Longing (Sunday)

Our Longing concert offers a beautifully curated program that explores the theme of longing through the works of Mel Bonis, Schubert, Weinberg, and Brahms. It’s a rare opportunity to experience a diverse range of emotions and musical styles. A piano trio concert offers an intimate setting where you can closely observe the musicians' interactions and the intricate details of their performance. The combination of piano, violin, and cello creates a rich and varied sound palette that envelops the audience, making for an engaging and immersive concert experience. Whether you're a seasoned classical music lover or a curious newcomer, this concert promises to be an enriching and unforgettable experience.

The Program

Schubert: Notturno

• The gentle interplay in this work between the piano, violin, and cello creates a dreamlike quality that transports listeners to a realm of peaceful reflection.

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op.101

• Known for its passionate intensity and intricate interplay, this trio showcases Brahms’ ability to blend romantic expressiveness with structural brilliance.

Bonis: Soir/Matin, Op. 76

• These pieces evoke the contrasting moods of evening and morning, blending lyrical beauty with vivid imagery. Experiencing her work live is a rare treat, offering a fresh perspective on the rich tapestry of classical music.

Weinberg: Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 24 

• A powerful work that reflects the composer’s tumultuous life and experiences. Its emotional depth and dramatic contrasts make it a compelling and thought-provoking piece.

The Performers

MATTHEW ZERWECK

Matthew Zerweck (matthewzerweck.com) began his music studies at age 5, after watching Itzhak Perlman perform on the children’s television show, “Sesame Street.” After studying with several esteemed artist teachers, he entered the Eastman School of Music. He earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music (BM, MM), where he served as teaching assistant to the world renowned violinist and teacher, Charles Castleman.

Formerly the Assistant Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony (2008-2012), Matthew teaches violin full time in San Antonio.  His students have played as soloists with the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio Sinfonietta, and Starlight Symphony Orchestra.  His students occasionally pursue music degrees at competitive colleges and conservatories. 
 
An active performer, Matthew leads the San Antonio Sinfonietta as concertmaster. He’s also performed major concertos with the UIW Orchestra and Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. In 2015, he recorded the lead violin parts for “Upon the Awful Tree,” an independent film with an original score by Matt Dunne. In his free time, Matthew enjoys spending time with his wife, Nancy, his son, Charlie, and five cats.

KENNETH FREUDIGMAN

Kenneth Freudigman is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Camerata San Antonio. Ken was Principal Cello of the San Antonio Symphony from 2004 to 2022 and continues in the role with the new San Antonio Philharmonic. A highly-respected cello pedagogue, Ken also serves as Conductor of YOSA’s Symphony and Concertino Orchestras.

Mr. Freudigman began playing the violin at age six and found his true love, the cello, at the age of nine. After six years of study, he was accepted to attend the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts. Upon graduating with honors in music performance, he went on to receive a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music. He began his orchestral and chamber music career while at Eastman, winning a position with the Rochester Philharmonic and was also a founding member of the Esterhazy Chamber Ensemble. In 1992, Mr. Freudigman joined the New World Symphony, an advanced training orchestra for recent graduates of music schools, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. He has also performed with the Atlanta, Utah, Grand Rapids, Charleston, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Sarasota Opera and the Mexico City Philharmonic. Mr. Freudigman was also a founding member of the American Sinfonietta. 

His orchestra and chamber music engagements have taken him to the major concert halls of Europe, the Middle East, and throughout South and North America. Mr. Freudigman has performed chamber music with members of the Amadeus and Cleveland Quartets and with the pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. He has been a featured soloist with the World Youth and New World Symphony Orchestras, the San Antonio Symphony and the Mexico City Philharmonic, where he was engaged to perform Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Mr. Freudigman can be heard in recordings on the Argo and Summit record labels, featured with Renee Fleming and the New World Symphony Orchestra performing Bachianas Brasileiras by Heitor Villa-Lobos on BMG Classics, and on Camerata San Antonio’s Grammy-nominated premiere CD, Salon Buenos Aires: Music of Miguel Del Aguila.

VIKTOR VALKOV

Winner of the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Viktor Valkov has been hailed as a “lion of the keyboard” and “sensational” (Wiesbadener Kurier). A winner of Astral’s 2015 National Auditions, he recently gave a critically acclaimed recital in London’s Wigmore Hall, and appeared as soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Valkov has appeared frequently as a recitalist in the U.S., China, Japan, England, Norway, Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. A Japanese tour took him to Tokyo, Toyama, Yokohama, and Okinawa. He has performed with most of the major orchestras in his native Bulgaria, and at most of the country’s important music festivals. He debuted with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed Dimitar Nenov’s Grande Piano Concerto with New Symphony Orchestra under Rossen Milanov, becoming the fifth pianist to perform the concerto, and the only one to do so in its entirety. Mr. Valkov has made a number of recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio archive and has recorded for Bulgarian National Television and Macedonian Radio and Television.

Mr. Valkov’s concerts reflect a vast interest in chamber music as well as lesser-known piano repertoire. He frequently performs with Bulgarian cellist Lachezar Kostov. Both deeply interested in broadening the repertoire for cello/piano duo, they often include such composers as Kabalevsky, Roslavetz, Schnittke, and Saint-Saëns in their programs. In 2009, the Kostov-Valkov Duo gave its Carnegie Hall debut in Zankel Hall, and in 2011 won the Liszt-Garisson International Competition, where they were also awarded the Liszt Prize and special prizes in the collaborative artists category. In 2008, they recorded the entire opus for cello and piano by Nikolay Roslavets, released by Naxos in 2011. Their second CD, Transcriptions and Paraphrases, was released in 2015 and featured their own arrangements of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2, and the Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine.

As a soloist, some of Mr. Valkov’s recent projects include Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata and Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica. He has presented a program highlighting composers of the 1600’s, including Froberger, Couperin, Frescobaldi, and Buxtehude, and selections from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. His first solo CD was a Naxos release of the complete piano music of Dimitar Nenov. Viktor Valkov is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Utah.