Jelena Cingara, piano

Emily Hiemstra, viola,

Erika Nielsen, cello

Friday March 23, 2018 at 7:30 pm

$25/$10 Students

Program

Jelena Cingara, piano, Emily Hiemstra, viola, Erika Nielsen, violoncello

Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38

Brahms Viola Sonata No.2 in E Flat Major, Op.120

Brahms Trio in A minor, Op. 114

Dr. Jelena Cingara is an experienced pedagogue and performer with over twenty years experience in USA and Canada. She has taught piano minors at The University level at The University of Utah School of Music, and served as the main accompanist for the String Division for The University of Utah Preparatory Division.

Jelena is currently a piano instructor at York University. She is also a winner of festivals, competitions, and teaching assistantships in both USA and Canada, such as: Kiwanis Peel and Davenport, as well as a third prize winner in both the piano concerto and small ensemble competition at The University of Toledo, Ohio.

As a performer, Jelena has recently performed solo recitals for: The Davis Arts Council, Mundi Project, and has completed a chamber music recital at The World Piano Teacher’s Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia, amongst many others. She has also attended music festivals across Europe such as: Interharmony, and Prague Piano Institute, and will attend La Balie Summer workshop in France.

Recently her and Zoltan Csikos have won second place at the American Protege Competition, and will make their debut in Carnegie Hall in May, 2018. Her CD: Marko Tajcevic Seven Balkan Dances and Josip Slavenski Piano Sonata Op.4 can be found on amazon, spotify, and itunes. Jelena has a DMA in piano performance from The University of Utah, where she studied with Dr. Vedrana Subotic.

Emily Hiemstra (nee Walker) holds a Bachelor of Music in viola performance with Christine Vlajk and composition with Peter Hatch from Wilfrid Laurier University and an artist diploma in viola performance with Steven Dann at the Glenn Gould School in the Royal Conservatory, Toronto.

She has participated in festivals around the world including the German-Scandinavian Youth Orchestra in Berlin, Germany and the Canada India Youth Orchestra Project in Bangalore, India.

She is also an alumna of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2012, 2013) on violin and viola respectively. As an orchestral musician, she has performed with orchestras such as the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra (Hamilton) and the London Symphonia.

In 2017 Ms Hiemstra performed the Stamitz Viola Concerto with the Charis Collective ensemble in Toronto, ON. She has also played in masterclasses for such world renowned violists Kim Kashkashian and Atar Arad and has performed in venues such as the Canadian Music Centre and Koerner Hall.

As a composer, Ms Hiemstra has had her works heard on Chorale Concert (CBC Radio), and performed by ensembles such as the Maureen Forrester Singers, Laurier Concert Choir, Laurier Wind Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Schola Magdalena, the Renaissance Singers, the Canadian Chamber Choir, Amabile Youth Singers(London), Halifax Camerata Singers, Podium 2014(Halifax), Corriolis Brass and the NYOC’s brass quintet.

She is a featured Canadian composer on the Canadian Chamber Choir’s JUNO nominated album A Canadian Mass: Sacred Reflections of Canada. Works can be found through Cypress Choral Music Publishing.

Cellist Erika Nielsen enjoys a multifaceted career as a chamber musician, collaborative artist, orchestral player, and educator. She has performed with Grammy-winning artist Kanye West, and Juno-winning artist Johnny Reid, and was recently on tour with The Musical Stage Company’s Onegin: The Musical on tour at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa. Recent international performances include Charlotte at the World Stage Design Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, 2017.

Erika was principal cellist of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra from 2011-13, and on faculty of the ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Festival in 2016. She has performed frequently with Westwood Concerts chamber series, and New Music series’ such as Soundstreams, Spectrum Music, The Thin Edge New Music Collective, and Bicycle Opera Project.

Erika holds an Artist Diploma in cello performance from the Glenn Gould School, where she studied with David Hetherington, and a B.Mus (hon.) from Queen’s University, with Wolf Tormann. Erika recently joined the 2018 cello faculty at National Music Camp, and performs on a JB Collin-Mézin cello from 1885. www.celloerika.com