Valerie Malvinni will play a viola recital on March 4, 2012 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State Street, Santa Barbara at 3 pm. Accompanying her on piano will be Margaret Halbig.
The program’s first half features Bach’s Cello Suite no. 3 in C major, arranged for viola, and Belgian composer Henri Vieuxtemps’s (1820-81) Viola Sonata in B-flat major. The second half continues with two more viola sonatas: Brahms’s F-minor (op. 120/1), and the contemporary American composer Jennifer Higdon’s (b. 1962) from 1991. Rounding out the performance are arrangements for viola of the Spanish Dance no. 2, “Orientale” by Enrique Granados (1867-1916), and “La Campanella” by the Italian violin virtuoso, Niccolò Paganini (1782-1940).
BIOS: Valerie Malvinni, violin and viola, is a member of the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. She can frequently be seen performing with the LA Philharmonic at both Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Currently Valerie is the Director of the Suzuki Violin School of Santa Barbara (www.suzukiviolinsb.com) and Assistant Director of Santa Barbara Strings. She is Adjunct Professor at Westmont College and Santa Barbara City College. She began her musical training with the Suzuki violin method at the age of five. Valerie received her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music under Karen Tuttle, Joseph de Pasquale and Felix Galimir. While at Curtis, she was a member of the Rose String Quartet, which performed at Carnegie Hall. After Curtis, Valerie became a member of the Young Artist String Quartet and studied with Heiichiro Ohyama at UC Santa Barbara, where she holds her MM in Viola. As a DMA student at UC Los Angeles, Valerie worked with Paul Coletti. Valerie and her husband own and operate Santa Barbara Stringed Instruments, where they sell and rent violins, violas, cellos, doublebasses and guitars. They have two children, age 7 and 4 1/2, who are both playing the violin. (www.sbstringedinstruments.com)
Margaret recently completed a Doctorate in collaborative piano from UC Santa Barbara. During her time there, she worked as a pianist for Opera Santa Barbara, Westmont College, First Congregational Church, and San Marcos High School. This summer, Margaret relocated to the Bay area and is working as a freelance musician.
