The Program

Mozart: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 481
Beethoven: Sonata in F Major, Op. 24, “Spring”
Finko: Violin Sonata [World Premiere]
Saint-Saens: Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 75 

The Artists

American violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn made her New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2000 with the New York String Orchestra and soon thereafter appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music.  She performs in partnership with one of the world’s most legendary instruments, the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius of 1720, said to have inspired the Academy award-winning film The Red Violin.  A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Ms. Pitcairn began studying the violin at age three and performed her first concerto with orchestra at 14. Her path brought her to Los Angeles to study with preeminent violin professor Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.  She made her New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2000 with the New York String Orchestra, and she appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music.  Ms. Pitcairn's 2010-11 engagements include a debut performance at Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall and the complete Vivaldi Four Seasons with the Marin Symphony conducted by Alasdair Neale.  She is currently a member of the distinguished faculty at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles.  For more information on Elizabeth Pitcairn visit www.elizabethpitcairn.com.

Born in 1962, American pianist Marcantonio Barone made his debut at the age of ten at a Philadelphia Orchestra children's concert.  He returned in 1990 as soloist with the Orchestra's subscription series under the direction of William Smith.  He has collaborated with such eminent conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Leon Fleisher, Arther Fiedler, and Barry Tuckwell.  His recital engagements in America and abroad have included Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, and the National Gallery.  A prize winner at both the 1985 Busoni and 1987 Leeds Competitions, Mr. Barone also won the 1996-97 Musical Fund Society Award.  He performs chamber music frequently with the Lenape Chamber Ensemble, 1807 and Friends, Orchestra 2001, and many other groups. An active champion of new music, he has given the world premiere performances of works by several distinguished composers, including George Rochberg, David Finko, and Gerald Levinson.  He serves on the faculty of Swarthmore College and the Bryn Mawr Conservatory, where he is head of the piano department.