What’s it like to play in an orchestra?

The dynamic duo, together with their special guest Violinist Marta Szublowska, will share their industry experience of playing in an orchestra on next week’s Steinway Sundays with Susan and Svetlana.

Steinway Artist Susan Merdinger is a multi-awarded classical pianist, music director, recording artist, and educator with a distinguished career. She has been internationally acclaimed in prestigious newspapers and journals for her stunning performances. Critics have described her playing as “eloquent”, “spellbinding”, and “virtuosic”. With a riveting stage presence, she regularly commands standing ovations from her emotionally charged and spiritually uplifting performances with orchestras and solo recitals in major concert halls around the world. Indeed, performances by Ms. Merdinger are a celebration of a life passionately immersed in classical music.  Merdinger is an alumna of Yale University, the Yale School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. 

Dr. Svetlana Belsky, is an award-winning recitalist, chamber pianist, and recording artist, noted for her remarkable rapport with audiences and stylistic versatility. She has toured internationally in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Italy, Canada, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and throughout the United States, performing at Carnegie Recital Hall, Kiev Philharmonic Hall, Dame Myra Hess Series, Music in the Loft, Chicago’s Cultural Center and Harris Theater, countless university concert series, live recitals on Chicago’s WFMT and New York’s WQXR. Dr. Belsky served as the Director of the Piano Program at the University of Chicago for fifteen years, teaching students from four continents, guiding numerous students to victories in competitions for professionals and amateurs alike.

Violinist Marta Szlubowska is the Concertmaster of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in Jackson, MS, the position she has held since the 2004/2005 season. She is also a highly-acclaimed soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and a teacher. A native of Warsaw, Poland, Ms. Szlubowska gave her first public performance at the age of seven at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. At thirteen, she was chosen to represent Poland on a tour to Great Britain, performing as a soloist with the Szymanowski Liceum Orchestra. In 1983, as a winner of the Joseph Maddy Scholarship, Ms. Szlubowska came to the United States to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance, and an Artist’s Diploma. She earned a Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and served as a teaching assistant of the world-renowned concert violinist, Charles Treger. Ms. Szlubowska’s other distinguished teachers included Janusz Szok, Charles Libove and Berl Senofsky. Ms. Szlubowska has been awarded many prizes, including first prize in the Yale Gordon International Concerto Competition, and the Murbury Concerto Competition in Baltimore, MD. She has won second prize at the Bryan International String Competition in North Carolina, as well as honorable mentions at the Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland, Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium, and the Sibelius International Violin Competition in Finland.

In the U.S., Ms. Szlubowska has appeared as a soloist with the Mississippi Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Germantown Symphony, Olympia Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, Beyond the South Chamber Orchestra and many others. In addition to being the Concertmaster of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Szlubowska is currently on the faculty of the Millsaps College (as a member of the Mississippi Fine Arts String Trio, the Trio-in-Residence) and the Millsaps Conservatory of Music in Jackson, MS.

Watch the livestream here on November 15, 2020 at 2  PM CST: https://in.live/concertDetails/wzocdR41MI

For inquiries, you may reach out to Sheridan Music Studio’s Assistant Manager Miguel Tarrosa at tarrosamiguel@gmail.com