THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY Presents
THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY STRING MASTERS SERIES
STEFAN JACKIW, VIOLIN
ANNA POLONSKY, piano
ANDREW MARK and IRINA MURESANU, artistic directors
January 25, 2015
8 p.m., Sunday
Seully Hall
Tzigane (1924)
Maurice Ravel
1875–1937
Partita for violin and piano (1984)
Witold Lutosławski
1913–1994
– INTERMISSION –
Nocturne for solo violin (in memoriam W. Lutosławski) (1994)
Kaija Saariaho
b. 1952
Sonata for violin and piano in A Major (1886)
I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo – Fantasia (ben moderato)
IV. Allegretto poco mosso
BOSTONCONSERVATORY.EDU
Cesar Franck
1822–1890
This organization is funded in part by the
Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
STEFAN JACKIW, violin—is recognized as “one of the best and most interesting young violinists heard in a long time”
(Chicago Sun-Times), captivating audiences with playing that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (The Boston
Globe). Hailed for “talent that’s off the scale” (The Washington Post), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago,
Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others, and he has collaborated with
such renowned conductors as Marin Alsop, Andrew Davis, Giancarlo Guerrero, Hannu Lintu, Ludovic Morlot, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mikhail Pletnev, Arild Remmereit, Gerard Schwarz and Yuri Temirkanov. His solo performance
of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Australia’s Sydney Opera House in March 2014
was seen live on YouTube by more than 30 million people worldwide.
In November 2012, Jackiw made his Carnegie Hall recital debut, where his performance featured a world premiere work by
David Fulmer with pianist Anna Polonsky. Other season highlights include performances of the Mendelssohn Concerto at
the Detroit Symphony with James Gaffigan, the Royal Philharmonic under Charles Dutoit, the Netherlands Philharmonic
and Louie Langree; Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and The Hague Philharmonic; and the South American premiere of a concerto by Osvaldo Golijov with the Sao Paolo Symphony and Marin Alsop.
Jackiw made his European debut in London in 2002 to great critical acclaim, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with
the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Benjamin Zander. He has also performed abroad with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra of Ireland, the Seoul Philharmonic and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
Jackiw has performed in numerous festivals and concert series, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the
Caramoor International Music Festival, the Celebrity Series of Boston, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Washington Performing Arts Society and the Louvre Recital Series in Paris. On disc, he is garnering
acclaim for his debut album of the Brahms Violin Sonatas with pianist Max Levinson (Sony). Fanfare Magazine proclaimed,
“Jackiw is fantastic... This is now the recording of Brahms’s violin sonatas to have.”
Born in 1985 to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Jackiw began playing the violin at age four. His teachers
have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an A.D.
from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2002, the young artist was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career
Grant. He makes his home in New York City.
ANNA POLONSKY, piano—is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared with the Moscow
Virtuosi, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra
of Philadelphia, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble and many others. Polonsky has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion,
Daedalus and Shanghai Quartets and with such musicians as Mitsuko Uchida, David Shifrin, Richard Goode, Ida and Ani
Kavafian, Cho-Liang Lin, Arnold Steinhardt, Anton Kuerti, Gary Hoffman and Fred Sherry. She is regularly invited to perform
chamber music at festivals, such as Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle, Music@Menlo, Cartagena, Bard and Caramoor, as well as at Bargemusic in New York City.
Polonsky received a B.M. from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with renowned pianist Peter Serkin, and continued her studies with Jerome Lowenthal, earning an M.M. from the Juilliard School. In addition to performing, she serves
on the piano faculty of Vassar College. She is a Steinway artist.
ABOUT THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY
Founded in 1867, The Boston Conservatory is an independent private college with fully accredited graduate and undergraduate programs in music, dance and theater, training exceptional young performing artists for careers that enrich and
transform the human experience. Known for its multi-disciplinary environment and deep community engagement, The
Boston Conservatory is internationally recognized as an innovative leader among conservatory programs, focused on
elevating and celebrating every aspect of the performing arts, and presenting more than 600 performances each year.
The institution has established itself as an important voice in the movement to make all forms of performing arts a more
visible and valued dimension of communities here and abroad. For more information, visit bostonconservatory.edu.