Category: Ruth Berry

Cherry Valley Star Theatre: Artworks Concert Series

• August 18, 2019, 7:30 pm
• Star Theater, 44 Main St., Cherry Valley, NY
• Admission: $20 general public, $15 Artworks members
• “Spirited” works by Beethoven, Schubert and Bolcom

The Fenimore String Quartet

• Ruotao Mao, violin I
• Jennifer Reuning Myers, violin II
• Joseph Lorang, viola
• Ruth Berry, cello

The Fenimore Quartet blends the experience of seasoned chamber players with the richness of long friendships to create a perfect backdrop for the exciting musical collaborations which are fast becoming an eagerly awaited summer treat at the Cherry Valley New York Artworks Concert Series and the surrounding area communities in beautiful upstate New York.

Guest Artists

• Dmitry Glivinskiy, piano

Program

Musician Biographies

Ruotao Mao, violin I

Ruotao is an active soloist, chamber musician and the concertmaster of the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra. His playing was described by The Classical New Jersey as “virtuoso display of world-class magnitude.” and “the level of playing has reached far beyond mere technical competence.” A native of Beijing, China, Ruotao graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with “distinction in performance” award. He earned his Master Degree in Music from the Mason Gross School of the Arts where he studied under violinist Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri String Quartet. He also studied with Dorothy Delay, Paul Kantor and Masuko Ushioda. As a chamber musician, Ruotao is one of the founding members of the former Beijing Piano Quartet, winner of “Artists International Chamber Music Series” (with appearances in Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center), the highly acclaimed Amabile String Quartet (the quartet-in-residence at Rutgers University from 2000 – 2001), and the Fenimore String Quartet. As a soloist, he appeared with orchestras such as the Jupiter Symphony, NEC Symphony, Corelliard Chamber Orchestra, the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphonia, Edison Symphony, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Bay-Atlantic Symphony, Arcadian Symphony Orchestra and Rutgers University Orchestra among many others. In 2004, Ruotao premiered a violin concerto by Ernie Stires in Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall. He had performance tours in Korea and Colombia, South America. He performed on WNYC, WETS and WDVR-FM broadcasts and is a recording artist for the CRI and Beijing Broadcast labels. Ruotao also serves as the concertmaster of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, Riverside Symphonia, the Bay-Atlantic Symphony and Edison Symphony Orchestra, in addition to his positions of violin and viola faculty at The College of New Jersey and Princeton University.

Jennifer Reuning Myers, violin II

A native of Ithaca, NY, Jennifer performs with the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra and several regional chamber music ensembles; she has also performed regularly with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. As a member of the Catskill Chamber Players, she worked with composers Lou Harrison, Henry Brant, Virgil Thomson and George Crumb, and performed the New York premiere of Henry Cowell’s Trio for flute, violin and harp at Weill Recital Hall. Jennifer studied with Raphael Bronstein and Charles Treger at the Hartt School of Music and received her Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College where she studied with Linda Case. As the daughter of two of the first Suzuki violin teachers in this country, Jennifer was fortunate as a youngster to have participated in classes led by Shinichi Suzuki. She now maintains a private Suzuki studio at 171 Cedar Arts in Corning, NY and teaches at Ithaca Talent Education School, in Ithaca, NY. Jennifer is also a licensed massage therapist and has a special interest in working with musicians.

Joseph Lorang, viola

Joseph joined the violin section of the Glimmerglass Orchestra in 2019. He previously performed in other summer festivals such as Aspen Music Festival, Britt Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and Sarasota Music Festival. He has served as concertmaster of several orchestras including the USC Thornton Symphony, Seattle Youth Symphony, Marrowstone Festival Orchestra, Santa Monica Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute, and as Principal Second Violin in the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the USA. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California where he studied with Martin Chalifour, and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory with Ayano Ninomiya. He previously studied in the Coleman violin studio in Seattle with Simon James, Jan Coleman, and pianist Hiro David. As a conductor, he has participated in Atlantic Music Festival’s conducting program and served as Music Director of the Concerto Chamber Orchestra at USC. As a violist, he has performed chamber works such as the Kodaly Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, and the Franck Piano Quintet.

Ruth Berry, cello

Ruth recently moved back to her home town of Hamilton, NY after living in Augusta, GA for many years (where she worked as principal cello of the Augusta Opera and Symphony, and served as an artist in residence at Georgia Southern University). Since 1986, Ruth performs during the summers with the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra–and when not in the orchestra pit lives in her historic and award-winning Kitt Shipman Memorial Chapel in Springfield Center, NY. During the “off summer” months, Ruth travels regularly to perform for arts organizations throughout the SouthEastern USA. Ruth went to college at Boston University (where she studied cello with Leslie Parnas and received the Edwin E. Stein Award for Excellence in the Arts). Her graduate degree and studies at Cornell University were in musicology, analytical techniques and performance practice. Ruth is currently working on a degree in Labor Studies from the Cornell School of Industrial Labor Relations.

Dmitry Glivinskiy, piano

Dmitry is a Ukrainian vocal coach and conductor. He is a 2019 Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist and serves as pianist and coach. He is a graduate of Mannes College of Music and of the Peabody Institute where, among his teachers, were Genya Paley, Pavlina Dokovska, Boris Slutsky and Scott Jackson Wiley. Dmitry has worked with numerous opera companies as a répétiteur, coach and conductor. Most recently, he was on staff for the revival of Figaro 90210! on Broadway, conducted Eugene Onegin with Utopia Opera in NYC, was assistant conductor for OnSite Opera’s production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Morning Star” and returned to Chicago Summer Opera as music director for the company’s scenes program. He is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University as a vocal coach and was recently appointed as Music Director of the Opera Theater at Brooklyn College.

For more information, please click on the links below:

• Fenimore String Quartet
• Cherry Valley Artworks
• Glimmerglass Festival
• Glimmerglass Orchestra