At this concert we celebrate virtuoso violinist and teacher Charles Castleman, living link to Czech master pedagogue Otakar Ševčík (1852-1934). Ševčík, renowned to this day as violinist and teacher, famously created his School of Violin Technique and Analytical Studies & Exercises, a method allowing string players to reach their potential in technical proficiency. Ševčík's teaching assistant, Emanuel Ondříček, was Charles Castleman's teacher when he was a young violinist. Castleman currently shares Ševčík's wealth of knowledge with his many students and thus carries the expressive and technical traditions of the Bohemian School of Violin Playing into the 21st century.
Dvořák American Heritage Association, with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, is proud to share the music of Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, and Eugène Ysaÿe, who was Ševčík's friend and chamber music partner. In the beautiful venue of Bohemian National Hall in NYC, our audience will be treated to a multimedia presentation including live performance, historical recording, and even the experience a violin lesson live on stage. We will learn why Ševčík's methods for violin, and string players generally, are powerful tools for achieving technical prowess and understand why musicians around the world continue to incorporate Ševčík's études into daily routines. This is an opportunity for music lovers to peek behind the veil of mystery surrounding the art of the violin, celebrate Charles Castleman and the lineage of generations of teachers and students.
Program
Dvořák, Humoresque No. 7, Opus 101 B. 187 for violin and piano
Bobby Boogyeom Park, violin
Welcome statement: Laura Jean Goldberg and Charles Castleman
Video: Dvořák – Ondříček, Waltzes Opus 54 No.1 in A Major and No. 4 in D Major
Charles Castleman, violin, and Claudia Hoca, piano
Violin lesson: Ševčík Analytical Studies & Exercises with power point display
Charles Castleman and Bobby Boogyeom Park
Historical audio recording: Tchaikovsky, Excerpt of Violin Concerto in D Major Opus 35
Charles Castleman Violin, Final Round of the 1963 Brussels Competition
— intermission —
Ysaÿe, Sonata no. 2
1. Obsession; Prelude
2. Malinconia
3. Danse des Ombres; Saraband
4. Les furies
Charles Castleman, violin
Mendelssohn, Viola Quintet in A Major Opus 18
Allegro con motto
Intermezzo, Andante sostenuto
Scherzo, Allegro di molto
Allegro vivace
Charles Castleman, violin I, Laura Jean Goldberg, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola I, Laura Bossert, violin II, Robert La Rue, cello
General admission: $30; seniors, students: $20. Tickets may be purchased online through Eventbrite or at the door at the time of the event (cash only).
A portion of ticket sales will benefit the programs of the Dvořák American Heritage Association, which celebrates its 20th year of public concerts and lectures in 2026.
About
CHARLES CASTLEMAN (Founder, Director, Violin Teacher at the Castleman Quartet Program) – perhaps the world’s most active performer/pedagogue on the violin – has been soloist with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Boston, Brisbane, Chicago, Hong Kong, Moscow, Mexico City, New York, San Francisco, Seoul and Shanghai. Medalist at Tchaikovsky and Brussels, his Jongen Concerto is included in a Cypres CD set of the 17 best prize-winning performances of the Brussels Concours’ 50-year history.
Mr. Castleman’s solo CDs include Ysaye’s six Solo Sonatas (made at the time of his unique performance at Tully Hall in NYC), eight Hubay Csardases for Violin and Orchestra, and ten Sarasate virtuoso cameos on Music and Arts, Gershwin and Antheil on MusicMasters, and contemporary violin and harpsichord music for Albany. As one of sixteen Ford Foundation Concert Artists he commissioned the David Amram Concerto, premiering it with Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony, recording it for Newport Classic. He is dedicatee of “Lares Hercii” by Pulitzer winner Christopher Rouse.
He has performed at such international festivals as Marlboro, Grant Park, Newport, Sarasota, AFCM (Australia), Budapest, Fuefukigawa, Montreux, Shanghai, Sheffield, and the Vienna Festwoche. He regularly participates in the Las Vegas, Park City, Round Top and Sitka festivals in the U.S. His recitals have been broadcast on NPR, BBC, in Berlin and in Paris.
Professor at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Mr. Castleman has conducted master-classes in London, Vienna, Helsinki, Kiev, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and all major cities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. His students have been winners at Brussels, Munich, Naumburg and Szeryng, are in 30 professionally active chamber groups and are 1st desk players in 11 major orchestras.
Charles Castleman’s long-term chamber music associations have included THE NEW STRING TRIO OF N.Y. with BASF recordings of Reger and Frank Martin; and THE RAPHAEL TRIO with CDs of Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Wolf-Ferrari for NONESUCH, SONY CLASSICAL, DISCOVER, UNICORN, and ASV, and with premieres by Rainer Bischof and Frederic Rzewski for the Vienna Festival and Kennedy Center.
Mr. Castleman earned degrees from Harvard, Curtis, and University of Pennsylvania. His teachers were Emanuel Ondříček (teaching assistant of Ševčík, Ysaye student) and Ivan Galamian, and his most influential coaches David Oistrakh, Szeryng, and Gingold. He plays the “Marquis de Champeaux” Stradivarius from 1708, and chooses from 80 bows.
EMANUAL ONDŘÍČEK (1880 Plzeň –1958 Boston) – violinist, pedagogue and composer – received his musical education from his father, Jan Ondříček. He studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševčík. He celebrated success not only in Russia but also in the Balkans and in the capitals of Europe. In 1906 he performed in London for the first time under the pseudonym Floris. From 1910 he lived in America, where in 1912 he suffered a nervous breakdown that prevented him from continuing his career as a violin virtuoso. He continued his teaching activities and founded a higher violin school in Boston and New York (The Ondricek's Studios of Violin Art). His sisters Marie Ondříčková and Augusta Ondříčková and their husbands also taught at the New York school. From September 1956 he was also appointed director of the violin department of the master school at Boston University.
Emanuel Ondříček was a student of Otakar Ševčík and then worked with Ševčík as his teaching assistant. When he lived in Boston, he was the teacher of Charles Castleman.
Violinist LAURA JEAN GOLDBERG is active as performer, teacher, and presenter for musicians and artists both in the US and abroad. As a solo violinist, she performed with the BSO at Boston's Symphony Hall and played recitals in Boston, New York, and in India. A member of the chamber music faculty at The Juilliard School Pre-college division, she previously taught at Columbia University, Yale, and Teachers College. She has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Tanglewood, venues in India, Japan, London, Paris, and across the US. As founding member of the Cassatt Quartet, Goldberg earned top prizes at the Fischoff, Coleman, and Banff competitions and worked as assistant to the Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets. Goldberg is committed to celebrating the music of living composers including Julia Wolfe, Moshe Knoll, Eric Ewazen, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Gabriela Lena Frank, and she is a member of the Sullivan String Quartet, based in New York. Trained at The Juilliard School and the Charles Castleman Quartet Program, Goldberg is founder of ArtsAhimsa Music for Peace, presenting events that inspire and support inclusive communities, social justice, and the environment through the arts. Goldberg is director of the ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Workshop for professional and amateur musicians that meets annually at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, Ma. She teaches at Belvoir Terrace camp for girls and is a board member at DAHA.
A graduate of the Juilliard School with BA and MA degrees and currently a DMA candidate at Stony Brook University, violist LIUH-WEN TING enjoys a fulfilling career as both a performer and teacher. An avid chamber musician, Liuh-Wen was a member of the Meridian String Quartet and has collaborated with many notable artists and ensembles across diverse genres. A proponent of contemporary music, she made her solo debut at Merkin Hall in 2001 for the "Interpretation Series" with five commissioned compositions based on elements of the I Ching. Her performance of Morton Feldman's "Viola in My Life IV" with the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra was praised by Czech Music 2001 as “an extraordinary experience.” She has been featured in festivals such as the Prague Spring Music Festival, Ostrava Days, Warsaw Autumn Music Festival, and the Primavera en la Habana International Electro-Acoustic Music Festival in Cuba. She has premiered and recorded many chamber and solo works for labels including Naxos, Mode, Capstone, and Albany, among others. In New York, she performs regularly with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the American Composers Orchestra, and the SEM Ensemble. She was on the Solfege faculty of the Juilliard Prep Division for many years and currently serves as a viola faculty member at the Mannes School Prep Division, as well as at Vassar College.
ROBERT LA RUE, cello, was First Prize Winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition, whose jury chairman was Mstislav Rostropovich. Formerly the cellist of the New England String Quartet, Robert is a current member of the Sullivan String Quartet, the Alcott Trio, and the cello ensemble VC3. He plays regularly with the Phoenix Chamber Players at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History, and has also been a guest of the Locrian Chamber Players and the Alaria Ensemble. He has performed as soloist with the Banff Festival Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra and orchestras in Seattle, Phoenix and Denver. He has served as visiting faculty at Yale University’s Summer Music School and has taught cello at Rutgers University. He has recorded for Arsis Audio and North Branch Records, and is currently completing a disc of works for solo cello by members of the American Composers Alliance. A graduate of Curtis, New England Conservatory, and Juilliard, he also attended Indiana University. His teachers included include David Soyer, Bernard Greenhouse, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.
LAURA ANNE BOSSERT violinist/violist, is a Silver Medalist in the Henryk Szeryng International Violin Competition, has earned recognition for her artistry as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. She is also one of the most respected and sought after teachers of her generation.
Ms. Bossert is a Senior Performance Faculty member of Wellesley College, a position she’s held for over a quarter of a century. She also served as an Associate Professor of violin and viola at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University from 2016-2019. In the summer months, she is on the faculty of the Castleman Quartet Program, LyricaFest, ArtsAhimsa and the Wellesley Composer’s Conference. Her students hold positions in many wide ranging institutions such as the San Francisco, National, Milwaukee, Toronto and Baltimore Symphonies, Handel and Haydn Society, Sante Fe Opera, A Far Cry, BBC Radio Orchestra, Helsinki, Santiago and Royal Philharmonics and the Hausmann & Cecilia String Quartets, (Banff’s 2010 International Quartet First prize winners). They have also received multiple grammy nominations and been awarded top prizes in international and national competitions such as Young Concert Artists, Fischoff, Spohr, the Banff & Miami String Quartet Competitions and the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA).
Ms. Bossert has appeared in collaboration with Elmar Oliveira, Joseph Silverstein, Paul Neubauer, Kim Kashkashian, David Jolley, Joseph Robinson and with ensembles such as the Shanghai, Muir, Invoke and Lark String Quartets and the Amelia, Raphael and Mirecourt Piano Trios. She has toured as an improv violinist with David Amram and Chuck Mangione, and was a frequent guest artist, with the Boston based ensemble, Cello Chix. Ms. Bossert started her early career as an orchestral player, having played with the Utah Ballet Orchestra (Ballet West), and as guest concertmaster of the Tucson and Oklahoma Symphony Orchestras. Currently, she leads the Lyrica Chamber Orchestra.
Bossert resides in Lincoln, Massachusetts with her husband, cellist Terry King where they co-direct LyricaFest, a chamber music festival for college and conservatory students, now in its 26th season, and the Citizen’s Artist Orchestra which they founded in 2020 under the umbrella of Lyrica Boston Inc. a non for profit educational and outreach organization in residence at the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program.
This event is organized by DAHA with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.