2013 Strings Festival - UIMF

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Friday, February 15th, 2013
1:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:30pm. Check Festival Programme or www.nanaimomusicfestival.com to confirm session start times.

The Upper Island Musical Festival is again showcasing a thrilling season of talented cello, fiddle, guitar, viola, and violin performances from Nanaimo and area youth and young adults. Nanaimo arts enthusiasts and music lovers of all ages will be entertained by a variety of classical, baroque, romantic, and modern performances.

For more than 80 years, the Upper Island Musical Festival has provided opportunities and venues for young dancers, pianists, singers, violinists, dramatic orators, and other musicians to perform in front of enthusiastic and supportive audiences. Most performers are between the ages of 8 and 18, although there are several recital categories for adults. Their performances are observed by qualified and highly respected adjudicators, who provide encouragement and advice for improvement. The most successful performers go on to represent Nanaimo and area in the Performing Arts BC festival each spring.

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The Strings section will be adjudicated this year by Andrew Dawes and Alex Dunn.
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Violinist ANDREW DAWES was born in High River, Alberta. He has been acclaimed as recitalist, chamber musician and soloist throughout North and South America, Europe and the Orient, and been celebrated as "one of the most distinguished violinists Canada has ever produced" (Ottawa Citizen". After receiving the Prix de Virtuosite from the Conservatoire in Geneva, Switzerland with the highest marks ever awarded, he became a founding member and first violinist of the Orford String Quartet for 26 years (1965-1991). He gave nearly 3,000 concerts on six continents and made more than 60 recordings. In 1992, Professor Dawes was appointed to the faculty of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver to teach violin and chamber music. Previously, he taught at the University of Toronto for over 20 yeas. in 1995-96, he took a leave of absence from UBC to perform as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet playing on a Stradivarius violin that was made in 1727 and belonged to Nicolo Paganini.

Professor Dawes has served as jury member for the London International String Quartet Competition, the Coleman Chamber Music competition, the Fischoff Chamber Music competition and was the Chairman of the Banff String Quartet Competition (1989 - 2004).

Andrew has won many awards of distinction -- including the ORDER OF CANADA, the Chalmers National Music Award, the Canada Council's Molson Prize and 3 Juno Awards. In 2000, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named the Orford String Quartet as one of "The Great Canadian Performers of the Twentieth Century".

In 2002, he was the recipient of the Dorothy Somerset Award for Excellence in Performance and Development awarded by the University of British Columbia and also the Jubilee Medal awarded by Queen Elizabeth II for exceptional quality and service to Canada.

Mr. Dawes was involved in the last few years with a number of recording projects, including all 10 Sonatas for Piano and Violin by Beethoven recorded with pianist, Jane Coope, on the Skylark label (2002 Juno Award nominee) and all the works written for violin by the Canadian composer, Harry Somers, recorded for CBC Records. The Seven Last Words of Christ (quartet version) by Haydn, the Schubert Two Cello Quintet and the Schubert Octet were recorded for the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival on the Chamber Music Society Classics label.

Andrew has been involved in many summer festivals including Vancouver, Scotia Festival, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Lanaudiere, Domaine Forget, Orford, Banff, Stratford, Kneisal Hall, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart in New York, Norfolk, Kuhmo, Schleswig-Holstein.

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Dr. ALEXANDER DUNN holds a Bachelor�s and Master�s Degree in Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of California, San Diego. Extensive summer studies at the Aspen Music Festival and the Salzburg Mozarteum. Prot�g� of Pepe Romero Recipient: Institute of International Education grant. Prizewinner: Internationaler Wettbewerb Freiburg. Finalist: Toronto International Competition. Director or co-director of regional, national and festivals. Director: Six Strings Five Nights Guitar Series. Concerts in North America, South America, western and eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Mexic, Cuba, South Africa, New Zealand. Examiner for the Royal Conservatory Toronto and head of guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Mr. Dunn is a frequent guest performer at international guitar festivals and is a popular adjudicator and competition judge across North America.