DelawareScene: Elias Goldstein, viola, Faculty Artist with Angela Draghicescu, piano, Guest Artist @ University of Delaware, Gore Recital Hall in the Roselle Center for the Arts

Elias Goldstein, viola, Faculty Artist with Angela Draghicescu, piano, Guest Artist

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for his “incredible performance” violist Elias Goldstein has distinguished himself as one of the great instrumentalists of his generation. Prize winner in the leading viola competitions of the world, including the 2011 International Primrose Competition, the 2010 Lionel Tertis Competition, he is also the first American to be awarded a top prize in the Bashmet International Competition in Moscow. He has achieved recognition and critical acclaim as a champion of his instrument, as the first violist invited to Carnegie Hall to perform all 24 Caprices by Paganini, a program that later toured the United States and Europe.

As a solo recitalist he has performed in many of the greatest halls of the world including Carnegie, Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall, George Enescu Philharmonic, Musikiitalo Helsinki. He frequently collaborates with artistic partners including Nobuko Imai, Eli Eban, and the Pro Arte, Shanghai, Latin American, Arianna, and Cavani Quartets.

His concert appearances include Enescu, Valdres, Aspen, Beijing, and Chautauqua festivals, and he is currently on faculty in the summer at Rocky Ridge Music Festival where he teaches viola and chamber music. He is also the Artistic director of the Goldstein Young Artist Program, which presents specialized courses in Puebla Mexico in the summer. As a pedagogue and coach, his students have won positions in major orchestras including the Dusseldorf, San Diego, North Carolina, Sarasota and Alabama Symphonies. Under his mentorship, he has also guided students to success and recognition of prizes in the ARD, Primrose, Tertis and Aronowitz International Viola competitions.

He is currently professor of viola at University of Delaware, and is principal viola of the Delaware Symphony and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. This season he is appearing in chamber music engagements with Vadim Gluzman and Johannes Moser, and as guest principal viola in Kristiansand Norway, under Julian Rachlin.

Praised by the New York Times as “elegant and spectacular” pianist Angela Draghicescu has established an international reputation as a sought-after pianist and chamber musician and educator. She has performed in major concert halls across North America and throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Kaufmann Center, Konserthuset -Stockholm, Oslo Philharmonic, Rudolfinium in Prague, and the George Enescu Philharmonic.

Her collaborations have included many of today’s leading artists such as James Ehnes, Doc Severinsen, Frank Huang, Noah Bendix-Balgley and members of the Berlin Philharmonic, Canadian Brass, Chicago, New York, and London symphonies. She has appeared in concerts with Maxim Vengerov, René Fleming, Joyce di Donato, Angela Gheorghiu, and has enjoyed collaborations with many leading conductors including Zubin Mehta, Carl St.Claire, David Zinman, and Edwin Outwater.

She has performed for the members of the Royal Families of Sweden, Norway, and England. In 2018 she was honored to receive the personal invitation of Romania’s President Klaus Johannis to perform for the Three Seas UN Summit for five European Union state leaders. Her festival appearances include the Seattle Chamber Music Society, George Enescu International Festival, Rocky Ridge Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Academy and Si Piano in Switzerland. She has been featured live on Medici TV, BBC Radio 3, Classical King FM Seattle, NPR, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Romanian National Radio, and Ruv Ras 1 Iceland.

Deeply committed to expanding chamber music repertoire, she has commissioned and premiered works by composers William Bolcom and Jennifer Higdon. Angela‘s doctoral dissertation Rediscovering Nicolae Bretan: A guide for pianists and singers to the Romanian art song was awarded "Dissertation of the Year” award in 2012 at the University of Texas at Austin “. An avid promoter of the works of George Enescu, her research on the music of the composer has led to the rediscovery of his first piano trio, a work lost for over 50 years. The trio received its U.S. premiere with James Ehnes and Ani Aznavoorian during the Seattle Chamber Music Festival 2019. Her tireless efforts have received the recent praise of the New York Times who credited her for being an authority on the Romanian composer.

Highlights of the 2023-2024 season includes new releases on Naxos, Bis and Sono Luminus records with violist Elias Goldstein and members of the Berlin Philharmonic, and a tour of Norwegian Art Song bringing awareness to the under-represented female composers of Norway. Recent collaborations include recitals with the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Frank Huang, Queen Elizabeth top prize-winner cellist Marcel Kits, violist Ettore Causa, violinist Eugene Tzikindelean, and Canadian Brass members in Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Romania, Germany, and the United States.

An activist, Angela has participated and curated numerous humanitarian and educational programs with organizations such as the Refugees International, the Bill Gates Foundation, and the Francis Walton Foundation bringing awareness to global crises and social injustice. Angela is the co-artistic director of the newly founded concert series Women Who Score promoting works by female composers, in collaboration with Olympic Gymnast Nadia Comaneci.