MADELINE ADKINS +
VIKTOR VALKOV

Program Notes

This three movement work has been commissioned by the violinists of the WORLD SONATA PROJECT 2022: VIOLIN and is one piece in a collection of works that focus on the natural materials of the instruments they were written for.

PEARL takes its impetus from the violin itself; the shape of the violin can be seen in the curves of the melodic lines in the first phrase of the score, and the materials of the violin–its resonating body of wood and the mother of pearl inlay found in many violins–have constituted much of the inspiration for the piece.

Freshwater pearls and mother of pearl light up in stunning ways under UV light, and in the first movement, FANTASIA ULTRAVIOLET, I've sought to write a musical portrait that gives the musicians and audience the sumptuous, grand drama that the violin and piano create so beautifully together.

The second movement begins with a "mermaid interlude" in the piano, taking our musical story down into watery depths. LUX AQUAE means "light of waters" and is a quiet elegy to the places those mother of pearl inlays began their life long before they became part of our violins. Here the piano and violin create an eery, mesmerizing space; while writing this I was thinking of the refracted light that floats down from the water's surface.

DANCE IRIDESCENCE takes its title from the magical colors and light that appear in the many layers of nacre; the material that makes up pearls and mother of pearl. This movement is a quickly moving, riotous yet tender moto perpetuo that makes use of some of the violin's most resonant notes and harmonics while perhaps speaking a bit about the forests whose trees experienced their own long lives before being felled and whittled into the resonant bodies we know now as violins.

About the ArtistS

madeline adkins, violin

Violinist Madeline Adkins joined the Utah Symphony as Concertmaster in September 2016.  Prior to this appointment, she was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), performing as Associate Concertmaster from 2005-2016. She was also Concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra from 2008-2016.

Adkins performs on the "ex-Chardon" Guadagnini of 1782, graciously loaned by Gabrielle Israelievitch to perpetuate the legacy of her late husband, former Toronto Symphony concertmaster, Jacques Israelievitch  (1948 - 2015).

Madeline is a Concertmaster of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra and has served as Guest Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Adkins has also been a guest artist at numerous festivals including the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, the Sarasota Music Festival, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Music in the Mountains, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, as well as a clinician at the National Orchestral Institute, the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and the Haitian Orchestra Institute. In addition, she has served as the Music Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City.

A sought-after soloist, Adkins has appeared with orchestras in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 24 US states, including over 25 works as soloist with the BSO, and 9 concertos as soloist with the Utah Symphony. Her recording of the complete works for violin and piano by Felix Mendelssohn with pianist Luis Magalhães on the TwoPianists label was released to critical acclaim in late 2016. American Record Guide notes that Adkins and Magalhães are "ardent and spontaneous" and "their fierce coordination is breathtaking." Additional discography includes 13 albums with the Baltimore Symphony, where she was featured soloist on Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 + 4, and 6 albums thus far with the Utah Symphony, including Danse Macabre.

In June 2021, Adkins premiered a new concerto for violin and orchestra that she commissioned from composer Nathan Lincoln de Cusatis entitled “The Maze” about the dramatic scenery and pictographs of the Maze section of Canyonlands National Park. Read more about The Maze here.

A champion of early music, Adkins has been active in baroque performance on period instruments since the age of 11.  She has been a member of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and Pro Musica Rara of Baltimore.  With the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Adkins appeared as conductor and soloist in several baroque programs of her own design, as well as hosting concerts on the Casual Series. Since her arrival in Utah, she continues to lead conductor-less concerts with the Utah Symphony.

The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, six of whom are professional musicians.  The siblings, who included titled players in the National, Dallas, and Houston symphonies, joined together to form the Adkins String Ensemble.  She performed on viola and violin with this unique chamber ensemble for over 15 years, and the group has made numerous recordings, including Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht.

Adkins received her Bachelor’s summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Buswell. While a student, she won first prize in a number of competitions, including the Stulberg International String Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition and was a second prize winner in the Irving Klein International String Competition.  

Madeline serves as a Musician Director on the Board of the Grand Teton Music Festival. When not on stage, Madeline enjoys travel photography, reading, tap dancing, and exploring the West. She is also passionate about animal rescue, and has fostered over 100 kittens! Madeline volunteers regularly for Best Friends Animal Society, the Utah Food Bank, and the International Rescue Committee.

www.madelineadkins.net

viktor valkov, piano

Winner of the 2015 Astral Artists National Auditions and a Gold Medalist at the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Viktor Valkov has been highly acclaimed by critics as “sensational” and a “lion of the keyboard.”

Along with numerous chamber music and solo appearances, Mr. Valkov has also performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2002, Mr. Valkov has given a number of recitals in the United States, Japan, China, England, Norway, Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia in prestigious concert venues including Zankel and Weill Halls at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Wigmore Hall in London, Sakura Hall and Okinawa Convention Center in Japan, and Alte Aula Heidelberg, Germany. In Bulgaria, he has appeared in performances with several major orchestras and music festivals.

Viktor Valkov is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

About the Composer

Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young. Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Stephanie’s music has been praised as “a racing, brassy score” (New York Times), “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald). 

Boyd is the 2021/2022 Peoria Symphony Orchestra Composer in Residence, a position culminating in an entire concert of her works, including her violin concerto Sybil, her cantata Sheltering Voices, and a new work inspired by Betty Friedan entitled Everywoman, with Deborah Rutter, Michelle DeYoung, and Sirena Huang as soloists. The 2021/2022 season also includes the premiere of Julia Louisa Esther: a Suffragette Symphony with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christopher Dragon; Alleluia Olora commissioned by Astral Artists for cellist Tommy Mesa; Aurora, commissioned by the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. 

Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.  Her music has been commissioned and/or played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City; Æpex Contemporary Music in Michigan; Juventas New Music, Collage New Music, and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston; Cincinnati Soundbox, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Lina Gonzales, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, and Kevin Fitzgerald.

stephanieannboyd.com