SANTA BARBARA CONNECTION

Thursday, August 1
Church of St. Nicholas Franciscan Monastery, Prčanj, 9.30 p.m.
SANTA BARBARA CONNECTION

Jessica Guideri, violin
Ina Veli, violin
Eric Rynearson, viola
Trevor Handy, cello

PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  (1756–1791)
String Quartet in D Major, K. 575
    Allegretto
    Andante
    Menuetto
    Allegretto

Jessie Montgomery (1981)
Strum for string quartet

Antonin Dvořák (1841–1904)
String Quartet in F major (American), No. 12, Op. 96
    Allegro ma non troppo
    Lento
Molto vivace
    Finale: vivace ma non troppo

Partners:

Jessica Guideri, violin, is Concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Symphony and an active recording musician, who can be heard on more than 500 motion picture and television soundtracks including Star Wars, Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Frozen. She is also an in-demand chamber musician and was the first violinist of the internationally touring Fry Street Quartet, sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State as cultural ambassadors to the Balkan states.  Jessica has also appeared as a soloist in many counties and on many stages, including the main stage at Carnegie Hall. She has held principal positions at the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and Phoenix Symphony, among others, and has taught at Utah State and San Diego State Universities, as well as at the Eastern Music Festival. Jessica founded, as well as produces and performs in, a chamber music experience in Los Angeles called “Music Above the Clouds.” More information about Music Above the Clouds and Jessica can be found on Facebook and Instagram.

Ina Veli, violin, was born and raised in Albania in a family of musicians. At 5 years old, Ina began studying violin in her hometown of Fier. By age 13, Ina began touring throughout Europe, winning multiple competitions and performing recitals in Hungary, Italy, and Albania. In 1999, she moved to the United States, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Violin Performance from the University of Oklahoma. She later received her master’s degree from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Ina is based in Los Angeles and serves as Assistant Concertmaster for the Santa Barbara Symphony and Principal Second for the New West Symphony, and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Opera. Ina is also active in the recording industry and has recorded with the likes of John Williams, Danny Elfman, John Powell, Barbara Streisand, Beyoncé, and Barry Manilow. Outside of the music world, Ina enjoys hiking, dining, gardening with her partner Erik, and visiting her relatives in Europe any chance she gets.

Erik Rynearson, viola, has been performing music since the age of three. Now at age forty-three, he enjoys leading the viola sections of the Los Angeles Opera Company, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Pacific Jazz Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Erik is in great demand as a freelance recording artist, having worked with, among others, Aretha Franklin, John Williams, and the Blue Man Group. Occasionally, Erik is featured as a solo horn player in his car. Musically, Rynearson devoured Haydn, Beethoven, and Brubeck in childhood and currently hungers for the sounds of Zemlinsky, Korngold, and Charlie Parker. He owes his musical preparedness to his teachers, including his father Paul, Miwako Watanabe, Franco Gulli, Ilya Kaler, and Henryk Kowalski. Highlights of the ’23-24 season thus far include recording for Barbra Streisand and performing with Rufus Wainwright. Off-stage, Erik enjoys spending time reading, swimming, and learning more about the alto Sax. He plays a Danish viola made by Carl Mettus Weis in 1845.

Trevor Handy, cello, serves as Principal Cellist of the Santa Barbara Symphony and is also a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He regularly performs with the Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been a studio musician for Hollywood productions, performing and recording music by John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Alan Silvestri. He is also dedicated to chamber music, having performed at festivals and on tours. Trevor Handy made his solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1980. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the renowned Juilliard School in New York, where he studied under Leonard Rose, Channing Robbins, Joel Krosnick, and Lorne Munroe. He studied String Quartet with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, and Baroque Cello with Albert Fuller and Jaap Schröder. As a member of the Griffon String Quartet, Trevor Handy won First Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 1991 and subsequently embarked on tours across the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. He has taught Cello and Chamber Music at the Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Pepperdine University, Westmont College, and the Point Counter Point summer program in Vermont.