Violinist Katie Lansdale, who was in Conway in September in the artist-in-residence program, returned to the University of Central Arkansas for another performance in the Snow Fine Arts Recital Hall Oct. 29.
Lansdale, accompanied with a piano and cello, performed Igor Stravinsky's ballet music, including Ballade, Russian Dance and selections from the Firebird.
In the hour-and-a-half recital, Lansdale played 14 songs in front of UCA faculty and students, giving introductions of songs prior to each performance.
"We had a great time with wonderful partners," Lansdale said. "I'm obsessed with [Stravinsky's] pieces."
A soloist, chamber musician and teacher, Lansdale has performed at the White House in her childhood and also with Yo-Yo Ma, internationally renowned Taiwanese-American cellist, about five years ago. Lauded for her Bach performances, she won high praise from the American Record Guide for her solo Bach CD in 2004.
Audience member Tim Thornes, professor at UCA, said he enjoyed the performance.
"I haven't been to one of these [recitals] for a long time," Thornes said. "[Lansdale] is pretty amazing she made it look easy in some ways even though she was putting in effort."
Stephen Feldman, assistant professor of cello and the faculty sponsor for the Lansdale residency, accompanied her with his cello in a suite called Suite Italienne.
"The UCA Music Department students and faculty [were] looking forward to Katie Lansdale's return visit," Feldman said. "Her solo concert and chamber music recital with UCA faculty was inspiring for everyone who heard them, and her work with students was engaging and exciting."
Lansdale has performed a wide range of repertoire with diverse orchestras such as the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, NYC Spectrum Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Austin Mozart Orchestra and the New York Repertory Orchestra.
Among Lansdale's recent recitals and guest artist venues are the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., the Palais de l'Europe in Paris, Merkin Hall in New York and Jordan Hall in Boston.
Lansdale, who won the grand prize at both the Yellow Spring and Fischoff National Chamber Competitions, is a frequent guest on chamber series, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, deceased Austrian violinist Felix Galimir and another violinist Donald Weilerstein.
As a member of the Lions Gate Trio, she has toured America and Europe annually for 16 years. Now in residence at Hartt and Yale, the Trio's concert tours have taken the members across Europe, and their third CD was released in 2005 by Centaur Records.
Lansdale is a former Artist in Residence at SUNY-Stony Brook and is currently on the faculty at the Hartt School in Hartford, Conn.
"It has been very rewarding to have these visits from Katie Lansdale over the course of the semester," Feldman said. "They have very much added to the learning environment, particularly for the growing number of string players at the school, and enriched the musical life of the department as a whole."
Lansdale also gives a master class at 4 p.m. Tuesday on the UCA campus. She performs with chamber groups with students them at 1:40 p.m. Thursday in the SFA Recital Hall. The class and the performance are open to the public.
The Artists in Residence program is funded through UCA's arts fee and administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
