Léya Quartet at the Academy of Fine Arts

Forte Chamber Music & the Academy of Fine Arts present The Léya String Quartet, from the Université de Montréal, Wednesday, April 11, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. at The Joy and Lynch Christian Warehouse Theatre 5th and Commerce Streets in downtown Lynchburg.

The quartet, composed of Brendan Conway and Nikita Morozov, violinists, Sarah Curley, violist, and Amarillys Jarczyk, cellist, will perform Mozart's Quartet #18, K. 464, Tchaikovsky's Quartet #1, Op.11, and Schubert's Quartet Op. #14, D. 810, "Death and the Maiden." All proceeds benefit the Cornerstone Campaign to re-open the historic Academy of Music Theatre.

Tickets are available at the Academy of Fine Arts Box Office 434-846-TIXX (846-8499) at $20 for adult admission and $5 for students.

The Léya Quartet was formed at the Université de Montréal by four extremely gifted young musicians. The bond was instantaneous, transforming a new ensemble into a brilliantly cohesive quartet of indisputable technical mastery and refined musicality. Their youth and enthusiasm make their music all the more exciting. Since their inception in 2005 the Léya Quartet has developed deep friendship and great personal and professional respect into a profound connection through the music they create.

The quartet has performed an extensive repertoire ranging from Mozart to Shostakovich. They were selected to present a seldom heard quartet by Tournemire for an international convention featuring 20th century music, held in Montréal last spring. They have given numerous concerts at the Université de Montréal and in area chamber music programs, and are continually praised for the energy, passion, and excellence of their performances. They hope to attend the highly prestigious National Arts Center Young Artists Program led by Pinchas Zukerman in Ottawa in June.

Brendan Conway and Nikita Morozov share the concertmaster chair. Conway performs extensively in Washington D.C., New York, and abroad. In 2000, Conway presented a solo program at the "Young Virtuosos 2000" gala in Moscow, and then returned to Russia for a series of recitals at the Rachmaninoff International Festival. As a member of the Perlman Music Program, he has played numerous times with Itzhak Perlman in the Mostly Mozart Festival at Avery Fisher Hall and for the "Live from Lincoln Center" broadcast by PBS. He has given solo performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Embassy of Canada, Lincoln Theater, and New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, where he twice performed on Public Radio's "From the Top."

Conway, winner of many regional competitions, including the Virginia Concerto Competition, Russian American Music Association Young Soloist Competitions, Interlochen Arts Camp Concerto Competition and the Virginia division of the American String Teachers Association Solo Competition, has recently entered the international competition scene. In 2004, he was the youngest competitor at the Premio Paganini Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy, in 2005 competed in the Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki, Finland, and in 2006 was a semi-finalist of the Montreal International Music Competition.

Conway has appeared as soloist with a number of orchestras in the United States and Canada, most recently presenting Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestre de Université de Montréal.

In addition to his solo work, Conway is an avid chamber musician. His piano trio won the silver medal at the 2002 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and was twice featured as Young Artists at the Menuhin Chamber Music Festival in San Francisco.

Nikita Morozov, born in 1986, started his violin studies at age 7 with Natasha Turovsky. In 2003, he graduated from Pierre-Laporte Music Academy, and the next year he started his studies with Eleonora Turovsky with whom he is currently completing the second year of a baccalaureate in interpretation at the Université de Montréal. Morozov has participated in numerous competitions: in 2006, he won second prize in the national Canadian Music Competition. He has had master classes with Yannick Roussin, Mayumi Seiler, Sydney Humphreys and Igor Oistrakh. He often plays violin as a member of I Musici de Montréal chamber orchestra, under Maestro Yuli Turovsky.

Violist Sarah Curley is currently a second year master's degree student at Université de Montréal, studying with Jutta Puchhammer. She received her Bachelor's Degree from The Peabody Conservatory of Music studying with Victoria Chiang. She has been a part of the summer festivals Encore, Yellow Barn Young Artists, Orford, Credo and Blue Lake Fine Arts. She has also studied with Lawrence Newman, Desiree Ruhstrat, Karin Dirks and has had Master classes with Heidi Castleman and Jefferey Irvine. Curley placed in the 2006 Viola Congress Canadian Music Competition.

Amaryllis Jarczyk, cellist, rounds out the quartet. In 2006, she was chosen to be a part of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the country's preeminent training ground for musicians aged 14-28 who wish to pursue a career as professional orchestral musicians. On March 19, 2007, she was featured in a solo cello recital at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal.

For handicapped accessibility and the elevator, use the Commerce entrance just as you turn into The Joy and Lynch Christian Warehouse Theatre entrance.