All events will take place at:
First Presbyterian Church
97 S Franklin Street
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
All concerts are open to the public.
Non-participants: General admission $20, student/senior $15
Workshop Information
Information for participants
| Participation fee (per person) | $250* All participants have access to the faculty concerts plus two free tickets. |
| Age eligibility | 12 years and up |
| Application/recording submission deadline | Monday, May 2, 2022 |
| Application recording | • Video recording as a link (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) or as an upload (MP4 file format) • Up to two recordings accepted • Each recording up to 5 min. in length • Excerpt of works accepted • Select repertoire that best highlights individual/group |
| No application fee, apply as an individual or group | |
| Lessons | Individual private lessons may be arranged at a rate of $80/hour. |
| Eligible instruments | Piano, violin, viola, cello, double-bass |
| Full Covid-19 vaccination required by June 2 | |
| Participation announcement/repertoire assignment | Friday, May 6, 2022 |
| Accommodations | Accommodations will not be provided |
Faculty
Brian Farrell, piano
Pianist/Conductor/Teacher/Coach
Mr. Farrell currently holds the position of Music Director and Conductor of Repertory Opera Company of Los Angeles, which produces three operas per season. He has also been on the faculty of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. In 2000 he held the position of Assistant Conductor with Los Angeles Opera where he worked with Placido Domingo, Carol Vaness, and Rodney Gilfry among many others. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in January of 2000 when he performed with Baritone, Lester Lynch on the Marilyn Horne Gala Concert. Praised for his “powerful and moving” solo performances and “imaginative and sensitive accompaniment,” Mr. Farrell has performed with such artists as violinist Chao-Liang Lin, cellists Fred Sherry and James Kreger, and pianist Samuel Sanders. He has also collaborated in extensive recital performances with celebrated Irish tenor, Robert White, who was also on the voice faculty of The Juilliard School of Music.
Mr. Farrell holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from The Juilliard School where he studied piano with Jerome Lowenthal, opera with Diane Richardson, and collaborative piano with Samuel Sanders.
John Vaida, violin
Professor, Mansfield University
A versatile musician, violinist and violist John Vaida performs regularly as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is currently on the faculty at Mansfield University and Wilkes University, and Artist-in-Residence at the Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School. He is also the Executive Director and Co-founder of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chamber Music Society (NEPACMS) which fosters the growth and awareness of chamber music in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region through a carefully curated concert series, workshops, educational and outreach programs. He has given performances across the United States and Europe, collaborating with national and internationally renowned artists. Mr. Vaida frequently performs and teaches at festivals including the Killington Music Festival and as a member of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
As an educator and a staunch advocate for music and the arts, Mr. Vaida regularly collaborates with local schools and community organizations. His students have had the distinction of being placed in top spots at regional and state competitions and have been accepted to major conservatories and festivals. As a clinician he presents workshops and clinics at the local, regional, and national levels, including at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference and the New York State School Music Association conference.
Mr. Vaida’s principal teachers have included Charles Stegeman, Daniel Phillips, and Zvi Zeitlin. He holds a B.M. from Duquesne University and a M.M. degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and has studied chamber music with Randolph Kelly, Jean Barr, Richard Killmer, and members of the Ying Quartet.
Mr. Vaida plays on a violin made by Carl G. Becker in 1974, in Chicago, Illinois.
Amy Iwazumi, viola
Chamber Musician
Having given solo and ensemble performances to critical acclaim in over a dozen countries across five continents, Amy Iwazumi enjoys a diverse career as a musician, web developer and graphic designer, and the co-founder and chief of operations of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chamber Music Society.
She has performed in major venues in the United States such as the Isaac Stern Auditorium, Zankel Hall, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall; Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall), Alice Tully Hall, Rose Theater, and Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Lincoln Center; Harris Hall and the Bayer-Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, Colorado; and the Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Abroad, she has given performances at notable venues such as the Wigmore Hall in London, UK; Salle Cortot in Paris, France; Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Korea; and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan. She has also made TV and radio appearances on WQXR, NPR and CNN in the United States; Viva La Mañana and Tu Mañana in El Salvador; TeleClub in Costa Rica; KBS in South Korea; and NHK Radio in Japan.
She has performed at several music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Festival Ljubljana in Slovenia, Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea, Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands, La Jolla Summerfest in California, Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Salzburg Sommerakademie in Austria, and the Taipei International Arts Festival in Taiwan.
Ms. Iwazumi is also a recipient of the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship Grant which supported a four-month cultural research residency in Japan where she furthered her studies playing the Shamisen, a three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument, and her practice of Omotesenke school of tea ceremony.
At age eight she was accepted as a scholarship student to the Juilliard Pre-College Division studying violin with the late Dorothy DeLay and composition with Eric Ewazen. She continued her studies with Ms. DeLay at The Juilliard School receiving her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, and studied chamber music with Martin Canin, the late Jacob Lateiner, the late Seymour Lipkin, and Joel Smirnoff.
Christiane Appenheimer-Vaida, cello
Music Faculty, Wyoming Seminary & Marywood University
Christiane Appenheimer-Vaida, cello, completed her musical studies at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Frankfurt, Germany, under the tutelage of Professor Susanne Mueller-Hornbach and has undertaken additional studies with Gerhard Mantel, Siegfried Palm, Hubert Buchberger, Ulrich Voss, Menachem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio), and Edna Golandsky.
Before moving to Northeastern Pennsylvania, she taught at Justus-Liebig- University, Giessen, and headed the string department for the Buseck Music School while performing regularly both as soloist and chamber musician throughout Germany.
Currently a member of Marywood University’s string faculty, Ms. Appenheimer-Vaida teaches applied cello, chamber music and cello methods, as well as all levels of cello instruction in Marywood’s award winning String Project. She also serves on the faculty of Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School in Kingston, Pennsylvania, where she teaches string ensemble, orchestra, chamber music, music theory and music appreciation, while maintaining a private cello studio. Ms. Appenheimer-Vaida is an active free-lance performer with various chamber ensembles and orchestras in the region.
Schedule
| Friday, June 3, 2022 | |
| 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM | Welcome and morning workshop |
| 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Chamber music rehearsals/coachings |
| 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Chamber music rehearsals/coachings |
| 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Individual lessons with faculty members |
| 5:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:00 PM | Faculty Concert I |
| Saturday, June 4, 2022 | |
| 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM | Morning workshop |
| 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Chamber music rehearsals/coachings |
| 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM | Chamber music rehearsals/coachings |
| 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Individual lessons with faculty members |
| 5:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:00 PM | Faculty Concert II |
| Sunday, June 5, 2022 | |
| 10:00 AM | First Presbyterian Church, service: Music provided by NEPACMS |
| 2:00 PM | Participant Chamber Music Concert followed by reception |