Bacchanalia

Bacchanalia

Beethoven: String Trio in G Major
Jeffery Cotton: Meditation, Rhapsody & Bacchanal for Violin & Percussion (2004)
Dvorak: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 61

with Ian Ding, percussion and Edward Arron, cello

Beethoven's spritely and humorous G Major String Trio predates his monumental cycle of string quartets, and with one less player, manages to achieve the full breadth of expression with three equally demanding parts.  American Composer Jeffery Cotton mixes a similar joyous, boisterous energy in his colorful Asian and Blues-influenced duo for violin and percussion, pairing such unusual instruments as a waterphone and a Bulgarian tapan with a frenzied and furious violin part. The C Major Dvorak String Quartet, while not as famous as the 'American' Quartet, is arguably the most grand and virtuosic of all, and closes our March program with a Czech flourish.

Ian Ding is a versatile performer whose work encompasses solo & orchestral percussion, new music, improvisation, and composition. He is currently a Lecturer of Percussion at the University of Michigan, a position he has held since 2005, and recently completed eight seasons as Assistant Principal Percussionist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he worked under music directors Neeme Järvi and Leonard Slatkin. He was also previously a member of the New World Symphony in Miami under Michael Tilson Thomas and timpanist with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland under James Levine.

A committed performer of new & experimental music, Ding is a founding member and codirector of the contemporary music collective New Music Detroit (NMD).

Originally from Arlington Heights, IL, Ding is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Juilliard School. His principal percussion teachers include Jim Ross, Tom Stubbs, Thomas Siwe, William Moersch, and Gregory Zuber. He also studied world percussion and improvisation with Jamey Haddad, Sriram Balasubramanian, and Oussama Naja.

Ding currently lives in Minneapolis, MN.

Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Earlier that year, he performed Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Cellos with Yo-Yo Ma and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at the Opening Night Gala of the Caramoor International Festival. Since that time, Mr. Arron has appeared in recital, as a soloist with orchestra, and as a chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

The 2012-2013 season will mark Arron's 10th anniversary season as the artistic director of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert, a chamber music series created in 2003 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Museum's prestigious Concerts and Lectures series. In the fall of 2009, Mr. Arron succeeded Charles Wadsworth as the artistic director, host, and resident performer of the Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut, as well as concert series in Beaufort and Columbia, South Carolina. He is also the artistic director of the Caramoor Virtuosi, the resident chamber ensemble of the Caramoor International Music Festival.

Arron has performed numerous times at Carnegie's Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls, New York's Town Hall, and the 92ndStreet Y, and is a frequent performer at Bargemusic. Past summer festival appearances include Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, BRAVO! Colorado, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music, Bard Summerscape, Seoul Spring, Great Mountains, and Isaac Stern's Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters. Mr. Arron has participated in the Silk Road Project and has toured and recorded as a member of MOSAIC, an ensemble dedicated to contemporary music.

Edward Arron began his studies on the cello at age seven in Cincinnati and, at age ten, moved to New York, where he continued his studies with Peter Wiley. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Harvey Shapiro. Currently, Mr. Arron serves on the faculty of New York University.

Accordo, established in 2009, is a Minnesota-based chamber group made up of some of the very best instrumentalists in the country, eager to share their love of classical and contemporary chamber music in intimate and unique performance spaces. Its 2011/12 season will be presented by Kate Nordstrum Projects, Northrop Concerts & Lectures and The Schubert Club at the National Historic Landmark Christ Church Lutheran, one of the Twin Cities' great architectural treasures designed by the esteemed architect Eliel Saarinen and his son Eero Saarinen.

Accordo includes SPCO principal players Steve Copes, Ruggero Allifranchini, Maiya Papach, and Ron Thomas and Minnesota Orchestra principal cellist Tony Ross. This season also includes guest artists Rebecca Albers, Ian Ding, Edward Arron, Erin Keefe, and Burt Hara.

Photo credit: Tim Rummelhoff