A New Year's Celebration

Celebrate the new year with music that dances. This festive program features Vivaldi’s dazzling “Winter” from The Four Seasons, Dvořák’s spirited Slavonic Dances, Piazzolla’s passionate tangos, Schoenfield’s jazz-inspired Café Music, and a spectacular finale with Strauss’s beloved Blue Danube Fantasy for piano four-hands. Plan to join us after the concert for an artist’s reception at a location to be announced.

Program

*This program last approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 15 minute intermission

“Winter” from The Four Seasons, Op. 8, No. 4 RV 297 by Antonio Vivaldi

Slavonic Dance in F major, Op. 46, No. 8 by Antonin Dvořák

Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72, No. 2 by Antonin Dvořák

Café Music by Paul Schoenfield

Primavera Porteña (Spring) by Astor Piazzolla

Le Grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla

Blue Danube Fantasy by Johann Strauss arr. for piano, four-hands by Greg Anderson

Performers

David Coucheron, violin

Julie Albers, cello

Julie Coucheron, piano

Elizabeth Pridgen, piano

David Coucheron, violin

David Coucheron joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as concertmaster in September 2010. Throughout his career, Mr. Coucheron has worked with Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Charles Dutoit, among others. He has performed as soloist with the BBC, Sendai, and Trondheim symphony orchestras as well as with the Bergen and Oslo philharmonic orchestras. Mr. Coucheron has given solo recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Olympic Winter Games (Salt Lake City), as well as in concert halls across the world. His chamber music performances have included appearances at Suntory Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Coucheron is founding member and artistic director for the Kon-Tiki Chamber Music Festival in his hometown of Oslo, Norway. Mr. Coucheron’s recordings with his sister, pianist Julie Coucheron, include David and Julie (Naxos/Mudi) and Debut (Naxos). He is also the featured soloist in Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, released on ASO Media in the fall of 2014. Mr. Coucheron holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Guildhall School, and his teachers include Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan, and David Takeno.

Julie Albers, cello

Cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style, and her intense musicianship. Born into a musical family in Longmont, Colorado, she began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Ms. Albers soon was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and as a result toured France as soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Douai.

Ms. Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 17 and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout North America, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. Past seasons have included performances with the symphony orchestras of Colorado, Grant Park Music Festival, Indianapolis, Munchener Kammerorchester, Rochester, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra among others. In 2001, she won Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, and was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch. While in Germany, she recorded solo and chamber music of Kodaly for the Bavarian Radio, performances that have been heard throughout Europe.

Ms. Albers was named principal cellist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2015, a position she currently holds. In addition, she regularly participates in chamber music festivals including ChamberFest Cleveland, La Jolla SummerFest, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Toronto Summer Music. 2009 marked the end of a three year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. Teaching has also held a very important place in Ms. Albers’ musical life from the age of 12 when she started teaching her first students. She held the position of Assistant Professor at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia from 2009-2022.

Ms. Albers’ debut album with Orion Weiss includes works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann, Massenet, and Piatiagorsky and is available on the Artek Label. Julie Albers performs on a N.F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872.

Julie Coucheron, piano

Born in Oslo, Norway, Ms. Coucheron began playing the piano at age four. She earned her Bachelor and Master’s Degree with honors from the Royal Academy of Music in London. At a young age, Ms. Coucheron had already…