Amy Pikler, Recorder and Evan Fojtik, Flute

Today we welcomed our first recorder player, Amy Pikler, to the program and heard some solo flute performed by Evan Fojtik. Then at the end, we heard them together (with harpsichordist David Schrader) in the Telemann Concerto for Recorder and Flute, a piece for which they earned first place in the early music category of the MYA Walgreens National Concerto Competition!

Listen to full program:

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Program: Piano performed by Tatyana Stepanova

La Campanella by Paganini, arr. Pikler (after the Primrose transcription for viola)

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Recorder Concerto, 1st mov't by Christopher Ball, allegro vivace

Poem for Flute and Orchestra by Charles Griffes

Concerto for Recorder and Flute by Telemann


Biographies:

Amy Pikler, a junior at New Trier High School, began her musical studies at the age of 5. Amy studies violin and viola withDesiree Ruhstrat and recorder with Patrick O’Malley at the Music Instituteof Chicago where she is a 2007-2010 merit scholarship recipient on both recorder and viola. Amy is an active participant in the Midwest Young Artists’ program, where, in December, 2006, she was the winner of both the strings (violin) and early music (recorder) categories, junior division, of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition. In December, 2007, Amy was the senior division winner of the early music (recorder) category of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition and in December, 2008, Amy (alto recorder) and Evan Fojtik (flute) won the senior division of the early music category of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition for their performance of G. P. Telemann’s Concerto in E minor for alto recorder and flute. Amy is featured as artist of the month at arsantiguapresents.com (April, 2009 with Evan Fojtik, and March, 2008) and with the MYA Vivaldi Early Music Academy at wmya.fm (episode no. 48 with Evan and episode 55). Other awards include an honorable mention and two-week summer camp scholarship to MYA in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth Auditions for Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion (2007), and American Recorder Society and New Trier Fine Arts Association summer scholarships. Amy has been featured as soloist in the Pilgrim Chamber Players’ ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ program, Young Competition Winners’ Recital at both Ravinia and the Chicago Cultural Center, and in the Young Steinway Concert Series at the Skokie Public Library. In June, 2007, Amy performed at the invitation of the Women’s Association of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at their 73rd Annual Meeting at the Union League Club. She has appeared as soloist with the Sewanee (Tennessee) Festival Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, North Suburban Symphony, Lincolnwood ChamberOrchestra, Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, Midwest Young Artists Vivaldi Early Music Academy, and Knox-Galesburg Symphony. Upcoming solo engagements include performances with the Kankakee Symphony Orchestra (November, 2009), the Chicago Chamber Orchestra (January, 2010), and the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest (February, 2010).

Evan Fojtik is 16 and a junior at Lake Zurich High School where he is active in themusic program. He began his music studies at age 10; he studies flute with Diane Horban.
Evan enjoys playing in the Midwest Young Artists Symphony Orchestra. He also is a member of the woodwind quintet Quintethero;this group has been honored to play at the opening of a September 2009 Chicago Chamber Musicians concert. Evan has played in master classes with Mathieu Dufour, William Bennett, Bruce Yeh and Dale Clevenger.
Honors and awards include first chair flute in the district 7 Illinois Music Educators Association honors band in 2007 and 2008. He has won the Junior Division of The Chicago Flute Club student competition and has placed 3rd in thesenior division. Evan has been featured in the Pilgrim Chamber Players Stars of Tomorrow recital in 2008 and 2009 and also in Ravinia’s Young Competition Winner’s 2008 recital. Evan has won two honorable mentions in the Walgreen’s Concerto Competition. This past year he is co-winner of the Walgreen’s Concerto Competition with Amy Pikler in the Early Music category. Evan and Amy were featured in an ArsAntiguapresents.com (April 2009 Edition) podcast and also on WMYA.fm (episode 48). He has been invited to solo with the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra in November 2009 and to be on WFMT’s Introductions broadcast. Evan is this year’s recipient of the Midwest Young Artists’ Mathieu DuFour Named Merit Scholarship.