91探花

The Robertson Library at 91探花 will be the site of a unique musical 'informance' on Tuesday, March 16. Cellist Julia MacLaine, violinist Jennifer Curtis, and violist Margaret Dyer will perform a lunchtime concert and chat with the audience in the library foyer from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This event is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

MacLaine, daughter of Dr. Brent MacLaine, chair of the 91探花 English department, is one of today's prominent cellists. Critics have consistently singled her out for her rich tone, sweet, throbbing vibrato, and superb playing. She has performed at Carnegie Hall as a member of Ensemble ACJW and as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, North and South America, and Iceland. She is a member of The Knights Chamber Orchestra, The Beaus茅jour Trio, Troika, Tres Americas Project, and Pangea. With her duo partner, Ilya Kazantsev, she won a first prize in the Chamber Music Foundation of New England's 2008 International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition. She studied with Antonio Lysy at McGill University, and with Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music.

A winner of Astral's 2006 National Auditions, Curtis is also the recipient of the inaugural Milka/Astral violin prize, designated for a violinist invited to join the Astral Artists roster. Noted for her dynamic performances, she appears regularly as a featured soloist and collaborative chamber musician across the U.S. and abroad. She is also an accomplished composer; her works have been performed in New York City, Italy's Spoleto Festival, and the Verbier Festival de Musique in Switzerland, among others. She is the founder and director of the Tres Americas Project, a non-profit, community-focused exploration of the musical traditions of the Americas. Curtis holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mills College in California and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.

Dyer has charmed audiences worldwide as a chamber musician and soloist in New York City's Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, numerous venues in Europe, Mexico, and along the Amazon River in Peru. She is a founding member of the self-conducted string orchestra, A Far Cry, acclaimed by the Boston Globe as 'one of Boston's most promising classical music groups.' She has performed with musical personalities such as Roger Tapping, Markus Schirmer and Gil Kalish, and recorded with several non-classical artists, including Humanwine, Grizzly Bear, the Monolith and David Saw. An award-winning musician, she holds a bachelor's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a master's degree with academic distinction and graduate diploma from the New England Conservatory.

For information, contact Suzanne Jones, Robertson Library, at (902) 566-0393 or sjones@upei.ca