The program begins with Maestro Lipsky on flute and Ms. Hoca on piano as they perform Paul Schoenfield's Achat Sha'alti, a passionate piece based on Psalm 27, and the playful and rhythmic Ufaratsta (Hebrew for Valentine), followed by Lili Boulanger's fast and lively D'un Matin de Printemps (A Spring Morning). Maestro will then switch to the cello for Sergei Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, op. 19 in four movements in which most of the themes are introduced by the piano then embellished by the cello. After the intermission, Dr. Reed will perform Igor Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo which begins on a clarinet in A then changes to a B-flat clarinet for the final movement while the asymmetrical piece is characterized by constant shifts in meter and time signatures. The concert will conclude with all of the musicians performing Johannes Brahms' Trio, op. 114, in four movements for clarinet, cello and piano.
Known in the Ashland area as the music director and conductor for the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Arie Lipsky is a native of Haifa, Israel, where he received extensive training as a cellist and flutist. He holds degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Music which he received before serving in the Israeli armed forces as a tank commander. After moving to the United States, Arie served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and graduated from there with distinction. During this period he also assumed conducting responsibilities with the Ohio Light Opera. He moved to Buffalo, New York in 1984 to become the Philharmonic's principal cellist and, in 1990, also became the Resident Conductor, a position he held for twelve years. He was a prize winner in the Chicago Cello Society Competition and performed as principal cellist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Opera and the Colorado Music Festival; and has performed as cellist with the New Arts Trio since 1996. Maestro Lipsky is currently in his twenty-first season as Music Director and Conductor of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, and in his seventeenth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Symphony. He is also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra and is also a frequent conductor with orchestras in Europe, Israel, and North America.
Dr. Reed joined Ashland University faculty in 1986 and serves as professor of music and chair of the Department of Music and Theatre. He is a member of the Akron Symphony (bass clarinet) and Ashland Symphony (principal clarinet), was a long-time member of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra (saxophone), and has performed on clarinet or saxophone with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Festival Orchestra, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Blossom Festival Band and the Jazz Unit. He has been a soloist with the Akron, Mansfield, Clarence and Ashland Symphonies and performs on CDs from the Akron Symphony, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Unit and the Paul Ferguson Jazz Orchestra. His clarinet CD “Mutually Inclusive” was released in 2008 on Capstone Records. He is also heard as a founding member of Iron Toys, a woodwind quartet that performs original repertoire for saxophones, clarinets and flutes, on their CD released in 2015. He holds a DMA in Clarinet Performance from The Ohio State University, an M.M. in Saxophone Performance from The University of Akron, and a B.M in Music Education from The University of Michigan.
Ms. Hoca is the recipient of numerous awards, including top prizes in the Chopin Young Pianist Competition and the Washington International Bach Competition. While still a teenager, she appeared with the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic in a Young People's Concert, broadcast live on network television. She has played over 20 different concertos with the Buffalo Philharmonic, has appeared in recitals throughout the United States and abroad and is much sought after as a chamber music collaborator. Her recordings include a premier recording of the piano music of Leo Smit on the Spectrum label and two collaborations with Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York available on the Essay label. She is often seen on the Kleinhans Stage as orchestral pianist with the BPO and has for the past five summers been the orchestral pianist of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Hoca is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and she received a Fulbright grant to return to her native Austria, where she pursued advanced studies under Bruno Seidlhofer.
