Violinist Mark Kaplan to replace Jaime Laredo in Sunday’s Concert
Guest violinist Jaime Laredo will not perform with CSUF’s University Symphony Orchestra on Sunday

February 28, 2008:: No. 165

Due to an unexpected illness, guest violinist Jaime Laredo will not perform with California State University, Fullerton’s University Symphony Orchestra Sunday, March 2, at 4 p.m. in Meng Concert Hall. Coming in to perform the originally scheduled Barber Concerto for Violin is internationally acclaimed violinist Mark Kaplan, who has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation.

Kaplan has played with nearly every major American orchestra including the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, and the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Dallas and Houston. His flourishing career in Europe began in 1975 when he was asked to replace Pinchas Zukerman in a concert conducted by Lawrence Foster in Cologne. On that occasion the critic of the Koelnische Rundschau wrote: “One needs no gift of prophecy to foresee that Mark Kaplan will soon conquer the great musical centers of Europe.” This led to engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic with Klaus Tennstedt — launching his international career appearing in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Zurich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Kaplan has appeared regularly at major summer festivals, from Aspen to Wolf Trap, and is a dedicated chamber musician. He has performed and recorded extensively with cellist Colin Carr and the late pianist David Golub, as the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio.  Now, together with pianist Yael Weiss and cellist Clancy Newman, Kaplan is continuing that distinguished tradition with performances worldwide, appearing as the Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio.

Since 2005, Kaplan has been professor of violin at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and prior to that he served as professor with distinction at UCLA.  He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Dorothy DeLay and recipient of the Fritz Kreisler Memorial Scholarship. Kaplan plays a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1685, known as the Marquis.

Kimo Furumoto, conductor of the University Orchestra, says of this last-minute replacement, “We are all quite sorry to have lost this opportunity to work with Mr. Laredo, who is a great educator as well as performer. However, we are thrilled to be welcoming Mark Kaplan to our campus. He is a stellar musician who will offer our audience a fabulous performance and our students a wonderful educational experience.”

Also on the program are Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Variations on a Shaker Tune, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 Pastorale, and Bresnick’s Encore.

Tickets for $35 ($30 with advance Titan discount) are still available by calling 657-278-3371 or online at www.tickets.com. More information may be found at www.fullerton.edu/arts/events.

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