Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 8:29 a.m.
Icelandic violinist Judith Ingolfsson, with pianist Ronald Sat and the Miami String Quartet, will "shine" Friday night when the Charles Vanda Master Series showcases "Rising Stars of Classical Music."
The concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Artemus W. Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The first half of the program will feature Ingolfsson, accompanied by Sat, in a "quartet" by Beethoven, a Scherzo in C-minor by Brahms, three elegant, Viennese-style pieces by famed violinist Fritz Kreisler and a "Carmen Fantasy" by Pablo de Sarasate.
Music is a family heritage for Ingolfsson. Both of her parents are pianists.
"When I was 3, they took me to an Iceland Symphony concert to see what would happen," she recalled. "Apparently I was fascinated by the violins and stared at them all the time. So I asked for a violin and started lessons."
The family moved to the United States in 1980, when Ingolfsson was 7.
"I was performing chamber music with my younger sister, who is a cellist, and with my mom, mostly in Europe," she said.
The European connection led to an invitation from a conductor friend of her mother to play the "A-minor Violin Concerto" by Bach with a chamber orchestra in Weiblingen, Germany. It marked her solo orchestral debut at age 8.
"Thankfully, however, my parents were smart enough not to push me onto the solo circuit too soon, so I could develop as a musician at a more leisurely, quiet pace," she said.
Ingolfsson enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15.
"It's an amazing school, a very different type of academic environment," she said. "They have so much to offer. I sometimes feel that there was too much there for someone my age. I wish I had been older to absorb more.
"It's very competitive," she added. "Not cutthroat, but the level of talent is extremely high. You feel the pressure to live up to that standard; but, at the same time, you learn a lot that's very good in the long run.
"For a long time I made no conscious decision about my career path," she said. "I just wanted to be the best violinist I could be. So I tried the most difficult pieces, went for what I perceived to be the most difficult goal, to see if it worked. Fortunately, it did.
"I love the solo repertoire," she remarked. "I'm not much of a team player. I don't enjoy blending in where I can't express my vision and personality."
After graduating from Curtis, Ingolfsson went to the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she earned a master's degree. She also began entering competitions. She won the Gold Medal at the 1998 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. More awards followed at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Paganini International Violin Competition.
Her solo concert career shifted into overdrive.
Ingolfsson called 2000 "one huge year," both professionally and personally. She made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. "It was a phenomenal experience," she said. "It's a big place, and the sound is intoxicating."
She also recorded her debut CD and made a 15-city tour with the Iceland Symphony, which included Las Vegas, along with Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
She also married Sat. The two met at Cleveland Institute and teamed up in 1996 when Ingolfsson's longtime accompanist bowed out of a competition because of "burnout." Not a problem. Ingolfsson won.
Ingolfsson has high praise for Sat, who specializes in "collaborative" music and just received his Ph.D. from Cleveland Institute of Music. He's now also a vocal coach at the Manhattan School of Music.
"An accompanist is so important and supportive," Ingolfsson stressed. "They can make or break a performance."
In the second half of Friday night's program, Ingolfsson and Sat will join with the Miami String Quartet to perform Ernest Chausson's "Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet in D-major, Op. 21."
The distinguished foursome, composed of Ivan Chan, violin; Cathy Meng Robinson, violin; Chauncey Patterson, viola; and Keith Robinson, cello, enjoys a critically acclaimed national and international reputation, from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to the Kennedy Center and beyond.
In addition to concertizing, they are currently the visiting Quartet in Residence at the Hartt School in Hartford, Conn. They will become faculty members, as well as the Quartet in Residence, at Kent State University, Ohio, in 2004.
Ingolfsson described the concerto as "a phenomenal piece with a lot of sound. It's extremely romantic and soulful, and very grand and showy. There's a lot of contrasting character, a lot of power and emotion. It blows you away."
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