A Musical Feast | Graduating Student Recital | Samuel Sanders, violin

Fritz Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and was considered one of the greatest virtuosos of the twentieth century. But in 1890, at the age of 15, he quit the violin to pursue medicine and the Austrian Army. He resumed his musical career in 1896, but was recalled by the army at the outbreak of World War I. While fighting the Russians on the Eastern Front, Kreisler was wounded and given honorable discharge. Wanting to avoid the war, he moved to New York, but anti-German sentiments kept him from performing until 1919. Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen (Old Viennese Melodies) is a set of three short pieces, originally published in 1905, but were in Kreisler’s repertoire well before then, most often appearing as encores.

Unlike his first three violin sonatas, Beethoven’s fourth composition in this genre received favorable reviews. It is rumored that Violin Sonata No. 4 was meant to be published in tandem with No. 5, but the opus (publishers’ catalog system) numbers had to be split due to different sizes of paper.

By the age of one, this composer had memorized forty songs, taught themselves to read by the age of three, composed waltzes by the age of four, and had a public recital by the age of six, after only a year of piano lessons. This may sound like the childhood of Mozart, but it is that of Amy Marcy Cheney (later Beach). Amy was born into a prominent New England family, and moved to Boston in 1875, where she studied with the best pianists of the time. Amy married Henry Harris Aubrey Beach in 1885 (note that after her marriage, her compositions are signed Mrs. H.H.A. Beach). While married, Amy’s husband required that she limit her public performances, but after his death in 1910, she travelled to Europe to establish her reputation there as a composer and performer. While it is not known when Amy and Maud Powell (violinist and dedicatee of Romance) met, but it is documented that they corresponded over Amy’s works for violin and attended the 1893 Women’s Musical Congress in Chicago. Amy even contributed to ornithology through her notation of bird songs.

Samuel Sanders, classical violinist, aims to bridge the gap between audiences of Classical and Contemporary styles. Sanders specializes in duos with piano, orchestral works from the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries, and dabbles in jazz and bluegrass-folk.

New for the 2021-22 season, Sanders performs with the New England Philharmonic, whose mission is “to foster the composition and the appreciation of contemporary classical music by performing commissions and recent works alongside traditional repertoire in concerts that engage and electrify audiences.” Sanders’s upcoming performances with NEP will include world premieres from Yehudi Wyner, Sophia Rocher, and Kathryn Salfelder, as well as Boston premiers from Igor Santos, TJ Cole, and Eric Nathan.

In the summer of 2022, Sanders is embarking on the journey of obtaining certification as a Music Practitioner through the Music for Healing and Transition Program at Longy School of Music of Bard College’s Summer Institute. Therapeutic Music can decrease pain, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, stabilize heart rates, and create a comfortable and safe environment. Sam hopes that he can use his music to uplift anyone and everyone who might need it.

Sanders has appeared with the New England Philharmonic, Longy School of Music of Bard College’s Orchestra FLEX, the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Wyoming Chamber Orchestra. At the University of Wyoming, Sanders studied with Dr. John Fadial, and at Longy School of Music of Bard College, with Anna Williams. Sanders has the pleasure of playing a violin made by Alexander Tzankow.

Bahar Soyoz is an experienced pianist who enjoys playing both solo and chamber repertoire. She specializes in collaborative piano with voice, but has performed with string, brass and percussion instruments. She received her bachelor’s degree at Hacettepe University in Turkey as a soloist, where she performed many recitals and concerts. During her senior year, Soyoz studied in Leipzig HMT as an Erasmus student under Prof. Markus Tomas. She participated in several music festivals such as Gumusluk Muzik Festivali and AIMA, where she had the chance to work with pianists such as Aysegul Sarica, Idil Biret and Elif Sahin. Working as a coach at Hacettepe University, she developed her deep passion for collaboration. Sharing music on stage was an experience of which she wanted more in her life; she chose to pursue a Master’s degree in Collaborative Piano at Longy School of Music in the U.S. as a Fulbrighter, under Prof. Renana Gutman. Performing often with voice at different venues, Soyoz wants to expand the idea of collaboration with multi-disciplined art events together with her ensemble partner Baritone David Mather (ensemble ‘A Priori’). She believes collaboration is an influence on all, and it brings out more creativity in everyone. Bahar joined SSC in 2021 as piano faculty.