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UI Guest Artists: Smith Hall Recital (3:30-4pm); and Separate Masterclasses (piano, viola & oboe) to follow (4-5pm)!
Featuring:
John Dee, U of I Oboe Professor & U of I oboe studio
Liz Freivogel, U of I Viola Professor & U of I viola studio
Tim Ehlen, U of I Piano Professor & U of I piano studio
Lisa Kozenko, Ball State University, Oboe Professor, Guest
Zoren Jakovcic, Ball State University, Viola Professor, Guest
Rene Lucuona, University Of Iowa, Piano Professor, Guest
Open to the public.
Critically acclaimed for her virtuosity and versatility, oboist Lisa Kozenko performs internationally as a soloist, chamber artist and orchestral musician. Ms. Kozenko has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Nova Filarmonia of Portugal, the National Orchestra of New York, the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra and the Greenwich Village Orchestra. Concert engagements include performances at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, the Frick Collection in Pittsburgh and the Trinity Noonday Series, Great Music in the Chapel Series, and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.
Lisa Kozenko was a prizewinner of the 15th Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition and as winner of the Artists International Special Presentation Award, Ms. Kozenko presented her solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She has recorded on the Digital Concerto, Albany and Arabesque labels. Her solo recording on the Arabesque label of Doubles by Judith Zaimont was named to Chamber Music America’s Century List of recordings. She has 12 solo oboe and chamber music commissions to her credit. Her many commissions have been funded by the Minnesota Composers Forum and the Aaron Copland Fund for New Music. She has been featured on NPR Performance Today, WQXR Young Artists Showcase, Voice of America, CBS Sunday Morning and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
As a member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet, she was a finalist in the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Competition and prizewinner of the Coleman, Fischoff, Monterey, Yellow Springs, and Chamber Music Chicago Competitions. The Manhattan Wind Quintet was awarded a Chamber Music America Ensemble Residency Grant in collaboration with the National Orchestral Association. During her 9-year tenure as Director of Chamber Music for the New York Youth Symphony she created an educational model that is now used by many similar programs nationwide. She was awarded the Chamber Music America Heidi Castleman Award for excellence in chamber music teaching for this work.
Lisa Kozenko was principal oboist of the New York City Opera National Company and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra from 1994-2001 and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. She has served on the faculties of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Bennington Chamber Music Conference and Eastern Music Festival and was a full-time faculty member at Central Michigan University and Oklahoma State University, and an Artist-Lecturer at Moravian College. Currently she is Assistant Professor of Oboe and Chamber Music at Mannes School of Music The New School.
Most recently Ms. Kozenko was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York where she studied with New York Philharmonic oboist Sherry Sylar. Her dissertation, New York Chamber Music Society, 1915-1937: A Contribution to Wind Chamber Music and a Reflection of Concert Life in New York City in the Early 20th Century, was funded in part by the prestigious Baisley Powell Elebash Research Fund. She began her undergraduate studies at Carnegie- Mellon University and participated in the Marcel Moyse Chamber Music Seminar. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance, cum laude, from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts where she was a scholarship student of Robert Bloom and received her Master of Music in Oboe Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Sara Lambert Bloom. She studied orchestral repertoire with Mason Jones and John Krell and was the winner of the Claus Adam Award of the National Orchestral Association. Ms. Kozenko pursued additional solo oboe and chamber music study with Hansjörg Schellenberger in Italy and with Maurice Bourgue in France and was an artist in residence at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada.
A native of Croatia, Zoran Jakovcic made his solo orchestral debut as winner of the National Competition in Zagreb. He has performed in recital and as soloist with orchestras in Europe, Japan, China, and the US. Mr. Jakovcic was first violinist of the Essex Quartet (1988-98), winner of numerous competitions and awards with residences at Juilliard, Yale, Rutgers, Meadowmount, Banff and Aspen.
In 2005 Mr. Jakovcic joined the Maia Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Iowa. The Maia Quartet performed throughout the US, Japan and China, collaborated with leading chamber musicians including Joel Krosnick, Andre-Michel Schub, Cynthia Phelps, Daniel Avshalomov and Wendy Warner, and premiered and recorded works by Pierre Jalbert, Magnus Lindberg, Dan Coleman, Vivian Fung and Ronn Yedidia. Mr. Jakovcic taught and performed at the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, Up-Beat Festival in Japan, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Killington Music Festival and the Austin Chamber Music Festival.
Mr. Jakovcic graduated from The Juilliard School as a student of Dorothy Delay and served as teaching assistant to Robert Mann of the Juilliard Quartet. An accomplished teacher and administrator, Mr.Jakovcic has founded the Arcady International Music Camp (ME) and the Thurnauer Chamber Music Camp (NJ), and served on the faculty of the University of Iowa and Columbus State University in Georgia.
Réne Lecuona has been praised by critics in Germany, the UK, and the US for her chamber music interpretations and solo performances: “The imagery of the music is perfectly conveyed by Vogel and Lecuona in an inspired performance… this is chamber music at its best” (www.klassik.com); “As throughout the entire album, Lecuona’s performance is magnificent…” (David Murray: Bass World); “Lecuona’s interpretation of Mozart was outstanding…” (Daily Iowan). Lecuona has performed throughout South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall with mezzo-soprano Katherine Eberle and in the Goodman Hall at Lincoln Center with soprano Rachel Joselson. Her playing has been featured on many compact discs, including a recording of the music of Margaret Brouwer (CRI label), which won the 2000 Contemporary Art Music Burton Award. She may be heard on Centaur Records, Innova Recordings, Capstone Records, Cybele Recording, Albany Records, and Composers Recordings International.
Lecuona is a professor of piano at the University of Iowa. A devoted teacher, Lecuona has prepared students for admission and scholarship in performance programs at prestigious institutions such as the New England Conservatory, the University of Michigan, Florida State University, the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Peabody Conservatory, and Aspen Music Festival. Her former students hold teaching posts in Germany and Brazil as well as in the U.S.
Lecuona earned a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance and was awarded a performer’s certificate at the Eastman School of Music. She received undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Indiana University School of Music. Her major teachers have included Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, the late György Sebök, Edward Auer, Shigeo Neriki, and Rebecca Penneys. Réne was raised in Corning, New York and studied piano for many years with Laurie Conrad of Ithaca, New York. She lives in Coralville, Iowa with her husband Andrew and their son Sebastian.