ARTIST PROFILE
OPUS ONE
SAINT PAUL SUNDAY APPEARANCES
BIOGRAPHY
OPUS ONE brings together four of the leading musicians of our time, Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, violinist Ida Kavafian, violist Steven Tenenbom, and cellist Peter Wiley. Veterans as well as present members of the world's most prestigious chamber groups including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Orion String Quartet, OPUS ONE is the result of a mutual love of music making between four extraordinary instrumentalists and friends. As soloists as well as chamber musicians, they are each familiar figures in concert halls throughout the world and just recently, they joined together to form what will certainly be one of the most exciting groups performing anywhere.
The members of OPUS ONE are deeply committed to chamber music education and one of the hallmarks of the group will be their workshops with amateurs as well as students. Plans to help break down barriers include special concerts in which the members of OPUS ONE collaborate together with young musicians. Their dedication to the works of contemporary American composers is reflected in their programming, and the sheer, obvious joy they have in performing together communicates directly to their audiences.
1998-99 marked the inaugural season of OPUS ONE. The group made their debut on October 23, 1998 at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to a packed, enthusiastic house. The 1999-2000 season included debuts in New York, Detroit and Philadelphia, among others, all to great critical acclaim.
IDA KAVAFIAN, Violinist
Ida Kavafian enjoys an international reputation as one of the most versatile musicians performing today. Acclaimed as one of the few artists to excel on viola as well as her main instrument, violin, her musical activities include solo recitals and orchestral appearances, chamber music, duos with her sister Ani, teaching, recording, and a highly acclaimed career as an Artistic Director and Administrator.
With a repertoire as diverse as her talents, Ms. Kavafian has electrified recital stages throughout North America, the Far East and Europe. She has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras both nationally and internationally, and her commitment to contemporary music has led to many world premieres by composers as varied as Toru Takemitsu, who wrote a concerto for her, and jazz greats Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis, both of whom with which she has toured and recorded. Her television credits include a solo feature on CBS Sunday Morning.
Since her founding membership in the innovative group TASHI twenty-five years ago, Ms. Kavafian's chamber music appearances have included many renowned festivals and series throughout the world. She has toured and recorded with the Guarneri Quartet and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, of which she is an Artist Member. She and her sister, Ani continue to perform together regularly in recital and with orchestras, both nationally and internationally. Their television credits together include features on CBS Sunday Morning and NBC's Today Show, and they have recorded for Nonesuch.
Ms. Kavafian was the violinist of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio for six years. With the trio, considered the premiere ensemble of its kind in the world, she performed nearly 100 concerts a year in the major capitals throughout North and South America, the Far East and Europe. Among her many recordings with the trio on Philips Classics is the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur. Some of their honors during her tenure included being named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America for 1997 and a 1998 Grammy nomination.
For fifteen years, Ida Kavafian has been the Artistic Director of the highly successful festival, Music from Angel Fire. She also founded and guided Bravo! Colorado in Vail as Music Director for ten years, building it into one of the leading festivals in the country. As an educator, she has recently been appointed to the faculty of the Curtis Institute, and also serves on the faculties of the Hartt and Mannes Schools of Music as well as on numerous boards, including Chamber Music America.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey of Armenian descent, Ms. Kavafian's family immigrated to the United States when she was three, settling in Detroit. She began her studies at age six with Ara Zerounian, continuing with Mischa Mischakoff, and ultimately earned her Master of Music degree with honors from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Oscar Shumsky.
Ms. Kavafian made her New York debut at the 92nd Street Y with pianist Peter Serkin as a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She was a recipient of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1988. Her violin is a J.B. Guadagnini, made in Milan in 1751, and her viola was made in 1987 by Peter and Wendela Moes.
STEVEN TENENBOM, Violist
Steven Tenenbom's impeccable style and sumptuous tone have earned him a reputation as one of America's finest violists.
In great demand as a chamber musician, Mr. Tenenbom has appeared as guest artist with such eminent ensembles as the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson and Beaux Arts Trios, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y. He has appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brandenburg Ensemble in performances at Boston's Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, and on tour in Japan. Recent seasons have included recital performances in New York and California, and concerto performances in Washington State, Michigan, Arizona, and Ohio.
Mr. Tenenbom is the Violist of the Orion String Quartet, one of the most outstanding and eloquent ensembles performing today. In addition to their many performances both nationally and internationally, they are the Quartet-in-Residence of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Aspen Music Festival, Mannes College of Music and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
A member of the prestigious group TASHI, Mr. Tenenbom has also had a long association with the Marlboro Music Festival, including many tours across the United States, Japan, and France. Other festival credits include the June Music, La Jolla, Mostly Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest, Music From Angel Fire, and Bravo! Colorado. Devoted to the music of our time, he has worked closely with such diverse composers as Lukas Foss, John Corigliano and jazz greats Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis.
Mr. Tenenbom is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he is the Coordinator of String Chamber Music. He also serves on the faculties of the Hartt School of Music and the Mannes College of Music. He has recorded on RCA Records with TASHI and the Guarneri String Quartet, and can also be heard on the Sony Classical, Marlboro Recording Society, Delos, ECM and Arabesque labels.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Tenenbom began his early studies with Max Mandel. He then attended the University of Southern California as a pupil of Milton Thomas. Further studies carried him to the Curtis Institute of Music where he worked with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle.
PETER WILEY, Cellist
Peter Wiley has a rich background of diverse musical experience. Mr. Wiley's many achievements have come in the wide ranging areas of concerto, recital, chamber music, orchestra and education.
As a soloist, Mr. Wiley made his highly acclaimed concerto debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra led by Alexander Schneider. He has appeared in recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
Considered to be one of the finest chamber musicians of his generation, Mr. Wiley was the cellist of the world renowned Beaux Arts Trio from 1987 to 1998. With the trio, he appeared in over one thousand concerts worldwide. Among these were many concerto performances of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with major orchestras such as Berlin, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, the Royal Philharmonic, and the Leipzig Gewandaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur, with whom they recorded the work for Philips Classics. Mr. Wiley has collaborated with artists such as the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, singer Jesse Norman and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. He has been a frequent guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is in demand at leading festivals such as Santa Fe, Cremona, Naples, Great Lakes, Chamber Music Northwest, Bravo! Colorado, and Music from Angel Fire.
Mr. Wiley is particularly interested in working with young musicians. In addition to the educational activities planned with OPUS ONE, he continues his association with the Marlboro Music Festival, dating form 1971. Peter has also been a faculty artist at Caramoor's Rising Stars program. He has taught at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Mannes School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Wiley is currently on the faculty at SUNY Purchase and the Curtis Institue of Music.
A native of Utica, New York, Peter Wiley attended the Curtis Institute at just thirteen years of age, studying with David Soyer. After one year in the Pittsburgh Symphony, he continued his impressive youthful accomplishments with his appointment as Principal Cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age twenty. Mr. Wiley held that position for eight years until he resigned to pursue his solo and chamber music career. He has been awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant and was nominated with the Beaux Arts Trio for a Grammy Award in 1998. Also during his tenure with the trio, they were named Ensemble of the Year in 1997 by Musical America.
Highlights of the 1998-1999 season include performances with violinists Midori and Hilary Hahn, major tours with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Musicians from Marlboro.
ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT, Pianist
A luminous, boldly emotive pianist, Anne-Marie McDermott is widely celebrated for her expressive performances on the world's most illustrious stages.
Ms. McDermott has had tremendous success as soloist with the symphonies of New York, Dallas, St. Louis, Hong Kong, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle. Sought after as a chamber musician by the major festivals, Anne-Marie McDermott regularly performs recitals and chamber concerts throughout the United States and abroad. In 1999, Ms. McDermott released an all-Prokofiev recording on Arabesque to wonderful acclaim.
Anne-Marie McDermott is a winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Development Award. In March of 1995 she was named an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She has also been awarded the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Bruce Hungerford Memorial Prize, the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists, and was a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
Ms. McDermott began playing the piano at age 5, and at the age of 12 performed the Mendelssohn Concerto in G minor with the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning.
