CACTUS PEAR MUSIC FESTIVAL was founded in 1996 by Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, former concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony for 13 years and now Assistant Professor of Violin & Viola and Director of the Orchestral Career Studies graduate program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Stephanie's musical lineage is one of performers and pedagogues: her grandmother Isabelle Schiebler Sant'Ambrogio was a concert pianist and teacher; her grandfather Anthony Sant'Ambrogio was a violinist and violist, once a member of the St. Louis Symphony. John Sant'Ambrogio, her father, retired recently as Principal Cello with the St. Louis Symphony, and her sister Sara is the cellist in the award-winning Eroica Trio. Music is definitely in the genes!
Looking to fill the summer void of classical music in South Texas as the SA Symphony went on its 3-month hiatus and symphony musicians left for music festivals far and wide, Stephanie's brainstorm came one sultry evening on the cafe banks of the River Walk as she sipped a signature Zuni Grill cactus pear margarita. ¡Caramba!, she exclaimed, and a music festival was born … a festival with all the refreshing COOL and vibrancy of the color of its namesake drink.
Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio joined UNR and Argenta, the trio-in-residence at the University of Nevada, Reno, in the fall of 2007. Founder and Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival and former First Assistant Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, she recorded and toured internationally with this acclaimed ensemble for eight seasons. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and in the countries of Canada, Estonia, Sweden, Ghana, Italy, Peru, Chile and Mexico. In addition to her active performing career over two decades, she is devoted to teaching serious young violinists, many of whom have successfully chosen careers in music. Ms. Sant'Ambrogio is currently releasing 2 CDs: on the MSR label, Late Dates with Mozart: Three Late Sonatas for piano and violin by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with pianist James Winn; and Cactus Pear Music Festival's Klassics 4 Kids: Chamber Music for Children. She is working on another CD project: Going Solo—Unaccompanied works for violin & viola to be finished in 2010.
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