Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Stephanie Sant’ Ambrogio, Concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra
Belton, Texas – On Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will conclude the 2013 season of the Hillman Artist Series in the Hughes Recital Hall of Presser Hall on the UMHB campus. The performance will be comprised of repertoire favorites by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Turkish phenomenon Fazil Say. Performing these works will be Gregory Allen, professor of piano at the University of Texas Butler School of Music and virtuoso violinist Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio. Like all other Hillman Visiting Artist Series concerts, this event is free and open to the public.
Winner of the 2010 Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Nevada, Reno, Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola Sant'Ambrogio has been enjoying her position on the UNR faculty and as a member of the Argenta Trio since 2007. Previously Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony and First Assistant Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra, Stephanie was recently appointed Concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra by Music Director Theodore Kuchar.
Praised as an "expressive and passionate chamber musician" by the San Antonio Express-News, Sant'Ambrogio has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the nation as well as in Canada, Estonia, Sweden, Ghana, Italy, Peru, Chile and Mexico. Founder and Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival celebrating its 15th season, Sant'Ambrogio has a discography of over sixty orchestral and chamber music CDs. Her recent releases include Late Dates with Mozart, Klassics4Kids and Going Solo: Unaccompanied Works for Violin & Viola. Argenta Trio: The Mendelssohn Trios was released in the summer of 2011. In addition to her active performing career over two decades, Sant'Ambrogio is devoted to teaching serious young violinists, many of whom have successfully moved into careers in music.
Allen was the Grand Prize winner of the 1980 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and won the second prize at the 1978 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He also received top honors in the Los Angeles Young Musicians Foundation, the Gina Bachauer, and the Washington International Competitions. He has appeared with the New York, Los Angeles, and Israel Philharmonics, as well as orchestras in San Francisco, San Diego, Baltimore, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.
This concert is made possible through the generous support of the Helen Frances Hillman Fund for Scholarly Exchange. The fund was established in 1999 by Dr. Jimmye S. Hillman in honor of his wife, Helen Frances Smith Hillman, Mary Hardin-Baylor Class of 1946. The fund was designed to foster scholarly exchange at UMHB, particularly in the area of fine arts, music and languages. All performances in the Hillman Visiting Artist Series are free and open to the public. For more information please call the College of Visual and Performing Arts at 254- 295-4678.