2006/2007
CHAMELEON SERIES
at the
Leiser Opera Center

CHOPIN March 4 2007 at 3 pm

Michael Klotz,violin; Iris van Eck, cello; Misha Dacic, piano.

Sonata for Cello and Piano in g minor, Op. 65

Allegro moderato
Scherzo (Allegro con brio)
Largo
Finale (Allegro)

Introduction and Polonaise
for Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 3
Arranged by Emanuel Feuermann, edited by Leonard Rose

Piano Trio in g minor, Op.8

Allegro con fuoco
Scherzo (Con moto, ma non troppo)
Adagio Sostenuto
Finale (Allegretto)

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 in the village of Zelazowa Wola, Poland, to a Polish mother and French father. At the age of 20 Chopin left for Paris where he made a career as a performer and teacher as well as a composer, and adopted the French variant of his name, "Frédéric-François". He had a turbulent 10-year relationship with the French writer George Sand (Baroness Dudevant) from 1837 to 1847. Always in fragile health, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 39. He died on October 17, 1849 in Paris, France
Frédéric Chopin was probably one of the greatest and most refined pianists in history. Chopin's discovery of the piano's potential to inhabit a complete and poetic world of song and color set the standard for all piano writing of the latter part of the century. Chopin’s piano music is among the most original and influential of the nineteenth century. His compositions grow directly out of the technique and possibilities of the instrument. Chopin created a “new world" of music that is by turns poetic, proud, defiant, elegant and heroic…his world is truly a world like no other… re-creating the gracefulness of the singing voice.... in his harmonic language, complex chromatic harmonies mingle with the droning fifths of folk music and the modal scales of Poland.

All of Chopin's work includes the piano in some role Although his music is among the most technically demanding for the instrument, Chopin's style emphasizes poetry, nuance, and expressive depth rather than mere technical display. He invented some musical forms such as the ballade but his most significant innovations were within existing structures such as the sonata, waltz, nocturne etude and prelude. Additionally, Chopin was the first Western Classical composer to imbue Slavic elements into his music; to this day his mazurkas and polonaises are the cornerstone of Polish Nationalistic Classical Music.
Chopin's polonaises brought the musical form to a higher level than anyone had envisioned that musical style to be capable of. The series of seven, beginning with the Op. 26 pair, set a whole new standard for composing and playing the music and were rooted in a passion by Chopin to write something to celebrate the Polish culture after the country fell into Russian hands. After early attempts at solo piano polonaises while still in Poland, Chopin wrote the delightful Polonaise Brillante for cello and piano in 1829/1830 calling it “nothing more than a glittering trifle for the salon, for the ladies.”
Chopin’s final composition- the magnificent G minor Sonata, was written in 1845/1846; Paris, France This was the last work Chopin played in public and the last work he would hear at his deathbed.
Chopin’s Piano Trio in g minor, Op.8 dates from the period preceding his first Viennese concert tour of 1829, while he was still a teenager. A neglected gem, its four movements have all the flavor of the mature composer and of course showcase the prowess of the pianist to full advantage. The first movement has a dramatic opening worthy of Beethoven but with the romantic yearning of Schumann. The piano, as it does throughout the work, dominates the discussion of this sonata Allegro movement allowing the cello and violin to color the music. The third movement Adagio presents a special moment in the work – a freely evolving cantabile spiced with the exotic flavors of Chopinesque ornamentation. The piano, violin and cello achieve an equal status, each daring to stretch the listener’s attention as they take turn to decorate the melody in ever more complex metrical variations. The daring of the Adagio is offset by a gentle Allegretto finale. It is filled with characteristic dance tunes that displace the beat and offer a folksy glimpse at Chopin’s Polish background

Michael Klotz was born in 1978 in Rochester, NY and made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of seventeen. He has also appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Mannes Bach Festival Orchestra, and the World Youth Music Festival Orchestra in London, England. An avid performer of the chamber music repertoire, recent appearances on violin and viola include concerts in New York at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Museum of Modern Art and the Kosciuzsko Foundation, which included a live broadcast on WQXR-FM. Additionally, he has been heard in prestigious halls in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego, Rochester, and Mexico. Michael Klotz has performed at leading festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, where he is a faculty member since 2005. He prizes his association with the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall. In December of 2003 he was invited by Maestro Jaime Laredo to perform with distinguished alumni of the Seminar in Carnegie Hall.

Michael Klotz received a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Zvi Zeitlin. In 2002, Michael Klotz became one of the few individuals to complete the Master of Music degree in both Violin and Viola Performance from The Juilliard School, where he was a recipient of the Maxwell Gluck Fellowship and the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship.

Michael draws his musical influence primarily from distinguished musicians such as Zvi Zeitlin, Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet, and members of the Guarneri and LaSalle Quartets.

Iris van Eck, the founder of “Chameleon Chamber Music Series at the Leiser Opera Center” is principal cellist for the Florida Grand Opera and the Florida Classical Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with various orchestras in the United States & in Europe, including the Florida classical Orchestra and is frequently heard on the chamber music circuit in South Florida and abroad.
She was born in the Netherlands to an artist painter (father) and a piano teacher (mother). She studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Jean Decroos (principal cellist in the Concertgebouw orchestra) & Rene van Ast before moving to the United States where she studied with madame Raya Garbousova. She is a winner of the Edith Stein Concours in the Netherlands (on flute) and the Concerto Competition at Northern Illinois University (on cello).
Ms van Eck participated in master classes with Paul and Maude Tortellier and at the Piattigorsky Seminar in Los Angeles she studied with William Pleeth, Lyn Harrell and Jeffrey Solow and at the Cleveland Chamber music Seminar with Joseph Gingold and the Guarneri Quartet.  
Iris van Eck’s first recording together with Dutch pianist Arielle Vernède, “Works for cello & Piano by Women Composers” (Henriette Bosmans, Louise Farrenc and Rebecca Clarke) was released last December by Eroica Classical Recordings (www.eroica,com)
A recording of Faure’s complete works for cello and piano together with Kemal Gekic is still in the editing stages
She plays a beautiful French cello made by Bernardel Pere in 1831. 

Misha Dacic
After performing at the "Martha Argerich Project Festival" in 2003 in Lugano, Switzerland, Misha Dacic made his American debut at the Discovery Series of the Sixth Miami International Piano Festival. In 2004 he was featured at Ravinia's Rising Stars Series in Chicago, followed by Gilmore Keyboard Festival Rising Stars Recital Series in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He performed at the Xavier University Classical Piano Series in Cincinnati in 2004 and 2005, at Princeton University (New Jersey) in Edna Golandsky's Symposium, and made his New York debut at the Leschetitzky Piano Series in 2005, and in Guatemala at the Eighth Festival Internacional de Cultura Paiz in Antigua. The same year Dacic performed a Horowitz Tribute concert for The Frederic Chopin Society's Concert Series at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was re-invited to Guatemala to perform for the prestigious Mosaico Festival.
Misha Dacic was born in 1978 in the former Yugoslavia, into a family with a musical tradition. Dacic first came to public attention at age 11 when he performed with the local orchestra in his birth city. Shortly afterwards, he entered the class of Kemal Gekic at the University of Novi Sad in Yugoslavia, where he received his early training. In 1998, at the invitation of Lazar Berman, Dacic enrolled at the prestigious school for pianists in Imola, Italy, where he studied with Berman for over five years.
Dacic, a recipient of support from the Patrons of Exceptional Artists, graduated in 2006 from the University of Miami, where he pursued advanced piano studies with Frank Cooper. Dacic received the 2006 University of Miami Alumni Association Student of Distinction Award and was chosen for inclusion in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities, 2005-2006 editions. He pursues a Masters in Music with Kemal Gekic at Gekic at Florida International University.