Mr. Robert Lipsett holds the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, California where he has been on the faculty for 25 years. In addition, he taught at the University of Southern California as a tenured professor and CalState University–Northridge. His students have consistently won important competitions including the Julius Stulberg Awards, the Yehudi Menuhin, Irvine M. Klein International Violin Competition, Hannover International Violin Competition and International Tchaikovsky Competition. Several have received highest honors from the National Association for the Advancement of the Arts and have been recognized as Presidential Scholars. This is the highest award the United States government can bestow on a high school student. His students hold principal positions with leading orchestras including Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, Principal Associate Concertmaster and Assistant Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and Concertmaster of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Lipsett's students have performed as soloists with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra as well as many appearances on national and international television.

 

Mr. Lipsett received his B.A. in Music from California State University-Northridge. Principal teachers included Ivan Galamian, Ruth Lasley, Zelman Brunoff, Melvin Ritter, Endre Granat. He also serves on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and has given master classes at major schools around the world. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Teachers Award from the White House Commission for Presidential Scholars. In addition, Mr. Lipsett has been an active solo artist, chamber music performer, orchestral musician and freelance commercial musician in motion pictures, television and recording industry.

 

 

 

 

Title(s): Violin and Chamber Music
School Email: mbeaver@colburnschool.edu  (Primary)
School Phone: 213-830-4873
 
Biography

Canadian violinist Martin Beaver was First Violin of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet from June 2002 until its disbanding in July 2013. As such, he appeared to critical and public acclaim on the major stages of the world including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

 

As a member of the Tokyo String Quartet, Mr. Beaver was privileged to perform on the 1727 Stradivarius violin from the “Paganini Quartet” set of instruments on generous loan to the quartet from the Nippon Music Foundation. Recordings of the Tokyo String Quartet during his tenure notably include the complete Beethoven quartets on the Harmonia Mundi label.

 

Mr. Beaver’s concerto and recital appearances span four continents with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and under the batons of Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Raymond Leppard and Charles Dutoit among others. Chamber music performances include collaborations with such eminent artists as Leon Fleisher, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Sabine Meyer and the late Alicia de Larrocha.

 

Mr. Beaver is a regular guest at prominent festivals including the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the La Jolla Summerfest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

 

Mr. Beaver’s discography includes concerti, sonatas and chamber music on the Harmonia Mundi, Biddulph, Naim Audio, René Gailly, Musica Viva, SM 5000 and Naxos labels. His recorded repertoire ranges from Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to the music of living composers Alexina Louie and Joan Tower.

 

Following his early studies with Claude Letourneau and Carlisle Wilson, Mr. Beaver was a pupil of Victor Danchenko, Josef Gingold and Henryk Szeryng. He was a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal and Indianapolis competitions. Subsequently, he served on the juries of major international violin competitions including the 2009 Queen Elisabeth and 2010 Montreal competitions.

 

Over the course of his career, Mr. Beaver has been the grateful recipient of the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts. This includes Arts Grants for his studies at Indiana University, Career Development Grants and the 1993 Virginia-Parker Prize. In 1998, the Canada Council and an anonymous donor awarded Mr. Beaver the use of the 1729 “ex-Heath” Guarnerius del Gesù violin for a four-year period.

 

A devoted educator, Mr. Beaver has conducted masterclasses throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has held teaching positions at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the University of British Columbia and the Peabody Conservatory. More recently, he served on the faculty of New York University and as Artist in Residence at the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded its highest honor - the Sanford Medal. He joined the faculty of The Colburn School in August 2013.

 

Mr. Beaver plays a 1789 Nicolo Bergonzi violin.

 

 

 

 

 

Arnold Steinhardt

Title(s): Violin, Viola and Chamber Music Coach
School Email: asteinhardt@colburnschool.edu  (Primary)
School Phone: 213-830-4859

Biography
Arnold Steinhardt was born in Los Angeles, receiving his early training from Karl Moldrem, Peter Meremblum and Toscha Seidel, and making his solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at age fourteen. He continued his studies with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music and with Joseph Szigeti in Switzerland in 1962 under the sponsorship of George Szell.

Winner of the Philadelphia Youth Competition in 1957, the 1958 Leventritt Award, and Bronze Medalist in the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in 1963, Mr. Steinhardt has appeared throughout North America and Europe as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra, among others.

 

Mr. Steinhardt is first violinist and a founding member (1964) of the internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet with which he has made innumerable tours across the globe and recorded dozens of albums for RCA Victor, Philips, Arabesque and Surrounded By Entertainment. He is professor of violin at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, the University of Maryland, Bard College, and the Curtis Institute of Music.

 

Arnold Steinhardt has written two books: Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmony (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998); and Violin Dreams (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). He is the author of articles which have appeared in Chamber Music America, Musical America and Keynote. Recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the University of South Florida and Harpur College, Arnold Steinhardt has also received an award for distinguished cultural service from the City of New York presented by Mayor Koch.

 

Mr. Steinhardt's recordings include Franz Schubert's complete works for violin and piano with Seymour Lipkin on Newport Classic, American Journey on Naxos Records featuring a variety of seldom heard American music and three new works written for him, two CD's on Sheffield Lab with pianist Lincoln Mayorga: Strauss and Dvorak and Romantic Music for Violin and Piano which he recorded "direct-to-disc"; and a TownHall recording of unaccompanied Bach works.

 

Arnold Steinhardt plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin from Cremona, Italy, late 18th century.