By: Wire Services
ORONO – On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 3 p.m., cellist Inbal Segev, known for her “warm, pure and beautiful tone” (Strings Magazine) will perform as guest soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in concert at Collins Center for the Arts (2 Flagstaff Road), led by Music Director Lucas Richman. The program will also include Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. Segev will conduct a master class on Friday, March 4, at 4 p.m. at Minsky Recital Hall at the University of Maine School of Performing Arts. It will be free and open to the public.
Segev has worked closely with Richman in the past, most recently performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on the world premiere recording of his “Three Pieces for Cello and Orchestra,” which appeared on his album “IN TRUTH: Lucas Richman,” released on Albany Records in September 2015. Segev gave the world premiere of Three Pieces for Cello and Orchestra in May 2013 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Richman.
Segev’s playing has been described as “characterized by a strong and warm tone . . . delivered with impressive fluency and style,” by The Strad and “first class,” “richly inspired,” and “very moving indeed,” by Gramophone. Equally committed to new repertoire and masterworks, she brings interpretations that are both unreservedly natural and insightful to the vast range of music she performs.
Segev released her recording of the complete Cello Suites of J.S. Bach in fall 2015 on the Vox label. Audiences have the opportunity to look behind the scenes at the making of Segev’s album through a companion documentary film about her journey through the music of Bach. She has performed Bach’s Cello Suites in venues around the world including Lincoln Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Shanghai Concert Hall and Henry Crown Hall in the Jerusalem Theatre.
Inbal Segev has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Castleton Festival Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, Bogotá Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Dortmund Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Polish National Radio Symphony, and the Bangkok Symphony. She made debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta, at age 17.
Segev’s repertoire includes all of the standard concerti and solo works for cello, as well as new pieces and rarely performed gems. She has recently premiered cello concertos by Avner Dorman and Lucas Richman. Segev gave the U.S. premiere of English composer Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Cello Concerto in D Major. She performed jazz composer David Baker’s cello concerto in New York, and was the first cellist to perform Henri Dutilleux’s challenging Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher for solo cello at Carnegie Hall. Commissioning new repertoire for the cello is a priority for Segev; current projects include new works by composers Gity Razaz, Timo Andres, and Fernando Otero.
Inbal Segev is a founding member of the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. She has collaborated with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Jeremy Denk, Anthony McGill, Gilbert Kalish, Michael Tree, Anne Akiko Meyers, and the Vogler Quartet. Festival appearances include the Banff, Ravinia, Bowdoin, Olympic, and Cape & Islands festivals in North America; the Siena, Rolandseck, and Montpellier festivals in Europe; and the Jerusalem Music Center and Upper Galilee festivals in Israel.
In addition to her new Bach and Richman albums, Segev’s discography includes “Sonatas by Beethoven and Boccherini” (Opus One), “Nigun” (Vox), and “Max Schubel’s Concerto for Cello and Horn” (Opus One). With the Amerigo Trio she has recorded the “Dohnányi Serenade” (Navona).
Inbal Segev’s many honors include the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship and top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo, and Washington International Competitions. She began playing the cello in Israel at age five and at 16 was invited by Isaac Stern to come to the U.S. to continue her studies. She earned degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University.
Inbal Segev lives in New York City with her husband and three children. Her cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.
For more information, visit www.inbalsegev.com.
