Artist Series presents

Sonatas for Violin and featuring Maria Sampen, violin and Oksana Ezhokina, piano

Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 3 pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Pacific Lutheran University School of Arts and Communication / Department of Music presents:

Artist Series

Sonatas for Violin and Piano Maria Sampen, violin Oksana Ezhokina, piano

Saturday, November 14, 2015, at 3 pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Welcome to Lagerquist Concert Hall. Please disable the audible signal on all watches, pagers and cellular phones for the duration of the concert. Use of cameras, recording equipment and all digital devices is not permitted in the concert hall.

PROGRAM

Scherzo in C Minor for Violin and Piano, WoO 2 ...... Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major, Op. 100 ...... Johannes Brahms Allegro amabile Andante tranquillo – Vivace Allegretto grazioso

INTERMISSION

Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in A Minor, Op. 25 ...... George Enescu (1881-1955) Moderato malinconico Andante sostenuto e misterioso Allegro con brio, ma non troppo mosso

About the Artists

Russian-born pianist Oksana Ezhokina appears frequently as guest recitalist and chamber musician on concert series across the United States and abroad. She has soloed with the Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic and Tacoma Symphony, and performed in venues such as the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Governor’s Mansion in Olympia, Davies Orchestra Hall in San Francisco, and Klassik Keyifler Festival in Turkey. A dedicated performer of new music, she has premiered works by Marilyn Shrude, Wayne Horvitz, Bern Herbolsheimer, and Laura Kaminsky, among others. She has been featured on multiple live radio broadcasts on such stations as WFMT-Chicago, KUOW and KING FM in Seattle, and Maine Public Radio. Her collaborations include concerts with the Seattle Chamber Players, Avalon String Quartet, pianist Christina Dahl, violinists Ian Swensen, Paul Kantor and Andrew Jennings, and cellists Johannes Moser and Anthony Elliott, among others.

Ezhokina holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Stony Brook University. She is the pianist of the Volta Piano Trio, whose recordings for Con Brio label received accolades in multiple international music magazines, such as The Strad, Gramophone and American Record Guide. A sought-after teacher, Ezhokina is Chair of the Piano Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University. She has given piano and masterclasses in colleges and universities across the US and is in demand as an adjudicator. Additionally, she is Artistic Director of several flagship classical music programs at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, including the International Chamber Music Festival/Institute, Winter Piano Festival and Young Pianists Camp.

Violinist Maria Sampen enjoys a vibrant musical career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, recording artist and teacher. She is in demand as a performer of both standard repertoire and new and experimental works. Her performing engagements have taken her to Europe, Asia, Canada, and across the United States and on several radio broadcasts throughout the country, including live appearances on KING FM in Seattle, and public radio stations in Michigan, Nevada, Indiana, and Illinois. During the academic year, she performs frequently with her new music group, Brave New Works, the IRIS Orchestra, and the Puget Sound Piano Trio. Along with her husband, Tim Christie, she spends summers performing at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival in Eastern Washington.

Sampen holds bachelor and doctoral degrees in violin performance from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music degree from Rice University. She has also attended the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg, Austria. Her major teachers include Paul Kantor, Kenneth Goldsmith, and Paul Makara. She has received grants from American Composers Alliance and Aaron Copland Fund. As a recording artist, she is featured on Brave New Works’ recording of quintets by Bolcom and Albright as well as on a new recording of chamber works by Marilyn Shrude. Professor of Violin at University of Puget Sound, Sampen has received the university’s Thomas A. Davis Teaching Award for teaching excellence as well as the university’s John Lantz Senior Fellowship for Research and Advanced Study in teaching. Her students have won top awards in numerous competitions, attended summer music festivals around the world and have gone on to leading graduate programs throughout the country.

2015-2016 Artist Series: Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Building Pacific Lutheran University

Stavanger Cathedral Choir, Sunday, October 4, 2015, 5:30 pm City of Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 7, 2015, 8 pm IWO Quartet, Friday, October 9, 2015, 8 pm South Sound Saxophone Ensemble, Sunday, October 11, 2015, 5:30 pm Sonatas for Violin and Piano, feat. Maria Sampen, violin and Oksana Ezhokina, piano, Saturday, November 14, 2015, 3 pm The Best of Early Music Concert, Sunday, November 15, 2015, 3 pm Nordic Choir, Thursday, January 14, 2016, 7 pm Erik Steighner, Saxophone Recital, Friday, February 12, 2016, 8 pm Raymond DeLeon, Guest Trumpeter, Saturday, February 13, 2016, 3 pm Anna Hersey, Soprano, Thursday, February 18, 2016, 8 pm Bryan Hall, Violinist, Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 8 pm Guitar Faculty Concert, Saturday, February 27, 2016, 5 pm Cameron Bennett, Pianist, and Friends, Sunday, February 28, 2016, 3 pm Early Music Concert, Sunday, April 24, 2016, 3 pm Jennifer Rhyne, Flute, and Catherine Case, Harp, Saturday, April 30, 2016, 5:30 pm