By SALINA POST
For a number of people, the upcoming Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance concert in Salina may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The performing arts alliance has scheduled a Piano Trio Concert for 7 p.m. April 30 in Christ Cathedral, 138 S. Eighth Street. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting mapaa.org/schedule. A reception with the artists will follow the concert.
During the concert, violinist Christina Bouey will perform on a 1728 "Artot" Stradivarius on loan from The Juilliard School. She is scheduled to perform alongside cellist Jesse Henkensiefken and pianist Tatiana Tessman in a program featuring the piano trios of Dmitri Shostakovich and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as Camille Saint-Saëns’ Violin Sonata No. 1.
"The 1728 violin known as 'Artot-Alard,' built by Antonio Stradivari (arguably the most well-known and talented of the Stradivari family) is as beautiful to see as it is to hear. The instrument represents the craftsman at the height of his career. Artot-Alard glows with deep color tones that highlight the graceful curves of the violin," the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance noted in a news release.
Following is performer information as provided by the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance.
Described by Opera News as playing with “exquisite, quivering beauty,” Christina Bouey is an internationally-renowned violinist and founding member of the Ulysses Quartet. Bouey graduated from Manhattan School of Music with a Master of Music Degree and Professional Studies Certificate, studying with Glenn Dicterow, Lisa Kim, Laurie Smukler, and Nicholas Mann. Her Bachelor of Music (Magna cum laude) is from Boston Conservatory, where she studied with Irina Muresanu as a full scholarship student. Ulysses Quartet, currently a Lisa Arnhold Fellow at The Juilliard School, serves as the School’s Graduate Resident String Quartet. Currently, Bouey plays a 1728 “Artot” Stradivarius violin on loan from Juilliard.
A Kansas native, Jesse Henkensiefken performs regularly as a concert cellist and conductor. He is currently the executive director for the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance and served as the Program Manager for Harmony Project KC from 2020-2022. He was previously the Director of Orchestras & String Studies, String Division Director, and International Music Festival CoDirector at Kansas Wesleyan University from 2014-2019, while also serving as the Salina Symphony Assistant Conductor and Principal Cellist. He has additional experience working as the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Opera Ensemble Assistant Conductor from 2012-2014, and was the Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra Music Director from 2009-14. Henkensiefken completed his D.M.A. in Cello Performance at the University of Kansas, where he studied with Edward Laut. He is also a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where he earned an M.M. in Conducting under the direction of George Manahan and David Gilbert.
Tatiana Tessman has performed as a soloist and with orchestras around the world, from Lincoln Center in New York to La Scala in Milan. She has seen overwhelming success on the international competition front, having won multiple prizes across Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. Tessman is a graduate of Moscow Conservatory, where she studied with teachers including Valery Kastelsky, Pavel Nersessian, Nikolai Lugansky, Sergei Dorensky (with whom she pursued her studies as a post-graduate student), and Mstislav Rostropovich. After completing her undergraduate and graduate studies degrees in Russia, Tessman moved to the United States, where she completed her D.M.A. at Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Solomon Mikowsky as a recipient of the Elda van Gelder Memorial Foundation Scholarship. She has served as artist-in-residence and director of keyboard studies at Kansas Wesleyan University from 2014-2020. Tessman is currently the artistic director of Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance.