| Saturday, April 12, 2003
Barbini brings special touch to symphony His laugh is infectious, his musicianship is impeccable, his talent is enormous, and his devotion to Monterey County's symphony orchestra is inspiring. So it was no surprise that as the featured speaker at a pre-concert luncheon in January 2002, William Barbini drew the largest audience in 10 years of these events. "Listen to this," he said to the attendees as he held up to his chin his wife Kineko's violin. It was made by the famous Italian family of instrument makers Amati about 350 years ago. He played a short and exquisite piece by Bach. "Now, listen to this instrument. I just got it. It was made in Pleasant Hills by Thomas Croen and is about 350 days old." The audience laughed, the music was beautiful, and everyone loved hearing the difference. Celebrating his fifth season as concertmaster of the Monterey Symphony, Barbini will perform Vivaldi's The Four Seasons on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Pacific Grove and Salinas. In addition to the four concertos which make up this landmark Baroque work, Barbini will join Kate Tamarkin, the orchestra and chorus in his normal place -- first chair, first stand violins -- for "Spring" from Haydn's The Seasons. In July 1998, Barbini's superior musicianship and extensive experience made him the perfect candidate for concertmaster. Principal flutist Dawn Walker had recommended him after she and her cellist husband, Mark, had performed with him at Stanford University. She felt a musician of his caliber would be ideal to assist our music director candidates during the year of our search for an artistic leader. Barbini has been directly involved with all aspects of the orchestra ever since serving on audition committees and participating in board retreats. He was a featured soloist at the Symphony Christmas concerts and made his subscription series solo debut performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Bernard Rubenstein conducting in March 2002. A native of Scranton, Penn., Barbini began studying violin at age 6. He displayed remarkable talent and received excellent coaching as a young musician. His diligent studying and natural talent paid off. He won a full scholarship to the Juilliard School. After completing his degree, he came to the attention of the New York Philharmonic. He auditioned for a violin position during the tenure of Pierre Boulez and won. He was, at that time, the youngest member ever placed into that prestigious orchestra. After 12 years with the Philharmonic, Barbini was appointed concertmaster of the Sacramento Symphony and served in that position for nearly 10 years until the orchestra ceased operations. Barbini has appeared as guest concertmaster with the Montreal Symphony and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra as well as the Sacramento Chamber Orchestra, Music in Bear Valley and the Waterloo Festival in New Jersey. He currently serves as the artistic director of the Sacramento Chamber Music Society, which presents a regular season of chamber music. It often features himself, Kineko Barbini, violin/violist Igor Veligan, and cellist Robin Bonnell -- all of whom he was instrumental in bringing to the Monterey Symphony. "His commitment to the Monterey Symphony is exceptional. He is a musician of the highest level," said long-time Symphony operations director Joan De Visser, "Bill has spent hours working with the world's leading musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Isaac Stern making music at the highest level possible. And, he still takes time to perform all of our youth concerts and pops concerts. We are so lucky to have him regularly making music in Monterey County." Source: CaliforniaOnLine.com |