Wed

3/28/2012

8:00pm

Classical

Nancy Steltmann and Robert Conway

An Evening of Music for Cello and Piano

• $25 Assigned Rows 1-2
• $15 Assigned Rows 3-5
• $10 General Admission
• $5 Student

• Nancy Steltmann, cello
• Robert Conway, piano

Event Details

This performance is made possible with support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Program

Boccherini Sonata in A major 

Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capricioso

Shostakovich Sonata in D minor

Nancy Steltmann

Having just celebrated her retirement in August, Nancy Steltmann was Principal Cello of the Grand Rapids Symphony for over 30 years. She came to the orchestra from New York City in 1980 as Assistant Principal Cellist, when Semyon Bychkov was Music Director. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School, as well as a Master's degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. A native of Albany, New York, Ms. Steltmann studied at the Schenectady Conservatory with Arthur Catricala prior to attending Juilliard. At Juilliard, she studied cello with Leonard Rose and Harvey Shapiro, chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Juilliard Quartet, and played under Leon Barzin in the National Orchestral Association. Upon graduating, she received the William Henderson Prize in cello. At Stony Brook, she was a student of Bernard Greenhouse and a member of the graduate string quartet in residence.

Ms. Steltmann has performed with the Opera Theater of Chicago, the Chicago Lyric Opera, Lake George Opera, Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds in Italy with conductor Thomas Shippers, Chicago City Ballet, the Ruth Page Ballet, New York City Ballet, and the Detroit Symphony. She has also worked as Principal Cello of the Horizon Concerts Chamber Orchestra in New York City and with the Elgin Symphony under Margaret Hillis. In recital, Ms. Steltmann has performed at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Hope College, Grand Valley State University, in the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago and in the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck. She performed recitals at St. Cecilia and in Troy Music Hall in Troy, NY with pianist Mary Louise Vetrano. She has performed as soloist with the GRSO seven times. Her CD, "Music from a Gentler Time" for solo cello and piano, featuring virtuostic cello pieces from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, was released in 2004. She has also collaborated with Jonathan Feldman, head of the collaborative piano department at the Juilliard School, in two recitals during the spring of 2006.

Robert Conway

Pianist Robert Conway is one of the most exciting and versatile performers of 20th Century music in the country today. A frequent solo recitalist and chamber musician, he has a large number of premieres to his credit and has been the featured soloist in numerous composer-supervised festivals and performances, including the United States premiere of Iannis Xenakis' Akea with the Arditti String Quartet and the European premiere of Tania Leon's Kabiosile with the RIAS Orchestra in Berlin, as well as collaborations with such composers as William Bolcom, John Cage, Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Gunther Schuller and many others. 

Since 1989, Conway has performed as pianist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Presently on the faculty of Wayne State University, he has taught at the University of Michigan and Oakland University. His associations with other performing organizations and festivals include Toledo Symphony's Music Today Series as pianist and conductor, Detroit Chamber Winds, Cayman International Music Festival, June in Buffalo, Great Music West, Lancaster Festival, Breckenridge Music Institute, Detroit Contempory Chamber Ensemble and the Twice Festival of Sinewave Sessions. 

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Conway received a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and Master's and Doctorate Degrees from the University of Michigan. His principal teachers were Theodore Lettvin, Rudolf Kolisch and Eugene Bossart. 

Concerto appearances have included those with the Detroit and Richmond Symphony Orchestras. Conway has recorded on Opus One, Crystal, Koch International and University of Michigan Records and is represented by Great Lakes Performing Artists Associates. 

In 1997, Conway toured South Asia and the Middle East as an Artistic Ambassador of the United States Information Agency.