Jose, Seattle, Zimmerli, World Piano, and Waring International Piano Competitions. He has also been named a Davidson Fellow Laureate at the Library of Congress, USC Thornton's Discovery Scholar, Grand Prize Winner of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Awards and featured on NPR’s “From the Top” with host Christopher O'Riley.

Highlights of Mr. Venkatesh's upcoming seasons include debuts with the Columbus Symphony with Erina Yashima in Saint-Saëns Concerto No.2, Rogue Valley Symphony with Martin Majkut in Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto, the LaGrange Symphony with Richard Prior in Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 and at the Le Salon Musiques with Chopin’s Concerto No.1. Venkatesh will also return to the Redlands Bowl with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra with conductor Roger Kalia in Beethoven Concerto No. 5. Additionally, Venkatesh has solo recitals and chamber music with the Vieness Piano Duo at the Naples Grand Piano Series, Covington Recital Series, Lancaster Performing Arts Center, L’ermitage Foundation, the Music Guild, Sarasota Artists Series, Second City Chamber Series, Summer Stars Series and a concert tour of the Midwest through Allied Concert Services and a recital tour of India through the South Asian Symphony Foundation.

An immersive and versatile soloist, Mr. Venkatesh has performed extensively across the United States and Europe as a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Seattle, Vienna, Sarasota, Redlands, Roanoke, Eastern Connecticut, YMF Debut, USC Thornton, IU Jacobs, UC Irvine, Pasadena, Rio Hondo, South Coast, Transylvania, and the Brevard Music Center. He has collaborated with preeminent conductors such as Jeffrey Kahane, Ludovic Morlot, David Lockington, David Stewart Wiley, Toshiyuki Shimada, Ken Lam, Michael Repper, Frank Fetta, and more. Mr. Venkatesh has performed at Merkin Hall in New York, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series, and at the Aspen, Brevard, Banff, Newport, Redlands Bowl, Sarasota, and Vienna Music Festivals. As a recipient of the inaugural Parnassus Society Prize, he performed in recital at the Soka Performing Arts Center.

An active chamber musician, Venkatesh has appeared eight times on Le Salon de Musiques at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and tours as the Vieness Piano Duo with his wife and pianist, Eva Schaumkell. Together, they’ve performed over 40 recitals such as the InConcert Series, the Trinity Concert Series, Le Salon de Musiques, L’ermitage Foundation, Masters in the Chapel Series, Waring Gala, and the Kultur unter'm Dach series in Germany. As a pianist in the Aristeia Trio, Gold Medalists of the Frances Walton International Chamber Music Competition, they embarked on a 30-concert tour of Washington, appeared twice on KING-FM 89.1 FM, and have been featured on the Camerata Musica recital series and at the Irvine Performing Arts Center.

Originally from California, Mr. Venkatesh is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Colburn School in Los Angeles with Fabio Bidini. He holds degrees from USC Thornton and IU Jacobs School of Music, where he was a recipient of the Barbara and David Jacobs Fellowship under the tutelage of Norman Krieger and André Watts. Venkatesh previously studied with Jeffrey Kahane and has received artistic guidance from Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Menahem Pressler, and Murray Perahia.

He is represented worldwide by Colburn Artists.

Mark Travis

With more than two decades of experience, Mark Travis has just about done it all, serving as a writer, producer, broadcaster, lecturer, podcaster, voiceover artist, multi-cam director, video editor and audio engineer. Currently Director of Media Production for the New York Philharmonic, he has directed the orchestra’s broadcasts (hosted by Alec Baldwin) since 2003.

​

From 1999 to 2011 Mark served as a producer for Chicago’s WFMT Radio Network, where he wrote and directed more than 800 nationally syndicated programs. He also has an extensive discography as a music producer, including three Grammy-nominated recordings in five categories by the New York Philharmonic. Other credits include projects with Carnegie Hall’s Song Studio with Renée Fleming, Ensemble Connect, Handel & Haydn Society, Ensemble Companio, Living Music with Nadia Sirota—Pirate Radio Edition, the 92nd Street Y, the National Youth Orchestra, the Chicago Chorale, UMS, Interlochen Public Radio, Greenwich Choral Society, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as a regular guest lecturer for Mannes College of Music at New School University and the Grand Piano Series in Naples, Florida.

Mark is a member of NARAS and serves on both the Grand Jury and Radio Advisory Board for the New York Festivals International Broadcasting Competition. He has also served as juror and Music Committee Chair for the United States Artists panel in Los Angeles.

He has been the recipient of more than 30 medals and honors for his broadcast work, including the 2015 Grand Jury Prize and five best-director awards from the New York Festivals, and he was named a special honoree for his writing in the 2017 Webby Awards.