Violinist REBEKAH JOHNSON has been a member of the NJSO since 1993. The Nevada, Iowa, native began violin lessons with Ilza Niemack at age 3. She gave her first public performance three years later on a CBS television special, playing the solo in Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. She went to The Juilliard School at 16 to study with Ivan Galamian and Sally Thomas and graduated with both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees.
Ms. Johnson has toured four continents as a soloist and has released a recording, “Bach Partitas for Solo Violin.” In 2004, she gave a debut recital at Carnegie Hall that led to a historic New Year’s Eve concert at Carnegie Hall with the group Sextet in the City. She founded the Leonore Trio (a piano trio) with Scott Ballantyne and is a frequent guest artist at various chamber music festivals, including the Grand Teton Music Festival and Roycroft Chamber Music Festival.
In addition to her musical endeavors, Johnson is an avid photographer. She is also dedicated to community service. She has volunteered as a tutor in New York City public schools, raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and helped Occupy Wall Street with its Occupy Sandy relief effort.
VIOLINIST DONNA PAULEY FAIRBANKS
Donna Fairbanks received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Arizona, a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from Brigham Young University, with additional conservatory studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City and the University of Cincinnati. She studied with Zvi Zeitlin, Varujan Kojan, William Harroutonian, Tiberius Klausner, Percy Kalt, John Ferrell, John Lambros, Morris Hochberg, and Howard Beebe. She received chamber coaching from members of the Cleveland Quartet and the legendary violist William Primrose. She also performed and participated in master classes with Joseph Silverstein, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Dorothy Delay.
She has given solo performances with several orchestras including the Orquestra Sinfônica de Londrina (Brazil), Utah Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Sun Valley Festival Orchestra, Utah Valley Symphony, as well as numerous collegiate and youth orchestras. Among her competition successes are the Kansas City Philharmonic Competition for Young Artists, the Cincinnati Conservatory Congress of Strings Competition, and the Utah Symphony Competition for Young Artists. She has presented masterclasses and recitals in Europe, China, Mexico, Brazil, and throughout the United States. Notable venues include the Teatro Ouro Verde in Brazil, the Diestrichstein Palace in Brno, Czech Republic, the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands, the Schumann in Zwickau Festival in Germany, the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest, the Ghent Festival in Belgium, the Hagibor Center in Prague, the Universities of Valladolid and Córdoba in Spain, and the Universities of Nanjing, Shanzi, and Huazhong in China.
Dr. Fairbanks has been a member of several chamber ensembles including the Aurora Duo with harpist Lysa Rytting, the Escalante Trio with pianist Jeffrey Shumway and cellist Nicole Jackson, and a violin/guitar duo with Jon Yerby. As a member of the Aurora Duo, she has recorded CDs with MSR Classics, 4TAY Records, and Tantara Records. These CDs have received widespread acclaim, featured on dozens of classical music radio stations throughout the country, including WNYC New York City, WFMT Chicago, WPRB Princeton, WQED Pittsburgh, WSHU Connecticut, WFSU Florida, the Minnesota and Wisconsin Public Radio Networks, and the Beethoven Satellite Network. In particular, WNYC New York City and WGBH Boston devoted special programs with commentary to selections from her CDs. A CD of violin/guitar music with Jon Yerby is forthcoming, as well as a CD of music of Lou Harrison with Doug Smith, Hilary Demske, and the UVU Percussion.
CELLIST SCOTT BALLANTYNE
Scott Ballantyne’s New York début, before a sold-out house at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, was described by critic Robert Lenz as “one of the most impressive events I have seen in over thirty years of concert going”, and France’s Le Figaro described him as “…a consummate artist who brings a rare poetry to our concert season”. Born in California in 1960, he joined the Utah Symphony at the age of fifteen, often appearing with them as soloist. Leonard Rose heard him play a year later and invited him to attend the Juilliard School of Music. Ballantyne joined the Juilliard faculty upon graduation, and his own students are now members the world’s leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. Too busy now to teach, he enjoys a growing international reputation as soloist and recitalist. His cello, made for Leonard Rose by David Wiebe, is considered one of the finest instruments made by this contemporary master.
CLARINETIST RUSSELL HARLOW
Clarinetist and Beethoven Festival Artist in Residence Russell Harlow is one of the nation's premiere solo and chamber clarinetists. Mr. Harlow performed the New York Premiere of the Ramiro Cortes Trio (written for him), along with the Brahms Quintet, at Carnegie's Weill Hall in New York. The Sonolumina Ensemble ISOMIKE Label recording featuring Mr. Harlow, "Chamber Music for Clarinets and Strings”, has received critical acclaim in both the U.S. and Europe. Russell Harlow co-directs the Beethoven Festival Park City and has performed and lectured for International Clarinet Association events throughout the world. His webiste ClarinetCentral.com is regularly visited by clarinetists worldwide. In addition to performances in Utah with the Beethoven Festival, the Contemporary Music Consortium and Sonolumina Orchestra, Mr. Harlow has performed with the Affetti Festival, Sitka and Anchorage Fall Classics Festivals (Alaska), the Amsterdam Chamber Players, the Puerto Rico Clarinet Festival, the Ars Nova, Lyrica and Piatigorsky Foundation concerts in New Jersey and with the Leonore Trio and Bargemusic in NYC. Russell Harlow’s mentors include Gary Foster, Mitchell Lurie, Harold Wright and violinist Charles Libove, and he was coached in chamber music and attended the master classes by cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Harlow is featured on recordings with flutist Laurel Ann Maurer, the Mirecourt Trio, the Beethoven Festival and the Utah Symphony abd has recorded numerous solos for major filmscores. He founded and directed Utah's Nova Series until he joined the Beethoven Festival as Co-Director in 1986. He attended both UCLA and USC before joining the Utah Symphony at the age of 21.
VIOLIST LESLIE HARLOW
Festival Artist in Residence, Violist Leslie Harlow, is the Founder and Co-Director of the Park City Beethoven Festival. She has performed in chamber concerts with many of the finest artists of this era. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Leslie Harlow performed in master classes for William Primrose, Paul Doktor, Donald McGinnis, Heidi Castleman and Nabuko Imai and her primary teachers were Marna Street, Susan Schoenfeld, Paul Doktor, and violinist Harry Shub with additional lessons with Heidi Castleman, Donald Wright and Francis Tursi. Ms. Harlow studied chamber music with coaches including Felix Galimer, Samuel Rhodes, David Soyer, Paul Doktor, Charles Castleman, Robert Sylvester and Julius Baker. Following graduation from Juilliard, Ms Harlow founded the Deer Valley (Utah) Chamber Music Festival in 1984. Renamed the Park City Beethoven Festival, the festival continues as Utah's oldest classical music festival, and, as of 2016, having presented nearly 700 festival chamber concerts. Leslie Harlow also founded and directs the Park City Film Music Festival. An active recording artist, both in chamber music and in commercial studio work, Ms. Harlow's viola solos can be heard on a number of film and television soundtracks including "Murder in the First" and "Surviving Picasso." In 2015 Ms. Harlow presented the collegiate level viola master class at the National ASTA Convention along with serving as a judge for the collegiate solo competition. Leslie and her husband, clarinetist Russell Harlow, perform recitals throughout the year including performing for senior retirement homes and the Harlows are invited to perform outside Utah including for the Bargemusic Series in New York.
White Gloves, Champagne and Fine Wine set the stage for one of the Park City summer seaons’s most elegant cultural events.
The Beethoven Festival of Park City will present the Utah debut of internationally-acclaimed concert violinist and Medalist in the Tchaikovsky Competition Stephanie Chase in performance for your enjoyment in the spectacular setting of one of Park City’s beautiful luxury homes.
Dinner "under the stars" adds new meaning to “five-star cuisine” as the Beethoven Festival alternates sumptuous courses with virtuosic musical interludes.
This opportunity to hear, meet and greet this award-winning solo artist along with her classical colleagues is hosted in the home Friend of the Festival Elaine Spear.
Famous for its elegant and intimate settings, the Festival is proud to present this Gala Summer Salon Performance.
By attending the Gala Salon Concert your support provides scholarship funds for the professional-track young artists chosen to study and perform alongside Ms. Chase during the Beethoven Festival 2017 Young Artist Institute.
Make your reservations today since you will not want to miss out on one of the Festival’s favorite events. Please make your reservations today through the Festival website or by sending an email to Festival Director Leslie Harlow at MLBHarlow@GMail.com
Seating is limited, so make your reservation online today.
“Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage” (Salt Lake Tribune). In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).
As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.
Equally active as a soloist, Mr. Beus has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon) and has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City), and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Georgia, China, France, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Morocco.
Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”
Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, and his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Paulette Richards. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Brigham Young University. For more details, visit www.stephenbeus.com.
At a young age violinist Monte Belknap won a number of important national prizes including top prize at the Starling International Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival in 1989. He went on to study with the world-renowned pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the University of Cincinnati, College–Conservatory of Music, and served on the faculty for the Starling Preparatory String Project as a graduate assistant of Kurt Sassmannshaus. He has been a regular at the Beethoven Festival since 2004. Of his playing at the Festival, the Deseret News music critic stated, “his playing was infused with finely crafted lyricism that was mirrored by the others”. He also performs with rave reviews as concertmaster and soloist for the Orchestra of the Cathedral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City. In recent years Mr. Belknap has performed as a guest artist at the George Enescu International Violin Competition, the Barge Music Series in NYC, and served as concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Monte Belknap also presented a critically-acclaimed set of performances presenting the complete Beethoven Sonatas. Deseret News wrote of the sonata duo, they performed with “vibrancy and dynamic expressiveness”. Mr. Belknap also serves as the concertmaster and soloist with the LA East recording studio and has been the featured violin soloist on many sound tracks including “The Work and the Glory” movies, the “The Iceland Saints”, the online video games “Lord of the Rings” and “Dungeons and Dragons”. In recent years he has performed chamber music with international artists Jeffrey Solow, Scott Ballantyne, Steve Balderston, Mark Kosower, John Novacek, Denise Djokic, Menahim Pressler, Miriam Fried and many others.
