PIOTR SZEWCZYK, violin; CHRISTINE CLARK, piano

Polish-born violinist and composer Piotr Szewczyk (b. 1977) attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, studying composition with Darrel Handel, Joel Hoffman, Henry Gwiazda, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Michael Fiday, and violin with Kurt Sassmannshaus, Piotr Milewski and Dorothy DeLay. While earning both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees as well as his Artist Diploma, Piotr served as concert-master of several of the College-Conservatory's orchestras, including its premier orchestral ensemble, the Philharmonia Orchestra. Mr. Szewczyk recently completed a 3-year fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach where he served as rotating concertmaster under Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas, and in September 2007 Piotr joined the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

The winner of the 2006 New World Symphony Concerto competition, Mr. Szewczyk has been described by the press variously as a “mature virtuoso”, a “gifted violinist with remarkable facility” and “an excellent young violinist with a beautiful musical taste,” and his playing has been likened to that of the legendary Soviet violinist David Oistrakh by colleagues in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with numerous ensembles, including the Lima Symphony, New World Symphony, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Queen City Virtuosi, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Piotr has given solo and chamber recitals in the United States, Poland, Germany and Austria, performing with the FAZA String Quartet, the Roggero Trio and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and he has been featured in the Spoleto Festival Music in Time series as well as in the New World Symphony's Chamber Music Series and Xchange and Musicans’ Forum concerts.

Mr. Szewczyk’s compositions have been performed by numerous orchestral and chamber ensembles, including the New World Symphony, ALIAS Ensemble, Degas Quartet, Quarteto Latinoamericano, ACCORD Quartet, INTY Contemporary Orchestra, Young Musican’s Orchestra of Miami, CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, Queen City Virtuosi, Sybarite 5, and at various music festivals including Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Colorado Music Festival, UPBEAT-Hvar Festival in Croatia, and Music X New Music Festival in Cincinnati. His work has been featured on National Public Radio and on the CBS Early Show, and his CADENZA I for solo violin became a compulsory work for the UPBEAT-Hvar Violin Competition after being awarded 1st Prize in the 2003 UPBEAT-Hvar Composition Competition. Piotr won the 2004 University of Cincinnati Orchestral Composition Competition, placed second in the 2004 ACCENT Composition Competition at the MUSIC X New Music Festival in Cincinnati, and won the 2005 Vox Novus 60x60 Project.


A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Christine Armington Clark began piano studies with James Crosland, and continued her professional training at Oberlin Conservatory. She received a Master's degree in piano performance from the University of Illinois and studied with Leon Fleisher in the Peabody Conservatory Artist Diploma Program upon the recommendation of legendary concert pianist Lorin Hollander. Ms. Clark was national finalist in the Collegiate Artist Competition sponsored by the Music Teachers National Association, and attended the Aspen Music Festival on a piano performance and accompanying scholarship. She competed in the Maryland International Piano Competition, and won the Boca Raton Piano Competition.

A versatile musician, Christine played keyboard with Trap Door, a local rock group, and toured Europe under the aegis of Proclaim! International. She taught piano at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and her chamber music performances include an appearance at the Goethe Institute in San Francisco. Well known along the First Coast, Ms. Clark has appeared with the Jacksonville Starlight Symphonette and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. She is a frequent performer at Andy Clarke's Wednesday Happenings at Riverside Presbyterian Church, as well as at the Friday Musicale, and in 1999 she gave an all-Liszt recital for the St. Cecilia Music Society. In addition to being an accomplished pianist, Christine A. Clark has been an attorney with the Jacksonville law firm of Pajcic & Pajcic, P.A., and while working as a law clerk in Washington, D.C., she gave perhaps her most unusual recital, performing in the United States Supreme Court at the request of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.