bio

 

Cellist Katri Ervamaa has performed widely in the US, as well as in her native Finland and throughout Europe. She is equally at ease with traditional and non-traditional music: her repertory ranges from standard solo works and chamber music to new compositions, electro-acoustic music and creative improvisation.

As a member of the Owla String Quartet, Ms.Ervamaa has appeared in numerous international music festivals, including the Bowdoin, Orlando, Norrtälje, Haute Limousine and Kuhmo Festivals, as well as in concerts in six different European countries, Taiwan and the US. She has also given critically acclaimed solo recitals in Finland and the US. Ms.Ervamaa is a founding member of Brave New Works, a group dedicated to the performance and promotion of new music and Ed Sarath's Timescape, a nine- member free improvising group.

Ms.Ervamaa received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. She also holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Northern Illinois University. Her primary teachers include Erling Blondal Bengtsson, Marc Johnson, Kazimierz Michalik and Lauri Laitinen, as well as Andrew Jennings and the Vermeer and the Borodin String Quartets. Ms.Ervamaa teaches cello and chamber music at the Flint Institute's School of the Performing Arts and the School for the Performing Arts - Ann Arbor. She has also been a member of the faculty at the Eastern Michigan University and given master classes at the Northern Illinois University and the Oulu Conservatory in Finland.

curriculum vitae

EDUCATION

1997-2000 University of Michigan, Doctor of Musical Arts

1996-1997 Northern Illinois University, Master of Music; Performance and Pedagogy

1992-1995 Northern Illinois University, Bachelor of Music; Peformance

1989-1992 Oulun Kaupungin Konservatorio (Oulu Conservartory, Finland)

1991-1992 Private Studies in Warsaw, Poland

Primary Teachers

1997-2000 Erling Blöndal Bengtsson

1992-1997 Marc Johnson

1991-1992 Kazimierz Michalik

1982-1992 Lauri Laitinen

Masterclasses

2000 American String Quartet, University of Michigan

1999 Robert Mann, Juilliard String Quartet; Sally Fleming Master Class, University of Michigan; Laura Kuhn, the Cage Foundation; Workshop, University of Michigan

1998 American String Quartet, University of Michigan

1995 Hatto Bayerle, Alban Berg Quartet, Sandor Devich, Hungarian String Quartet; Orlando Festival, the Netherlands

1994 Steven Doane; Colin Carr; Samuel Roach, Juilliard String Quartet; Bowdoin Summer Music Festival

1993-1995 Colorado String Quartet; James Dunham, Cleveland String Quartet; Marc Johnson, Vermeer String Quartet; Soundfest Chamber Music Festival

1993 Ko Iwasaki; Bein and Fushi Co. Chicago

1992-1994 Borodin String Quartet; Walter Levin, LaSalle String Quartet; Valentin Erben and Tomas Kakuska, Alban Berg Quartet; Hugh MaGuire, Allegri String Quartet; Britten-Pears School, England

1992 Borodin String Quartet; Korsholma Music Festival, Finland

1991 Amadeus String Quartet (Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel, Martin Lovett); Sibelius-Academy, Finland

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2001 Eastern Michigan University, Cello Professor, sabbatical replacement; Flint School of the Performing Arts, Cello and Chamber Music Instructor; School of Performing Arts-Ann Arbor, Cello and Camber Music Instructor.

2000 Flint School of the Performing Arts, Cello and Chamber Music Instructor, Flint MI; School for the performing Arts, Ann Arbor, Cello and Chamber Music Instructor, Ann Arbor, MI; University of Michigan, Summer Arts Institute, Cello Coach

1999 University of Michigan, Assistant Chamber Music Instructor

1998- Private Cello Instructor, Ann Arbor, MI

1995-1997 Austin Violin School, Chamber Music instructor, Sugar Grove, IL

1990-1992 The Oulu Conservatory, Elementary School Program, Private Cello Instructor, Oulu, Finland

PERFORMANCES AND RELATED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Recordings and Radio Broadcasts

2001 University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Excerpts from "Gimpel the Fool", Milken Family Foundation; Live radio interview with Liisa Laaveri for the Finnish Broadcasting Company in Villa Vanamo,Oulu, Finland

2000 Ed Sarath's Timescape, CD, Art Education Synthesis release

1999 Sue Marx Films

1998 Owla String Quartet, CD: Schubert: "Death and the Maiden", Shostakovich: String Quartet no.6

1995-1997 WNIU (PBS), 89.5 FM; Northern Concert Stage: several recital broadcasts; Radio interviews for BBC-Finland in London, England and Finnish Broadcasting Company and Oulu Radio.

1991 Jumalainen Näytelmä: Keltainen Maa Single

1990 Three live radio broadcasts with the Owla String Quartet and Kiimingin Kiurut, the "Choir of the Year" of the Finnish Broadcasting Company

Festivals

2001 Edgefest, Ann Arbor, MI; The Return of Are You Brave?, Ann Arbor, MI

2000 Lyckå Kammarmusik Festival, Lyckåby/Karlskrona, Sweden; Are You Brave, too? Ann Arbor, MI; Ann Arbor Springfest, Ann Arbor, MI

1999 Festival du Haute Limousine, France; Festival de St.Foye le Grande, France

1998 Are You Brave? Ann Arbor, MI

1996 Norrtalje Chamber Music Festival, Norrtalje, Sweden; Kuhmo Young Music Festival, Kuhmo, Finland

Residencies

1998-2000 Rosseels String Quartet, the Graduate Quartet, University of Michigan

1994 Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, String Quartet in residence, Owla Quartet

1992-1993 Northern Illinois University, Graduate String Quartet in residence, Owla Quartet

Performances of Special Interest

1999 Taiwan Tour, Owla String Quartet: Taipei, Shin Chu, Keelung, Taichung, Pong Hu, Ping Dong; University Musical Society, Michigan Chamber Players, Ann Arbor, MI; Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Springfield, IL, principal cello; Rosseels String Quartet, Recital, Ann Arbor, MI; ALTRIo, Recital, Ann Arbor, MI; "The Dancing Cello", First Dissertation Recital, Ann Arbor, MI

1998 Brave New Works, "Music for the Persecuted", Ann Arbor, MI; Viktor Ullman Memorial Concert, Ann Arbor, MI; Holochaust Memorial Concert, Oberlin, OH; "Homestead Tour", Owla String Quartet: Liminka, Oulu and Muhos, Finland

1997 Owla String Quartet,"Music and Fine Arts" concert series: Oulu Art Museum, Terttu Jurvakainen Gallery and Nallikari Art Café, Finland

1996 Owla String Quartet, Series of all-Finnish concerts, Pre-concert lectures on Joonas Kokkonen's Third String Quartet: Oulu, Kemi, Espoo Music School and Liminka XXV International Music Course, Finland

1995 Owla String Quartet, Concerts: Oulu Art Museum, Finland; The Orlando Festival: Kerkrade, The Netherlands, Aachen, Germany, Steenbergen, The Netherlands; Guests of the Colorado Quartet, Newark, New Jersey; Soundfest Chamber Music Festival, Falmouth, Massachusetts; The Finnish Institute, London, England

Also string quartet recitals with the Owla String Quartet in Helsinki, Kiiminki, Liminka, Oulu, Tampere (Finland); Aldeburgh, Cambridge, London (England); Brunswick (ME), Chicago (IL), DeKalb (IL), Sandwich (IL), Falmouth (MASS.), Falls Village (CONN.).

Solo recitals in Ann Arbor, MI and DeKalb, IL.

Collaborations with dancers/composers

2000-2001 Darren Dunn, dancer and Mark Kirschenmann, composer

1999 "Five Dances", Brave New Works, inspired by the collaborations of John Cage and Merce Cunningham

1997 Northern Illinois University, AIDS benefit

Non-classical Performance

2000 Ed Sarath's Timescape, free improvisation; Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now Tour, Detroit, principal cello; Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds Tour, Detroit, principal cello; Smokey Robinson, Detroit, principal cello

1999 Creative Arts Ensemble, University of Michigan, free improvisation

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS

University of Michigan 1998-2000 Humanities Fellow

1998-2000 Gustave Rosseels Scholarship

1999 Chamber Music Society Scholarship

1999 Delta Omicron Scholarship

Northern Illinois University 1992-1997 Full Tuition Grant

 

Aldeburgh Foundation

Finnish National Foundation for Arts

City of Oulu

Oulu County

Valistustalo OY

Wihuri Foundation

Koponen Foundation

MEMBERSHIPS

2002- New Directions Cello Asssociation

1999- American String Teachers Association, University of Michigan, Student Chapter

1999- College Music Society

1998- Internet Cello Society

1989-1995 Finnish Musicians Union, Oulu Chapter