Party of Five

Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 3 p.m.

• Donald McInnes, viola
• Natasha Snitkovsky, piano
• Charles Stegeman, violin
• Rachel Stegeman, violin
• David Allen Wehr, piano
• Anne Martindale Williams

Brahms's mellow Third String Quartet, and the exquisite, rarely-heard Schumann Variations for Piano, set the stage for the powerhouse Piano Quintet, a dark and brooding masterpiece.

Join Christopher McGlumphy, executive director of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, for a preconcert talk at 2:15 p.m. in PNC Recital Hall.

Violist Donald McInnes is one of the most distinguished musicians in the world today. The holder of the William Primrose Chair at the University of Southern California, McInnes is in constant demand as a performer and teacher. A former principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, he has recorded with all the major conductors and orchestras. He will be returning frequently as a guest artist in future seasons of Brahms on the Bluff.

Wehr is joined for this novelty by Natasha Snitkovsky, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, and adjunct professor of piano at Duquesne University. Snitkovsky is also the Artistic Director and Chair of the Piano Department at City Music Center, a community music school based at Duquesne.

Charles Stegeman, Chair of Strings at Duquesne University, was for many years the violinist of the Sartory Trio (with David Allen Wehr as pianist). He is currently Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestra and artist-in-residence at Azusa College in California. A native of Vancouver, he is a graduate of both the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School in New York City. He has founded numerous music festivals all over the US, and is currently Artistic Director of the Sunflower Chamber Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas.

Rachel Stegeman, Adjunct Professor of Violin at Duquesne University, Concertmaster of the Wheeling Symphony, and holds Associate Concertmaster positions of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. She has performed with major symphony orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and National Symphony Orchestra and on over 1000 commercial recording projects, including classical music, chamber music, jazz, pop, R&B, contemporary jazz, easy listening, rock, heavy metal, live television and award shows, and soundtracks for both television and motion pictures.

Anne Martindale Williams is originally from Philadelphia. On graduating from the Curtis Institute, she was engaged by the Pittsburgh Symphony as Associate Principal Cellist, and was promoted to Principal Cellist by Music Director Andre Previn. She is in constant demand as a chamber music player and visits many festivals each summer. Her Tecchler cello was made in Rome in 1701.