Gala Concert – Hein Jung soprano, Grigorios Zamparas piano, Scott Kluksdahl cello
Two internationally acclaimed artists, soprano coloratura Hein Jung and pianist Grigorios Zamparas, join forces in a Gala concert, including lieder by F. Schubert such as the heavenly lyrical ‘Ave Maria’ as well as beloved arias of the operatic repertoire like the virtuosic ‘O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn” (“Oh, don’t tremble my dear son”) from Mozart’s Magic Flute. The concert also features esteemed American cellist Scott Kluksdahl.
Biographical Notes
Acclaimed for her “superior vocal value” (Boston Globe), “the perfect voice-terrific ease in her upper register and a silvery clear tone” (American Record Guide), Soprano Hein Jung has performed internationally with Bucheon Civic Philharmonic and Choir (South Korea), Lyum Orchestra (South Korea), InterHarmony International Orchestra (Italy), Indianapolis Opera, The Florida Orchestra, Opera Tampa, Tanglewood Music Festival, San Francisco Opera Merola Program, Milwaukee Symphony, Madison Opera, St. Petersburg Opera (FL), Bel Canto Chorus, Tampa Oratorios Singers. Equally beloved on the concert stage, Ms. Jung has performed recitals on such prominent series as Carnegie Hall, Royal Conservatory of Musik (Sweden), Sarasota Concert Association, Artist Series of Sarasota, University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Se-Jong Art Hall (South Korea), Kumho Recital Series (South Korea) and American Liszt Society Annual Festivals at North Texas University and California State University at North Ridge. In 2023-2024 season, she will be appearing in concerts at International Portoheli Music Festival (Greece), Fone Classical Series (South Korea), St. Pete Baroque Ensemble, Youngstown State University, Sarasota Concert Artist Series and UW-Madison Hamel Music Center.
Hein Jung has recognized as a versatile performer, delighting audiences in such varied repertoire as, Olympia (Tales of Hoffmann), Zerbinetta(Ariadne auf Naxos), Die Königin der Nacht(Die Zauberflöte), Blanche(Dialogue des Carmelites), Romilda(Serse), Lucia(Rape ofLucretia), Sophie(Der Rosenkavalier), and Amina(La Sonnambula). On the concert stage, she has been heard as soloist in Messiah (Handel), The C minor Mass (Mozart), Lord Nelson Mass (Haydn), Gloria (Poulenc), Cantata BWV. 51 and 21(Bach), Bachianas Brazileiras No. 5(Villa-Lobos), Chants D’Auvergne(Canteloube) and Ch’io mi scordi di te, K.505(Mozart).
Praised as an advocate of contemporary music, Ms. Jung performed both the lead roles in the world premiere of Rage d’amour, commissioned by Tanglewood, as well as the lead role of Princess Pocachin in The Red Silk Thread, commissioned by University of Florida and Curtis Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and Song Arirang by Zach Browning who dedicated the chamber piece to her.
Jung has won top prizes throughout her career. These include the Jung has won top prizes throughout her career. These include the Metropolitan Opera National Council-Wisconsin District and Upper Midwest Region-Audition, Irma Cooper International Competition and Schubert Competition.
As a passionate vocal educator, Dr. Jung currently serves as Professor of Voice and Director of Opera program at The University of Tampa where her voice students have enjoyed significant achievements locally, nationally, and internationally. Recently, UT Opera Workshop’s American Opera Scenes was invited to perform in Opera at Dali at Dali Museum. Dr. Jung has been a guest speaker to New York State School Association conference on “Emergent Voice-How to Sing Freely”, and International Congress of Voice Teachers presenting “Songs of Franz Liszt”.
Grigorios Zamparas has received rave reviews for his performances in recitals, chamber music concerts and orchestral concerts in Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Russia, Latin America, South Korea and the United States. He frequently appears in various festivals around the world, such as the famous Newport Music Festival (Rhode Island, USA), Mainly Mozart Festival (Miami, USA), Artist Series of Sarasota (USA), Salon of the Arts (Sofia, Bulgaria), the International Portoheli Festival e.t.c. Furthermore, he has appeared as a soloist in more than twenty different piano concertos, with orchestras such as the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Neo-Politan Chamber Orchestra, the Togliati Philharmonic (Russia), the Sofia Soloists (Bulgaria) and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic). He is an assistant professor of music and head of the piano department at the University of Tampa in the United States, as well as member of the Quartet de Minaret, a piano quartet based at the same university. In the academic year 2010-2011 he received the Outstanding Scholarship or Creative Work Award. Grigorios Zamparas started studying piano at the age of seven, while he received his piano diploma from the Lamia Conservatory in 1995 with the distinguished Greek teacher Yorgos Manessis. He holds a DMA from the University of Miami where he studied with Ivan Davis, a student of Vladimir Horowitz. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Indiana (MM), the University of Indianapolis (BM) and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since 1993 he has appeared continuously at the International Portoheli Festival where he has performed more than 300 works. Recently, the American label Centaur Records released G. Zambara’s recordings of the five Piano Concertos of the Russian composer Anton Rubinstein.
Cellist Scott Kluksdahl has performed for nearly four decades as chamber musician, recitalist and soloist in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Central and South America.
Following a daring New York debut program of cutting-edge modern works at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Strings Magazine identified Scott Kluksdahl as “a simply superb cellist, playing with consummate technical ease, a beautiful sound, total conviction, authority and dedication to the music.” Scott Kluksdahl’s devotion to the works of current composers is widely regarded, and he is known for his close affiliations with Nicolas Bacri, Richard Brodhead, David Del Tredici, Robert Helps, Gunther Schuller, Augusta Read Thomas and Richard Wernick, whose works he has commissioned, studied, and recorded. He has also collaborated with Benjamin C.S. Boyle, Tamar Diesendruck, Philip Lasser, Eric Moe, Laura Elise Schwendinger and Scott Wheeler, and he has worked closely with American legends Leonard Bernstein, Elliott Carter, Andrew Inbrie, Donald Martino, and Ralph Shapey. As cello soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Kluksdahl premiered Philip Lasser’s Vocalise for Cello and Orchestra at Symphony Hall, and he has made acclaimed recordings of many of these composers’ works on the CRI, Centaur, Triton, Pierian, Nimbus, Crystal, and Albany labels.
Scott Kluksdahl presented his solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony, and since then he has performed a broad gamut of his instrument’s repertory throughout the entire United States and in the major musical centers of New York City, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Kluksdahl has been heard in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, BargeMusic, Dame Myra Hess Series, Phillips Collection and Tanglewood Music Festival, and continues to perform the complete cycle of Bach Suites for cello, notably at the Oregon and Philadelphia Bach Festivals. He has been a frequent a guest chamber artist at the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Music from Salem, Killington Music Festival, Craftsbury Chamber Players, Lancaster Music Festival, and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. Scott Kluksdahl was a founding member of the Lions Gate Trio for two decades. He also performed as cellist of the Veronika String Quartet, and he has been a guest artist with numerous ensembles including DaPonte, Miami and Pacifica String Quartets.
Scott Kluksdahl serves as Professor of Cello at the University of South Florida, where he is a designated Theodore and Venette Askounes-Ashford Distinguished Scholar, and he has presented master classes in such institutions as Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, Boston Conservatory, Northwestern University, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He teaches summers at the Brancaleoni International and the ARIA International Summer Festivals, as well as at the Cello Seminar at the Brown Farm in Salem, New York. Mr. Kluksdahl’s commitment to teaching prompted the renowned cellist Zara Nelsova to remark, “It is rare to find a cellist who is equally at home as a concert artist as well as a great pedagogue. In my opinion Scott Kluksdahl has one of the great talents of his generation.”
Highlights of Scott Kluksdahl’s recent season included performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s quartet works with the Veronika String Quartet, world premieres of Richard Brodhead’s Duo for Cello and Piano with his longtime sonata colleague, the pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera, and a Florida first performance of H.K. Gruber’s Concerto in One Movement for cello and orchestra. Additionally, he oversees a series of three community programs as the artistic director of ‘If Music Be the Food…’ a collaborative chamber music outreach that brings attention and assistance to hunger issues in the Tampa Bay community and the greater west coast region of Florida. (www.ifmusicbethefood.com)