Pacific Trio
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BIOGRAPHY
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"Top string quartets pop up everywhere, but first-rate piano trios are rare. A concert by the Pacific Trio was a special treat, as the trio demonstrated in convincing manner, why it should be considered one of the best."
So began the Los Angeles Times review of Pacific Trio's debut. Each member has enjoyed a celebrated career on the international music scene, rich in recital, ensemble, and concerto performances.
Founded in 1979 in Los Angeles by John Walz and Edith Orloff, this renowned ensemble has played more than 1,000 concerts in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In addition to touring, they serve as trio-in-residence at the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program in southern California.
In 1986, the trio made its New York debut at Lincoln Center, in a concert benefiting the New York chapter of the Alzheimer's Foundation. "Pacific Trio's debut concert at Alice Tully Hall could easily have stood on its own merits, but the players had the generosity to turn the program into a benefit, donating all the proceeds to the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association. The members of the trio played with warmth, expertise, and unanimity . . .elegantly tapered, yet directly emotive playing.” (The New York Times).
Pacific Trio began recording in 1989, with a CD of Brahms and Shostakovich, followed by trios of Dvorak and Smetana. Since then, they have completed many extensive European tours and have recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Czech National Orchestra in Prague. Their latest CD, “American Composers” – featuring music of Gershwin, Bernstein, Copland, and Muczynski - was released in fall of 2009 in conjunction with concerts in Germany, Poland, and France. Reviews in the German press rated their performances as….”chamber music of the highest order.”
The 2011-12 season includes a European trip in addition to concerts in southern and northern California
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EDITH ORLOFF, PIANO
A versatile performer, pianist EDITH ORLOFF is acclaimed as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist whose music-making is praised at home and abroad for interpretive vitality and perceptive musicianship. Her concerts have taken her across the United States as well as to Germany, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Italy, and Canada. “Her passagework purled, delicacy or crunch emerged to order from her rapid playing, chords had a cushion of authority, articulation illuminated melody.” (Los Angeles Times). In 1998, her German debut was received as “elegant, a pleasure to hear”.
She is a founding member of the Los Angeles-based Pacific Trio, with violinist Roger Wilkie and cellist John Walz, which regularly tours the U.S. and Europe and is featured on numerous international radio broadcasts. In November of 2014, Pacific Trio made its Russian debut in St. Petersburg with a performance at the “Silver Lyre” Festival. The trio is also ensemble-in-residence at Idyllwild Arts summer festival, where Ms. Orloff has taught piano and chamber music since 1976. Pacific Trio’s most recent recordings include a CD of trios by Bloch, Korngold, and Zemlinsky, and the album “American Composers”, featuring works of Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, and Muczynski.
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She has been guest artist with such prestigious groups as the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, Ensemble Con Brio of Bruchsal, Germany, and the Czech String Trio. Promoting new music, she has launched series featuring works of contemporary composers. Ms. Orloff is a regular performer on prominent series in the Los Angeles area, also in duo recital with each trio colleague. She continues a long-standing musical collaboration with her husband, clarinetist David Peck. Their CD of modern works for clarinet and piano was released in 2004. She has also recorded for Yarlung, Marsyas, and Capriccio. Her most recent CD, “Personal Touch”, is an album of varied works for solo piano by old masters and contemporary composers on the Encora label.
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Ms. Orloff holds two degrees from CalArts, where she studied piano with Earle Voorhies and chamber music with Cesare Pascarella. Other influential teachers were Reginald Stewart, Jerome Lowenthal, Rosina Lhevinne, Daniel Pollack, Hellmut Hidegheti, and Roberto Eyzaguirre.
In addition to her long-time summer faculty position at Idyllwild Arts, Edith Orloff also teaches privately and in master class. Along with musical activities, she enjoys travel, literature, and study of languages. She is fluent in Bulgarian, German, and French.
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JOHN WALZ, CELLO
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Hailed as one of the outstanding cellists of his generation, John Walz has excited audiences on four continents. Born in Southern California, John Walz began his studies with Eleonore Schoenfeld. In 1966, he heard the great French cellist, Pierre Fournier, play the Dvorak Concerto with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, an event that he says, “changed my life”. In 1973, he traveled to Switzerland to study with Fournier, becoming one of the French master’s finest pupils.
He has made twenty-five tours of Europe, playing recitals and concertos in such important musical centers as London, Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Rome, Vienna, Hamburg, and Oslo. 1983 took him to Australia, where he played in Sydney Melbourne, and Adelaide. His solo engagements with more that 120 symphony orchestras throughout the world have included performances of 25 different concertos. In 1997, he performed the Dvorak Concerto in Prague at the Rudolfinum, Dvorak’s own hall. This performance was subsequently recorded and released on Carlton Classics, to great acclaim. Most recently he performed and recorded Bloch’s Schelomo and the Shostakovich Concerto #1 with JoAnn Falletta and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Equally at home in chamber music and orchestral playing, he is currently the principal cellist with the Los Angeles Opera, having previously held that position with the Long Beach Symphony for twenty years. As a chamber music artist, he has played with such luminaries as Leonard Pennario, Mona Golabek, Nathan Milstein, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Pierre Fournier.
In 1979, John Walz was a founding member of the Pacific Trio. This renowned ensemble, which consists of violinist Roger Wilkie, and pianist and co-founder Edith Orloff, has played more than 900 concerts throughout North America and Europe. In addition, Mr. Walz is currently on the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA. Future engagements include a debut with the Phillipine Philharmonic in Manila, and the release of a new cd by the Pacific Trio, featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and “Archduke” Trio.
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ROGER WILKIE, VIOLIN
A Southern California native, violinist Roger Wilkie has enjoyed a rich and varied musical life. Born to a musical family, Mr. Wilkie’s professional career began in 1983, with a six-year tenure in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, eventually serving as principal second violinist.
He has since returned to the ensemble appearing as guest concertmaster. This experience led to other opportunities as guest concertmaster with such groups as the Los Angeles Opera, including productions of Strauss operas Die Frau Ohne Schatten and Der Rosenkavalier, the Round Top Festival Orchestra of Texas, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and the Real Filharmonia de Galicia, Spain, under music director Helmut Rilling. Presently, Mr. Wilkie’s orchestral life is centered around the Long Beach Symphony, where he has served as concertmaster since 1990.
He has had many opportunities to solo with the orchestra, performing the violin concertos of Brahms, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Bruch, Prokofiev, and the Brahms Double Concerto with cellist John Walz.
Mr. Wilkie is in great demand as a chamber musician. He was a founding member of the Angeles String Quartet, performing and touring from 1988-1993. He was solo violinist with the Santa Barbara based Camerata Pacifica, on whose series he played hundreds of concerts as recitalist and chamber musician over a ten year period. He has appeared at many chamber music festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Festival.
Presently, Mr. Wilkie is a member of the Pacific Trio with cellist John Walz and pianist Edith Orloff. This renowned ensemble has concretized in Europe in 2002, and again in 2004. Highlights of theses tours included a performance and recording of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Wilkie’s career also extends to the Hollywood Studios, where he has participated in the soundtracks for hundreds of films. In 2005, he received the honor of serving as concertmaster for John William’s scores for “Munich”, and “Memoirs of a Geisha”.
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