When you meet Aloysia, ask her… What’s the most unusual place she’s ever performed? What is the provenance of her instruments? Which one does she prefer to play more: violin or viola?
Bio
Founder and Artistic Director of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Aloysia Friedmann’s artistic leadership was recognized by Chamber Music America with its 2008 CMAclaim Award.
While living in New York City, Ms. Friedmann performed with New York’s most prestigious musical ensembles, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and appeared in a special onstage role on Broadway alongside Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice. The New York Times praised her “fiery spirit” after her Carnegie Recital Hall debut.
Ms. Friedmann has performed in chamber music festivals in Hong Kong, Santa Fe, Seattle, Napa Valley, Ottawa, San Antonio, and San Diego. Her chamber music colleagues have included Gervase de Peyer, Peter Schickele, William Preucil, Gary Hoffman, Jeffrey Kahane, the Miró Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Chee-Yun, Alisa Weilerstein, Gabriel Kahane, and Lynn Harrell. She has also produced recordings for artists including Jon Kimura Parker.
In Houston, Ms. Friedmann is Associate Concertmaster of ROCO and is a frequent guest artist on concert series for both Da Camera and Rice University.
Ms. Friedmann graduated from The Juilliard School and plays on a Grancino violin and Grancino viola, both made in Milan in the late 1600s. The viola was once owned by British composer and violist Rebecca Clarke.
Recent highlighted include celebrating the 20th season of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, a performance of the Beethoven Septet with an all-star cast at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and performances at the Highlands-Cashiers Festival in North Carolina. This fall she looks forward to performing in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall as a soloist with the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra. She will also be performing on a Danube Cruise with her husband, concert pianist, Jon “Jackie” Kimura Parker. As a recent board member of Chamber Music America, Ms. Friedmann is also on the planning committee for CMA’s 40th conference held in New York City this January 2018.
Aloysia loves to be spontaneous with her family, which includes her husband, Jackie, and daughter, Sophie. They love sushi, traveling, and taking care of their dog and two cats.
