Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Santa Monica Symphony Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Jan. 16; Sphinx Laureate Danielle Belén, Violinist

[Danielle Belén]

Sunday, January 16, 2011, 3:30 pm
SGI Auditorium
525 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica

Santa Monica Symphony
Allen Robert Gross, conductor

Revueltas: Redes
Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 5
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation")

Violinist Danielle Belén, First Prize winner of the 2008 Sphinx Competition, releases her debut recording with Naxos later this year. Ms. Belén recently performed as soloist with the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops, and the Florida and Cleveland Orchestras. Zachary Lewis from the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote "Violinist Danielle Belén... captivated every ear with an assured, impassioned performance of Ravel's "Tzigane," knocking off the daunting showpiece as if it were a trifle." She has recently enjoyed working with conductors such as Franz Welser-Mostt, Robert Spano, Keith Lockhart, and Carl St. Clair.

A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, Ms. Belén is now on faculty at the Colburn School. With a growing violin studio of her own, and also teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett, she loves to work with young aspiring talent. She enjoys teaching master classes and leading community engagements across the country in conjunction with her professional performance appearances. Ms. Belén is the founder and Artistic Director of Center Stage Strings, a summer camp and performance festival for gifted young musicians in Three Rivers, California. Ms. Belén plays on a 1709 Allessandro Gagliano violin from the Mandell Collection of Southern California.

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