Joseph Martin Kraus was dubbed the Swedish Mozart and spent most his professional life in the service of the Swedish court in the late eighteenth century. His volume of work includes symphonies and overtures as recorded by Naxos and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. This is an opportunity to hear both masters in one concert. Giora Schmidt returns with contrasting works for violin, the high-octane Violin Concerto by Kabalevsky and the soulful Romance by Norwegian composer, Johann Svendsen.
REPERTOIRE
Kraus | Symphony in C sharp minor, VB 140 [22']
Kabalevsky | Violin Concerto op.48 [16']
Svendsen | Romance for Violin and Orchestra [8']
Intermission
Mozart | Symphony No.41 K551 C major “Jupiter” [31']
BIOGRAPHY
Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as "impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm," violinist Giora Schmidt has appeared as soloist with many prominent symphony orchestras around the globe including Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Canada’s National Arts Centre, Toronto, Vancouver and the Israel Philharmonic.
In recital and chamber music, Giora has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Tokyo's Musashino Cultural Hall. Festival appearances include the Ravinia Festival, the Santa Fe and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals, Bard Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music and Music Academy of the West. He has collaborated with eminent musicians including Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum and Michael Tree.
Born in Philadelphia to professional musicians from Israel, Giora began playing the violin at the age of four. A graduate of the Juilliard School, his teachers have included Geoffrey Michaels, Patinka Kopec, Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman; with additional guidance from Pinchas Zukerman. Committed to education and sharing his passion for music, Giora was on the faculty of the Juilliard School, the Perlman Music Program and recently appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM.) Through technology and social media, he continues to find new ways of reaching young violinists and music lovers around the world.
He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, The Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders award, and was a Starling Fellow at the Juilliard School.
Giora plays a c. 1830 violin by Giuseppe Rocca and strings kindly sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.
