Experienced musicians revitalize baroque in 'A Musical Offering'

A recital dedicated to music from the baroque period will occur Saturday at 8 p.m. in Taplin Auditorium.

The program, entitled "A Musical Offering" highlights the work of J.S. Bach, Telemann, Tartini, Couperin and Handel and will feature Andrew Braid '03 on oboe, Lillian Pierce '02 on violin and professional harpsichordist Jennifer Bowen.

Braid, Pierce, and Bowen have been planning the recital for almost a year. Four other musicians from the Princeton University Orchestra will join Braid and Pierce in the performance. The baroque ensemble includes Jennifer Greenman '02 and Chris Greenman '03 on violin, Leo Goldmakher '03 on viola and Alex Snyder '03 on cello, in addition to Bowen.

"Rehearsing for this has been very exciting," Braid said. "It's been very special to get to work with other members of the orchestra, whom normally I just see in passing or rehearsal once or twice a week."

Braid studied the piano for five years before taking up the oboe in seventh grade. He performed with his high school ensembles and several youth orchestras in the New York City area while he was in high school. He also managed a woodwind quintet called the Stuyvesant Philharmonkies. During his senior year, he performed as a soloist in concertos of Haydn, Rimsky-Korsakov and Handel with the Stuyvesant High School Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and the Children's Orchestra Society, respectively.

From 1995-98, he attended the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival, and he was a counselor-in-training at the Festival in 1998. In 1997 and 1998, he attended the New York All-State Music Conference.

At Princeton, Braid has studied oboe under Matt Sullivan and previously with Alexandra Knoll. Currently, he is co-principal oboe in the Princeton University Orchestra. Braid is also involved with WPRB, broadcasting classical music every week on Thursdays.

Pierce — who was recently named to the USA Today All-USA College Academic, First Team — has been playing violin since she was 3 years old. When she was 11, she started playing as a freelance violinist in the San Diego area. She was a member of the Palomar College Symphony Orchestra from 1992-97, and a member of the La Jolla Symphony from 1997-98.

She has also taken part in the Tanglewood Music Festivals, the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin Conservatory and the International Institute of Music at the Bayerische Musikakademie in Marktoberdorf, Germany.

She has been awarded prizes from the VOCE Senior Solo Strings, Grossmont College, La Jolla Symphony, California Young Artists and Musical Merit competitions. In addition, she has played as a soloist with the Grossmont Symphony, the Princeton University Orchestra and the Delaware Valley Philharmonic.

Pierce is currently co-concertmaster of the Princeton University Orchestra. She performs with the Richardson Chamber Players, and is a member of the Nassau String Quartet. Currently, she is studying under Anna Lim.

Bowen began playing harpsichord after 18 years as a pianist. She holds music degrees from both the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Michigan. She has performed with UCSB's Cappella Cordine and Music Antiqua, Michigan Student Opera Words and Newtown Chamber Orchestra.

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A founding member of Conversation Galante and the Underground Baroque Ensembl, She has performed both solo and collaborative recitals throughout the United States and in Rio de Janeiro.

Jennifer Greenman has been studying the violin since she was 5 years old. When she was thirteen, she was invited to Matsumoto, Japan to perform The Bruch Violin Concerto and study with Shinichi Suzuki. She has been honored by The Seattle Young Artists Festival Competition and The Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside. She has soloed with Orchestra Seattle and has been concertmaster of the Lakeside Upper School Orchestra, Eastside Suzuki Orchestra, United States Youth Ensemble of Boston and the Harvard Summer School Orchestra. She currently performs with the Princeton University Orchestra as well as several student chamber groups.

Chris Greenman studied violin under Mihoko Hirata from 1987-2000. He was concertmaster of the Lakeside School Orchestra while he was in high school, won first prize in the Eastside Music Festival and was the all Metro champ in the Seattle district, and placed in the WIAA state-wide solo competition. He is a member of the Princeton University Orchestra and currently studies with Anna Lim and Misha Amory.

Goldmakher began studying violin when he was 9, and he later picked up viola when he was 16. He has studied viola with Michael Zaretsky at the New England Conservatory.

He has been a finalist in the National Russian-American Music Association's annual music competition and was also the winner of the Newton South High School music competition.

At Princeton, he studies under David Miller and Anna Lim. He has performed with the Princeton University Orchestra and in chamber groups.

Snyder has studied cello with Julie Diesslin at the Spence School in Manhattan, and later with Paul deYoung and Greg Hesselink. During high school, she performed with Jonathan Strasser's InterSchools Orchestra Symphony, with annual performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Botannical Gardens and concerts at Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. She is currently studying under Amy Levine Tsang.

The concert is free and open to the public.