Masterpiece Virtuosi presents:
Join us for a very special holiday violin concert, featuring Mischa Lefkowitz, virtuoso violinist, accompanied by pianist Susan Davies. Limited seating is available for this special performance and is general admission. Doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:00, so please arrive early for the best seating.
MISCHA LEFKOWITZ -Violinist
Mischa Lefkowitz was born in Riga, Latvia, and began his violin studies at the age of seven. He made his symphony debut at the age of twelve, and at age seventeen he was admitted to Leonid Kogan's violin class at the Moscow Conservatory. He has also studied "with such renowned master performers as Nathan Milstein. Mischa Mischakoff, Roman Totenberg, Henri Temianka, and Jean Fournier of the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, Austria.
Mr. Lefkowitz was a top prize winner at the 1983 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition, co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. He was also the winner of the City of Paris "Music Francaise" prize at the 1985 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. Other awards include First Prize at the Rotary International Competition in California, prizes at the -Paganini International Competition. the Bach Festival Young Artists Awards, the All,State Contest for violin soloists, and the Concertino Prague Radio Competition.
Mr. Lefkowitz is the recipient of a solo recitalist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and touring grants from the California Arts Council. He performed around the world with the London Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the California Chamber Symphony, the American Chamber Symphony, the Academica Camerata of Salzburg, and the Victoria Symphony of Canada. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall (New York), the Philips Collection (Washington, D.C.}, Salle Pleyel (Paris), the Wilshire Ebell "Theatre (Los Angeles), the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (San Francisco) and is a frequent guest artist at many summer festivals including Meadow Brook, Aspen, and Kneisel Hall. He joined the LA Philharmonic in 1977 and played in the First Violin section as well as performed at the Philharmonic's Chamber Music Society at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He is a Founder and Music Director of Masterpiece Virtuosi, a chamber orchestra and string ensemble. For 18 years (1988--2006) Mr. Lefkowitz was an Artist in Residence at Chapman University. He served as a guest violin professor on the faculty of UC Irvine in 2001 and has also given numerous master classes at many California universities. He continues to teach today and can count many professional musicians among his former students including Josh Vietti, who was named one of the Breakout Musical Acts in LA in 2012.
His discography includes world premiere recordings of Giardini, Michelet Violin Concertos, and the Rozsa Solo Violin Sonata as well as concertos by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich, and Bloch on the Ontaris, Laurel, Cambria, Sequence, and Pantheon labels. He released an album of Romantic concertos that include Faure, Sibelius, and Diciedue violin concertos with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. (Cambria label), and a Bartok Concerto CD. His 2011 recordings include five CDs of German, French, Italian, Russian, and American music.
His 2012 releases, Romantic Showpieces, Shostakovich works, and Modem Metamorphosis are available on iTunes, along with recent recordings of Bach's solo sonatas and Beethoven and Braham sonatas.
His 2013 CD recordings include Schumann'!; Violin Concerto in A-minor, a 3 disc album entitled "10 Violin Concertos" (Part II and Part ill), and two other CDs: "Vivacious" and "Solo and Chamber Works".
Most recently, in 2011, 2019, and 2020 Mr. Lefkowitz received Certificates in Recognition of Participation as musician on the Grammy Award-winning recordings for Best Orchestral Performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Maestro Dudamel.
Susan Azaret Davies (BM, MM, University of Southern California) enjoys an active career as a pianist and a singer.
She has appeared as a pianist in recitals at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), California State University Summer Arts, Idyllwild Summer Arts, Festival Mozaic, Cabrillo Music Festiva, San Francisco Presidio Chapel, and numerous Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo area concerts. As a singer she has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus in Eugene and at Lincoln Center, NYC, and as a soloist with the Festival Musica de Morelia, Mexico, San Luis Obispo Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Master Chorale and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Susan was the Musical Director/Pianist for the Educational Opera Association of Los Angeles, which was awarded an Emmy award for its KCET television special “Opera for Children”. Mrs. Davies is the principal keyboardist for the San Luis Obispo Symphony and Orchestra NOVO, pianist for the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale, and choir director/organist for St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Pismo Beach. She was staff accompanist and adjunct music faculty at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for 34 years. She resides in Pismo Beach with her husband and their two sons.
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