THE SIERRA ENSEMBLE featuring
Randall Weiss, Violin
Janis Lieberman, Horn
Marc Steiner, Piano
~ Program ~
Horn Trio – Eric Ewazen
Andante teneramente
Scherzo: Allegro vivace
Andante grazioso
Maestoso-Allegro energico (Fuga)
Horn Trio, Op. 40 – Johannes Brahms
Andante
Scherzo: Allegro
Adagio mesto
Finale: Allegro con brio
***
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Randall Weiss made his solo violin debut performing the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto as winner of the Victoria, B.C. Concerto Competition. For 17 years he was Assistant Concertmaster of the San Jose Symphony, substituting regularly as Concertmaster. He is currently Assistant Concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley, one of America’s newest symphony orchestras. Mr. Weiss has also appeared with the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Ballet and the Louisville Orchestra, and has served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Music in the Mountains Festival as well as Concertmaster and soloist with the Santa Cruz County Symphony. His international performances include service as Concertmaster of the AIMS Orchestra in Graz, Austria. Mr. Weiss trained with Paul Kling at the University of Victoria and the University of Louisville, with Tadeusz Wronski at Indiana University School of Music, and with Sylvia Rosenberg at The Peabody Conservatory. During the summer of 1998, he performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the acclaimed Eastern Music Festival, where he has been a faculty member since 1989. Mr. Weiss is the founder and music director of Music in the Mishkan, a chamber music series in San Francisco, and he is a founding member of the Bridge Players, a chamber ensemble based in San Francisco. He is also an avid runner, hiker, skier and swimmer and has completed three marathons.
Janis Lieberman had her introduction to the French horn in Turkey. She and her fami- ly resided in Ankara for five years where she studied with Erol Gomürgen, Principal horn of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. Soon after graduating from Boston University School of the Arts. Janis was appointed Principal Horn of the Israel Sinfonietta, and was on the faculty of the Rubin Conservatory of Music in Israel. Janis also performed with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Israel Symphony, and the New Israel Opera. She now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, Sacramento Opera Orchestra, Sacramento Choral Society Orchestra, Sierra Ensemble, MediusTerra Horn Duo and the Bear Valley Music Festival Orchestra. Additionally Janis plays Principal Horn with Symphony Napa Valley and has performed as Principal with the S.F. Ballet Orchestra, and as a section player with the Santa Rosa Symphony, San Jose Symphony and Berke- ley Symphony. As a soloist, Janis has performed Mozart Concertos # 2 and #4 as well as Schumann’s Concertstücke with the Redwood Symphony, the San Francisco Concer- to Orchestra and the Bear Valley Festival Orchestra. In addition to performing, Janis enjoys teaching and has contributed her expertise as an instrumental music specialist in bay area school districts.
Marc Steiner is a native of Los Angeles, California. He earned Bachelor, cum laude, and Master of Music degrees from the University of Southern California. As an undergraduate he was elected to membership in Pi Kappa Lambda, the national academic honor society for music. His teachers have included Mildred Portney Chase, Robert Ward, Nina Scolnik and Edna Golandsky. Mr. Steiner has performed extensively as soloist, chamber musician and duo pianist in recitals throughout the United States. Mr. Steiner is pianist with Sierra Ensemble, a dynamic and innovative mixed trio of violin, French horn and piano. The ensemble maintains an ongoing relationship with performers and composers in Turkey through their Turkish American Composers’ Project and San Francisco-Istanbul Musical Bridge Project collaborations. They have toured twice to Istanbul and Ankara, first in 2011 and then in 2013. An active teacher, coach and clinician as well as performer, Mr. Steiner frequently presents lectures and master classes on the Taubman Approach to piano technique. With over thirty years experience with the Taubman work, he served as a faculty member of the Taubman Institute, is a former faculty member of the Golandsky Institute. He is Past President of the Music Teachers’ Association of California, Alameda County Branch, and continues to serve on the board of the Branch’s Scholarship Foundation. He maintains private studios in the East Bay and the Los Angeles area.
WEDNESDAY NOON CONCERTS
As part of our ongoing mission to use the transformative power of the arts to inspire and enrich our community, we have opened our doors for the past two years, every Wednesday at Noon, and presented concerts performed by talented musicians that are free of charge to the public. These free noon performances offer listeners the opportunity to discover the beauty of music in an intimate accessible setting, while providing the community with cultural enrichment and exposure to talented performers.
Concerts are in a one-hour format and performances take place in the intimate Tivoli or Crescendo where both audience and musicians can sit in vibrant, close proximity. Musicians often stay after the performance to informally speak about the program and their upcoming concerts.
