UW-Parkside Symphony and Community Orchestra to perform with Nina Fronjian
Kenosha, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Symphony and Community Orchestra will perform Saturday, April 22 at 3 p.m. in the Frances Bedford Concert Hall with violinist Nina Fronjian. She is a native of Racine.
The UW-Parkside Community Orchestra celebrates its 20th Anniversary, under the baton of Professor Alvaro Garcia. Maestro Grarcia came to UW-Parkside with double master’s degrees in viola performance and conducting from Yale University in 2001. He has since established a community orchestra program that was enhanced in recent years by a generous gift from Betsy Brown. Thanks to this generous gift, UW-Parkside is able to invite professional musicians to perform with the orchestra and conduct masterclasses for UW-Parkside students and at local high schools. This year’s Guest Artist-in-Residence is Nina Fronjian.
Originally from Racine, WI, violinist Fronjian enjoys a versatile career across the globe. Ms. Fronjian has appeared with such artists as the Eagles, Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Kaleo, and Gregory Alan Isakov, and has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Red Rocks Amphitheater. She is a member of Sphere Ensemble, a musician-founded string ensemble committed to engaging diverse communities through the performance of innovative arrangements, education, and outreach.
She holds the Associate Concertmaster position of the Fort Collins Symphony and has recently performed in the violin sections of the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Ballet, Central City Opera, Boulder Philharmonic, Opera Colorado, and the Colorado Symphony. Chamber music appearances have included Denver Friends of Chamber Music’s “Music in the Galleries” series, the Estes Park Music Festival, and Denver’s DazzleJazz Classical Series.
Ms. Fronjian was born to an Armenian father from Lebanon and an Armenian-Arab mother from Jordan. She was surrounded by her father's traditional music-making from a young age. She began her musical training on piano at age 6 and began violin studies in a public-school program at age 9. She continued her violin studies with Ann Lamar Heide while attending Horlick High School in Racine before graduating in 2008.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in violin performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studied with Dr. Bernard Zinck, as well as a Master of Music in violin performance from the University of Colorado, where she served as a graduate teaching assistant to her professors Charles Wetherbee and Dr. Lina Bahn.
Having studied string pedagogy extensively, she teaches violinists of all ages and levels, and is very invested in the musical growth of her students. When she is not playing the violin, she is likely cooking or enjoying the great outdoors. Ms. Fronjian visited three high schools in the past week: Bradford, Case, and Horlick. She also worked with UW-Parkside students and community orchestra members throughout the week.
Visit https://www.uwp.edu/eventdetails.cfm?id=484677 for tickets or to livestream the event.