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Eric Pritchard, violin & Read Gainsford, piano

"In Tempore Belli": Violin Sonatas from 1917 by Hindemith, Faure, Sibelius and Elgar. Free admission.

Eric Pritchard has served as First Violinist of the Ciompi Quartet of Duke University since 1995, where he is Professor of the Practice and Director of Performance in the Department of Music. His previous appointments as First Violinist of the Alexander and Oxford String Quartets included positions at City University of New York, San Francisco State University, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Miami University. A native of Durham, New Hampshire, he studied at the New England Conservatory, the Indiana University School of Music and the Juilliard School where he received a Master of Music in 1985. His principal teachers were Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian, Eric Rosenblith and Giorgio Ciompi.

Mr. Pritchard has appeared as concerto soloist with orchestras including the Boston Pops, the Indianapolis Philharmonic and the Orchestra of New England. He has served as Concertmaster of the Columbus Symphony, the Opera Company of North Carolina and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. As a baroque violinist, he performs on an historically restored 18th century British violin from the Duke University Musical Instrument Collection.

Born in New Zealand, Read Gainsford studied at the University of Auckland under Janetta MacStay and Bryan Sayer. He then relocated to London where he worked at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a pupil of the renowned pedagogue Joan Havill. Later he moved to the USA, earning a doctorate at Indiana University under Professor Karen Shaw. He has performed widely in the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. He has made successful solo debuts in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and London's Wigmore Hall, as well as performances in the Kennedy Center, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and others. Gainsford returns regularly to his home country of New Zealand to perform, teach, and visit family. Formerly on the faculty at Ithaca College where he received the college-wide Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004, Dr. Gainsford is currently Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard at Florida State University.

Contact: Duke Music