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Concert Recording: Prodigy & Pops, 15 November 2008; Return of the Prodigy,
12 & 13 March 2010; Prodigy Plays Mendelssohn, 3&4 June 2011; FALL for Brahms - again, 19 & 20 November 2011; Waarts Plays Sibelius, 19 & 20 May 2012; Waarts Plays Prokofiev, 1 & 2 March 2013
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Thanks to Jim Box for many of the Photos by Box Camera
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Stephen Waarts, age 16, started his violin studies in the Bay Area, California at age 5 and piano studies at age 8
and, after graduating from both high school and the San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory at age 14, is currently pursuing a bachelor of music at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in
Philadelphia. Since age 11, Stephen has been performing with numerous professional and community orchestras all over the
world, playing a large repertoire including many rarely performed violin concertos. A winner of numerous international violin competitions, including the Menuhin
Competition, Spohr Competition and recently the Sarasate Competition (open to age 27), Stephen has received rave reviews in several continents for his soulful and poetic
playing, his artistry, unique tone and true virtuosity. On his prize winning performances the UK’s Daily Telegraph rhapsodized: "It was blindingly clear that this ..
. boy was something special,.. not just the mechanical wonder, but a soul." And the Strad magazine: “from the first note…I was hooked, and within a few bars I was moved
to tears…such an experience is rare… Although it is possible to analyze it (the magic in
Waarts' playing)...perhaps it is better not to try…truly poetic and sincere” heartfelt, vulnerable…I stopped noticing his playing…what soul!” Maestro Runnicles
Stephen has performed in Germany, Spain, Norway, Moscow-Russia and all over the US including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as
well as hundreds of performances near his home in the California Bay Area. He has played, often multiple times, with the Staatskapelle Weimar Orchestra, Navarra
Symphony, Kostroma Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Fremont Symphony, Symphony Parnassus, Redwood Symphony,
Silicon Valley Symphony, Saratoga Symphony, Solano Symphony, Prometheus Symphony, and multitude others. Starting at age 11, playing the technically
challenging Paganini Concerto No. 1 and Wieniawski Concerto No. 1, in performances barely two and half weeks apart, he since played over 20 violin concertos considered
part of the main repertoire for violin. In addition he has performed many rarely performed concertos including Castelnuovo-Tedesco “Prophets” Violin Concerto,
Paganini Violin Concerto No. 2, Walton violin Concerto, Mendelssohn violin Concerto in D minor, and Wieniawski Concerto No. 1. His concerts have been both critically
acclaimed and popular successes. To quote from a few reviews: On his recent March 2012 Tchaikovsky Concerto performance with Solano Symphony it was written: “Even
in a region rich in musical talent, young Waarts is an exceptional talent…A virtuoso show-piece, the concerto requires confidence and expertise; Waarts displayed ample
amounts of both….soulful". (Daily Republic) On an August 2011 performance of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Prophets Concerto with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony it was
enthused: “Hands down hit of the evening was the young violinist Stephen Waarts…delivered a masterful performance of a complex and demanding work. This
reviewer had the privilege of taking a few lessons from Tedesco myself back in the ‘60’s.. I believe he would have been overjoyed to hear what Stephen Waarts and the
LAJS did with his concerto..” (Baruch Cohon) On his June 2011 performance of Mendelssohn in E minor Concerto with Silicon Valley Symphony: “the emotion-evoking
quality of his sound.. bring me to tears with that rare beauty” “extraordinary technique” (San Mateo Daily Journal) (cont. below) |
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Stephen Waarts, Violin Soloist
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1
Entire concert.
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Stephen Waarts, Violin Soloist
Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor
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Stephen Waarts, Violin Soloist
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor
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Introduction Video
This is similar to a movie trailer.
Stephen Waarts, Violin Soloist
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
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Stephen Waarts, Violin Soloist
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
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At the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Stephen studies violin with celebrated violinist and master teacher Aaron Rosand, (with whom he had been collaborating
occasionally since early 2010). There he also continues his piano studies, with Annie Petit, his general music and composition studies, and is a member of the acclaimed Curtis orchestra. Since April 2005 Stephen
has been a student at the studio of world-renowned Bay Area violin pedagogue Li Lin. He joined the San Francisco Conservatory, Preparatory Division in 2009, as a scholarship student, continuing there his violin
studies with Li Lin, and studying also musicianship and composition, often writing his own cadenzas for concertos in addition to other compositions. Concurrently, since 2009 Stephen has also been receiving
regular periodic lessons from Alexander Barantschik, Concertmaster of San Francisco Symphony, and Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock, and since 2010 he is also a student at the Perlman Music Program, headed
by Itzhak Perlman. Stephen started his music education with violin lessons as part of a Suzuki violin program with Krishnabai Lewis and continued lessons with Jenny Rudin. He started piano studies with
Steve Lightburn and since June 2006 he continued them with Irina Sharogradski. A passionate chamber music player, Stephen has been part of the Music at Menlo program led by David Finckel and Wu Han for 4 summers
since 2005, and he continues his chamber playing at the Curtis Institute and at the Perlman Program. During Stephen’s frequent visits to his Bay area home he continues his close collaboration with his long
time violin teacher Li Lin and continues working with local orchestras and volunteering recitals at local retirement communities.
Apart from his wide interest in music, Stephen is also an
avid mathematician (having won many national math awards) and visual artist. In the rest of his free time he enjoys reading, table tennis, swimming, card games, and playing with his friends, including his
younger sister and twin brother. Find more about Stephen at www.stephenwaarts.com.
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