Vladimir Valjarevic, Piano

Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pianist Vladimir Valjarevic went to New York City on a scholarship from the Mannes College of Music, where he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees as a recipient of the Marian Marcus Wahl Performance Award. His principal teachers were Pavlina Dokovska and Vladimir Feltsman. Prior to studying at Mannes, Vladimir Valjarevic attended the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and the Conservatory of Music of Belgrade (both in Serbia) in the class of Arbo Vladma. He has participated in festivals such as IMS Prussia Cove in England; American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France; International Festival-Institute at Round Top in Texas; International Keyboard Institute and Beethoven Institute in New York; Kneisel Hall in Maine (as a recipient of the Artur Balsam Scholarship); and European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) in Rovigno, Croatia. As a soloist and a chamber musician, Vladimir Valjarevic has won numerous prizes at National Competitions in former Yugoslavia as well as at the "Citta di Stresa" and "Citta di Marsala" International Competitions in Italy. He has recorded for Yugoslav Radio and Television and the Voice of America. His latest CD, Tribute to Fauré, is recorded for Labor Records.

In the United States, Vladimir Valjarevic has performed at the Southwest Virginia Festival for the Arts; Manchester Music Festival and Middlebury College in Vermont; The Pro-Mozart Society in Atlanta, GA; DePaul University in Chicago, IL; as well as on the concert series of the Siena College in Albany, NY; "Young Musicians Forum" in Schenectady, NY; the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.; Polish Consulate, American Society for Jewish Music, Donnell Library, "Music Under Constrution", Greenwich House Music School, Musica Reginae Productions, and "Meet the Virtuosos" at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. He has performed at various venues in New York City including Weill Recital Hall, Markin Hall, Steiway Hall, The United Nations, Goethe Institute, The Liederkranz, French Consulate, New School's Tishman Auditorium, and Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, among others. His European concert activity took him to England, France, Italy, The Netherlands, and former Yugoslavia. In the United States, Vladimir Valjarevic has apeared with the Youngstown and Knoxville Symphonies, Bridgeport Youth Orchestra, and in Serbia with Camerata Academica and Nish Chamber Orchestra. He has worked with conductors Isaiah Jackson, Daniel Meyer, Cornelia Laemmli, Johannes Somary, Robert Genualdi, Mladen Jagust. Vladimir Valjarevic has performed works under the direction of contemporary composers: Lukas Foss, James Cohn, David Teimpidis, Benjamin Lees, Michael Cohen, Ellen Lindquist. He has often collaborated with musicologist Nancy Reich in her highly acclaimed lectures on Clara Schumann, as well as with AmorArtis Chamber Orchestra, The Boys Choir of Harlem, and "The Piano Quartet on the Balcony" at the Metropolitan Museum. He is a co-founder of "Trio 56" with violinist Stephen Miahky and cellist Ole Eirik Ree.

Vladimir Valjarevic teaches piano at Mannes Preparatory and Extension divisions. In addition, he is the teaching assistant of Pavlina Dokovska in the College division. Currently, he is a Doctoral Candidate at Rutgers University where he receives Saldarini and Fazier-Durham Awards and studies with Susan Starr.

Ole Eirik Ree, Cellist

An experienced chamber musician, Ole Ree has performed and recorded with The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Oslo Camerata, Camerata Roman (Sweden), The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Trondheim Soloists, and The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York; Jade String Trio and The Fartein Valen String Quartet. In the summer of 2002, Ole Ree was acting principal of Daejon Symphony Orchestra, South Korea. He is a founding member of the piano trio Trio 56, appearing, among other venues, at Steinway Hall in Manhattan, New York; Pro-Mozart Series in Atlanta, Georgia; Ohio; and New Jersey during the 2005 season. These engagements have further led to extensive tours throughout most of Europe as well as in Japan, Nigeria, and The Americas.

As a soloist, Ole Ree has performed Johannes Brahms: "Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra" (with Henning Kraggerud) during the Oslo International Chamber Music Festival; C.P.E. Bach: "Concerto in A for Cello and String Orchestra" with Oslo Camerata on tour in Spain; John Tavener: "The Protecting Veil" (Norwegian first performance); and recently won the Rutgers Concerto Competition with J. Haydn: "Concerto in D." He continues to show a great interest in contemporary music and has been awarded dedications such as Dagfinn Koch: "Formasjoner - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra;" Gerald Chenoweth: "Duo" (violin and cello) and "Dark Alleys" (with Concert Marimbist and Percussionist She-e Wu). In 2002, his participation as a member of the Quartet in Residence during Kristiansund Kirke Kunst og Kultur Festival, Norway, boasted the world premiere of a choreographed version of Gyorgy Ligeti: "String Quartet No 2."

Dr. Ree is on the faculty of The University of Wisconsin International Chamber Music Festival, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Rutgers University, New Jersey where he studied with Zara Nelsova. In 2004, he was awarded the "Irene Alm Memorial Prize for a doctoral student showing Excellence in Performance and Scholarly Research" by the faculty of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Jersey.

Stephen Miahky, Violinist

A native of Akron, Ohio, Stephen Miahky is currently a doctoral fellow at Rutgers University studying with Arnold Steinhardt. He received his B. M. and M. M. from the University of Michigan where he studied with Stephen Shipps and Paul Kantor. He remains the only two-time recipient of the Earl V. Moore Award for outstanding achievement from the University of Michigan School of Music.

Stephen Miahky held the position of Associate Concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony from 1998 - 2003. He has also held concertmaster positions with the Aspen Sinfonia, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Plymouth Symphony, the Canton Chamber Orchestra, and the Michigan Sinfonietta, Stephen has also held principal roles with the NOI Philharmonic and the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra. He is currently concertmaster of the Rutgers University Orchestra and performs with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra based in Germantown, Tennessee.

As a chamber musician, Stephen Miahky has been associated with the Omni and Rosseels String Quartets. He has been a frequent performer with Chamber Music Ann Arbor and the Michigan Chamber Players. From 1999 - 2000, he was a Young Artist-in-Residence at the Strings in the Mounts Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He has performed with such distinguished musicians as Martin Beaver, Nick Eanet, Martin Katz, Norman Fischer, Steven Doane, David Hardy, Chris Brown, Andrew Jennings, Anthony Elliott, Yizhak Schotten, Erling Bengtsson, Yehonatan Berick, and members of the Tokyo, Arianna, and Chester String Quartets. He currently performs with Brave New Works, a contemporary music ensemble dedicated to enrichment and education through new music. With Brave New Works, Stephen has presented master classes at Tufts University, Lewis and Clark College, and the University of the Puget Sound. He is a founding member of Trio 56, with pianist Vladimir Valjarevic and cellist Ole Eirik Ree.

Stephen Miahky has performed as soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony, The University of Michigan Philharmonia, the Nashvegas Chamber Orchestra, and the Brave New Works Ensemble. He has won several competitions including the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Competition, The University of Michigan Concerto Competition, the Louis Lane Competition, and the Virtu Foundation Scholarship.

During the summers, he has continued his studies at the Sewanee Summer Music Center, the ENCORE School for Strings, the Meadowmount School of Music, Kent/Blossom Music, Strings in the Mountains, the National Arts Centre, and the Aspen Music Festival as a fellowship student. Among his other interests are an intense following of college football and basketball, as well as film and cooking.

Program

Artists' Biographies