January 22nd: Epiphany Concert Series presents The Fire Pink Trio

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Florence continues its Epiphany Concert Series with a performance by the Fire Pink Trio on Sunday, January 22 at 6:00 p.m. in the church’s parish hall. 

There is no charge for the concerts but donations are appreciated.  Light refreshments will be provided.  St. John’s is located at 252 S. Dargan Street in Florence.  Parking is available in the lot behind the church.

The dynamic and poetic Fire Pink Trio combines harp, flute, and viola. Just as each instrument has its uniquely beautiful voice, each member of Fire Pink Trio brings to the group a multitude of accolades including top prizes in international competitions, concerto performances, and critically acclaimed recordings. Performing music from Romantic to Contemporary, Latin and Jazz, Fire Pink Trio brings energy, elegance, style, and virtuosity to the stage.

The trio consists of Jacquelyn Bartlett, harp, Sheila Browne, viola, and Debra Reuter-Pivetta, flute.  Their performances have been described as “lush and melodic” and “stunningly performed.”  Of a February 2011 concert at the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Classical Voice of North Carolina  wrote, “The Fire Pink Trio provided us with an afternoon filled with life's experiences communicated musically with extraordinary skill and sensitivity.”

Harpist Jacquelyn Bartlett’s solo debut in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall at age sixteen received high critical praise. She graduated with honors from Interlochen Arts Academy and then attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she majored in harp and minored in piano.

Subsequently, Ms. Bartlett was invited to perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Slovac Radio Symphony, the Kansas City Philharmonic, and the North Carolina Symphony, working with such distinguished conductors as Eugene Ormandy and Aaron Copeland.

Ms. Bartlett has toured America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.  Having served on the faculties of Duke University and the University of North Carolina, she currently is a member of the Artist Faculties of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Appalachian State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Community School of the Arts at Spirit Square in Charlotte, NC.  Ms. Bartlett is much sought after as a teacher, chamber music coach, and presenter for master classes and seminars. Her students have garnered top prizes at national competitions and have been featured in Europe at the World Harp Congress.

Currently, she is Artistic Director of Music at St John’s in Valle Crucis, NC and she appears regularly with Mallarme Chamber Players. Her recent World Premiere recording of Dan Locklair’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra has received high, critical praise.

A dynamic and versatile artist, violist Sheila Browne has concertized in many of the world's major halls as soloist, chamber musician, and as principal violist of several orchestras.  Also an active recitalist, she has given concerto premeires, solo, and chamber music recitals across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South Africa, and Iraq.

The only viola solo finalist at Carnegie Hall in the 2004 Pro Musicis International Solo Awards, she also has been a member of the internationally prizewinning Arianna and Gotham String Quartets.  Ms. Browne has collaborated with great artists such as James Buswell, Nicholas Chumachenko, and Miriam Fried  and members of the Guarneri  and Vermeer Quartets, and has recorded with Audra MacDonald, Natalie Cole, and Lisa Loeb. She was featured by Michael Tilson–Thomas while principal of the New World Symphony in the PBS documentary "Beethoven Alive!"
            
            
Ms. Browne earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School and was awarded a German Academic Exchange Grant (DAAD) for further Aufbau  studies at the Freiburger MusikHochschule.  She was an Artist/Teacher–in–Residence at the University of Missouri-St. Louis with the Arianna Quartet and Assistant Professor of Viola at the University of Tennessee before joining the Artist/Professor faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and has also recently joined the faculty of New York University. She teaches at several festivals, including California Summer Music, and Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. She is the first viola professor ever to teach in Kurdistan after being invited to teach at the inaugural season of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq (NYOI) this past summer.

Hailed for her breathtaking technical skill, intoxicating musicality, and deep interpretational understanding, flutist Debra Reuter-Pivetta enjoys a diverse career as soloist, chamber artist, orchestral player, and teacher. A winner in the 1999 Concert Artists Guild Competition, she was the first ever recipient of the Community Concerts Performance Prize. Her other honors include top prizes in numerous competitions including the Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition and the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition.

Ms. Reuter-Pivetta has performed as concerto soloist with many orchestras including the International Music Program Orchestra on a tour of Italy, Switzerland and Germany; the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra; the Lawton (OK) Philharmonic; the Winston-Salem Symphony; and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. Dedicated to the performance of contemporary music and rarely-heard works, Debra Reuter-Pivetta has given many premieres both as soloist and chamber artist.

Ms. Reuter-Pivetta has recorded works by with her husband, pianist Federico Pivetta. Their critically acclaimed CD is entitled “Passion and Romance”, and has aired frequently on public radio stations across the country. The couple performs extensively together. Recent highlights for the Pivetta Duo include the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, Community Concerts showcases in New York City and Charlotte, recitals in northern Italy, and an extensive concert tour performing in 75 cities nationwide.

Debra Reuter-Pivetta is the principal flutist with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and the flute instructor at Salem College. Ms. Reuter-Pivetta is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied with Philip Dunigan.  Read full biographies of Fire Pink Trio at www.firepinktrio.com.

The remainder of the concert series slate is as follows: Dr. Julia Harlow (organ), January 29; Dr. Paolo Gualdi and Dr. Danijela Žeželj-Gualdi (piano, violin), February 12; Carolina Brass, February 19.  A downloadable brochure is available at www.stjohnsflorence.org.