Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Returns as Resident Artist at Loyola University’s College of Music and Fine Arts

Renowned musician Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg continues her partnership with Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana this 2016-17 season, where in her second year as Resident Artist at Loyola University’s College of Music and Fine Arts, she continues her work with the new conductor-less string orchestra she introduced in her first year of residency, as well as on/off campus teaching, and performances with Loyola students and faculty.

Salerno-Sonnenberg’s work as a resident artist at Loyola University’s College of Music and Fine Arts has shown exceptional results in only one academic year. Through her main focus – her work with the conductor-less string orchestra, which she implemented as part of her residency and her collaborations with faculty and her mentoring of students, master classes, participation in Loyola’s Music Industry Studies forums, recital hours and performances with the all-student Loyola Chamber Orchestra, leading from the concert master’s seat - she has led a unique, sea-changing shift in the way the university’s school of music teaches string music.

“Our experience with the concept of a conductor-less chamber orchestra that Nadja introduced at Loyola has exceeded our expectations,” says Anthony Decuir, Dean of the College of Music and Fine Arts. “The musicality of the Loyola Chamber Orchestra has increased immensely. The members of our orchestra have seized this opportunity with a level of enthusiasm and preparedness that we had not anticipated, and our music faculty has a new-found sense of reward in their roles as teachers. Nadja has positively contributed to our music department, and we expect that we will settle into an even more productive rhythm in the coming year, as this program continues to mature.”

Salerno-Sonnenberg maintains an active presence in New Orleans, working almost daily with string students in Loyola’s College of Music and Fine Arts during her frequent on-campus stints. As part of her residency, Salerno-Sonnenberg performs publicly side-by-side with students in the Loyola Chamber Orchestra, once in the fall and once in the spring. She also performs with the faculty and with the symphony orchestra. The concerts are a highlight of Loyola’s acclaimed Montage Fine and Performing Arts series, which showcases some of the region’s top arts events, and which this season celebrates “The Creative American Spirit.” Performances (in chronological order) are held on the Loyola Campus:

October 2, 2016 at 3:00 PM
Loyola Faculty concert with violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Nunemaker Auditorium
VAUGHAN WILLIAMSHow Cold the Wind Doth Blow
RICHARD STRAUSS Morgen
with Tyler Smith, tenor
VILLA LOBOS Bachianas Brasileira No. 5
DJANGO REINHARDT Nuages
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 1 in D Major
with pianist Yui Asano
BRAZILIAN CHORO Apanhei-te
with John Rankin, guitar
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
with violinists Amy Thiaville, Daniel Juan Gonzalez, and special guest violinist Rachel Jordan;
violists Bruce Owen and Emily Townsend; special guest cellist Phillip Von Maltzan

November 5, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Loyola Chamber Orchestra
Roussel Hall
ANTONIO VIVALDI The Four Seasons
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin

April 22, 2017 at 7:30 PM
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Loyola Chamber Orchestra
Roussel Hall
BERNARD HERRMANN Psycho Suite
WILLIAM BOLCOM 2 Rags....Poltergeist and Incineratorag
PHILIP GLASS 3rd movement, Symphony No. 3 (from the film "The Hours")
MARK O’CONNOR Song of the Liberty Bell
AARON COPLAND Hoe Down

April 30, 2017 at 3:00 PM
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Loyola Symphony Orchestra
Roussel Hall
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin

Tickets are available for purchase online, through the Loyola College of Music and Fine Arts at 504-865-2074 or via email at tickets@loyno.edu.

In collaboration with Loyola music professors Jean Montes and Amy Thiaville, Salerno-Sonnenberg has transformed the University’s chamber orchestra into an orchestra that can function as a conductor-less ensemble as well as play under a conductor.

Faculty, administrators, student musicians and audience members all attest to the impact that Salerno-Sonnenberg has made in one short academic year, both on campus and off.

"When's the last time you saw orchestra players practically bounce and definitely sway in their seats while playing in concert?” asks John Snyder, Chair, Music Industry Studies at Loyola and a five-time Grammy Award-winning producer. “The energy cast off by Nadja's passion for performance and teaching is infectious. It changes you. You cannot possibly be around artistry of that level without being affected by it and made better because of it."

“Our move to a conductor-less chamber ensemble is an innovative approach at the university level that has built the collaborative skills and musicality of our string students, as we hope to foster an avant-garde music performance and teaching at Loyola,” says Jean Montes, Loyola’s Director of Orchestras. Students are experiencing playing music in a different way, with more attention to the importance of each individual’s role and responsibility to the overall quality of performance, which aims to prepare them for the 21st century market place.”

Sonya Robinson, Director of the music education service organization Artist Corps New Orleans, notes, “For local elementary school students, the opportunity to work with Nadja has been transformative. A virtuoso who is so comfortable with young people, so able to meet them where they are, and so adept at inspiring them to grow as young artists – it’s a rare thing!”

In partnership with Artist Corps, Salerno-Sonnenberg has shared her musical expertise and technique with students and teachers in local schools, building interest in playing music and understanding of how playing with a musical ensemble can be as fun as playing a team sport. This season, Salerno-Sonnenberg will return to Homer A. Plessy Community School and will expand her outreach to local elementary and middle school students, as Artist Corps coordinates visits to additional sites served by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Make Music NOLA and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.

The seeds of the Resident Artist Program were sowed in early 2015, when the violinist, who had performed last in New Orleans with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, began exploring ways that she could have a meaningful impact on the city and its musical life. Discussions began with Loyola and the roots of a warm collaboration between the musician and the College of Music and Fine Arts developed quickly.

About the Artist
Highly regarded for her compelling and passionate performances, daring interpretations, and dedication to her craft, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg’s artistry is coupled with great musical intelligence, which along with her unique personality, has allowed her to succeed in a variety of environments throughout her career. In 2008, she became the music director of the San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra, one of just a handful of conductor-less ensembles in the world. During her time in this position, she has won praise for her vision and innovative guidance. One of today’s leading violinists and an internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musician, her professional career began in 1981 when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. In 1983, she was recognized with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 1988 was Ovations Debut Recording Artist of the Year. In 1999, Salerno-Sonnenberg was honored with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, awarded to instrumentalists who have demonstrated “outstanding achievement and excellence in music.” In May of that same year, she was awarded an honorary Master of Musical Arts from the New Mexico State University, the first honorary degree the university has ever awarded. An American citizen, Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome and immigrated to the United States at the age of eight to study at The Curtis Institute of Music. She later studied with Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School.

About Loyola University
Loyola University New Orleans is a Catholic, Jesuit university located in the heart of the picturesque Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. For more than 100 years, Loyola has helped shape the lives of its students, as well as the history of the city and the world, through educating men and women in the Jesuit traditions of academic excellence and service to others. Loyola’s more than 40,000 graduates serve as catalysts for change in their communities as they exemplify the comprehensive, values-laden education received at Loyola.

Located within Loyola’s College of Music and Fine Arts, Loyola’s School of Music is a conservatory in which professional musicians are trained in a rich academic environment, and where students can roam the halls and converse with Grammy Award winners and internationally renowned musicians. CMFA also includes Loyola’s acclaimed Film and Music Industry Studies Department, which prepares aspiring musicians, singers, performers, directors, producers, crafts, and industry executives for entrepreneurial success in the creative professions.

Press Contacts:
For Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg: Grant Communications, Laura Grant
917.359.7319; Laura@grant-communications.com
For questions regarding Loyola University please contact Patricia Murret at pmurret@zmail.loyno.edu