Featuring Trio Bella
Barbara Leibundguth, flute
Andrea Stern, harp
Matthew Williams, viola
St. Nicholas Suite (1968)
Composed by Krinió Papastávrou
1. Fishermen’s Dance
2. The Beachcomber
3. Fisherboys’ Dance
4. The Old Barge
5. The Ship’s Cat
6. Lone Watch
7. Captain’s Dance
8. The Procession of the Ikon
9. Festal Dance
Intermezzo (1988)
Composed by Michael Conway Baker
Sonata for flute, viola, and harp (1915)
Composed by Claude Debussy
Pastorale
Interlude
Final
All concerts are at noon, are FREE to the public, and include coffee and bagels. After the performances there is an opportunity to meet and talk with the musicians.
Harpist Andrea Stern has performed with chamber ensembles, orchestras, operas, and summer festivals in the United States and abroad. She was principal harpist for three years with the Maracaibo (Venezuela) Symphony and for five years with the Minnesota Opera. She has performed with Skylark Opera, Theater Latte Da, The Ordway, and Nautilus Music Theater.
Andrea studied at Oakland University, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory (B. Music), continuing with graduate studies at the University of Arizona. She was awarded first prize in the Schubert Club Student Scholarship Competition. She currently serves as adjunct faculty at Augsburg College (Minneapolis), University of Saint Thomas (Saint Paul) and is a harp instructor at MacPhail Center for Music and Saint Paul Conservatory.
Barbara Leibundguth has performed as principal flutist with major orchestras in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Dallas, and Houston, and was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra for twenty years, including fourteen years as co-principal. She also served as principal in the Omaha Symphony and Opera/Omaha for eleven seasons. She can be heard as solo flutist with orchestras on multiple recordings. She has attended the Marlboro, Blossom, and Grand Teton summer festivals, and has been featured on radio broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion and NPR’s ‘Performance Today.' Leibundguth performed extensively with pianist/composer Carl Witt, and she commissioned and premiered his Duo for Flute and Piano; their album "Visionary Duos for Flute and Piano" was released on Albany Records, and they won a McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists in 2002.
A Chicago native, Leibundguth graduated from Northwestern University. For ten years, Leibundguth served on the music faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Violist Matthew Williams was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and is an alumnus of the North Carolina School of the Arts, The Juilliard School, The Berne University of the Arts, and the University of Minnesota where he earned his doctorate in 2016. Matthew has participated in the Killington, Kneisel Hall, and Spoleto Festivals and has studied chamber music with members of the Mendelssohn, Brentano, Juilliard, and Fine Arts Quartets. He has a vibrant freelance career and has performed with several orchestras and chamber orchestras including The Berne Symphony, Camerata Schweiz, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and The Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera.
Recent performances include the premiere of “Test Pilot,” a new dance opera by composer Jocelyn Hagen and choreographer Penelope Freeh and "As One" by Laura Kaminsky. In addition to performing, Matthew maintains a private studio in St. Paul, is co-founder of Cambridge Summer Strings, a summer program for children, and teaches at the Northern Lights Music Festival. He is serving as Viola Faculty at Luther College for the 2019-2020 academic year.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts, and through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Additional funding is made possible by generous donations from Boss Foundation, Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation, Ecolab Foundation, Anna M. Heilmaier Foundation and the Twin Cities Opera Guild and an Anonymous donor.