Join us as Temple Israel’s Schmier Concert Series presents perennial favorite violinist Sonia Lee in an uplifting program with remarkable pianist and conductor, Benjamin Loeb, her longtime friend. Followed by a dessert reception and an opportunity to meet the artists. 

Admission is free, open to the community! Registration is required below.

Questions? Please connect with Maya at Maya@temple-israel.org.

This program is supported by the Regene & Leslie Schmier Concert Series Endowment Fund.
 

REGISTER HERE 

SONIA LEE

Violinist Sonia Lee, a Detroit native, made her concerto debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic while still in high school and shortly after began her studies at The Juilliard School, where her teachers included Paul Kantor and Dorothy Delay. While still an undergraduate, Sonia won an audition with the Toronto Symphony and was promoted to Principal Second Violinist the following year. Sonia has also appeared as concerto soloist with the New York Chamber Orchestra at the 92nd Street Y. the Toronto Symphony, the Saginaw Bay Symphony, the Grosse Pointe Symphony and the Michigan Sinfonietta.

Also active as a chamber musician, Sonia has concertized across the U.S., Canada and in Europe. She was a featured artist at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio with Marc-Andre Hamelin, Amanda Forsyth, and Martin Beaver and performed with the AVANTI Saraste Chamber Winds and Strings, at the Scarab Club, on the Cranbrook Artist Series and the Schoolcraft Recital Series.

Sonia Lee is a dedicated violin pedagogue, teaching privately and coaching members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Civic Youth Ensembles Honors Program. Many of her students have gone on to be accepted at top tier schools of music and conservatories, win positions with major orchestras and place in international competitions.
 

BENJAMIN LOEB

Benjamin Loeb is an accomplished conductor, soloist, accompanist, arranger, educator, arts administrator and entrepreneur. As a conductor, Loeb has lead orchestras across the US and around the world including in China, Argentina, Czech, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. His widely varied projects range from concerts of Beethoven and Bruckner Symphonies and Mahler song cycles to recordings with Yo-Yo Ma of Italian 16th century madrigalists to tours with popular rock musicians to world premieres of the most cutting-edge avant-garde contemporary music.

His piano performances have been heralded by the Boston Globe: “[his] vigorous, cogent playing signaled the kind of equally weighted partnership, plus competition, plus mutual quest, etc. that [makes] this music live.” He has soloed with the Boston Pops Orchestra at the invitation and under the direction of former New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert. He has also collaborated as concerto soloist with many other conductors including JoAnn Falletta, Carl St. Clair, and Rossen Milanov.

Some memorable recent performances include the complete Brahms Violin Sonatas with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Robert Chen and the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with violinist Jennifer Frautschi. At the invitation of United States Department of State, Loeb toured Argentina and Uruguay as an Artistic Ambassador, performing recitals of the music of Scott Joplin and giving master classes and workshops with youth orchestras and young musicians. He has recorded for Naxos (both as soloist and collaborative pianist), CBC and the DSCLabel. He holds a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory in Conducting, as a student of Gustav Meier, a Master in Music from the Curtis Institute and a Doctor in Musical Arts from the Juilliard School in Accompanying and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.

As an administrator, he has served as Executive Director of the Quad City (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra from 2013 through 2017, as Executive Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, and as Music Director of the 2011 New Hampshire Music Festival. As Associate Conductor of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Loeb founded and served as both Executive and Music Director of the El Paso Symphony Youth. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Conducting Workshop and Festival, now in its twenty-second year.

He lives in Plano, TX with his wife, Quyen, his 17-year-old daughter, Anna Sofia Uni, his 14-year-old, Lulu Ladybug, and 12-year-old son Ryan “Taco”. Loeb’s far-ranging interests do not limit him to music; he is a proud Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, has directed plays, cooked gourmet meals for 65, tutored over 500 people in test preparation for the Princeton Review, and played and enjoyed almost every sport. Moreover (or most important), he is a lifetime Dallas Cowboys fan. (website https://www.benloeb.com/)