Dr. Zahari Metchkov, Kevin Haseltine, and Filip Fenrych will be performing “Brahms Horn Trio”, and the rarely done “Ligeti Horn Trio”. CLICK HERE to view the program. Seating is limited, so please let us know if you plan to attend.
Dr. Zahari Metchkov
Both a pianist and an organist, Dr. Zahari Metchkov has performed at such venues as New York’s Avery Fisher Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center. He has concertized in Israel, Bulgaria, and the United States. Dr. Metchkov released his first CD in 2008 – a recording of works for piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt and Cesar Franck and a second recording project featuring solo works for piano and organ completed in the Spring of 2014.
Native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Dr. Metchkov holds BM in piano and organ performance, MM in piano performance, and DMA in piano performance with a minor in music theory from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, Ohio. In 2010 he joined Colorado State University-Pueblo’s department of music, currently an Associate Professor of Music, teaching applied piano, chamber music, and piano related courses. He was the 2013 recipient of the CSU-Pueblo’s Outstanding Service and Transformative Leadership Award and the 2014 recipient of CHASS Outstanding Faculty of the Year. Dr. Metchkov has also taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music as well as Youngstown State University. He directed the Cleveland based Ensemble Secundum Silentium, serves as an artistic adviser for the San Angelo Piano Festival, and in May 2009 co-directed the Youngstown State University Intensive Piano Workshop.
Currently Dr. Metchkov is the Artistic Director of the Pueblo Keyboard Arts Festival and Piano Conversations Concert Series, Pueblo, as well as Rocky Mountain Music Alliance Concert Series, Colorado Springs. As a performer he has appeared in the Mostly Mozart Music Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Bridgehampton Music Festival, Varna Summer Festival, Sofia Music Weeks Festival, Geneva Chamber Music Festival, New Year’s Music Days Festival, and San Angelo Piano Festival. He has appeared live on radio CPR-Denver, WCLV-Cleveland, Bulgarian National Radio, Radio Alma Mater-Sofia.
Placing high priority over the education of young pianists in Southern Colorado, Dr. Metchkov is President-Elect for the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, a chapter of the Music Teachers National Association. He is a frequent guest adjudicator and clinician to numerous piano festivals in Colorado and strives to promote well structured study of music, specifically piano, to young people of all ages and their families. He maintains a private studio, whose members have garnered awards in state competitions and festivals.
Dr. Metchkov has been enjoying an active artistic life as a soloist, chamber artist, as well as church musician. 2016-2017 projects include the performances of the Brahms 1st Concerto, Franck’s Symphonic Variations, and Mozart Triple Piano Concerto. As well as the Brahms and Ligeti Horn Trios. He has been a guest artist with the Pueblo Symphony, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Colorado State University-Pueblo Orchestra, Colorado State University-Pueblo Wind Ensemble, Suburban Symphony, University Circle Chorale, University Circle Wind Ensemble, and Pleven Philharmonic. Dr. Metchkov is the music director at Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo where he leads the choirs and serves as organist. Besides music, he also enjoys skiing and is steadily working on climbing Colorado’s fifty-four 14ers.
Kevin Haseltine
Kevin Haseltine is in his second season as a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where he holds the position of 4th horn. Glad to return to his home state of Texas, he is originally from Houston, where he began his musical studies as a student of Roger Kaza, now the principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony. Before joining the DSO, Kevin was a horn fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach where he had the opportunity to work with maestro Michael Tilson Thomas and such esteemed performers as Yefim Bronfman and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Kevin graduated with honors from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where he studied under the tutelage of renowned brass pedagogue Gail Williams and principal horn of the Lyric Opera, Jon Boen.
While in Chicago, Kevin was a member of the Civic Orchestra and frequently performed with the Chicago Symphony. He also performed avidly as a chamber musician, forming a brass quintet that placed third in the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. His most notable summer experience was as a horn fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, which allowed him to work closely with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During his second year at the festival, he was asked to join the BSO for their 2015 summer European tour as well as perform several concerts with them that season. In addition to Boston and Chicago, Kevin has also performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and has had the opportunity to work with such notable conductors as Riccardo Muti, Andris Nelsons, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, and well-known film composer, John Williams.
Filip Fenrych
Born in Poland, violinist Filip Fenrych is a member of the first violin section of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Filip made his concert debut at age 14 performing Wieniawski Concerto No. 2 with the Frechen Symphony Orchestra, Germany. Recent performances include appearances with the Filharmonia Gorzowska, Filharmonia Opolska im. Józefa Elsnera, and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician and the founder of the Klimt Trio, Mr. Fenrych won the Grand Prix in The Coleman Competition and a silver medal in The Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. He performs on the Cliburn Concerts (Fort Worth, TX), Blue Candlelight (Dallas, TX), and Voices of Change (Dallas, TX) and Piano Conversations (Pueblo, CO). In summers, Filip serves as leader of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), Crested Butte Music Festival, and performs with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. In 2016 he will appear at the Shipley Festival (UK), and will lead the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra with Joshua Bell on tour of Switzerland and perform at Schloss Elmau, Germany.
Filip regularly collaborates with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, Valeriy Gergyev, Daniel Harding, Neemi Jarvi, Paavo Jarvi, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Gianandrea Noseda, Mikhail Pletnev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. He has most recently recorded for CBS Radio Canada, and for broadcast on WRR 101.1 FM. Filip’s performance of Strauss’ Bourgeois Gentilhomme, under the baton of Daniel Harding, has been televised worldwide on the Medici TV and Mezzo networks.
Filip received his master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of William Preucil. He attended the University of North Texas as a student of Julia Bushkova, and completed additional studies with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Oberlin Conservatory. As a student he performed in masterclasses for Beaux Art Trio, Victor Danchenko, Gregory Fulkerson, Vladimir Landsman, Midori, Kathleen Winkler, and with the Juilliard, St. Petersburg, Takács, Tokyo, Vermeer, and Kavani String Quartets. Filip participated in prestigious festivals including Verbier Festival, Bellerive Festival, Miyazaki Festival, and the International Chamber Music Festival “Perche No?” (Italy). As a soloist, Filip won numerous competitions including the UNT Concerto Competition, Virtu Foundation Award, and Gold Medals in the Entergy and Crescendo Music Awards.
Filip lives in Dallas, TX where he maintains a studio of private students. He is passionate about the performance and pedagogy of repertoire by Polish composers. Filip currently performs on a violin by Carlo Giuseppe Testore (1710) on generous loan from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. When not playing violin he can be found throwing pottery and on the racquetball court.
