James Waldo & Alyona Waldo

Mead Witter School of Music Faculty Artist Series. Free.

media release: James Waldo, cello; Alyona A. Waldo, piano

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Program 

Ole River Blue (2022)* for cello and piano        Malcolm Parson

*Commissioned by the Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium, of which Waldo is a member and co-commissioner

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in G minor, Op. 53        Mieczyslaw Weinberg (arr. James Waldo)

I. Andante con moto

II. Allegro molto

III. Allegro moderato

IV. Allegro – Andante – Allegretto – Andante

Poeme Op. 32 No. 1 (1903)      Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)/arr. Piatigorsky

Intermission

Song of the Bachman’s Warbler (1995)       Chandler Carter

Prelude for Violoncello Solo (2011)       Anna Leonova

Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 (1843)      Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

I Allegro assai vivace

II. Allegretto scherzando

III. Adagio

IV. Allegro molto e vivace

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Cellist James Waldo is an avid chamber musician, recitalist, and educator. Currently serving as lecturer in Cello at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, James concertizes around the U.S. and beyond as cellist of cello-piano team A.W.Duo, and performs regularly with local and regional ensembles such as the Madison Bach Musicians, Midsummer’s Music, the LunART Festival, Edgewood College Chamber Orchestra, the Just Bach series, and the Madison Festival Choir. Before relocating to Madison, WI in 2017, James lived and worked in New York City for a decade, where he received a Master of Music degree from Mannes College under the tutelage of Timothy Eddy, served as principal cellist of the Cecilia Chorus of NY from 2015-2019, and co-founded the Listen Closely Chamber Music Initiative, a collective of locally-based musicians giving free live chamber music performances in the public spaces of uptown Manhattan. James completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the tutelage of Uri Vardi, where he was recipient of the University Graduate Fellowship, and worked as a teaching assistant for Aural Skills, Western Music History, and the Delta Blues courses. As a period instrument specialist, James has performed on baroque cello and viola da gamba in numerous settings around the U.S., giving performances in New York City with leading baroque violinist Monica Huggett, and performing as a founding member of LeStrange Viols. Equally at ease in contemporary and popular music settings, James performed regularly with acclaimed band The Brilliance from 2014-2017, and he toured as cellist and arranger with the orchestral folk ensemble Spirits of the Red City from 2008-2014. James performed with jazz pianist Robert Rodriguez at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and his playing can be heard in the soundtracks of numerous independent films. James will make his debut this summer on the faculty at the Clazz International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. A passionate educator, James has worked with cello students of all ages and levels of experience for over 20 years.

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A native of Voronezh, Russia, pianist Alyona A. Waldo has pursued an accomplished and versatile career as a chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and educator. Alyona has performed in numerous recitals and festivals across the U.S. and China as a member of the cello/piano team A.W.Duo. As a chamber musician, performance highlights include repeat appearances for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, performances with cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio at the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, NC, and concerts at numerous venues around NYC, including Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Polish, Russian and French Consulates, and Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center. Alyona was pianist of the Listen Closely chamber music initiative, a collective of musicians that regularly organized public concerts of historical and newly-commissioned works for the people of uptown Manhattan. As a collaborative pianist, Alyona worked for the La Lingua Della Lirica Festival in Novafeltria, Italy, and served as staff pianist for the Mannes Prep Division in New York. In Russia, Alyona was winner of Second Gavrilin Governor’s International Competition and the finalist of The Third International Gnessin Piano Competition in Moscow. She has made multiple appearances as concert soloist with the Voronezh Academic Symphony Orchestra. Now living in Madison, WI, Alyona is active as a collaborative pianist and music educator, offering private lessons on the near West Side. She has served on the faculty of the International Piano Festival in Portland, ME.