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program notes
Lisa Steltenpohl viola Lisa Steltenpohl, principal viola for the BSO, is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. She has served as principal violist of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and the Haddonfield Symphony, now Symphony in C. Ms. Steltenpohl has performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She began her musical studies on viola at age 11 and, as a high school student, was one of the youngest members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Ms. Steltenpohl performed Mozart’ s Sinfonia Concertante with the BSO in 2015. Before joining the BSO, Ms. Steltenpohl was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Karin Brown viola Karin Brown, BSO assistant principal viola, made her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall’ s Weill Recital Hall. She performs locally and nationally as a solo and chamber artist. Recent performances include collaborations with eighth blackbird and the Borromeo Quartet, as well as Britten’ s Lachrymae with the BSO. Ms. Brown served as juror, Laureate recitalist and masterclass clinician at the 2011 William Primrose International Viola Competition and was invited again in 2014. She performed a guest artist residency at the Oberlin Conservatory last fall and serves as faculty at the National Orchestral Institute and Apple Hill.
Jacob Shack viola Jacob Shack, appointed fourth chair violist of the BSO in 2016, earned his Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School, where he frequently performed as co-principal of the Juilliard Orchestra. As an undergraduate at Harvard College, he played with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra as principal violist, including on tours to Cuba and the Middle East. Most recently, he has performed in Hong Kong at Bright Sheng’ s Intimacy of Creativity Festival and in Colombia at the Medellín International Music Festival. Mr. Shack has performed at the Aspen, Sarasota and Spoleto music festivals, as well as at the Tanglewood Music Center.
Dariusz Skoraczewski cello Dariusz Skoraczewski, BSO principal cellist, has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the National Philharmonic, Alexandria Symphony and Arlington Philharmonic. As a recording artist, Mr. Skoraczewski was awarded the prestigious Baker Artist Award, the highest recognition for artists in Maryland. His debut CD Cello Populus is a collection of solo pieces from the 20 th and 21 st centuries and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki and others. His second album Cello Phantasia features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninoff. Mr. Skoraczewski plays a 1702 Carlo Guiseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop in memory of her mother, Ruth Alsop.
Lachezar Kostov cello Assistant Principal Cellist with the BSO, Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Leipzig’ s Gewandhaus and Tokyo’ s Oji Hall. He was the National Winner at the 2006 MTNA Young Artists Competition and has won prizes including the Cello Award at the Kingsville Competition, the Grand Prix at the International Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria and the concerto competitions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Rice University. Before his appointment with the BSO, he was a tenured member of the San Antonio Symphony and performed regularly with the Houston Symphony.
Lukasz Szyrner cello Born in Poznan, Poland, Lukasz Szyrner was performing in the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra by the age of 10. He was the youngest master’ s graduate of the Jan Paderewski Music Conservatory in Poznan and continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. Mr. Szyrner, who studied at the Peabody Institute and the New England Conservatory of Music, has won top prizes at the International Nicanor Zabaleta Competition for Strings and the International UNESCO competition for Young Musicians. Before joining the BSO in 2016, he served as principal cello of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Lancaster Symphony and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony. may – June 2017 | Overture 29