CompWire: Frisof/Pesca Duo

Equally at home in the solo, chamber, and orchestral stages, Sarah Frisof is a passionate flutist and educator.  As a soloist, Dr. Frisof was the second-prize winner of both the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition, and she was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Kobe International Flute Competition. Dr. Frisof has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.As a committed proponent of contemporary music, Dr. Frisof frequently premieres major works.  Recent premieres include Ingrid Stölzel’s work The Voice of the Rain, Damian Montano’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with the Dallas Winds and Joel Puckett’s Knells for Bonnie for flute and wind ensemble. The Puckett Concerto was released on the Klavier Label in February of 2017.  In June of 2016, Dr. Frisof released her first solo CD, The Flute Music of Joseph Schwantner, an authoritative recording of all of Schwantner’s major works for flute.  This recording, which was released on the Centaur Label, includes the world premiere recording of Taking Charge, a new chamber work for flute, piano, and percussion.

In addition to Dr. Frisof’s work as a solo artist, she is an active orchestral musician, having worked with major symphony orchestras across the country, including the Baltimore Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and many others.  Dr. Frisof also serves as the principal flute of the Dallas Winds, the premier wind band in the United States.  In the summers, Ms. Frisof plays with several festival orchestras including the Sunflower Festival (Topeka, KS), and Music in the Mountains (Durango, CO).  An enthusiastic educator, Dr. Frisof has taught in a variety of diverse settings, including as a faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Music in the Mountains Conservatory, and the Blanche Bryden Summer Institute. She has taken her passion for education to global audiences, including working with young students in Zimbabwe and Brazil, and she frequently gives masterclasses at universities across the United States.  A graduate of the Eastman School, The Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan, she was formerly the Professor of Flute at University of Kansas and the University of Texas at Arlington. Ms. Frisof is currently the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Daniel Pesca has played the world premieres of over one hundred solo and chamber works, many of which were composed for him. In the process, he has shared the stage with many leading new music ensembles, including Ensemble Signal, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble Dal Niente. In recent years, Daniel has performed at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, twice on Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concerts, at June in Buffalo, and at other festivals devoted to contemporary music in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Vermont.

Since fall 2019, Dr. Pesca is Assistant Professor of Piano at University of Maryland Baltimore County. Prior to his appointment at UMBC, Dr. Pesca was Artist-in-Residence, Director of the Chamber Music Program, and Lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago from 2016–2019. At UChicago, Dr. Pesca collaborated frequently with faculty and student composers, including Sam Pluta, Augusta Read Thomas, Aaron Helgeson, and Tonia Ko. He also performed with ensembles-in-residence Imani Winds and Spektral Quartet, and presented duo recitals with Paul Dwyer (assistant principal cellist, Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra).