Wed

3/21/2012

8:00pm

Classical

Stefan Koch and David Peshlakai

Unusual and Unheard Music for Cello

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

• Stefan Koch, cello
• David Peshlakai, cello
• Emily Lai, piano

Event Details

Cellists Stefan Koch and David Peshlakai provide an opportunity for audiences to hear a collection of rare cello music, including the United States premier of two works by 20th century Austrian composer Richard Stöhr.

Program

Part I: The Cello and Piano Music of Richard Stöhr (1874-1967)

Four Fantasy Pieces, Op. 17 (1907) ................…...…Richard Stöhr*   

1. Andante espressivo  

2. Andantino grazioso  

3. Andante con moto  

4. Prestissimo     

 

Sonata for Cello & Piano, Op. 49 (1915) …………...Richard Stöhr*   

1. Allegro con brio  

2. Andante sostenuto  

3. Finale. Allegro

 

Emily Lai, piano,  Stefan Koch, cello

 

*United States premier

INTERMISSION

 

 

Part II: New Music for Two Cellos

 

1.  Suite from The Pearl Fishers..................Georges Bizet

(transcribed by Stefan Koch)

 

2.  Surennatalia...........................Rudolf Haken

 

3.  Sarabande and Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin............J.S. Bach

(transcribed by Stefan Koch)

 

David Peshlakai and Stefan Koch, cellos

Stefan Koch

Stefan Koch is a native of York, PA and received his musical training at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he studied with Hirofumi Kanno and Orlando Cole.  He formerly held positions as a national buyer of both books and CDs for Borders Books and Music, and he also has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Michigan.  Returning to full-time performing in 2001, Mr. Koch is a member of the Lansing Symphony and the Adrian Symphony and is a frequent performer with the Kalamazoo Symphony, West Michigan Symphony, Green Bay (WI) Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Michigan Opera Theatre and Grand Rapids Symphony.  In 2004, 2006 and 2007 he toured the US and Canada with the Carl Rosa Opera Company (London, UK) and spends his summers at the Utah Festival Opera in Logan, UT. Outside of the classical realm, he has also performed with Sarah Brightman, Anne Murray, Barbara Cook, Dionne Warwick & Burt Bacharach, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Garrison Keillor, Dave Brubeck, The Boys Choir of Harlem, Mannheim Steamroller, Bernadette Peters, Amy Grant, the Von Trapp Family, Doc Severinsen and Julius “Dr. J.” Erving.  He has also contributed music to the Showtime television movie “The Staircase Murders” (2007) and the French horror film “House of Voices” (2005) and also appeared in a Toyota Highlander television commercial.

David Peshlakai

David Peshlakai has been Principal Cellist with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra since 2004 where he holds the Diether Haenicke Principal Cello Chair.  In reviewing the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert of the 2010-11 season, Mr. C.J. Gianakaris of the Kalamazoo Gazette described Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 as “perfection — Garrick Ohlsson [soloist] and the KSO appeared in perfect synch, highlighted by cellist David Peshlakai’s ravishing solo passages.”  

Mr. Peshlakai was born and educated in Michigan.  He received his Bachelor of Music from Michigan State University in 1990 and his Master of Music from the University of Michigan in 1993, studying with Owen Carman and Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, respectively.  Other teachers who were also deeply influential include Louis Potter and Mario DiFiore.

Mr. Peshlakai is also in great demand as an extra cellist with several regional orchestras throughout Michigan, including performing as principal cellist with the Battle Creek, Flint, Jackson, and Lansing Symphonies.  He has appeared as soloist with the Kalamazoo, Jackson, Battle Creek, Greater Grand Forks, Central Iowa, and Michigan State University Symphony Orchestras, the Hillsdale College/Community Orchestra, the Albion College Orchestra, and the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra.

As cellist of the KSO’s Burdick-Thorne String Quartet, Mr. Peshlakai performs with his colleagues in their Epic Evenings Series.  The Quartet participated in master classes given by both the Emerson and Muir String Quartets.  He has performed in many chamber recitals and festivals throughout Michigan and in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Iowa.  His coaches have included members of the Juilliard, Alban Berg, Concord, Vermeer, and Kronos String Quartets.    

Mr. Peshlakai has been teaching cello at Hillsdale College since 1992.  In 2010 he was invited to teach at Kalamazoo College as well.  He previously taught at Albion and Alma Colleges and Grand Valley State University.  

Internationally, Mr. Peshlakai has performed in thirty concerts with the Arlington String Quartet during a four-week tour of England.  He is also an active recitalist; among his many appearances he was invited to give a recital in Marseilles, France. 

Emily Lai

Ying-jhu Emily Lai passionately applies her piano talents across a striking range of collaborative opportunities. Her performances have been heard in various prestigious music events, such as Tanglewood Music Festival in 2010 and Aspen Music Festival in 2008. In addition to performing as vocal pianist with singers, she also has worked as concert pianist and enjoys her role as collaborative pianist in chamber music groups. The multifaceted artistry of opera attracted her to several opera productions under a variety of conductors’ baton, including Armide by Gluck at the University of Michigan with Douglas Frost (2010),La Rondine by Puccini in Oberlin in Italy with Ward Holmquist in Arezzo, Italy (2009), and Il Trittico by Puccini at Manhattan School of Music with Thomas Muraco (2007). She served in Up North Vocal Institute as vocal coach in the summer of 2011. In addition to be the pianist for Michigan Youth Women’s Chorale, Arts Chorale and Opera on Tap, she is a founding member of the Amicia Duo, and music director of the Leslie Park Maple Tree Music Studio. She holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan. She also earned a Professional Study Certificate in vocal accompanying from Manhattan School of Music, and obtained her Master of Music degree and Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Tung-hai University in Taiwan.