Masterclasses & Competitions

ANDREW BALIO MASTERCLASS

Saturday, February 25th at 4:15pm
Madison Country Day School

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is hosting a masterclass with renowned trumpet player and WYSO alumnus, Andrew Balio, for current WYSO brass students in Youth and Philharmonia orchestras. Please fill out the application form below if you are interested in performing for Mr. Balio.

Wisconsin native Andrew Balio was appointed as Principal Trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2001 by Yuri Temirkanov. Prior to his arrival in Baltimore, he had been principal trumpet of the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta (since 1994) and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, as well as the Boston Philharmonic.

His solo debut was at age 15 with the Milwaukee Symphony playing the Haydn Concerto. His teachers included Charles Schlueter, Adolph Herseth, Roger Voisin and Gene Young.

Read more about the event
Andrew Balio Masterclass Application Form

SONORA SLOCUM MASTERCLASS

Stay tuned for the date, time, and location!
The masterclass will be free and open to the public.

Sonora Slocum was appointed principal flute of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2012 at the age of 22.

Slocum has performed with orchestras around the country including guest principal flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has also appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra on flute and piccolo.

Her collaborations as guest principal include touring and audio recordings with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as visual recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York at Lincoln Center. In addition to her debut album Return with Affetto Records, featuring John Wilson on piano, Slocum has released a new album, Mozart Flute Quartets, recorded with members of the Dover and Escher Quartets with record label Acis Productions.

With music publisher Hal Leonard, Slocum compiled a collection featuring some of the most popular flute repertoire by French composers, as well as a collection of Moyse Exercises for Flute.

URI VARDI MASTERCLASS

International cellist and University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor, Uri Vardi, hosted two masterclasses for WYSO students in October 2022.

The cellist has performed as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber player across the United States, Europe, Far East, South America, and his native Israel. Born in Szeged, Hungary, Vardi grew up on kibbutz Kfar Hahoresh, Israel. He studied at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv, was an Artist Diploma student at Indiana University, and earned his master’s degree from Yale University.

Vardi served as Assistant Principal cellist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Principal cellist of the Israel Sinfonietta, and was a founding member of the Sol-La-Re String Quartet. In 1990, following an extensive teaching and performing career, Vardi was appointed cello professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

JAMES EHNES MASTERCLASS

The Madison Symphony Orchestra hosted a masterclass with guest artist James Ehnes for WYSO musicians in October 2022.

Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage and his long list of orchestras includes Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna Symphony Orchestras; Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras; and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, and DSO Berlin orchestras.

Recent orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Noseda, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Shelley, San Francisco Symphony with Janowski, Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Orozco-Estrada, London Symphony with Harding, and Munich Philharmonic with van Zweden, as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in spring 2019.