Strata
"Beautifully paced and articulated" - Washington Post
"Passion, panache and precision reigned…Strata joins top ranks" - The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC
Strata (James Stern, violin/viola, Nathan Williams, clarinet, and Audrey Andrist, piano) are three extraordinary talents whose combined credits encompass international prizes and performances across four continents, including Carnegie Hall, Marlboro Festival, and the Kennedy Center.
Praised by the Washington Post for program building as artful as its performances, STRATA is dedicated to presenting a wide spectrum of classical and modern styles in programs that enhance the unique expressive power of each work. In trio, solo, and duo combinations, these musicians revel in the clarity of counterpoint and surprising blends afforded by their contrasting instruments.
Strata's unique gift for drawing audiences into their world earns them recognition from the Rauch Foundation whose generous grant lets them launch the Metaclassical Music Project. MMP commissions music to be appreciated on multiple levels (strata) by novice and connoisseur. The inaugural work by Stephen Paulus premieres on November 21, 2010, at NYC’s Merkin Concert Hall.
Educational programs are available.
NATHAN WILLIAMS has been hailed by critics for his "outstanding musicality and flawless technique." He is the recipient of prizes and honors from the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition, the Eastman Concerto Competition, the William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition, the International Clarinet Competition, and the Naumburg International Competition. He was a featured soloist at the 1995 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, and a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where Maestro Seji Ozawa presented him with the C. D. Jackson Award. Mr. Williams is on the faculty of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. In October 2008, he was appointed principal clarinetist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas. He and Ms. Andrist can be heard on a critically acclaimed CD of American music on the Albany Record label.
JAMES STERN has appeared as soloist and chamber musician throughout North America, most notably at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. His summer activities have included performances at the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival, as well as the Norfolk and Bowdoin Festivals. He has performed in concert on "Voice of America", WNCN-New York, WCLV-Cleveland and on WVTF-Roanoke, in a concert broadcast from the "Sonoklect" Festival. He has appeared as soloist with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, the Stockton Symphony, and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Stern has served on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and is now Associate Professor and Chair of the String Division at the University of Maryland School of Music. He has taught master's classes throughout North America and in China, Norway and Italy.
Canadian pianist AUDREY ANDRIST is the 1994 first prize winner of the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, and was presented in a cross-Canada solo recital tour as winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition. She has appeared as soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, and the CBC Vancouver Symphony. As a chamber musician, Ms. Andrist has performed in New York’s Merkin Hall and Steinway Hall, at Place des Arts in Montreal, Spivey Hall in Georgia, on NPR’s "Performance Today", and on the live program "Around New York" on WNYC. She has participated in premieres of new works in Canada and the United States, and has recorded for Albany Records, Summit Records, Capstone Records, and CBC Radio. Ms. Andrist currently lives in Maryland with her husband, James Stern, and their son, Kenneth.
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