Posted February 27, 2009

Boyer's Schmieder and iPalpiti Orchestra make Kimmel debut tonight

Boyer College of Music and Dance ensemble-in-residence iPalpiti Orchestra, an acclaimed international group featuring eight Temple students, will make its debut at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia tonight (7:30 p.m.) under the direction of conductor Eduard Schmieder, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Music at Boyer.

On Thursday, March 5, iPalpiti will make its triumphant return to Carnegie Hall in New York (Zankel Hall, 7:30 p.m.). A New York Times review of iPalpiti's Carnegie Hall performance in 2007 called the ensemble an "orchestra of standouts…noteworthy for its unity of purpose and blend. It was as if the musicians' hearts were beating to the same buoyant rhythm."

Photo by Dana Ross

Boyer College of Music and Dance ensemble-in-residence iPalpiti Orchestra, an acclaimed international group featuring eight Temple students.

The program on both nights opens with Georges Enescu's "Prélude à l'unisson," followed by "Musica dolorosa" by Peteris Vasks, Malcolm Arnold's "Concerto for two violins and string orchestra” (with Boyer student Catharina Chen of Norway and Alexandru Tomescu of Romania on violin) and Edvard Grieg's "Serenade for strings," Op. 27a.

iPalpiti (Italian for "heartbeat") has performed to sold-out audiences in Amsterdam, Salzburg, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Jerusalem, and is invited as ensemble-in-residence to festivals in Austria, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland and Slovenia. The orchestra's players range in age from 19 to 30 and represent 20 nations, earning the ensemble the nickname of "the Musical Peace Corps."

Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Violinist and conductor Eduard Schmieder (left), the Boyer College of Music and Dance’s Laura H. Carnell Professor of Violin, with Catharina Chen of Norway, who has performed as a soloist since the age of 8 and already has been accompanied by a number of professional orchestras. Chen is currently a student in Boyer.

"Under the direction of Professor Schmieder, iPalpiti has been established as one of the most distinguished and exciting chamber orchestras performing today," said Robert T. Stroker, dean of Boyer. "Its international membership reflects the diversity that is a hallmark of Temple."

Born and educated in Russia, Schmieder been described as an "extraordinary musician of the late 20th century" and is universally considered one of the finest violin pedagogues of his generation. Schmieder joined Boyer in 2006 after serving as the Distinguished Algur H. Meadows Chair of Violin and Chamber Music at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and a tenured professor of the violin at the University of Southern California, the position formerly held by Jascha Heifetz.

For iPalpiti's Kimmel Center performance on March 2, tickets are available online at www.kimmelcenter.org. To qualify for student and senior discounts, tickets must be purchased at the box office or by phone (215-893-1999).

Tickets for the Carnegie Hall performance on March 5 are available online at www.carnegiehall.org.

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