SUNY Potsdam

Gifted cellist performs with Crane faculty

10.09.09

SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music faculty members will perform with guest cellist Dr. Rebecca Hartka on Monday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

Joining Dr. Hartka will be Crane’s Dr. Julianne Kirk on clarinet and Julie Miller on piano. The works performed for the night will include “Trio Op. 11” by Beethoven and “Trio Op. 114” by Brahms.

A nationally recognized cellist, Dr. Hartka's playing has been described as virtuosic and passionate.

In May 2009, Dr. Hartka made her international solo debut with the Saint-Saens cello concerto in Vietnam and Thailand on a three-week tour of Southeast Asia, also performing recitals in such venues as the American Embassy in Hanoi.

She also appeared as a solo recitalist in the Exploring the Arts series, the 88 Keys series and the Jazz and More series, in addition to solo and chamber music tours across New England and Montana.

In May 2008, she appeared as soloist with the Montana State University Symphony Orchestra and on several concert series. She was a featured soloist for the Project Guggenheim's "The Art of Compassion in a Time of War" and the 1999 Spiral Dance Festival in San Francisco.

In 1993, she was the recipient of the Henriette Reiss Award, and elected member of Phi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honors Society.

Dr. Hartka has also appeared as a chamber musician in the Newton Free Library series and the SAPAS performing arts and in prestigious venues such as the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Center for the Arts, the Lenox Atheneum and the Brevard Music Center.

She is the assistant principal for the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and adjunct assistant professor of cello at Montana State University.

A versatile performer, Dr. Hartka has worked with numerous ensembles large and small. She is one of the founding members of the Phoenix Trio, which gives regular concert tours throughout the country. The Trio was also a recipient of a 2005 Brookline Tercentennial Fund Grant and participated as a full fellow in the Brevard Advanced Chamber Music Festival in 2004.

Dr. Hartka has been featured as a guest artist in a concert tour with the Meritage Quartet and has also performed with Serenata Chamber Players, Boston College Contemporary Music Ensemble, Hyperprism, the Fringe Festival, Cape Ann Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Helena Symphony and the Intermountain Opera Company.

As a four-year recipient of the Deans Scholar Award, Dr. Hartka completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in cello performance at Boston University College of Fine Arts in May 2007. As a doctoral student, she acted on numerous occasions as principal cellist of the Chamber, Opera and Symphony Orchestras.

As an adjunct assistant professor or Cello at Montana State University, Dr. Hartka teaches private cello, directs the cello ensemble, coaches chamber music and teaches classes in String Techniques and Pedagogy.

Dr. Kirk serves as assistant professor of clarinet at The Crane School of Music where she teaches a clarinet studio of 25 majors, coaches chamber music, directs the Crane Clarinet Choir and teaches classes in clarinet techniques.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Kirk is a member of the Aria Reed Trio with Crane School of Music colleagues Dr. Anna Hendrickson and Dr. Carol Lowe. She is also part of Eastman Triana with Anyango Yarbo-Davenport and Yin Zheng. Both trios were recently featured on the “WXXI Live from Hochstein” radio broadcast in Rochester.

Dr. Kirk has performed in prestigious venues internationally including Tokyo Opera City, Act City Hamamatsu, Taipei National Concert Hall, New York City’s Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

She was a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 2002-2005 and can be heard on the 2006 CD release “Danzante.”

A passionate educator, Dr. Kirk has given master classes and clinics for the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Aria Summer Music Academy and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and is the director for the 2009 Crane Youth Music Camp.

She also coordinates the acclaimed Potsdam Single Reed Summit, which brings together performers and educators for a weekend of clinics, recitals and master classes.

Dr. Kirk holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelors of Music degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Miller has been teaching piano at the university level for over two decades and her former students now teach at every level from elementary to university.

While she is a frequent soloist, one of her principal interests throughout her career has been collaborating with other performers, giving 60 to 100 performances every year. She has developed an extensive repertoire by playing for students, which has served her well in partnerships with colleagues and guest artists.

She has performed in numerous faculty recitals and specializes in preparing music for guest artists, involving quick turnaround and little rehearsal time.

Miller’s other principal interest is editing, publishing and performing the music of Keith Gates. She and her husband are the caretakers of the Gates library of compositions. She has performed approximately one-third of his more than 100 works, and has helped prepare many more for publication. To date, Miller has made transcriptions of three of Gates’ works, with others in progress.

Miller holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Illinois. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Music Teachers National Association. At McNeese, she received SAI - Beta Chi's Outstanding Faculty Award and the Henry Alexander and BankOne endowed professorships.

The recital is free, and the public is invited to attend.

Contact:
Julianne Kirk
(315) 267-2419 | kirkj@potsdam.edu