Concert Program
Leó Weiner Serenade for Small Orchestra, Op. 3
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216 (feat. Sibbi Bernhardsson)
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
About the Featured Musicians
Grammy Award-winning conductor John McLaughlin Williams has been critically acclaimed for his outstanding interpretive abilities and engaging podium presence. Equally at home in the standard literature and the masterworks of American composers, it was with the release of his acclaimed recordings on the Naxos label that his conducting first attracted international attention. With the National Symphony and Radio Orchestras of Ukraine, Williams has made world-premiere recordings of orchestral works by composers both well-known and neglected for the Naxos label’s celebrated “American Classics” series. He has been critically hailed in international publications, among them Fanfare, Gramophone, Classic FM, International Record Review, American Record Guide, and the French recording journal Diapason. His recordings appear on the Naxos, TNC, Artek, Cambria, and Afka labels. His next recording is Karl Weigl: The Complete Violin Works, recorded with pianist Glen Inanga, to be released on the Sono Luminus label.
In 2007 Williams was awarded a Grammy for the TNC recording of Messiaen’s L’Oiseau Exotiques with Angelin Chang and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Additional recognition came in 2009 and 2011 when he was awarded further Grammy nominations for his conducting in recordings of concerti by Ernest Bloch and Benjamin Lees with violinist Elmar Oliveira, and for Quincy Porter: Complete Viola Works. Mr. Williams is a recipient of the Geraldine C. & Emory M. Ford Award for American Conductors. Williams arranged the National Song of the Cayman Islands, which will be the country’s official version for use at the Olympics and public events.
Williams has appeared around the country and internationally with such orchestras as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Classic FM Orchestra (Bulgaria), Chicago Sinfonietta, The Cayman Arts Festival, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Britt Festival, The Dream Unfinished and many others. He has conducted for Platypus Theatre, the celebrated Celtic band Colcannon, and the Max Roach Double Quartet. He has conducted for R&B superstars Al Jarreau, Brian McKnight, and The Winans for “Christmas Glory”, a gospel Christmas concert for the FOX and UPN television networks. His composition credits include work with Michael Kamen (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard) for the soundtrack to Mr. Dreyfuss Goes to Washington, a documentary for the History Channel.
Williams is also a violin soloist, pianist, and chamber musician. He began violin studies at age 10 in a Washington, D.C. public school. At age 14 he appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and others. Williams served as Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony and was a member of the Houston Symphony. As guest concertmaster, he has appeared with the Bolshoi Ballet, Kirov Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, the Opera Company of North Carolina, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra and was Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.
Icelandic violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson joined the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in 2017 after performing for the previous 17 years with the Pacifica Quartet, with which he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, Musical America Ensemble of the Year honors, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
As a member of the Pacifica Quartet, Bernhardsson appeared in more than 90 concerts worldwide each year, including engagements in Wigmore Hall (London), the Vienna Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall (New York), and other major venues. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, and the Reykjavík Arts Festival, and has collaborated with Menahem Pressler, Yo-Yo Ma, Jörg Widmann, Lynn Harrell, Leon Fleisher, the Emerson String Quartet, Johannes Moser, and members of the Guarneri and Cleveland quartets. His television appearances include The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, and the MTV Europe Music Awards with Icelandic artist Björk. He appears on 16 recordings with the Pacifica Quartet and has recorded the violin music of Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson and the sonatas for violin and piano by Franz Schubert.
Bernhardsson serves as director of the Cooper International Violin Competition at Oberlin and as artistic director of Iceland’s Harpa International Music Academy. He gives regular concerts and master classes in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, and other ensembles.
Bernhardsson is a 1995 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory. His teachers include Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Almita and Roland Vamos, Mathias Tacke, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. He previously served on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.