MUSIC

Early Music Southwest at Rienzi: Bach to the Future.  Bach to the Future is a historical sampler of music for the unaccompanied violin featuring violinist Stephanie St. Ambrogio (pictured).

Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio joined the Argenta Trio in the fall of 2007 as she began her new position as Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Nevada at Reno. Founder and Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival, Stephanie was Concertmaster and an annual soloist with the San Antonio Symphony for thirteen years. Formerly First Assistant Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, she recorded and toured internationally with this acclaimed ensemble for eight seasons. Ms. Sant'Ambrogio has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and in the countries of Estonia, Sweden, Ghana, Italy, Peru and Mexico. In addition to her active performing career over two decades, she is devoted to teaching serious young violinists, many of whom have successfully chosen careers in music

Because of her passion for chamber music, in 1996 Ms. Sant'Ambrogio founded Cactus Pear Music Festival, (www.cpmf.us) which presents chamber music performances, Young People's Concerts, Kinder Konzerts, a Young Artist Fellowship Program and master classes in the South Texas region. In 2004, she was named a Ford Salute to Education Award winner for her outstanding contributions to music education through her founding of Cactus Pear Music Festival and her life's dedication to private teaching. Her chamber music activities have included performances and recordings with such noted artists as William Preucil, James Buswell, Ron Leonard, Richard Goode, David Schifrin, Walter Trampler, Anne Epperson and Gunther Schuller. She is featured in chamber music recordings under the Arabesque label, her live concert performances are frequently heard on National Public Radio's Performance Today, and she recently produced her third Cactus Pear CD entitled A Passion for Baroque. Ms. Sant'Ambrogio has performed as first violinist with the Miami String Quartet and has been a guest artist with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing at both Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center. She toured Italy with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, toured extensively throughout Ohio with Cleveland's Myriad, and for ten years performed with the Amici String Quartet, of which she was a founding member.

In addition to her performances as violinist and Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival, Ms. Sant'Ambrogio has performed and taught at various festivals including: Nevada Chamber Music Festival (NV); Music in the Vineyards (CA); Round Top Festival Institute (TX); Tuckamore Festival (Newfoundland, Canada); Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (WA); and Bach, Dancing and Dynamite Society (WI). Ms. Sant'Ambrogio studied with and was the graduate assistant to Donald Weilerstein at The Eastman School of Music, where she received her Master of Music degree. Previously she received her Bachelor of Music degree with distinction from Indiana University as a scholarship student of James Buswell and Laurence Shapiro.

The name Sant'Ambrogio is frequently found in concert programs throughout America. John Sant'Ambrogio, former Principal Cellist of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, gave his daughter Stephanie her first violin lessons at the age of five. Her sister Sara is a cellist with the Naumberg Award-winning Eroica Trio. For thirty years the Sant'Ambrogio family directed Red Fox Music Camp, which was founded by grandmother Isabelle, a concert pianist. The legacy of teaching music has been passed down in the Sant'Ambrogio family for four generations. Stephanie continues this love and dedication with her own students. Ms. Sant'Ambrogio plays a violin crafted in 1757 by J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, Italy. In the moments when this violin is not nestled under her chin, she and her husband Gary Albright enjoy life with their daughters, eight year old Isabel and six year old Gabrielle, who have started taking music lessons as well.

Admission to the afternoon recital includes a wine reception, and light hors d´oeuvres.