Strings
Spencer Martin, viola and co-director
Spencer Martin, viola and co-directorSpencer Martin has performed and taught at music festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Europe as both violist and conductor. An active chamber and orchestral musician, he has appeared as guest violist with the Pro Arte String Quartet and the Amelia Piano Trio. His solo performances include Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra in venues in Austria, including Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Spencer has served as Principal Violist in the Tuscaloosa Symphony, and also frequently performed in the viola sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Spencer’s solo, chamber, and orchestral performances have been featured in numerous radio broadcasts including National Public Radio, Canadian Brodcasting Corporation, Minnesota Public Radio, and Kansas Public Radio.
Spencer’s CD, “Gems Rediscovered,” will be released on the Delos label in the spring of 2012 and features lesser-known works for viola and piano by Ernest Walker, Paul Juon, Robert Fuchs, and Benjamin Dale. Spencer can also be heard on the Innova label on the disc “Waves of Stone, Music by Brooke Joyce.”
A former member of the music faculty at the University of Alabama, Spencer holds degrees from Butler University, Wichita State University, and the University of Minnesota. His teachers include Korey Konkol, Catherine Consiglio, and Barbara Westphal. Also an avid proponent of Baroque music, Spencer performs frequently on Baroque violin and has studied in Berlin with Baroque violinist Bernhard Forck.
To see and hear excerpts of Spencer's performances, or for further information, please visit his website: www.spencerlmartin.com
Monte Belknap, violin
Monte Belknap, violinMonte Belknap’s performing career spans over 30 years with notable solo performances and accomplished mentors. In 1989 he won the International Starling Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado and began his studies at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati where he earned his bachelors and masters degrees. His violin teachers include Carolyn Belknap, his mother, Catherine Bauch, Richard Fuchs, Ozzie Lehnert, Eva Szekely, Kurt Sassmannshaus, and Dorothy Delay. Mr. Belknap served as concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and has performed as soloist or recitalist in Europe, South America and throughout the United States. He also studied chamber music with some of the world’s leading performing ensembles including the Juilliard, Tokyo, and LaSalle String Quartets and the Beaux Arts Piano Trio. An avid fan of chamber music he performs regularly with the Deseret Piano Trio and the Park City International Music Festival in Utah. During the summers he teaches or performs at several Belknap Violin Camps training students and teachers with his acclaimed practice system. He also teaches at the summer music festival at Brigham Young University’s Summerfest Music Festival.
Monte is highly sought after recording musician as the featured soloist on the sound tracks to the second and third Work and the Glory movies and also several PBS specials including Fire on Ice. This past year he performed at the Barge Music Series in New York City and is currently featured on BYU Television with his Violin Encores with Monte Belknap, live performance.
His distinguished skills as a master teacher has led many of his students to win national awards and perform as soloists with noted symphonies including the Cincinnati Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and many others. He is the creator of the www.letsplayviolin.com website which is always adding new videos to help aspiring violinists from around the globe. He is enjoying his eighth year on the music faculty of the Brigham Young University--School of Music, having previously taught at BYU-Idaho and Western Illinois University.