Violin Sonata no. 1 in F minor, Op. 80 - Sergei Prokofiev
About the Artists:
Violinist Holly Nelson has appeared in concert as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician throughout the United States. As former concertmaster of the Pan- American Symphony Orchestra, a DC-based ensemble dedicated to performing Latin American orchestral repertoire, she has appeared as soloist at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap. Other concerto engagements in 2024 include performing Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas for Violin and Orchestra by A. Piazzolla (arr. L. Desyatnikov) with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and Florence Price’s Violin Concerto no. 2 with the Durham Symphony Orchestra in NC. In 2024, she had the honor of giving the Maryland premiere of John Williams’ violin concerto Treesong with the John Williams Project Orchestra at the Peabody Institute with the composer himself in attendance.
In 2022, Ms. Nelson received the Peabody Institute of Music’s Presser Award, which “is designed to especially encourage and support the advanced education and careers of truly exceptional graduate music students who have the potential to make a notable contribution to the field of music.” In 2023, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to study tango music performance practice and pedagogy in Buenos Aires, Argentina for nine months. During her grant, she was invited to give a solo violin performance at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Ms. Nelson has held residencies at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Jazz at Lincoln Center as a violin fellow with The Orchestra Now, and was formerly a member of the Chamber Orchestra of New York and the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra (NY). She was a featured artist at the opening gala of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Biennial in 2010 in New York City and has also appeared in recital at New York University, the Fox Performing Arts Theater in El Paso, TX, National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY and at the Atlantic Music Festival. Other festival appearances include Britten Pears in England, Banff and Domaine Forget in Canada and The Lucerne Festival and Tibor Varga Academy in Switzerland. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to perform in France, Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, China and Taiwan.
Holly Nelson received her doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory as a Dean’s Doctoral Fellow in the studio of Vadim Gluzman, her Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in Ohio, where she was the teaching assistant to Giora Schmidt, and her Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Her other notable professors include Kurt Sassmannshaus, Ann Setzer, Daniel Phillips and Garrett Fischbach. She has taught at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and has held artist residencies and presented music workshops at Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and Fordham University, among others.
Acclaimed pianist, pedagogue and composer Dr. Luke Ratcliffe has appeared as a soloist nationally and internationally, giving diverse solo recitals and performing as a frequent chamber musician in concert series across the United States. He has appeared in Carnegie Hall, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Strathmore Music Center, The Banff Music Center, and the Lyceum. After studying at The Juilliard School, Luke continued his studies at George Mason University, where he earned his Masters degree in 2021. He appeared as a guest soloist in numerous concerto performances and gave solo recitals and lecture recitals on wide-ranging topics during that time.
As a composer, Luke began writing music at Juilliard, and in the 2017 season, he was commissioned to score Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning playwright Arhur Kopit’s play “Chamber Music”, which premiered in Brooklyn as an off-Broadway show through the Fall of 2017. Luke regularly works with other composers and gives premieres of new music. In 2022, Luke was invited to play as concerto soloist with the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Daniel Meyer during the Lakeside Summer Festival. In May 2023 Luke received his DMA degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a Judson Artist-in-Residence, whereupon he received the Arthur Loesser Memorial Prize in Piano.
An avid pedagogue, Luke has served on the graduate teaching faculty at George Mason University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Currently, Luke is on the piano faculty at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. During his time there, he maintains an active piano studio, performs, and gives lectures on topics in music. He is also a guest artist at George Mason University’s Arts Academy.
