Tuesday, March 29, 12:30-1:00 p.m.

• Lin He, violin
• Kimberly Sparr, viola 

Program

Duo for Violin and Viola in B-Flat Major, K. 424 (22’)      W. A. Mozart

Adagio – Allegro                                                               (1756-1791) Andante Cantabile Thema (con variazioni): Andante grazioso

Danzas Latinoamericanas (12’)                          José Luis Elizondo

Otoño en Buenos Aires                                                      (b. 1972)  Pan de Azúcar Atardecer Tapatio

Lin He Bio

Recently interviewed by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Violinist LIN HE made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in November 2014, after a performance there earlier that year with principal players from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra in orchestral setting. Over the past seasons, he performed the Bruch Scottish Fantasy with the Sonoma County Philharmonic, Korngold Concerto with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Shippensburg Symphony and the Sibelius Concerto with the Lake Charles Symphony.

Inspired by the Complete Sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Faure, Mozart and Schubert for Violin and Piano in the past several seasons, 2020-2021 season of concerts include Magnard Sonata for Violin and Piano in multiple venues; chamber recitals as the violinist of Caladium Piano Trio; violin soloist of the Vivaldi/Piazzola Four Seasons and Mark O’Connor Surrender the Sword with the Rapides Symphony and Telemann Concerto for Four Violins with the Baton Rouge Symphony; violinist with principal players of major orchestras for the Concert of Solidarity for the Rohingya Refugees at Carnegie Hall; solo recitals and masterclasses at Indiana State University, Texas Tech University, Baylor University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Oklahoma and Northern Illinois University; and series of concerts and masterclasses in mainland China and Taiwan. He has presented recitals at universities across the United States and China. Recently, he shared stage with Shanghai String Quartet and violinist Charles Castleman; performed solo recitals and gave master classes at Arizona State University, Florida State University, Longy School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Houston, University of Las Vegas, University of North Texas, and University Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. As an orchestral player, Mr. He has performed with the Shanghai Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and New World Symphony. He
is a regular addition to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Summer festival appearances have taken Mr. He to venues such as the Music Academy of the West, the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival. Lin He has been a laureate of the Padesta Solo Competition and the ASTA competition.

Mr. He is now serving as the Associate Professor of Violin at the Louisiana State University School of Music and the Associate Concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony. During the summer, he teaches at the Summit Music Festival and Institute, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, InterHarmony International Summer Music Festival, Montecito International Music Festival and BayView Music Festival. Born in Shanghai, China, Mr. He began his musical training at the age of five. Mr. He received his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Zvi Zeitlin. Other major influences include Steven Staryk, Sylvia Rosenberg, Kyung Sun Lee and Paul Kantor. His CD release from Centaur Records of French Sonatas for Violin and Piano with pianist Gregory Sioles received favorable reviews. Upcoming releases will include the Caladium Piano Trio on Centaur Records and compositions by Mark Prince Lee.

His website is www.linheviolin.com.

Kimberly Sparr Bio

Equally skilled as a soloist, chamber and orchestral violist, KIMBERLY SPARR has garnered praise for her versatility and virtuosity across the United States and beyond. She has performed with numerous orchestras and festivals on three continents, and currently serves as the assistant principal viola of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and is a member of the festival’s Chamber Players. In the summer, Dr. Sparr is on faculty at the Summer Strings Academy for Girls and the Renova Music Festival.

“Sparr’s warm viola sound was so sublime that is was difficult to face what was going on in the real world,” the Boulder Daily Camera said. Now Sparr, associate professor of viola at LSU, is leading an effort to expand the repertoire of the instrument itself. Volt, for example, a piece she commissioned by composer Ned McGowan, features her improvisation in counterpoint with pre-recorded computer sounds. In a multi-media presentation of Rusty Banks’ Liquid Fire, Sparr’s electric viola responds to pulsating rhythms and sounds as images of molten lava play out on a video screen behind her. Other recent solo viola commissions include works by Molly Joyce and Caroline Mallonee. Sparr also recently spearheaded a major project with the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble, of which she is a founding member: Project Beck, which included collaborating with 20 composers.

In the meantime, her chamber music collaborations include performance with Lara St. John, Boris Allakhverdyan and Simone Dinnerstein; as well as for organizations including New Music Raleigh, Festival Mozaic, the Lake George Music Festival and Washington Musica Viva. She has also held artist residencies at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute where she has worked as both a soloist and with her partner in the Amistella Duo, cellist Natasha Farny. Sparr recently collaborated with European artists through “Expressions for Justice” in the Netherlands.

The Aspen Music School honored Sparr with a three-year New Horizon Fellowship where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Victoria Chiang. She has also won fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Center of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Sarasota Music Festival.
As an orchestral violist, Sparr was the assistant principal violist of Virginia’s Richmond Symphony; and has performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Washington National Opera and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California, among others. Her festival participation includes New Hampshire Music Festival in Plymouth, N.H.; the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland; the Festival Mozaic and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California; Florida’s Sarasota Music Festival; and the Lake George Music Festival in New York. She has also toured Europe and Asia with both the Verbier and National Symphony Orchestras.

Sparr has also soloed with the Amarillo Virtuosi, the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra, the Texas Tech University Symphony Orchestra, and the Lubbock Symphony.

During her graduate studies, she was named a Piatigorsky Foundation Artist and received the Gunther Schuller Award from New England Conservatory.

She plays with the band Scabaret (“three bad mamas and a microphone”), an eclectic mix of songs for voice, keyboard and viola.