Villa-Lobos International
Chamber Music Festival

Artists

• Lars Hoefs, artistic director/cello

  American cellist Lars Hoefs, professor of cello and music history at Sao Paulo State University in Campinas, Brazil, performs and teaches in South America, the United States, and Europe. Lars has established himself as a leading expert on the cello repertoire of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and is artistic director of the annual Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival in Southern California, the only festival dedicated to Latin American chamber music in the United States, already in its sixth year. Lars also actively promotes contemporary Brazilian music, premiering many works for cello and chamber ensemble by composers Liduino Pitombeira, Joao Guilherme Ripper, and Paulo C. Chagas among others.

  Originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, Lars earned his high school diploma at the North Carolina School of the Arts, a Bachelors from Northwestern University studying with Hans Jorgen Jensen, and both Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he studied with former Los Angeles Philharmonic principal cellist Ronald Leonard. At Sao Paulo State University in Campinas, Lars founded and leads the Unicamp Cello Ensemble, a conductorless cello orchestra consisting of his current and former cello students. The Unicamp Cello Ensemble has performed at Brazil’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls including the Campos do Jordao Winter Music Festival, the Rio International Cello Encounters, and the Sao Paulo Cultural Center to name a few. In 2016 they recorded a CD of world premiere recordings, featuring Lalo Schifrin’s Divertimento, and toured throughout the state of Sao Paulo. Lars is also active as a researcher, publishing papers on the cello repertoire of Villa-Lobos including a feature article in The Strad magazine about the history of the cello ensemble. In 2023 he will release 4 albums: three with pianist Aline Alves featuring Villa-Lobos, Bach, and living Brazilian composers; and “Brazilian Landscapes” with the Blue Rose Trio.

• Aline Alves, piano

  Pianist Aline Alves earned a doctorate in musicology from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), a masters in piano performance from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) and a bachelors in piano from the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), where she served as pianist for the UFU Percussion Ensemble from 2007-09. Her piano mentors and professors have included Araceli Chacon, Mônica Hassan e Maurícy Martin. Recent performances included concerts for the Villa-Lobos Museum, the Brazilian National Association of Music Research (ANPPOM), the Brazilian Association of Musical Performance (ABRAPEM), and the Villa-Lobos Symposium at São Paulo University. In addition to performing, she maintains intense activity as piano professor for her private studio in Campinas. She recently served as substitute professor of piano for 3 semesters at the Universidade Estadual Paulista. In 2023 she will release three albums with cellist Lars Hoefs of music by Villa-Lobos as well as world premiere recordings of living Brazilian composers.

• Rose Chen, piano

  Rose’s music journey began at the age of 6 when she started playing the piano and picked up the oboe as her secondary instrument 3 years later. After winning numerous solo piano awards as a teenager and making her solo debut at the National Concert Hall in her native Taiwan, Rose came to the United States in 1997. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and Masters Degree at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2010 she completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts with full-scholarship at the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music. She was awarded the Outstanding Graduate in the USC doctoral program.

  Rose has performed as a soloist and chamber player in Canada, Austria, Brazil, France, Israel, Hong Kong, and China. Within the United States Rose was an artist-faculty at several music festivals held in Alaska, Texas, and California. In addition to her lifelong interest in western classical music, Rose’s eclectic taste in music encompasses a variety of styles and genres. Her recent projects include composing and recording music for a short film called Tasting Wednesday, the world premier of Suite Adeline for solo piano by techno pioneer Bruce Haack (1931-1988), recording an album (with cellist Dr. Lars Hoefs) dedicated entirely to the piano-cello works by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, producing annual concerts honoring Black History Month, and numerous choral arrangements of Taiwanese popular/folk songs.

  Rose is currently a music theory and piano faculty at Cypress College in Orange County and the pianist/music director at the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. Rose also enjoys singing and directs several choirs in San Gabriel area.

• Karl Pasch, clarinet

  Karl Pasch is principal clarinetist with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, and is active as a chamber musician, conductor, and composer. He has performed concert tours with the Blue Rose Trio in California and Alaska, and was a featured guest artist at the Virtuosi Festival in Recife, Brazil.

  After winning a Rasmussen Artist Grant, he toured in Brazil and released a live CD of South American chamber music.

  Karl has conducted with the Anchorage Civic Orchestra, the Anchorage Ballet, the Anchorage Concert Chorus, and Anchorage Theatre Orchestra. He also performs with the Damberg Latin Jazz Quintet, and the gypsy jazz group the Hot Club of Nunaka.

• Beth Ross-Buckley, flute

  Beth is the Executive Director of Camarada. Ms. Ross-Buckley is an advocate of chamber music and has produced groundbreaking chamber music events throughout San Diego combining great music, cuisine and art. An original founder of Camarada, for 27 years Beth has been the driving force behind this ensemble and has added many new venues, compositions and musicians to its celebrated history. Ms. Ross-Buckley received her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from St. Olaf College and her Masters of Music from the University of Minnesota. Her teachers include Kay Sahlin, Julia Bogorad, Elaine Eagle, Damian Bursill-Hall, Frances Blaisdell and Timothy Day. Ms. Ross-Buckley has been a featured artist at the National Flute Association Convention and Music Teacher’s Association of California. Beth was Principal flute of the former San Diego Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Nova for 25 years and performed with many Musical Theatre productions in Southern California. Ms. Ross-Buckley also has a portrait photography business, Beth Ross Buckley Photography.

• Grisha Krivchenia, piano

  Lauded as “the coolest classical musician around” (Santa Fe Reporter) and “presiding over outstanding technique” (Bergisches Zeitung), Grisha Krivchenia is a versatile artist whose performances and original compositions enthrall audiences throughout the Northern Hemisphere. He enjoys a busy touring schedule, and his compositions are realized by professional ensembles worldwide. Recent premieres have taken place in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Bucharest.

  Grisha studied at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Victoria School of Music. In 2007, Grisha founded the music program at Spring Street International School in Friday Harbor. His solo piano and chamber music is published by Abundant Silence Publishing and CCC Music Company.

  Grisha takes a special interest in using art to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. He writes music in collaboration with hospice patients, veterans, and recovering addicts and recently completed a song cycle based on interviews with Syrian refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.