Clarinetist Kimberly Aseltine, violist Eva Stern, and pianist Joel Schoenhals
February 4, 2005
Kimberly Aseltine, clarinetist, is a graduate of Michigan State University where she completed her musical studies with honors. Her first professional engagement was with the American Wind Symphony for an inaugural international tour of Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Aseltine has been principal clarinetist with the Honolulu Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, and Key West Symphony in southern Florida. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra, Toledo Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony. Upon the invitation of Philippe Entremont, she was appointed principal clarinetist of the Santo Domingo International Music Festival in the Dominican Republic. Ms. Aseltine has performed as a soloist with the South Dakota Symphony and was a winner of the William C. Byrd Concerto Competition with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. As an active chamber musician she has appeared with the Detroit Chamber Winds, Toledo Chamber Players, Chamber Music Hawaii, and the Dakota Wind Quintet.
Eva Stern is on the faculty at Eastern Michigan University. Previously she was Visiting Assistant Professor of Viola at Bowling Green State University. Ms. Stern holds a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student and teaching assistant of George Taylor. She completed her undergraduate studies with Walter Trampler and Daniel Phillips at Purchase College, State University of New York. Stern is a former member of the Richmond Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra, and performs in the section of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Also in demand as a chamber musician, she is a member of the Muse String Quartet, and has performed with Chamber Music at the Scarab Club, Chamber Music Ann Arbor and the Richmond-based new music ensemble Currents. She had recorded two oboe quintets by Franz Krommer for the Naxos label. With her husband, pianist Joel Schoenhals, she has performed and taught master classes across the United States, Turkey and the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. The Stern-Schoenhals Duo was welcomed as Artists-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts for two summers, and has been featured in several broadcasts on National Public Radio.
Joel Schoenhals is establishing himself as one of the leading pianist-teachers of his generation. Assistant Professor of Piano at Eastern Michigan University, he received both the University's Artistic Recognition Award and New Faculty Award in his first year. Since 1998, he has been a faculty member of the Summer Piano Program at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. Schoenhals has won praise for his recording of Bartók's For Children on Fleur de Son Classics. "Schoenhals embraces the Hungarian idiom completely" (American Record Guide) "It would be difficult to imagine a better rendition of Bartók's For Children. The gaiety, the sadness sometimes feel unutterable. I listened to this album over and over with increasing pleasure." (Memphis Commercial Appeal). Fleur de Son Classics will release his recording of Schubert-Liszt transcriptions in 2004. Schoenhals is active in local and state chapters of MTNA and was featured as the keynote artist for the Idaho Music Teachers Association state convention in 2002. He presented lecture recitals and a master class at the Oregon Music Teachers Association state convention in 2003, and lectured on Bartók's For Children at the 2004 MTNA national convention. Most recently he was a featured artist, judge, and teacher at the Besparmak International Piano Festival in North Cyprus. A strong advocate of new music, Schoenhals has premiered both solo and chamber works. Dr. Schoenhals holds a Master of Music, Doctoral of Musical Arts, and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student and teaching assistant of Rebecca Penneys. He earned his undergraduate degree in piano performance at Vanderbilt University, studying with Craig Nies and Enid Katahn.
|