New Alaska Trio to Perform on Campus
- contact: James Johnson - School of Music
- phone: 402.943.8332
- email: jdjohnson@unomaha.edu
- search keywords:
- music
- performance
- concert
- strauss
- recital
OMAHA – The New Alaska Trio, composed of Kathleen Butler Hopkins, violinist, Patrick Hopkins, cellist, and James Johnson, pianist; is set to perform on the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) campus on Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Strauss Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The trio will also perform on Sunday, March 20 at 4 p.m. at the historic St. Paul's Episcopal Church (22 Dillman Drive) in Council Bluffs.
For their UNO debut, the trio has prepared a program featuring Bach, Cassadó, and Beethoven. Tickets are $5 for adults; $4 for seniors; and free for UNO students, faculty and staff with a MavCard.
The Council Bluffs recital will include the works of Beethoven, Chopin and Brahams. The performance is free and open to the public.
The New Alaska Trio is so named because two of its members were formerly members of the University of Alaska music faculty, and as such, were members of the Alaska Trio. The Alaska Trio was featured in Musical America and Chamber Music America. The group toured extensively over the Pacific Northwest, and in the contiguous states. Patrick Hopkins, who replaces original cellist Bruno DiCecco, is the son of violinist Kathleen Butler Hopkins.Kathleen Butler-Hopkins is a violinist who has concertized in major forums in the United States and Europe. She is a veteran of both the Tanglewood Festival and the “Yale in Norfolk” summer music programs, and her many concert credits include performances in both Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York. In addition to her activities as soloist and chamber musician, she has served as assistant concertmaster for the Boston Civic Symphony, and as concertmaster for other regional orchestras along the east coast. Dr. Butler-Hopkins is Professor Emerita of Violin, Viola, and Chamber Music at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Cellist Patrick Hopkins is an active soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player having performed in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, The New World Center, and Symphony Space. He made his Lincoln Center debut in 2008 performing Haydn’s D Major Concerto with the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and has appeared three times as soloist with the Fairbanks Symphony. In July 2015, he was soloist/principal cellist with the National Repertory Orchestra performing Schumann’s Cello Concerto. In 2011, Mr. Hopkins was the Grand Prize winner of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition.
James Johnson has earned a distinguished international reputation through his recordings and performances with the Royal Philharmonic in London, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Prague Chamber Soloists, the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He is Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he teaches Piano, Piano Literature, Piano Pedagogy, and Accompanying. Prior to his tenure at UNO, he was Professor of Music and Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Johnson has been honored with numerous teaching awards, including the university-wide Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2001. In 2004, Johnson was selected as Teacher of the Year by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association.