William Corbett-Jones, piano, and Jassen Todorov, violin

William Corbett-Jones

William Corbett-Jones has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia as soloist with orchestra, as recitalist and in collaboration with many internationally-renown colleagues. He has been soloist with the Orchestra of Maggio Musicale of Florence under the direction of Kurt Masur, former conductor of the New York Philharmonic. For eight years, Corbett-Jones toured extensively with the famed Alma Trio. He has also served as jurist of several international piano and chamber music competitions. In 1984 he was invited to be guest professor for a semester at the Taiwan National Academy of Arts in Taipei. During his sabbatical year in 1992, he was invited to be artist-in-residence at the LaSalle College of the Arts in Singapore and, in 1993, he was guest professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia.

Corbett-Jones has presented several cycles of the complete piano works of Mozart and Chopin, as well as all the sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. His vast repertoire includes almost all the standard solo and chamber music literature. In addition, he has received dedications from the eminent contemporary composers Kirke Mechem and Roger Nixon.

In 1999 he taught and performed at the High School of Music in Damascus, Syria. Between 1999 to 2008, he made six trips to China, teaching and performing in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Urumqi and several other cities. During this decade, he and colleague Jassen Todorov performed the complete sonatas of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Grieg as well as the complete violin and piano works of Schubert. In 2015, he performed a Mozart concerto and the Bloch Concerto Grosso in Carnegie Hall with the Villa Sinfonia Orchestra under the baton of Roy Oakley. His numerous recordings are available under the label of Cambria Master Recordings.

Jassen Todorov

San Francisco State Music Professor Jassen Todorov has distinguished himself as one of the most prominent violinists of his generation. Dubbed “an outstanding violinist … a player to watch” by the British music journal The Strad, Mr. Todorov has given numerous performances throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He is also an active performer in his native Bulgaria, where he is considered one of the country’s most prized musicians.

With a repertoire including works from all styles and epochs, Todorov has recorded the complete sonatas of Bach, Brahms and Ysaye, as well as Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 6 and 10. The Strad described him as “a violinist of rare technical ability. … He brings musicality to his performances. …His left hand is able to deliver Ysaye’s demands in the many mercurial passages with commendable accuracy.” The American Record Guide portrayed his CD as “high praise … an important release for admirers of Ysaye’s music.”

Todorov began his musical education in Bulgaria and furthered his studies at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. A top prize winner of several national and international competitions, he earned his bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Harid Conservatory, Florida, and his master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, New York.

From 2000 to 2003, he served as teaching assistant to Professor Oleh Krysa at the Eastman School and held a violin position at University of Rochester. Todorov is the recipient of numerous scholarships and prestigious awards including the Eastman award for excellence in teaching and the Crystal Lyre for achievements in music.

Todorov is a visiting professor at Xinjiang Arts University, Xinjiang Normal University and the Qimingxing School of Music, China. He is an accomplished photographer and the Grand Prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic and Smithsonian photo contests. His images have been published by numerous magazines and newspapers and exhibited at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Somerset House in London and Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. An active pilot, he holds a commercial pilot’s license and flight instructor certificate.

Todorov plays a 1778 Tomaso Eberle violin.

Program

• J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750): Sonata No. 3 in E Major (BWV 1016)
• W.A. Mozart (1756 – 1791): Sonata in B flat Major, K. 454
• Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828): Fantasy in C Major, D 934/Op. 159