Concert Details

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004 at 7PM
Merkin Concert Hall
Benefit Concert for the Concert Artists Guild Featuring the Winners of the Concert Artists Guild Competition

David Bernard, Conductor
Christina Jennings, Flute
First Prize, 2001 Concert Artists Guild International Competition
Judith Ingolfsson, Violin
First Prize, 1998 Concert Artists Guild International Competition
John Mackey, Composer

Mackey "Under the Rug"
World Premier--Commissioned for the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
Mozart Concerto for Flute in D, K. 314
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Op. 64
Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Op. 92

Pictures from this Event

Left: Concert Artists Guild executives Denise B. Dailey, Chairman and Richard S. Weinert, President greet audience members prior to the concert.  Right: The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony performing the World Premier of "Under the Rug" by John Mackey, David Bernard conducting.

Left: Christina Jennings performing the Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2 with The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, David Bernard conducting. Right Judith Ingolfsson performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, David Bernard conducting.

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony performing Beethoven Symphony No. 7, David Bernard conducting

About the Soloists

Violinist JUDITH INGOLFSSON has established herself internationally as a musician of uncompromising musical maturity and extraordinary technical command. She commanded world attention in 1998 by winning both the Gold Medal at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. She has been praised in glowing terms by such journals as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Other awards include a top prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy and a 2001 Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award for her debut CD on the Catalpa Classics label. After making her debut as orchestral soloist at the age of eight in Germany, Judith Ingolfsson went on to perform with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony and National Symphony of Washington, D.C. In October 2000, she was heard as soloist with the Iceland Symphony on a 15-city North American tour, highlighted by a concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Ms. Ingolfsson has collaborated with such conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Leonard Slatkin, and Raymond Leppard. In recital, she has performed throughout the United States and abroad, notably at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Grand Teton Music Festival, and Reykjavik Arts Festival in Iceland. An avid chamber musician, she has recently performed with the Miami String Quartet, the Avalon String Quartet and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. Ms. Ingolfsson has appeared on many radio and television broadcasts, beginning with a performance on Icelandic TV at the age of five. Since then she has been seen on PBS, “CBS Sunday Morning,” and Japan’s National Broadcasting Company (NHK). In 1999, National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” named her “Debut Artist of the Year.” Judith Ingolfsson performs on the 1736 Antonio Stradivarius violin, “Muntz,” generously provided on loan by the Nippon Music Foundation. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, she currently makes her home in New York City with her husband, pianist Ronald Sat. 

Praised for her virtuoso technique, rich tone and imaginative programming, Christina Jennings has established a reputation as one of the top flutists of her generation. Winner at the 50th Anniversary 2001 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Ms. Jennings is the first flutist in 15 years to win the coveted award. In addition to this honor, she received First Prize at the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, National Flute Association, and William C. Byrd Competition. Ms. Jennings has also won medals in the Kingsville Young Artist, Midland-Odessa, New York Flute Club and Flute Talk competitions.
     Highlights of Ms. Jennings' recent and upcoming concert schedule includes her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall along with guests artists Carol Wincenc and the Avalon String Quartet, recital appearances at Colgate University and Kansas State University, and concerto appearances with the Waterbury Symphony under Music Director Leif Bjaland and the Lawton Philharmonic. She was recently featured as a cover story in Flute Talk magazine as one of the most promising young flutists in the United States. As a soloist, she has performed with the Houston Symphony and Ballet, Canton Symphony, Flint Symphony, Midland-Odessa Symphony, Vermont Philharmonic, Cleveland Philharmonic, Orquestra de Camara of Merida, Mexico, the Shepherd Chamber Orchestra, and the Pro Arte Symphony of Cambridge, England. Ms. Jennings was featured on PBS's critically acclaimed Marsalis on Music with Seiji Ozawa, Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis.
    Christina Jennings received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at The Juilliard School, where she earned the Nina Caruso Prize for Outstanding Achievement. In 1996, she was awarded a Frank Huntington Beebe Grant to pursue studies in London and Paris. Her teachers include Jeanne Baxtresser, Carol Wincenc, George Pope and Leone Buyse.
     Ms. Jennings served as Principal Flute with Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, where she was awarded the CD Jackson Prize. She also held principal positions with Orchestra X, Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, and as Principal Piccolo with the Houston Grand Opera. Ms. Jennings has worked under the baton of Maestros Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, James DePriest, Christoph Eschenbach and Bernard Haitink. Her Chamber music activities include regular performances with Serendipity and The Harpswell Trio, a flute, harp and viola ensemble with her husband, violist Matthew Dane.
      While at The Juilliard School, Ms. Jennings was the teaching assistant to Samuel Baron. Her faculty positions have included the Bloomingdale House of Music, Bowdoin Summer Festival, and Greenwood Music camp. She was recently appointed Flute Professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and in the past has served as an instructor at The University of Oklahoma and Assistant Director for the New Century Ensemble.

John Mackey has received numerous commissions from the Parsons Dance Company, as well as commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the Dallas Theater Center, the New York Youth Symphony, The Juilliard School's Dance and Drama divisions, Ailey 2, Peridance Ensemble, Southern Methodist University, and Jeanne Ruddy Dance, among many others. Recent commissions include a new work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in collaboration with choreographer Robert Battle (premiering December 2003 at City Center), and a score for New York City Ballet's New York Choreographic Institute in collaboration with choreographer Melissa Barak.
     Mr. Mackey's works have received performances at the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, BAM, the Kennedy Center, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Alice Tully Hall, the Joyce Theater, and throughout Italy, Chile, Japan, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, England, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States. His orchestral music has received performances by over a dozen American youth orchestras, including those in New York, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. His first orchestral work, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," has been commercially recorded by both the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony and the Portland Youth Philharmonic.
     Mr. Mackey was the first Music Director of the Parsons Dance Company, a position he held from 1999-2002. In 2002, Mr. Mackey was selected as a Meet-The-Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League "Music Alive" fellow, through which he served as Composer in Residence with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony in 2002-2003. Mr. Mackey will serve as Composer in Residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in 2004.
     To entertain himself while procrastinating on commissions, John is a cycling enthusiast. He enjoys many sorts of music, ranging from Jewel to Tool.