ISO musicians perform Wednesday at Gobin

Monday, June 7, 2010
Strauss

GREENCASTLE -- Indianapolis Symphony principal violist Michael Isaac Strauss will be joined by ISO violinist Patrick Dalton-Holmes and DePauw cello professor Eric Edberg on Wednesday for the second concert of the 2010 Greencastle Summer Chamber Music Festival.

Concerts are held every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. through Aug. 18 in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church. Admission is free. Concerts are supported by donations from individuals and local businesses, including Chief's South by Southwest Restaurant.

Concerts are presented in an informal, interactive environment with the musicians discussing the works with the audience.

"We're experimenting with concert format," said Edberg, the festival's artistic director. "A lot of people think classical music is boring or stuffy, and we're out to change that. I challenged the audience last week, asking that each of us over 50 invite someone under 40 to attend. This is great music, played with energy and passion by first-rate professional musicians."

This week's concert features "Chahagir," a meditative work for solo viola. It will be followed by Mozart's "Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major," which Edberg called a "delightful and energetic conversation between the instruments."

To end the program, cellist Edberg will join Dalton-Holmes and Strauss for the energetic and varied "Serenade for String Trio" by Hungarian composer Erno Dohnanyi.

"The Dohnanyi work is made up of five short pieces, which classical musicians call 'movements,'" explained Edberg. "There are two marches, a lovely Romance, and a fast and playful 'Schezo' movement. It's one of the most popular -- and fun -- pieces ever composed for this combination of instruments."

Dalton-Holmes is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. He began his study of the violin at age three. He earned a bachelor of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with William Preucil, and a master of music degree from the University of Michigan, where he was a student of Paul Kantor.

Dalton-Holmes

Before joining the second violin section of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in March 2006, he played with the New World Symphony Orchestra (Florida) and as a substitute musician with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Michael Isaac Strauss has served as principal violist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra since 1994. He has performed around the world as a soloist, chamber and symphonic musician. He made his solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1990. He has since been re-engaged as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Charleston Symphony, Camerata Chicago, and numerous appearances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Formerly a member of the distinguished Fine Arts Quartet, Strauss has performed at the Schleswig-Holstein and Montpellier festivals in Europe. In North America, he has performed at the LaJolla, Caramoor and Banff festivals among others. Strauss appears on annual chamber music series throughout the United States.


Strauss has made several recordings found on the labels of I Virtuosi (Jennifer Higdon's Viola Sonata), CRI (David Finko's Viola Concerto and 20th century chamber music works with the Philadelphia-based Orchestra 2001), Lyrinx (Mozart's complete viola quintets with the Fine Arts Quartet), and Centaur (Stamitz's works for solo viola with orchestra). Strauss is the featured recording artist on the official CD for the Suzuki Association of the Americas Viola School Volume 8.

A sought-out teacher, Strauss has held faculty positions at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Swarthmore College, DePauw University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Butler University. 


Strauss' work has been honored with the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Cinnamon Award, First Prize of the WAMSO Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Ealing prize at the Tertis International Viola Competition, Artist Fellowship Awards from South Carolina and Indiana, and a Creative Renewal Fellowship Award from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and performs on a viola made by Matteo Albani from Bolzano, Italy in 1704.

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