String Faculty
LEONARDO ALTINO, cello
University of Memphis
Mr. Leonardo Altino, a native of Brazil, is a prolific cellist who has performed around the world since age eight. By age fifteen, he had appeared as a soloist with every major orchestra in Brazil and worked with renowned conductors such as Eleazar de Carvalho and Isaac Karabitchevsky. Praised by the Strad Magazine for his “exceptional musical intelligence and an exceptionally cultivated sound," Mr. Altino was the First Prize winner at the International Cello Competition in Viña Del Mar, Chile, and he has since appeared as soloist and in solo recitals in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. He has performed with many orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Concord Symphony, Hudson Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Montgomery Symphony, Sinfonica de Bogota, Sinfonica de Santiago, and Sinfonica de São Paulo. Mr. Altino was awarded the first prize at the Jovens Concertistas Brasileiros, a prestigious competition in Brazil, and he received the Harvard University Music Award. In addition to his activities as a soloist, Mr. Altino frequently performs in chamber music recitals, collaborating with artists such as Roger Chase, Monique Duphil, Stephen Mackey, Antonio Meneses and the Miró String Quartet.
Mr. Altino holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his principal teachers include Aldo Parisot, Laurence Lesser, and Suren Bagratuni. He also studied in Germany with Marcio Carneiro at the Detmold Musikhöchschulle and received the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra Fellowship to serve as artist-in-residence for two years.
As a dedicated teacher, Mr. Altino has taught in several festivals such as the Festival de Inverno Campos do Jordão in Brazil, the International Music Festival in Bogota, Colombia, and at the Masterworks Festival in Indiana where he and his wife, violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino, serve as directors for the String Intensive Study Program. He has also taught at the Preparatory Division of the New England Conservatory of Music and has given master classes in many universities and music festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Altino presently teaches at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis and performs in the Ceruti String Quartet.
OLEH KRYSA, violin
Eastman School of Music
The Ukrainian-American violinist, Oleh Krysa, long esteemed in the former USSR as a distinguished soloist, chamber musician and teacher, made his American debut in 1971 at Carnegie Hall with a performance that won glowing reviews from the critics. After an 18-year absence from the American concert stage, his appearances in 1990 at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center were again met with exceptional critical acclaim and confirmed his reputation as a master of his instrument.
A prominent student of David Oistrakh, Oleh Krysa won major prizes in such international competitions as the Wieniawski, Tchaikovsky and Montreal, and was outright winner of the Paganini Competition. After completing his postgraduate work, he began his teaching career as chairman of the Violin Department at the Kiev Conservatory. In 1973 he took the same position at the Gnesins Musical and Pedagogical Institute in Moscow. Two years later, he returned to the Moscow Conservatory as Professor of Violin, where he remained until 1988. Currently, Oleh Krysa is Professor of Violin at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and Visiting Professor at the Geidai University in Tokyo, Japan .
Oleh Krysa has performed in major music centres throughout the world, with leading orchestras and conductors and ensembles. He has also appeared at major festivals in North America, Europe and Far East. He was leader of the celebrated Beethoven String Quartet 1977-87, and is a champion of contemporary music.
Oleh Krysa has recorded on the Melodiya, Bis, Triton, Olympia, Amadis, Polskie Nagranie, TNC and Russian Disc labels and has served on the jury panel of the Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Paganini, Kreisler, Oistrakh, Lipizer and Montreal Violin Competitions. Mr. Krysa’s upcoming engagements include a concert tour this year of the USA, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
MICHELLE LACOURSE, viola
Boston University
Michelle LaCourse has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on four continents, including recent performances in Italy, Spain, Brazil, and South Korea. Her playing has been described by critics in such terms as “a miraculous blend of intense passion and artistic elegance” and “has a mastery of the instrument like a sixth sense, and with it reveals to us the most profound secrets.” An enthusiastic advocate for new viola repertoire, she has also commissioned and premiered several new pieces for the instrument. Her recent recording, “Chocolates: Music for Viola and Piano by James Grant” was released by MSR Classics (msrcd.com) in spring of 2009 to rave reviews.
Ms. LaCourse was formerly a member of the Lehigh Quartet, the Delphic String Trio and the Aeolian Trio. She has performed at numerous festivals such as Aspen, Eastern, Interlochen, Skaneateles, Musicorda, the Heifetz Institute, and the International Festivals of Campos do Jordão, Brazil, of Positano, Italy, and of Vianden, Luxembourg, as well as at some of the world’s leading concert venues, such as Vienna’s Musikverein, Berlin’s Kammermusiksaal and Washington’s Kennedy Center. As an orchestral musician, she has performed with the Baltimore Symphony and the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and was formerly principal violist of the Chamber Orchestra of Grenoble France.
She graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where she worked with David Holland, and holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with, and was for many years teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Karen Tuttle.
Ms LaCourse was recently awarded Boston University’s 2009 Metcalf Cup and Prize, the university’s highest honor for excellence in teaching. She has given master classes at music schools across the United States, and during the summer months she also teaches and performs at the annual Karen Tuttle Viola Workshops and at BU’s Tanglewood Institute. Many of her former students currently enjoy playing and teaching positions around the globe. She is currently the Head of String Department and Associate Professor of Music, Viola at Boston University College of Fine Arts.
SOH-HYUN PARK ALTINO, violin
University of Memphis
Dr. Soh-Hyun Park Altino, native of Korea, received her Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she was a student and teaching assistant of Donald Weilerstein. Dr. Altino has taught at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, the D'Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College, the International School and Festival of Music in Bogota, Colombia, Fabrica de Musica in Brazil, and at the Putney Chamber Music Intensive in Vermont. She has been a participant at festivals such as Tanglewood, Sarasota, Aspen, Kneisel Hall, Yellow Barn, and the New York String Seminar.
She appeared as a soloist with the Peabody Concert Orchestra in Baltimore, the Suwon Philharmonic in Seoul, Korea, Orquestra Sinfonica de Campinas at the Winter Music Festival in Campos do Jordao, Brazil, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Ceruti String Quartet, a quartet-in-residence at the University of Memphis, Dr. Altino frequently performs in chamber music recital series as well as educational programs. She has also performed in numerous solo and chamber music recitals in Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Korea, and the U.S.
Dr. Altino is the director of the String Intensive Study Program at the Masterworks Festival in Indiana during summer and is heard in the Festival Virtuosi concerts in Brazil every December. Dr. Altino has been on the faculty of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis since 2001.
