Program
| Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42 | 1878 |
| Maurice Ravel | Violin Sonata in G major, M. 77 | 1927 |
| Intermission | ||
| Amy Beach | Romance, Op. 23 | 1893 |
| William Grant Still | Summerland from Three Visions | 1935 |
| Claude Debussy | Violin Sonata, L. 140 | 1917 |
About the Artists
Maria Ioudenitch
Born in Russia, violinist Maria Ioudenitch immigrated with her musical family to the U.S. at the age of two and grew up in Kansas City. In 2021, she received first prizes in the Ysaÿe International Music Competition, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and the Joseph Joachim International Competition. She also received numerous special prizes at these competitions, including Joachim’s Chamber Music Award, the prize for Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work, the Henle Urtext Prize, and a recording contract with Warner Classics.
In the coming months, Maria Ioudenitch makes her debuts with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (at Berlin’s Philharmonie), MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Münchner Symphoniker and returns to Kansas City Symphony. Recent engagements have taken her to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the Mariinsky Orchestra, Lithuania Chamber Orchestra and Utah Symphony. She is also an active chamber musician and will take part in the chamber music tours of the Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute with Miriam Fried in March and the Marlboro Music Festival with Christoph Richter in November 2023.
Maria began playing violin with Gregory Sandomirsky at the age of three and continued her studies with Ben Sayevich at the International Center for Music in Kansas City and Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music. She completed her master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried has been mentored by Sonia Simmenauer this past year as part of Simmenauer’s new initiative, zukunfts.music. She is currently in the Professional Studies programme at the Kronberg Academy, working with Christian Tetzlaff.
Maria plays a violin by the Brothers Amati from ca. 1624, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins in Chicago.
Motti Fang-Bentov
Born in Beijing and raised in Tel-Aviv, pianist Motti Fang-Bentov hails from a multicultural, east-west background. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the NEC Philharmonia, and under the baton of conductors such as Zubin Mehta and Vakhtang Kakhidze. He is the winner of the NEC Concerto & Honors Competition (‘18), the Pnina Zaltsman Piano Competition and the Ashdod Piano Competition.
A passionate chamber musician and collaborator, Motti was formerly the pianist of the Boston-based Eunoia Trio and has attended Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (‘18, ’19). Motti has previously served in the Israel Defense Forces.
Motti completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston under the guidance of Alexander Korsantia. He is now pursuing an Artist Diploma at NEC under the guidance of Wha-Kyun Byun.