Sunday, May 27, 2018 • 3:00 p.m.
Rami Solomonow Memorial Concert
DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Sunday, May 27, 2018 • 3:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall
Rami Solomonow Memorial Concert
Program Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) String Quintet in G Minor, K. 516 III. Adagio ma non troppo
Alexander Belavsky, violin Olga Kaler, violin Li-Kuo Chang, viola Wei-Ting Kuo, viola Brant Taylor, cello
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26 I. Allegro non troppo
Janet Sung, violin Lawrence Neuman, viola Stephen Balderston, cello George Vatchnadze, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750); arr. I. Nodaira Ciaconna from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
Annika Sundberg, viola Caleb Henry, viola Kevin Lin, viola Seth Pae, viola Rami Solomonow Memorial Concert • May 27, 2018 Program Franz Schubert (1797-1828) String Quintet in C Major, D. 956, Op. post. 163 II. Adagio
Ilya Kaler, violin Olga Kaler, violin Anthony Devroye, viola Ben Solomonow, cello Daniel Kaler, cello
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Silent Woods, Op. 68, No. 5
Ben Solomonow, cello Beilin Han, piano
Edward Elgar (1857-1934); arr. C. Henry Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 (“Enigma”) Variation IX: Adagio (“Nimrod”)
Viola Choir with DePaul Students, Alumni and Friends Cliff Colnot, conductor
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48 III. Élégie: Larghetto elegiaco
String Orchestra Cliff Colnot, conductor Rami Solomonow Memorial Concert • May 27, 2018 Rami Solomonow
Rami Solomonow, a beloved Chicago musician and DePaul University faculty member for more than three decades, was born in Tel Aviv. Rami played in the young state’s youth orchestra, including a tour with famed actor/comedian of the 40’s and 50’s, Danny Kaye. He served for two years in the Israeli Defense Forces as a medic before studying at the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music - an institution whose founders were all central-European immigrants who had fled to Israel just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Among this core group of founders was Oedoen Partos, Rami’s principal teacher. He was also a member of the Israel Chamber Orchestra until 1972 and received prizes in viola and chamber music from the American-Israel Foundation.
In 1973 Rami moved to the United States to study with Shmuel Ashkenasi at Northern Illinois University. No more than a year after his arrival, he was appointed principal violist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago - a position he held for more than two decades, only leaving in 1995 to become a founding member of the Chicago String Quartet.
It was in 1981 that Rami joined the faculty of the DePaul University School of Music. While he continued to maintain an impressive performance schedule, he also began to transition his focus to teaching and mentoring young musicians - a role that he took on with incredible seriousness and care.
As a soloist and member of Chicago Chamber Musicians, Rami performed in the United States, Israel, Japan and South America. It was as a member of CCM that he was nominated for a Grammy Award for the ensemble’s recording of Mozart chamber works for strings and winds. He performed works with Menahem Pressler, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Rose, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz, Edgar Meyer, Christoph Eschenbach, Midori, Robert McDonald and members of the Guarneri, Borodin and Juilliard Quartets.
Rami Solomonow is remembered as an esteemed colleague, a treasured musician, a compassionate mentor and an exemplary friend.