Upcoming Events

Come join us in celebrating our magnificent instrument through a two-day marathon of faculty and guest artist recitals, master classes and cello orchestra performances!

 DOWNLOAD THE FLYER HERE (.pdf)

For More Information:

Please contact Dr. Alexander Russakovsky at Alexander.Russakovsky@usm.edu or call 601.266.6851

This event is made possible by the generous support from the Partners for the Arts, University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the School of Music.

HELPFUL LINKS

CAMPUS MAP (.pdf)

DIRECTIONS

WHERE TO EAT

WHERE TO STAY

Faculty Bios

Sara Sant’Ambrogio

           Grammy Award-winning Sara Sant’Ambrogio first leapt to international attention when she was a winner at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow, Russia.  As a result of her medal, Carnegie Hall invited Ms. Sant’Ambrogio to perform a recital that was filmed by CBS News as part of a profile about her, which was televised nationally.   The New York Times described Ms. Sant’Ambrogio’s New York debut as “sheer pleasure.”

            Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as Atlanta, Boston Pops, Chicago, Dallas, Moscow State Philharmonic, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Beijing Philharmonic, the Osaka Century Orchestra (Japan), St. Louis, San Francisco and Seattle; she has performed throughout the world at major music centers and festivals including Aspen, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Konzert Huset in Stockholm, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Musikverein in Vienna, Ravinia, Orchard and Suntory Halls in Tokyo and Great Mountain Festival in Korea.   Always looking to push the boundaries of classical music, Miss Sant’Ambrogio has collaborated with the New York City Ballet in seven highly successful sold-out concerts at Lincoln Center performing The Bach Cello Suites and has performed with Rufus Wainwright in the inauguration of a new concert series at the National Arts Club in New York City. She has recorded with the rock group VAST, the Spanish hip hop singer Beatrice, and has a track from her solo cd “Dreaming” featured on the soundtrack of the documentary “Jones Beach Boys”. Sara recently performed with Sting and Joshua Bell in “Twin Spirits,” a production about the love story between Robert and Clara Schumann.

            Ms. Sant’Ambrogio started cello studies with her father John Sant’Ambrogio, principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony, and at the age of 16 was invited on full scholarship to study with David Soyer at the Curtis Institute of Music.  Three years later world renowned cellist Leonard Rose invited Ms. Sant’Ambrogio to study at The Julliard School; within weeks of arriving, she won the all-Julliard Schumann Cello Concerto Competition, resulting in the first of many performances at Lincoln Center.

              Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has won numerous international competitions, including The Whitaker, Dealey, Artists International, and Palm Beach competitions.  Ms. Sant’Ambrogio won a Grammy Award for her performance of Bernstein’s “Arias and Barcarolles” on Koch Records. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has been profiled in Glamour, Vogue, Elle, In Fashion, Bon Appétit, Detour, Strings, Strad, Gramophone, Travel and Leisure, Fanfare and Swing magazines, as well as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CBS, ABC, PBS, Fox, USA and CNN networks.  Ms. Sant’Ambrogio is the subject of a feature length documentary, which has had multiple airings nationwide on PBS. She currently has 4 music videos playing on Classic FM TV in the UK and Europe.

            Ms. Sant’Ambrogio is a founding member of the Eroica Trio.  The Trio won the prestigious 1991 Naumburg Award, resulting in an acclaimed Lincoln Center Debut and has since extensively toured the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  In 1997 the Trio opened the “Distinctive Debuts” series at Carnegie Hall, and that year represented Carnegie Hall as the official chamber music ensemble in concerts throughout the world.  While touring around the world the Eroica has released eight celebrated recordings for Angel/EMI Classics Records, garnering multiple Grammy nominations.

            Recent highlights for Miss Sant’Ambrogio, were a Grammy nomination for the Eroica Trio’s eighth cd “An American Journey”, the release of her “Bach Solo Cello Suites, Vol. I”  which Gramophone Magazine described as “a miracle of sound” and says “she comes impressively close to the soul of Bach in a profoundly compassionate paean to the human spirit”, and a series of Bach concerts in non traditional venues across the US sponsored by Chimney Rock Winery. The 2011-12 season will see the release of Vol.II of the Bach Solo Cello Suites in October, a tour of the US as soloist with The Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Fabio Luisi in November, the release of a Chopin CD with pianist Robert Koenig as well as concerts across the US and Europe.

Allen Nisbet has had an extensive career as a performer and a teacher. He is currently Associate Professor of Cello/Bass at Loyola University New Orleans. He received his B.M. and M.M. from the University of Illinois where he studied the cello with Robert Swenson and the bass with Edward Krolick. He played with the New Orleans Symphony/Louisiana Philharmonic for eighteen years, and he served as Assistant Principal Cello of the Denver Symphony in 1987-88. From 1975-80 he played with the Festival String Quartet, artists-in-residence at the University of Southern Mississippi. He was a member of the summer artist faculty at the University of Illinois in 1983 and 1984. In 1984-85 he taught at the University of Northern Colorado where he played with the Colorado Arts Trio. Mr. Nisbet plays with the Loyola Piano Trio, which concertizes throughout the south and is a recipient of the Big Easy Award for chamber music. He has performed nationally and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He can be heard on Spectrum Records, Albany Records, and Turnipseed Records. Mr. Nisbet lives in New Orleans with his wife, Jane, and their two Siamese cats.

A native of Davenport, Iowa, Gregory Sauer attended the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. His principal teachers included Ada Marie Snyder, Charles Wendt, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, Bonnie Hampton and Colin Carr. Prior to his arrival at Florida State University, Mr. Sauer taught at the University of Oklahoma for eleven years, and was named Presidential Professor in 2005. Other teaching positions have included a visiting professorship at the University of California at Los Angeles, and instructor for summer programs such as the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts and the Hot Springs Music Festival.

Praised for his versatility, Mr. Sauer has appeared in recitals at the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and the Brightmusic Concert Series in Oklahoma City, among many others. Mr. Sauer is a prizewinner in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Ima Hogg National competitions, and has performed concertos with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Sauer holds the position of assistant principal of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and served nine seasons as principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a member of the Fidelio String Quartet, Greg has performed in concerts throughout the United States, including festival appearances at Tanglewood, Aspen Music Festival, Round Top Music Festival, and Chamber Music West. Mr. Sauer serves as co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Quad Cities, and has appeared in chamber music settings recently with Santa Fe Promusica, at the Garth Newel Music Center, the Colorado Music Festival, and the Boulder Modern Music Festival.

Award winning cellist Boyan Bonev is a native of Bulgaria. He holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Florida State University, and Bachelor of Music degree from the National Music Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. His cello teachers include Gregory Sauer, David Bjella, Lubomir Georgiev, Anatoli Krastev, Venzeslav Nikolov, and Tatcho Tatchev. Bonev has participated in master classes with Jon Kimura Parker, Andrés Díaz, Felix Wang, Christopher Rex, Norman Shetler, Carsten Eckert, Christoph Richter, Robert Cohen, and Michail Homitzer. He has performed in a number of prestigious music festivals in Europe and USA such as Florida Music Educators' Association Conference, Tampa, FL, “Varga Celebration” in Greensboro, NC, "Seven Days of Opening Nights" and Festival of New Music in Tallahassee, FL, “Musica Nova” and "New Bulgarian Music" in Sofia, Bulgaria, “Varna Summer” in Varna, Bulgaria, and "March Music Days" in Rousse, Bulgaria.       

Bonev is an active performer of solo and chamber music, and took part in various concert and educational programs for the Bulgarian National Television and Radio. He is a member of Duo "Bonev-Birbochuov" and the "Flint River Trio". His repertoire includes wide variety of solo and chamber music works from the Baroque and Romantic Era, contemporary compositions, and virtuoso show pieces. Bonev was featured as a soloist of the Florida Lakes Symphony Orchestra, Stara Zagora Symphony Orchestra, and performed at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall. He is a prize winner from the Bulgarian National Competition for Singers and Instrumentalists, and the International Competition "Music and Earth."

Bonev performs with the Pensacola Symphony and serves as the orchestra director at Leon High School. He is a faculty member of the Florida State University Summer Music Camps and taught cello and chamber music as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Florida State University.

Alexander Russakovsky has studied the cello at the Leningrad Conservatory, under renowned Russian professors, Emmanuel Fishman and Anatoli Nikitin. He received his bachelor of music from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy and his master’s degree from the Yale School of Music under Aldo Parisot. He holds a doctorate in cello performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Russakovsky has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music performances in Russia, Israel, Europe and the United States. A founding member of the Jerusalem Academy String Quartet, he has performed with the group throughout Israel, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and France. He also appeared in the Chamber Music Series of the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Barge Music in New York City and with the Western Slope Music Festival in Colorado. In the fall of 2001 Dr. Russakovsky joined the music faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He has also served on the faculties of the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Bonefro, the IV Violoncello Biennal in Peru and the CICA Chamber Music Festival. His orchestral engagements include Savannah Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, New Haven Symphony and Leningrad Philharmonic.

Most recently, Dr. Russakovsky has given master classes and recitals in Taiwan, Israel, and Latin America. A recipient of many awards, he won the Angela and Maurice M. Clairmont Competition in Tel Aviv, the Performing Arts Foundation Competition in Santa Barbara and the 1999 Career Grant of the Esperia Foundation.