Tuesday December 6
at 7:30 PM |
Chicago Festival of the Arts & Music in the Loft present
The Ivory Consort: "Music in the Land of Three Faiths"
Tuesday December 6 at 7:30 PM
Theatre Building Chicago • 1225 West Belmont • Valet parking available.
(773) 548-8587 or ChicagoArts@earthlink.net
"The Ivory Consort's instruments roar, howl, slide and buzz . . . with virtuosity and flair."
--The New York Times
 Songs from the Golden Age of Spain ,
when Jews, Muslims, and Christians
forged a common musical language.
Featuring 10th through 13th century
songs in Ladino, Arabic, Hebrew,
Galician- Portuguese, Latin and Catalan.
The Consort
provides an historical context for the
intermingling of cultures that took
place before the 1492 Expulsion.
Authentic Instruments • Fascinating Insights • Breathtaking Music
Listen, learn, and see if you can resist dancing in the aisles!
"A knockout performance!" -- Fredda Hyman, Music in the Loft Executive Artistic Director
FRIENDS of Music In the Loft : Save $10 per ticket!
Ticket and information: (773) 548-8587 or ChicagoArts@earthlink.net |
Kaila Potts, viola
The 2004 7th Annual Sphinx Competition First Place Senior Division Laureate
The 2004 Senior Division First Place Laureate, violist Kaila Potts performs with the Music In The Loft as part of the Sphinx/DaimlerChrysler Services Professional Development Program.
Kaila Potts, age 25, is the First Place Senior Division Laureate of the 7 th national Sphinx Competition 2004. In addition to winning the Sphinx Competition, Ms. Potts is the first prize winner of numerous competitions, including the 2003 Geraldine B. Gee International Viola Competition, and the Ennio Bolonini Scholarship Competition, as well as third prize in the Clara Baur Instrumental Competition.
Currently, Ms. Potts is a recipient of a Fellowship Award from the Music Academy of the West, and was an Orchestral Fellowship recipient with the Aspen Music Festival for 4 summers. She began her career as an orchestral musician with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra where she served as co-principal violist from 2001-2003. Her performances have taken her to appear with orchestras in the United States including solo engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cincinnati, New Jersey, Hartford, Atlanta, Memphis, Colorado, and Grand Rapids Symphonies, in addition to performances in Asia, Europe, and Israel.
Ms. Potts was born in Los Angeles, CA and raised in Las Vegas, NV. Her viola studies began at the viola at age 11 with John Sullivan. She began studying violin at age 13 with Carlene San Filippo in addition to her viola studies, and continued violin with Rebecca Ramsey at age 15. Her musical pursuits brought her to the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati to study violin and viola under the instruction of Piotr Milewski, Masao Kawasaki, and Catharine Carroll, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin and Viola Performance. Currently Ms. Potts is pursuing a Performance Certificate in Viola with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California.
Ms. Potts has also participated in various music festivals throughout the United States, Israel, and Italy, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Opera Theatre of Lucca, and will attend the Music Academy of the West during the summer of 2005. She was employed as a faculty member in the preparatory departments at the College-Conservatory of Music and the Northern Kentucky University, and taught an after school strings program in Covington, KY. She also takes an interest in writing and is a published poet. |
Christina Castelli
Senior Division First Place Laureate of the 2005 Sphinx Competition
American violinist and violist Christina Castelli has earned international acclaim for her compelling concerto and recital performances throughout the United States , Europe , Canada , and South America . First place Laureate of the prestigious Sphinx Competition (in 1998 and 2005—the only competitor ever awarded first place twice), a Laureate of the 2001 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Brussels, and grand prize winner of the 1997 William Primrose International Viola Competition, Ms. Castelli has been a featured soloist with orchestras worldwide, including the National (Washington, D.C.), Alabama, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, and Princeton Symphonies in the United States, and the Belgian National Orchestra, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia (Brussels), National Orchestra of Colombia, and Chilean Regional Philharmonic overseas. As a recitalist, Ms. Castelli has appeared on concert series in nearly every major city in the United States, and has been presented in such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall, where she made her critically hailed recital debut in 2004, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Castelli appeared as concertmaster of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at its 2004 Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, a performance described by Allan Kozinn of the New York Times, as “first rate in every way - polished, nuanced, rich in tone and thoughtfully shaped." In addition, she has performed as soloist with and leader of the International Sejong Soloists chamber ensemble and as concertmaster of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra and frequently collaborates on both violin and viola with other musicians, performing string and piano trios and quartets throughout the country. Ms. Castelli has been heard as a soloist and chamber musician in live and recorded performances on radio stations around the globe, including NPR’s “Performance Today,” WQXR New York Radio, WFMT Chicago Radio, Vermont Public Radio, Caracol Colombian Radio, RBTF Radio Brussels, and UCV Chilean Radio.
Highlights of Ms. Castelli’s 2005-2006 season include her much-anticipated solo debuts with the Seattle and Nashville Symphonies and the Florida Orchestra as well as performances with other ensembles. In addition to her orchestra appearances, she will again present recitals in major cities throughout the United States .
Ms. Castelli has garnered awards worldwide for her powerful performances. In 1996, she earned the highest award available to young artists in the United States when she was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, receiving a gold medallion from President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in Washington, D.C. Ms. Castelli has also been granted first prize in numerous competitions, including the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the California International Young Artists Violin Competition, the Holland-America Music Society Competition, and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, and was granted the 2000 ALEX Award for excellence in the arts from the National Alliance for Excellence. An ardent advocate of music education, Ms. Castelli frequently gives lecture-recitals, makes presentations to children in metropolitan public schools, and conducts master classes for violin and viola students.
Born in a suburb of Chicago , Ms. Castelli began studying the violin at age three with Edward Kreitman, later continuing her studies with Roland and Almita Vamos. She earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in chemistry from Harvard University and her master’s degree in violin performance from The Juilliard School, where she studied violin with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Rohan De Silva. She is the recipient of the 2001 Samuel Gardner Prize as well as the 2002 William Schuman Prize, Juilliard’s only award for graduate students. Ms. Castelli is affiliated with Astral Artistic Services of Philadelphia and currently resides in New York City .
Ms. Castelli performs on a violin crafted by Giovanni Grancino of Milan in 1709.
To learn more about Ms. Castelli, please visit www.christinacastelli.com. |
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