Thomas Kasdorf, piano
David Perry, violin
Christopher Ramaekers, conductor
David Perry, violin
Thomas Kasdorf, piano
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture - Fantasy
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Christopher Ramaekers, conductor
Christopher Ramaekers is currently Director of Orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Music Director of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Davis Theater Concert Series for Access Contemporary Music, and Associate Conductor of the Chicago Composers Orchestra. During the 2018-2019 season he was Interim Assistant Conductor of the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Quad-City Youth Orchestras. He has been Music Director of the Orchestra of St. Vincent’s and the Hyde Park Youth Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Ravenswood Community Orchestra, and spent 9 summers as Director of Orchestras at Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, Maine. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the Kalamazoo Symphony, Skokie Valley Symphony, Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente, and the Chicago Opera Vanguard.
Ramaekers has held fellowships with the Allentown (PA) Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, WI. He was winner of the 2011 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting and holds degrees from Western Michigan University and Northwestern University.
David Perry, violin
Violinist DAVID PERRY enjoys an international career as chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Mr. Perry has performed in Carnegie Hall, and at most of the major cultural centers of North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. His Naxos recording of the Pleyel violin concertos has garnered rave reviews and was designated CD Pick of the Week by WETA-FM (Washington DC). Other solo recordings are on the Sonos and Sonari labels.
Mr. Perry joined the Pro Arte Quartet, as first violinist, in 1995 and with them has made numerous recordings and toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan, and performed regularly in live broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio and Chicago’s WFMT. He served on the artist-faculty of the Aspen Music Festival, where he was concertmaster of the Aspen Chamber Symphony and a founding member of the Aspen Ensemble, which concertized internationally. Concertmaster of the Chicago Philharmonic, Mr. Perry has served as guest concertmaster with such groups as the China National Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and the American Sinfonietta. An active member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for many years, he participated in many of that ensemble’s Deutsche Grammophon recordings.
Mr. Perry is Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Violin at the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where he was named a Paul Collins Endowed Professor in 2003. His early training was with John Kendall and Almita Vamos, followed by studies with Dorothy DeLay, Paul Kantor, and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School. A 1985 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, his first prizes have included the International D'Angelo Competition, National MTNA Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition.