Strings Faculty

Highlights from 2004 include acclaimed performances of the Haydn D major concerto with the Oregon Mozart Players, and the Dvorak Concerto with conductor James Fellenbaum in Tennessee. In June of 2005 he is scheduled to perform the Brahms double concerto with the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Carlo Palleschi. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with the Diaz Trio, the Miami String Quartet, Michael Tilson Thomas, and has appeared at the Aspen, Cazenovia, Ojai, Sandpoint, Mainly Mozart, May in Miami, Skaneateles, and Subtropics Music Festivals. Internationally he has performed in chamber concerts in Italy, France, Monte Carlo, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Costa Rica. He was founder of the Plymouth String Quartet, with whom he was top prize winner in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and a finalist in the Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition. Other honors Dr. Baldwin has received include the Prix Mercure at the Mercure Wettbewerb in Vienna and the first prize in the Homer Ulrich Performance Award Competition. As a member and principal cellist of the New World Symphony, Baldwin performed with many of the world's great conductors, and toured Japan, Scotland, England, Argentina, and Brazil. His orchestral colleagues selected him as the recipient of the New World Symphony's Community Board Award for artistic integrity and leadership. He now serves on the audition committee for New World Symphony auditions in regional auditions throughout the U.S. and Canada each spring. Formerly on the music faculties of Florida International University and the Sewanee Summer Music Camp, Dr. Baldwin currently serves as associate professor of cello at the University of Tennessee, where he received the Provost's Award for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Activity. An enthusiast for education and cello playing, he has conducted workshops and master classes throughout the U.S. He is the founder and director of the Tennessee Cello Workshop, an annual three-day seminar for young cellists. In the summer he performs and teaches at the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts, the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival, and at the Wintergreen Festival, where he serves as associate principal cello. His performances can be heard on the Naxos and Zyode labels. His recording of cello sonatas by Joseph Jongen and Eugene Ysaÿe was released by Centaur Records, which will also release an upcoming recording of duos for cello and viola featuring Mr. Baldwin and violist Sheila Browne.

WEB: 2008 Tennessee Cello Workshop

MP3 Music Samples:

• Alla sarabanda: tranquillo by William Bolcom from Suite No. 1 in C Minor. Live performance by Wesley Baldwin at the Society for New Music by Amber Music.

FULL BIO: Wesley Baldwin

Research/Creative Activity 2006: Wesley Baldwin

An active performer, Ms. Herndon has toured with orchestras throughout Europe and North America and has acted as Principal Violist of the New World, Colorado Springs, Eastman and Juilliard Symphony Orchestras under the direction of some today’s best conductors, including Michael Tilson-Thomas, Seiji Ozawa, Neeme Jarvi, Yuri Temirkanov, James Levine and Sir Norrington.  She has been featured in live broadcasts on NPR and has performed at several leading festivals including the National Repertory Orchestra, Tanglewood and the Perlman Chamber Music Seminar.  As a chamber musician, Hillary Herndon has studied with such notable artists as Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Merry Peckham, Paul Katz, Joel Smirnoff, and the Ying Quartet.  Recent appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.  Ms. Herndon holds degrees from the Eastman and Juilliard Schools of Music where she studied with George Taylor, Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang.

He is an artist performer and teacher both in the classic and jazz areas, an active clinician in improvisation and rhythm section technique, and gives master classes in orchestral and solo bass performance. Mr. Holloway has performed as a bassist with leading U.S. jazz artists including Woody Herman, Dizzy Gilespie, Clark Terry, Zoot Soms, Al Cohn, Gap Mangione, Joe Williams, and Stan Getz; and in concert with Paul McCandless, Dave Samuels, Dan Gottlieb, and many more, as well as shows and television appearances with Bob Hope, Pete Barbutti, Della Reese, Liza Minelli, and Jerry Lewis.

Currently, Mr. Hristov performs several chamber and solo recitals as First Violinist of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Principal Quartet, and has recently been featured as a Soloist with the KSO. Prior to immigrating to the U.S., Mr. Hristov was a professor of violin in the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico where he also served as Principal Second Violin of the Orquesta de Camara de Monterrey and the Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Nuevo Leon. In 1995, Mr. Hristov was first prize winner of the National Violin Competition “Dobrin Petkov” in Bulgaria, and was later invited as a soloist to perform with the Plovdiv Philharmonic in Bulgaria. In 1998, he was a prize winner for the MTNA Collegiate String Performance Competition for the State of Louisiana and Southern Regional Division.  Over the past ten years, Mr. Hristov has performed solo recitals and conducted master classes throughout Europe, Mexico, and the United States. He has also recorded for Bulgarian National Radio and WUOT in Knoxville. He holds degrees in violin performance from the State Academy of Music (Bulgaria), Southeastern Louisiana University, and is finishing his Doctorate in Violin Performance from the University of Kentucky.

Research/Creative Activity 2006: Miroslav Hristov

Fellenbaum comes to UT from Chicago, where his extensively diverse background as a conductor has found him collaborating with some of the world's great artists and orchestras. Recently, his conducting collaborations have included members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Northwestern University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the DePaul University Symphony and Opera Orchestras, and the Midwest Young Artists youth orchestra organization. Fellenbaum served as an assistant conductor with Omaha Opera, and participated as an academy conductor in the American Academy of Conducting, during the 2002 Aspen Summer Music Festival. He has conducted orchestras around the country, including recent guest conducting concerts with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Chicago ensemble Fulcrum Point New Music Project, the Aspen Summer Music Festival Academy Orchestra, and in Europe with the Russe Philharmonic and the Vidin Philharmonic of Bulgaria. Previous university appointments have included director of orchestral activities and instructor of violoncello at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and North Park University in Chicago, Ill. Additional positions have included music director and conductor of the Orchestra of the Pines in Texas; Artistic Director of the North Shore Chamber Orchestra in Evanston, Ill; and Music Director of the Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ill. Fellenbaum holds a bachelor of music degree in violoncello performance from James Madison University in Virginia, and holds a double masters degree in violoncello performance and orchestral conducting from Northwestern University.

FULL BIO: James Fellenbaum

Research/Creative Activity 2006: James Fellenbaum

He was born in Russia where he began his musical studies at the age of seven. In 1972 he joined the Israel Philharmonic and toured the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and South America. Professor Zelmanovich has performed under many of the 20th Century's leading conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Carlo Maria Giulini, Antal Dorati, and Eugene Ormandy. Since 1986, Professor Zelmanovich has been concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Mr. Zelmanovich is well known as an experienced and dedicated teacher, and is often invited to give master classes at other universities. He is also serving as first violinist and member of the faculty in the School of Art at the prestigious summer music festival in Chautauqua, NY. Students from all over the United States and abroad apply each year to study with Professor Zelmanovich and many of his graduate students are holding professional positions in United States orchestras.

Research/Creative Activity 2006: Mark Zelmanovich