Festival Faculty
Rachelle Berthelsen Davis * Pacific Union College
Renee-Paul Gauthier * Mind Over Finger
Michael Jorgensen * Lehigh University
Roxan Jurkevich * The Fit Musician
Alexander Kerr * IU Jacobs School of Music
Brian Lewis * UT Butler School of Music
Irina Muresanu * University of Maryland SOM
Rachel Barton Pine * International Performing Artist
Ian Swensen * San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Igor Yuzefovich * BBC Symphony Orchestra,
Royal Academy of Music
Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, Artistic Director
Praised for her lyrical and engaging musicianship, violinist Rachelle Berthelsen Davis is a professor of music on the faculty of Pacific Union College, in Angwin, California, where she is the director of Paulin Center for the Arts and director of the Pacific Union College Orchestra.
Prior to moving to California, Dr. Davis was the associate concertmaster and assistant director for the New England Symphonic Ensemble, the resident orchestra for Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall, New York City. In this position, she frequently performed under the baton of the renowned composer/conductor John Rutter, serving as concertmaster for the world premier of Rutter’s Mass of the Children and the New York premier of his Psalm 150.
As soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician, Dr. Davis has toured Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, China, and Southeast Asia—as well as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. She has held positions on the faculties of Indiana University String Academy, the University of Texas String Project, and as assistant professor of music at Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) in Takoma Park, Maryland.
While Dr. Davis is primarily a classical violinist and violist, she also enjoys improvising and exploring other styles of music. Davis holds degrees from Pacific Union College (B.S.), the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington (M.M.), and the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A.).
She lives in the beautiful Napa Valley with her husband, Kent, and two sons.
Michael Jorgensen
Described as an exceptional musician by Maestro Lorin Maazel, violinist Dr. Michael Jorgensen is the Professor of Practice in Orchestral Strings at Lehigh University, where he serves as the concertmaster of the Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also taught violin at Middle Tennessee State University, Covenant College, and the Wyoming Center for the Arts in their Touchstone program for at-risk youth. He has given masterclasses across the country, and he is also the String Coach and Chamber Music Coach for the Young People’s Philharmonic of the Lehigh Valley.
As a soloist, Dr. Jorgensen has performed with organizations including the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, the Colour of Music Festival, Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley, Sun City Chamber Players, the Florida State University Festival of New Music, the Gateways Music Festival, and the London School of Contemporary Dance. He is a featured artist on Paul Osterfield’s Sound and Fury disc released by Navona Records.
A member of the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis, Dr. Jorgensen also served as the concertmaster for the 75th-anniversary national tour of Porgy and Bess, the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Belle Meade Baroque, Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival Orchestra, and the Cityside Symphony Orchestra in London. He has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and many others.
A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Dr. Jorgensen has performed recitals at the London School of Contemporary Dance, the Taft Museum of Art Chamber Music Series, Gettysburg College, and has been a returning guest artist to Middle Tennessee State University. As a string quartet performer, he has been the first violin of the Eppes String Quartet and founded the Frequency String Quartet, a new music group with an education and community-building mission that was described as “a gifted and stimulating foursome” by Cincinnati classical music reviewer Mary Ellyn Hutton.
Dr. Jorgensen holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, a master’s from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and a doctorate from Florida State University.
Roxan Jurkevich
Roxan Jurkevich is a dynamic, multi-faceted percussionist whose many musical influences allow her to perform in a myriad of musical styles. A New York City native, she holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in percussion performance from The Juilliard School and has been Principal Percussionist and Assistant Principal Timpanist with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in Spain since the 1991-92 season, performing live at the 1992 Summer Olympics Opening/Closing Ceremonies, and with whom she’s premiered works for percussion. With this group she has toured internationally and has recorded award-winning albums for labels such as RCA Victor/BMG, EMI, Decca, Telarc, Koch and Naxos.
Ms. Jurkevich has performed with the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (Antwerp), and in September 2019 toured Europe with the Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta on his final tour as their Music Director. She frequently played under maestros Mehta and Lorin Maazel at the Orquestra de la Comunidad Valenciana (OCV) in Valencia, Spain, as well as with other prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, André Prévin, Esa-Pekka Saalonen, Yuri Temirkanov, Christopher Hogwood and Jesús López-Cóbos, among many others.
As an active chamber musician, Roxan has performed with I.C.E. (International Contemporary Ensemble), Newband, Speculum Musicae, Drumfire Quartet and Percusions i Solistes de l’OBC, and collaborates with living composers to help create new works for percussion. In October 2020 she performed the world premiere of the very first duo for marimba and electric guitar, Pandemic Dance No. 18, by Gene Pritsker. She has played on various Broadway shows and has performed on various TV shows such as 60 Minutes and Live with Regis and Kelly, plus she is a member of Fifth Essence, a pop music “cover” band made up of string quartet plus percussion playing acoustic arrangements of well-known pop songs.
Having always been somewhat athletic, Roxan suffered a near-fatal traffic accident in 2014 which immobilized her for months. During her recovery period, she used the powers of fitness, nutrition, and mental fortitude for reversing her grave injuries, getting back to performing at the highest levels, changing her body composition and reviving herself in general. ‘The Fit Musician’ was born from a desire to share what she’s learned, and to help musicians everywhere perform at their peak potential by prioritizing fitness and nutrition at least as much as they do the practice of their instruments! She has embarked on a mission to educate as many musicians as possible, young and old, all over the world, in this area.
Alexander Kerr
Alexander Kerr’s expressive and charismatic style has made him one of the most accomplished and versatile violinists on the international music scene today. In 1996 at the age of 26, Mr. Kerr was appointed to the prestigious position of Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After nine successful years at that post, he left in June, 2006 to assume the endowed Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Music as Professor of Violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in Bloomington, he maintains a busy concert schedule appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. In 2008 he began his tenure as Principal Guest Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and in September 2011, he assumed his role as Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Regarded by the press as a masterful virtuoso with an elegant, old-world sound, Mr. Kerr has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, working with such renowned conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman.
An active chamber musician, Mr. Kerr has collaborated with Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Edgar Meyer, Truls Mørk, Menahem Pressler, Vadim Repin, Alisa Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian and Maxim Vengerov in performances at festivals in Aspen, Santa Fe, Caramoor, La Jolla, Stavanger, and throughout Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.
Mr. Kerr’s CD releases include the Dvorak Piano Quintet with Sarah Chang and Leif Ove Andsnes on the EMI label, music by Dutch composer Julius Röntgen on the NM Classics label, and the Shostakovich Romance on a series of discs including “Violin Adagios” and “Evening Adagios” released by Decca. A live DVD and CD recording of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben with Mr. Kerr, the RCO and Maestro Mariss Jansons was released in 2005 on the RCO’s own label: RCOLive!
Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Kerr began his studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study with Sally Thomas at the Juilliard School, and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1992.
Brian Lewis
One of the most versatile and charismatic violinists today, Brian Lewis is an exceptionally dedicated and gifted performer whose passionate artistry has been heard and embraced around the world. “There are a lot of fine violinists on the concert stage today, but few can match Lewis for an honest virtuosity that supremely serves the music,” reports the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Acclaimed performances include concerto debuts in both New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Berlin (Germany), Louisiana, Kansas City, Hartford, Syracuse, Odense (Denmark), Lima (Peru), Boulder, Guadalajara (Mexico), Sinfonia Toronto (Canada), River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and American Symphony orchestras, among many others. Internationally, Mr. Lewis has been a featured recitalist across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
As a dynamic and engaging teacher, Mr. Lewis is committed to growing the legacies of the great pedagogues Dorothy DeLay and Dr. Shin’ichi Suzuki for future generations. Mr. Lewis currently holds the David and Mary Winton Green Chair in String Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Texas at Austin and is Artistic Director and faculty member of the Brian Lewis Young Artist Program in Ottawa, KS. Recognized for his vast outreach success, Mr. Lewis taught community engagement courses at the Yale University School of Music during 2010-12 as the Class of ’57 Visiting Professor of Music and served as Visiting Professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music during 2018-19.
Mr. Lewis resides in Austin, TX with his daughter, Isabella Joy. Additional information may be found at www.brianlewisviolin.com.
Irina Muresanu
Internationally renowned Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu continues to stretch the boundaries of classical music. A sought-after soloist and chamber musician who has appeared throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South Africa, Ms. Muresanu has also developed a reputation as a compelling and elegant interpreter in the contemporary music world. A regular guest artist in festivals and venues across the United States and in Europe, she is acclaimed for her elegant, passionate performances and compelling stage presence.
Muresanu’s 2019-20 season features a mix of contemporary pieces and war horses, In addition to concerto appearances with orchestras, Ms. Muresanu can be heard in solo recital in “Four Strings Around the World,” her acclaimed multi-media program of global resonance celebrating the diversity of cultures through the unifying voice of the solo violin, in duo-recitals and in chamber music, including performances with her ensemble, the Boston Trio.
An avid performer of new music, Ms. Muresanu has recorded for such respected labels as BMOP, Avie, Centaur, Albany, and AR RE-SE. her latest release, “Four Strings Around the World” (Sono Luminus, 2018), a solo violin CD, features such renowned works as Niccolò Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 and J.S. Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, but also includes commissioned new works from composers worldwide.
Born in Romania, Muresanu is a laureate and winner of top prizes in several prestigious international violin competitions. She holds an Artist Diploma and a Doctor in Musical Arts degree from New England Conservatory and plays an 1849 Giuseppe Rocca violin and Etienne Pajeot bow.
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Rachel Barton Pine
A leading interpreter of the great classical masterworks, violinist Rachel Barton Pine thrills audiences with her dazzling technique, lustrous tone, and emotional honesty. With an infectious joy in music-making and a passion for connecting historical research to performance, Pine transforms audiences’ experiences of classical music.
Pine’s 2019-20 season includes a residency with the Singapore Symphony, as well as performances with the Royal Scottish National and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, the Seattle Symphony, and the Tel Aviv Soloists. In recital she will appear at Lincoln Center with Matthew Hagle, and Pine and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour will perform in concerts presented by the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and the San Francisco Early Music Society.
Her November 2019 Avie recording of the Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin Concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Teddy Abrams highlights the influence of each composer’s local ethnic music.
Pine’s past chart-topping albums include Mozart: Complete Violin Concerto, Sinfonia Concertante with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner conducting; Bel Canto Paganini, and Elgar & Bruch Violin Concertos with the BBC Symphony, Andrew Litton conducting.
Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Chicago and Vienna Symphonies, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, and Camerata Salzburg.
Galvanized by the fact that young people learning classical music seldom have the opportunity to study and perform music written by Black composers, in 2018 Pine’s RBP Foundation released Music by Black Composers (MBC) Violin Volume I, the first in a series of pedagogical books of music exclusively by global Black classical composers, as well the MBC Coloring Book of Black Composers.
She performs on the “ex-Bazzini ex-Soldat” Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu (Cremona 1742). www.rachelbartonpine.com
Ian Swensen
A native of New York, violinist Ian Swensen comes from a musically gifted family of Norwegian and Japanese-Hawaiian descent. He has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Sacramento State University. He is a passionate pedagogue and his students have gone on to major positions in orchestras, teaching institutions and chamber groups around the world.
Swensen also maintains an active schedule as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at Music@Menlo, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and others. Recent projects include a series of recitals with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with members of the San Francisco Symphony and a series of Haydn trios with Kenneth Slowik on fortepiano. Over the years other engagements have included Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, Music from Marlboro, residencies at Tanglewood, Banff, Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary and travels to Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to teach and perform. He has performed with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Emerson, Takács, Concord and Tokyo quartets, as well as Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Mark O’Connor and Yo-Yo Ma.
Swensen studied at The Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and the Eastman School of Music with Donald Weilerstein and members of the Cleveland Quartet. In addition, Mark Sokol of the Concord Quartet has had a profound impact on his musical growth. He is one of the few musicians to have been awarded the Walter W. Naumburg International Competition’s top prize for both solo violin and chamber music (as first violinist of the Meliora String Quartet). His recordings can be found on the Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon labels.
Igor Yuzefovich
Now in his third season as Concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Yuzefovich had previously served in the same role with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Hong Kong Philharmonic, and prior to that, as Assistant Concertmaster with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to a busy orchestral performing calendar, Igor Yuzefovich continues to be an active chamber musician, often reuniting with the Monument Piano Trio which he co-founded in 2004. The trio made its concert debut in the US to critical acclaim and has since captivated audiences across the United States and in China. Its debut recording, featuring works by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield received high praise from critics and audiences alike.
While Mr. Yuzefovich’s concerts and recitals have taken him from Carnegie Hall to the Cairo Opera House, across Europe and throughout Asia, he has been equally committed to educating the next generation of musicians as a Visiting Artist at the Royal Academy of Music in London and is highly sought after for solo, chamber music and orchestral masterclasses around the globe.
Born into a musical family in Moscow, Russia, Mr. Yuzefovich began his violin studies at the age of 5, and soon after enrolled at the Gnessin Music School, studying with Irina Svetlova. In 1991, Mr. Yuzefovich moved to the United States where he continued his violin studies and later earned advanced degrees from The Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of world renowned pedagogue Victor Danchenko.
When he is not leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Yuzefovich can be seen and heard in his frequent appearances as guest concertmaster with many of the world’s well-respected orchestras.
Royal Academy of Music: www.ram.ac.uk/people/igor-yuzefovich