The International Music Institute and Festival USA

2017 Faculty & Guest Artists

Violin/Viola:
Blanka BEDNARZ
Emmanuel BOROWSKY
Jonathan CARNEY
James STERN

Cello:
Cecylia BARCZYK
Frances BOROWSKY

Piano:
Elizabeth BOROWSKY
Brian GANZ
Dan WEISER

Workshops:
Charles BOROWSKY
Andrew ROSENFELD
Vincent THOMAS

Cecylia Barczyk (Cello)

Prof. Cecylia Barczyk has achieved international recognition as a complete artist, successful teacher, and great humanitarian. She has given concerts, recitals, and master classes throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, including appearances with prominent orchestras in Baltimore, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Bucharest, Budapest, Cracow, Ho Chi Minh City, London, Moscow, New York, Prague, Salvador, Seoul, Shanghai, Sofia, St. Petersburg, Taiwan, Tel Aviv, Tianjin, Tokyo, and Warsaw. Ms. Barczyk has frequently performed on radio and television in the USA and abroad. Her recordings have been highly valued by experts and greatly appreciated by music lovers in many lands. She won top prizes in prestigious music competitions including the Danczowski Cello Competition (Poznan), the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition (Budapest), the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition (Moscow), the Aldo Parisot International Competition (Brazil), the J.S. Bach International Competition (Leipzig), the Cassado International Cello Competition (Florence), and the W.C. Byrd Young Artists Competition (Michigan). For her musical and pedagogical achievements, she has received awards and honors from professional, cultural, and government institutions in China, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Poland, and the USA. The Maryland Chapter of the American String Teachers Association named her “Teacher of the Year” (1995, 2005). The Tianjin Conservatory of Music (China) granted her the title Distinguished Honorary Professor. The International Friends of the Cello Association granted her the Award for Great Achievements in Cello Music, and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Poland gave her the Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society and Culture. She has studied at the Chopin Conservatory in Warsaw, Tchaikowsky Conservatory in Moscow, and Yale School of Music with Kazimierz Wilkomirski, Natalya Gutman and Aldo Parisot. Since 1983, she has taught at Towson University, continuing her solo career while educating young cellists from virtually every part of the globe. Website

Blanka Bednarz (Violin)

Blanka Bednarz is an alumna of the J. Kaliszewska Talent School in Poznan, Poland. She holds degrees from the University of Kansas (BM, with Ben Sayevich), and the New England Conservatory (MM and DMA, with Eric Ronseblith and James Dunham). As soloist she has performed with the Connecticut Virtuosi, Symphony and Chamber Orchestras of the New England Conservatory, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Polonia and Delaware County Symphony. She is an avid chamber musician and a member of the Atma Trio. In 2007-08, Ms.Bednarz was first violinist of the Vega String Quartet, in residence at Emory University in Atlanta (“marvelous foursome” –Strad). Dr. Bednarz has collaborated with renowned artists, such as Barry Snyder, Rita Sloan, Brian Ganz, Cecylia Barczyk, Adrian Levine, David Kim, and Richard Stoltzman, and with the American Virtuosi, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Chameleon Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound and the Baltimore Symphony. She has performed internationally in a variety of venues, including Jordan Hall in Boston, Beijing Concert Hall, Philadelphia Ethical Society, Weil Hall at Carnegie Hall and Carnegie Hall, and Aula UAM in Poznan. She has appeared in the Highlands-Cashers, Chanterelle, and other festivals, and has performed under auspices of the Chopin Foundation of the United States and the Kosciuszko Foundation. Bednarz is concertmaster of Sinfonietta Polonia. She can be heard on Capstone Records, A.W. Promotions, Acte Prealable, and Musica Omnia. Currently Associate Professor of Music at Dickinson College, PA, Bednarz has taught at NEC's Prep Division, Emory University, the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City, and has given masterclasses in the USA, Poland, Germany and China. "The violinist charms with beautiful sound, impressive palette of color and extraordinary musicality. " – Monika Mankowska, Twoj Tydzien, Poznan, Poland. Website

Charles Borowsky (Music Entrepreneurship)

Prof. Charles H. Borowsky, Ph.D. has been internationally acknowledged for his many academic, educational, and leadership achievements. He received several distinctions, awards and honorary degrees from professional, social, and cultural organizations both in the USA and abroad. Borowsky has authored numerous articles and books in the areas of social movements and change, politics and religion, development and quality of life, sociology of culture, and sociology of youth, published in America, Europe, and Asia. He has been on the faculty of prominent universities including Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Social Studies, and the University of Maryland and has lectured in 66 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2002, UNESCO/International Music Council published Dr. Borowsky’s works "Creativity and Innovation in Music" and “The Function of Music In Society.” Currently, Dr. Charles H. Borowsky is the President of Intermuse Performing Artists’ Bureau, and also the elected President of the International Friends of Music Association and Senior Advisor to the public and private organization in the USA and abroad.

Elizabeth Borowsky LeBlanc (Piano)

Heralded by the press as “a brilliant young musician with a great personality,” Elizabeth Borowsky enjoys a diverse musical career as a solo and collaborative pianist, composer, educator, and arts advocate.  “Elizabeth's performance and personality dismiss any preconceptions of classical music as elite, or being a music of the past. She is a vibrant and engaging performer and can draw even the most reluctant audience member into her spell.” Borowsky’s scintillating performances have led to invitations to perform as soloist with orchestras including the Israeli Soloists Orchestra, Lublin Philarmonic Orchestra, Polish Camerata, Young German Symphony Orchestra, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, and Towson University Symphony Orchestra. Her live performance of the Haydn D-Major Concerto with the Polish Camerata was internationally broadcast by Pol-Sat TV. She has been a featured performed at such distinguished venues as Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center, and has performed recitals in over thirty countries in prestigious music festivals including Klavierwoche International, the Maryland Arts Festival, Concerti di Primavera, Heidelberg Klavierwoche, Music at the Paderewski Manor, and the International Festival of Music and Architecture in Torun. Borowsky has recorded CDs and DVDs of standard literature, new and/or unknown music, and her own original compositions for ICRecords. In 2005, she was among the pianists invited to participate in the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and was awarded the Acte Preable Prize for Outstanding Interpretation of Chopin's Music, resulting in her solo album, “Chopin Recital.” As composer, Borowsky has written and published music for piano, violin, cello, piano trio, and string orchestra. She has earned a reputation as an outstanding teacher for young pianists; her students have garnered awards and honors at festivals and competitions. Borowsky has taught at Indiana University, ARTI-ST Music Education, and the Maryland Conservatory of Music. She has been a member of the piano faculty of the International Music Institute and Festival USA since 2003 and was appointed Executive Director in 2010. Website

Emmanuel Borowsky (Violin)

"He brought forth a celebration of fire and temperament, as well as immense sensitivity, wonderfully flowing chants and a pliant tone. He is a remarkable talent.” The German Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar Zeitung's assessment of American violinist Emmanuel Borowsky has been echoed by audiences and media around the world. To date, Emmanuel has toured 35 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and performed as soloist with renowned orchestras including the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, Eisenach Festival Orchestra, Young German Symphony Orchestra, Poznan Symphony, National Conservatory Orchestra of Jordan, Israeli Soloists Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic, Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, Loudon Symphony, Katowice Philharmonic, and Rzezow Chamber Orchestra. His performance with the Polish Camerata was broadcast internationally by Pol-Sat TV. Among the awards Emmanuel has received are the Erick Friedman Prize for Outstanding Young Musicians, Pro Musica Award, Merit Award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Best Classical CD 1999, Maryland Young Talent Competition, and the Montpelier Performing Arts Center Classical Recital Competition.. Emmanuel's discography for ICRecords includes Pearls of Music, Musical Favorites of All Times, Music for Peace, Jewish Joys and Sorrows, and PRIME. Emmanuel's love of music is manifested in his educational work with young musicians. He is a frequent adjudicator of competitions and festivals, and has recently presented masterclasses in Germany, Lithuania, Malta, and Iceland. Mr. Borowsky holds degrees from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts and Indiana University (B.M., M.M.) and is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the The University of Maryland. His teachers have included Erick Friedman, Dorothy DeLay, Roman Totenberg, Zoltan Szabo, Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Jamie Laredo, Mark Kaplan, Menaham Pressler, and James Stern. Website. Website

Frances Borowsky (Assistant Director, Cello, Chamber Music)

Gracing the stages of over thirty countries, cellist Frances Borowsky is quickly establishing herself as one of the most sensitive artists of her generation. The German newspaper, Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar Zeitung praised her as “very courageous...marvelously colorful, and performing with deep expression and a compelling temperament.” A dedicated citizen of the world, Frances embeds her memories of Norwegian fjords, Venetian artists, Parisian chocolates, and friendly Belgian cows into the rich tapestry of her explosive interpretations. Recent performance highlights include a performance tour of Cuba, a performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with her siblings and the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, solo recitals in Rome, a recital in Paris with pianist Georges Beriachvili, a concert as soloist with the Young Symphony Orchestra of Poland, performing in the The Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music, and collaborations with faculty and students of the Alanus Hochschule for an interactive and interdisciplinary audiovisual performance at the senseLAB Symposium. Ms. Borowsky was the sole American participant in the 2014 Tchaikovsky Youth Orchestra Festival in Yekaterinburg, Russia, as well as in a project with Camerata Villa Musica at Schloss Engers in Germany. Cecylia Barczyk was her primary instructor from childhood through her studies at Towson University, where she graduated from at age eighteen. Ms. Borowsky continued her education under Amit Peled at the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University (MM), and recently earned a second masters degree from the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, where she studied with Alexander Hülshoff and Laurentiu Sbarcea. In addition to the above teachers, she has been mentored by prestigious cellists Janos Starker, Johannes Moser, and Michael Flaksman. She is currently enrolled in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at the University of Maryland and is graduate assistant to Dr. Eric Kutz. Website.

Jonathan Carney (Violin)

Jonathan Carney has been hailed as one of the great Concertmasters of his generation. He comes from a unique musical background; all six members of his family graduated from The Juilliard School in New York. After completing his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship and moved to London to continue his studies at the Royal College of Music. After making successful tours of the Americas, Europe and the Far East as both leader and soloist with numerous international ensembles, he was invited by Vladimar Ashkenazy to become leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debut with the orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in 1991 and has since appeared as a soloist in many of the concert halls in Britain and the continent working with conductors such as Gatti, Kreizberg and Yuri Temirkonov as well as an extensive tour of South America with Yehudi Menuhin. In 2002 Jonathan started his post as Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his recordings for CBS Masterworks, Decca, ASV and Naxos, he is regularly featured on the BBC and has most recently recorded solo works by John Cage and Bruno Moderna. He was also Director of the Royal Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble and has recorded over twenty discs for Tring International including The Four Seasons, The Lark Ascending and Mozart’s Third and Fifth Concertos, as well as the Sinfonia Concertante. New releases include a disc of virtuoso works of Sarasate and Kreisler, an award winning recording of the Nielson concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for the Naxos label and Michael Nyman’s The Piano Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carney. An avid exponent of twentieth-century music, his solo repertoire also includes works by Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Janacek, Hindemith, Glass, Cage, Takemitsu, Maxwell Davis, Britten, William Bolcom and John Corigliano.

Brian Ganz (Piano)

Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Washington Post critic Joan Reinthaler has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” Brian Ganz was winner of one of two First Grand Prizes awarded in the 1989 Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris, where he was also awarded special prizes for the best recital round of the competition and the best performance of the required work. That same year he won a Beethoven Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, and in 1991 he was a silver medalist with third prize in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition. After his performance in the finals of the Brussels competition, the critic for La Libre Belgique wrote: “We don’t have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy.” Some of Mr. Ganz’ recent concert highlights include performances of Mozart Piano Concerti K. 466, with the Memphis Symphony, and K. 467, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the new Strathmore Hall in Rockville, Maryland. In the summer of 2006 he returned to the Kennedy Center concert hall in a critically acclaimed performance with the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Yoel Levi. He has also performed with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Philippe Entremont, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Jerzy Semkow, and Gustav Meier. Website

Andrew Rosenfeld (Interdisciplinary Arts Experiences)

In demand as a conductor, Andrew Rosenfeld has been praised by DC Metro Theater Arts as “breathing new life” into classic works. In 2015 he was appointed as Assistant Conductor of the Frederick Symphony Orchestra, after having served that organization as both rehearsal technician and guest conductor. Prior to this, in 2013, he served as chorus master for the FSO’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; for this program he also led the orchestra in a performance of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8. As a result of the success of these performances, he was tapped to lead the FSO in its two pops programs for the 2014-15 season. In addition to his appointment as the FSO’s Assistant Conductor, he has also been offered the podium of the new orchestral ensemble, The Frederick Camerata. In 2013 Rosenfeld was appointed musical director and conductor of the Hub Opera Company (Hagerstown, Maryland) for its production of and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He has subsequently directed acclaimed productions for this company of Turn of the Screw and La Boheme. In 2008, Rosenfeld led the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Schulze, music director, and festival chorus in a special performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy for the celebration of the bicentennial of Mount St. Mary’s University – a performance praised as “outstanding” by Maestra Schulze. Rosenfeld serves as Professor of Music at Mount St. Mary’s University, where, in addition to directing the vocal ensembles, he is chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and teaches a wide array of courses in music history and theory and in the humanities. He holds degrees in conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois, having studied under Elmer Thomas, Paul Vermel, Ian Hobson, and John Leman. He also serves as assistant conductor of the Gettysburg Schola Cantorum, including collaborative performances with the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, and has led productions with Harrisburg’s Center Stage Opera. Active as a singer, as well, Rosenfeld specializes in opera’s beloved character roles, with New York performances of Canio (I Pagliacci), Pang (Turandot), Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier),Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Dancaïro (Carmen) to his credit. Hub Opera audiences will also remember him in the dual roles of Basilio and Curzio in their 2014 production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, which earned him accolades from Opera World for his “perfectly timed comedic” performance.

James Stern (Violin)

Hailed by the Washington Post for “virtuosity and penetrating intelligence,” violinist James Stern is a member of two critically acclaimed ensembles, the Stern/Andrist Duo with his wife, Canadian pianist Audrey Andrist, and Strata, a trio in which the two of them are joined by clarinetist Nathan Williams. The duo has performed throughout the United States, Canada and China, with additional recitals in Munich and Paris. The trio is featured on a compact disc of new and standard repertoire on Arizona University Recordings, and has appeared in New York City under the auspices of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Strata has received enthusiastic repeat engagements at San Francisco Composers Inc (for which they were listed as one of San Francisco Classical Voice’s “highlights of 2005”), the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and New York’s historic Maverick Concerts. Stern is celebrating the recent release of his CD of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas on Albany Records. Stern has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff and Bowdoin festivals as well as at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. Well-known to Washington, D. C. audiences, he has performed with the 21st Century Consort, the Contemporary Music Forum, the Smithsonian Chamber Players and the Axelrod Quartet, at such venues as the Corcoran Gallery, the German and French Embassies, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery, the Phillips Collection, Strathmore Mansion and the White House, as well as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. A passionately devoted teacher, Stern has served on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music. He is currently professor and Chair of Strings at the University of Maryland School of Music.

Vincent Thomas (Movement & Music)

Vincent Thomas is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Prior to pursuing his graduate degree at FSU, he taught music in Vincent Thomas. Photo credit: Bjorn IoossColumbia, SC, and danced with Dancework Jazz Company, serving as principal dancer and Associate Artistic Director. He was a scholarship student and staff assistant for the American Dance Festival (‘95-‘97), and returned to ADF (1999) to assist teaching Community Crossover. He has danced with Dance Repertory Theatre (FSU), Randy James Dance Works (NY/NJ), Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (MD), is a guest performer with EDGEWORKS Dance Theater (DC) and an adjunct artist for Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. Vincent’s choreography has been presented at national and international venues including Diverse Works (TX), Flynn Performance Space (VT), Contemporary Arts Center (CA), Music Hall (MI), Jack Guidone Theatre at Joy of Motion (DC), Lisner Auditorium (DC), National Museum of Women in the Arts (DC), Towson University (MD), Artscape (MD), Wilkes University (PA), Takoma Theatre (DC), Gordon Center (MD), Theatre Project (MD), the Baltimore Museum of Art (MD), Center for the Arts at George Mason University (VA), the Urban Bush Women Summer Institutes, the 2005 International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference (CA), Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, and the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland. He presented his solo “Prelude/Frustration in a Martini” at the 2003 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Arts and Cultural Heritage Division Twentieth Annual Choreographers’ Showcase, aVincent Thomas gala concert of dances selected for their choreographic excellence by a panel of nationally recognized adjudicators, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (MD). In June 2005, he premiered “Primavera Portena” in collaboration with the Ahn Trio for the 2005 Bands of America Summer Symposium. Vincent is a recipient of a 2007 and 2005 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Choreography, 2005 City Arts & Humanities Individual Artist Grant, 2004 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Solo Dance Performance, and a 2004 Henry C. Welcome Fellowship. He was selected as one of eleven choreographers from around the world to convene for the 2005 Omi International Dance Collective (NY). He is the 2006 recipient of two MetroDC Dance Awards- Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding New Work for the Grandmother Project, and a 2006 Maryland State Arts Individual Artist Award for Choreography. He is presently a faculty member for the Urban Bush Women Summer Institutes (NY) and an Associate Professor at Towson University (MD Areas of Professional Involvement).

Daniel Weiser (piano, chamber music)

Daniel Weiser, piano, has a Doctorate in Piano/Chamber Music from the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Samuel Sanders and Robert MacDonald and won the Richard Franko Goldman prize for outstanding contribution to musical and education life. He has performed on many great stages, including the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, the National Gallery of Art in D.C., and on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago. He has also concertized around the world, including Israel, Thailand, Holland, and France and was the 1996 U.S. Artistic Ambassador Abroad, for which he performed on an eleven-country tour of the Middle East and Asia. He has been on the music faculty of Dartmouth College and the prestigious St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. He is the founder of AmiciMusic, based in both Baltimore and Asheville, NC, dedicated to performing chamber music in intimate venues and non-traditional spaces and to breaking down barriers between performers and audience. He is also the Artistic Director of Classicopia, a chamber music organization based in New Hampshire. He was also a founding member of the Adirondack Ensemble, which won a Chamber Music America award for inventive programming and outreach. He has participated in the New Hampshire Music Festival, Musicorda, and the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival and has been the Music Director of the Da Corneta Opera Ensemble, the Opera North Young Artist program, and Opera New England. A phi beta kappa graduate of Columbia University with a degree in American History, he also spent a year at Harvard Law School at the same time as President Obama. Dr. Weiser now lives in Baltimore with his wife, Dr. Kisha Weiser, and their nine -year old twin daughters, Emma and Sophie.