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Deborah Buck
January 6, 2016January NewsHello and Thank you for taking the time to visit my website. As I begin 2016 with some time to re-group and gear up for the next part of the season, I realize what a whirlwind September through December have been! This fall, I began a full time position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. (I have been part-time for two years) I absolutely love the environment at Purchase because the faculty is committed to the art of teaching and are active, current performers on the scene themselves. The students are supportive, collaborative, and so far remind me much of our students at the Kinhaven Music School.

The Lark had one of the busiest fall seasons that I can remember. We played concerts all over the map but did wind up in Virginia quite a bit! We have focused ourselves on the celebration of the 30th year of the Lark Quartet’s existence. In keeping with our long history of commissioning American composers, we have commissioned five composers to write pieces that feature some of our collaborative formations. John Harbison and Stephen Hartke have both agreed to write string quartets for us. Kenji Bunch will be writing a piece for percussion and string quartet. Frame-drum specialist, Yousif Sheronick will join us for this. Anna Weesner will write for our quartet and clarinetist, Todd Palmer. Last but not least, Andrew Waggoner will write an octet for us to play with the original Larks! 2016-17, 18 will feature all of this great music in concert halls around the country—it will be exciting!
As far as my summer life goes, Kinhaven remains my place of joy. It provides a tech-free environment where I feel my spirit and mind can reconnect to the very things that inspire my artistic soul. Our recruitment is going well and we look forward to inviting back many fine young people to Weston, VT. We are a total of about 130 people, but it feels like a big family for sure. We still need lots of support to carry us forward, so please keep our non-profit in mind for tax-deductable gifts, and thank you!

November 13, 2015Lark Quartet-SUNY Purchase-Kinhaven Music SchoolThis Fall has been a whopper! My time with the Lark Quartet has been spent focused on performing Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 132. We have had a tremendously active concert fall season with concerts that have introduced us to new audiences. As I get older, I have a different sense of these audience members and am beginning to see what they must experience when chossing to attend a quartet concert. Presenting Op. 132 to these folks has been a truly gratifying experience. has brought us many opportunities to experience this great piece to stew inside of us. It has been a tough and rewarding journey that has made me feel proud and extremely lucky to experience.
I began my first year as a full-tim professor at SUNY Purchase, welcoming in seven new students to my class! What a joy they have been. I continue to work on bringing us (the violins) together, to continue to learn and expolre all aspects of what it is to perform.

February 4, 2014Composing America CD released on Bridge RecordsI am very happy and proud to announce that the Lark Quartet has recorded four works by American Pulitzer Prize winning composers Copland, Adams, Bolcom & Moravec with guests Jeremy Denk, Stephen Salters & Yousif Sheronick. Thanks to everyone who supported us in getting this album completed and we hope you will enjoy our take on these remarkable works. Judith Sherman produced this CD and it was recorded at SUNY Purchase.
January 21, 2014January NewsHello and Thank you for taking the time to visit my website. As I begin 2014 with some time to re-group and gear up for the next part of the season, I realize what a whirlwind September through December have been! This fall, I began my new job as Assistant Professor of Violin at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. I absolutely love the environment there because the faculty is inspiring and the students are good-natured, supportive of one another, and eager to work hard and learn. I coached a wide variety of great chamber music, which included George Crumbs’, Voice of the Whale, Dvorak’s E-flat String Quartet, Dohnanyi’s Serenade, a Brahms Violin Sonata, Weber’s Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano, and was happily impressed by the standard of music making at the semester-end chamber music performances. I look forward to this coming semester and especially to the Violin Performance classes. I welcome any potential students to stop by and hear this class on Wednesday’s from 3-4:30pm.

The Lark had one of the busiest fall seasons that I can remember. As we launched and successfully achieved our “Composing America” CD Kickstarter campaign, the quartet was busy! We played great concerts in Princeton, Brooklyn, Bronxville, Manhattan, New Jersey, to name just a few. We performed on NYC’s Music Monday’s the music of Nico Muhly with wonderful colleagues, Todd Palmer, Aaron Wunsch, and Jennifer Zetlan. Our Lark About Town series that provides free concerts to the public where access is limited was very successful. This initiative allowed us to perform at Cassita Maria and at the Girls Global Learning Center in the Bronx. We look forward to more of these ways to give back to our community.
Bridge Records released our CD featuring the music of Jennifer Higdon last year and is gearing up for the early February release of the next CD, “Composing America” featuring pianist Jeremy Denk and some of our greatest American composers: John Adams, Aaron Copland, Paul Moravec, and William Bolcom. With John Adams’ blessing, percussionist Yousif Sheronick arranged a part for himself to go along with the string quartet parts of “John’s Book of Alleged Dances”. Check out the video for background and detailed explanation of the percussion used for this piece—pretty darn cool! We commissioned “Billy in the Darbies”, written by William Bolcom for baritone singer, Stephen Salters and our quartet. The large piece on the CD is the Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec, written for Jeremy Denk and the Lark. So, as you can see, as the Lark progresses through our string quartet life, we hold dear the tradition of commissioning, premiering, and advancing the good work of some of our country's most acclaimed composers.

As far as my summer life is concerned, Kinhaven remains my “third child”. A day does not go by without love and care paid to this beautiful and unique organization. From endearing parental calls about the special needs of one’s child to programming our summer senior session orchestra repertoire, I am never bored! I am also heavily involved in building a sound financial future for Kinhaven. We still need lots of support to carry us through, so please keep our non-profit in mind for tax-deductable gifts, and thank you!
In December, we had a benefit at Robert and Lenore Davis’ upper west-side apartment. Kinhaven junior and senior students performed chamber music for the sixty-plus member audience. A warm and comfortable Kinhaven energy was in the air! I am incredibly thankful to the Lark Quartet for performing with Lenore Davis at this event. So now in February, we begin the audition schedule for our 2014 class of students. I am very excited to hear everyone and to see the summer take shape. For senior session, we will have five terrific conductors that will lead our students through some pretty awesome repertoire and they are: Timothy Weiss, David Hattner, William Wiedrich, David Buck (yes my father), and Simon Lipskar. The repertoire includes, Berlioz’ Symphony Fantastique, Wagner’s Rienzi Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Suite. Check out the Kinhaven website to find out more about audition and summer concert dates. Please also consider visiting us in VT this summer—I promise, you will LOVE it!

September 1, 2011Hello and thank you for taking the time to look at my site!Life continues to be exciting. Tony and I just finished our first summer as Executive Directors of the Kinhaven Music School. We led a Senior Session of 94 fabulous students and 30 top notch staff through a wonderful musical summer. The kids were not to be forgotten and as always, relationships were formed that will be long lasting. It was truly an honor to begin our work there and put into place a plan for the rich future of Kinhaven. I thank all my wonderful colleagues and friends who supported us all the way! Luca and Tahlia loved Vermont with their favorite pastime being salamander catching and mud dunking (full body-ugh!)

Currently, I am in my eighth season with the LARK Quartet as first violinist. This month, the LARK Quartet will continue our preparations for a recording for Bridge Records of a CD to feature the music of Jennifer Higdon. We will be recording with pianist, Gary Graffman, clarinetist, Todd Palmer, and pianist, Blair McMillan. This CD project will largely be made possible by a Copland Recording Grant we received a while back. Lark's Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 season looks good. We will be performing in California, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York. Our Spring 2012 plans are to begin recording an all Paul Moravec cd. The featured work on this recording will be Paul's Piano Quintet which we premiered with Jeremy Denk at Merkin Recital Hall in April, 2010. Jeremy Denk will be joining us for this exciting project.

I am so relieved and excited to report that the Brooklyn Philharmonic is back on it's feet. I have served as it's tenured Concertmaster since 2009. Newly appointed Artistic Director, Alan Pierson is a fantastic musician and collaborator--expect great things! Our first concert of the season is on October 8th in New York City. As part of the Brooklyn Phiharmonic's chamber music series at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, my annual recital will take place on January 29th, 2012.

In September, I will be traveling home to Altadena, CA to perform with the LARK ate Scipps College and also to play a recital with my college buddy and fabulous pianist, Robert Thies in Claremont, CA. The program is unusually traditional!

I would like to take the time to write that I feel extremely fortunate to have such a varied career. I am surrounded by amazing musicians who continue to inspire me and allow me the opportunity to grow. I am honored to have been chosen for the Directorship of the Kinhaven Music School and energized by the chance to contribute all that I can. It is a magical place where kids who "like" music end up "loving" music for the rest of their lives. For those of you that are less familiar with it, please check out the website. Feel free to write to me with any inquiries.

Be Well My Friends!

Debbie

Described by Strad Magazine as "Particularly impressive for her surpassing degree of imagination and vibrant sound," violinist Deborah Buck has built a strong musical career as chamber musician, concertmaster, soloist, director, and professor of violin. She enjoys a versatile musical life as the first violinist of the Lark Quartet, Concertmaster of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Assistant Professor of Violin at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, and as Co-Executive Director of the Kinhaven Music School.
Ms. Buck and the Lark Quartet have a distinguished tradition of working closely with the country’s most celebrated composers and commissioning new works, many of which have become mainstays of the chamber music repertoire. This history includes works such as Billy in the Darbies by William Bolcom for Stephen Salters, baritone, and Lark; Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams by Jennifer Higdon for Lark and Gary Graffman, piano; Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2 Musica instrumentalis (winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize) by Aaron Jay Kernis; Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec for Lark and Jeremy Denk, Quartet no. 2 In Memoriam and Piano Quintet no. 2, by Peter Schickele; Early That Summer by Julia Wolfe; Viaggio in Italia by Giovanni Sollima; Intarsio by Glen Velez and Big Time by Nico Muhly (commissioned by the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival) for Lark and Yousif Sheronick, percussion.
Since 2009, Ms. Buck has served as the tenured concertmaster of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. In 2013, the BPO commissioned a piece for solo violin and a film from Nepal written by Randall Woolf called Gandharba's Song. Ms. Buck has been a leader of many of the New York and tri-state area ensembles. She has led the North Eastern Pennsylvania Symphony, Sympho (N.Y.), The Colonial Symphony (N.J.), the Music Paradigm Orchestra, and the Stamford (C.T.) Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Ms. Buck has held concertmaster positions with the St. Matthew's Chamber Orchestra (L.A.), the Philadelphia Virtuosi (P.A.), the North South Chamber Orchestra (N.Y), and the Los Angeles Opera Guild Orchestra. As frequent collaborator for music of varying styles, Ms. Buck has performed alongside Itzhak Perlman, Erikha Badu, Gary Graffman, Yasim Bey (Mos Def), Grizzly Bears, and Jeremy Denk. She has also toured Europe with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

As recitalist, Ms. Buck has been featured at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Public Library, Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago for WFMT and Sunday's Live in Los Angeles for KKGO. Ms. Buck is also a frequent concerto soloist, appearing with the Little Orchestra Society at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Santa Cecelia Chamber Orchestra in Los Angeles, and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Buck has been the recipient of many honors and awards including the Los Angeles Philharmonic-sponsored Corwin Foundation Grant and the Leni Fe Bland Career Grant. She was a winner in the National Contemporary Record Society Competition, the Sorantin National Young Artist Competition, and the International Young Artist Competition at Corpus Christi.
Ms. Buck’s national television debut came by way of a feature guest spot on the Family Channel's, "It Takes Two" hosted by Dick Clark. Her violin solos for television helped breathe life back into the re-mastered American Silent Film classic, The Scarlet Letter, (Turner Classic Movies). Ms. Buck has recorded for Endeavor Classics, Koch, Arabesque, and the North South record labels as well for many major motion pictures and television. In 2013-14 and as Copland Fund recipients, Ms. Buck and the Lark recorded two new CD’s for Bridge Records.

Ms. Buck grew up in Los Angeles, CA and studied throughout her primary education with Michael and Irina Tseitlin. Ms. Buck received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School as a Starling Scholar of Dorothy DeLay and a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California as a Jascha Heifetz Scholarship student of Robert Lipsett. Later studies included three years of training in the Alexander Technique with Hilary Mayer. In November 2010, Ms. Buck was named Co-Executive Director of the Kinhaven Music School in Weston, Vermont. In 2013, Ms. Buck proudly joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Violin at S.U.N.Y. Purchase, Conservatory of Music in NY. Ms. Buck performs on a violin by Vincenzo Postiglione, graciously on loan by Ray and Marcia Corwin.
The program concluded with a vigorous rendition of Schumann’s popular Piano Quintet. Mr. Denk offered a dynamic reading of the piano part, and the Lark members — Deborah Buck and Harumi Rhodes, violinists; Kathryn Lockwood, violist; and Caroline Stinson, cellist — performed with conviction and flair.Vivien SchweitzerThe New York Times
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Buck has the soul of a great soloist-the great burnished sound drenched in beauty and the burning intelligence that plumbs music of its sets.The Charleston Gazette
Particularly impressive was Deborah Buck who played with a surpassing degree of imagination and vibrant sound.The Strad
Ysaye’s Violin Sonata No. 3, a solo piece for Buck, was virtuosic and compelling; sublimely evoking all five senses, it may well have been the highlight of the afternoon.Time Out New York Magazine (The Volume)

Buck has the technical explosiveness of a great soloist. She delivered even the thorniest passages with aplomb, along with invigoratingly accurate intonation

The Charleston Gazette

Past Performances

Thursday, April 10, 2014
Lark About Town presented by Urban Stages
Brooklyn Heights Public Library
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Faculty Chamber Music Concert
SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music
Purchase, NY
April 14, 2012
St. Vincent College Concert Series
St. Vincent College
Latrobe, PA
March 25, 2012
Brooklyn Phil and Brooklyn Children's Chorus
Roulette Theatre
Brooklyn, NY
March 24, 2012
Brooklyn Philharmonic and Brooklyn Youth Chorus present Brooklyn
Roulette Theatre: 509 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
March 4, 2012
Phillip Lopate, Deborah Buck and Molly Morkoski
S. Steven Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture in the Central L
Brooklyn, NY
March 1, 2012
Phillip Lopate: Living in Brooklyn with violinist, Deborah Buck
Brooklyn Heights Public Library
Brooklyn, NY
February 25, 2012
Lark Quartet and Stephen Salters, Baritone
Market Square Concerts
Harrisburg, PA
February 12, 2012
The Lark Quartet and Stephen Salters, Baritone
A. Jess Shenson Recital Series at Stanford University
Stanford, CA
May 18, 2011
Recital
Maplewood-South Orange Adult School - Black Box Theatre
Maplewood, NJ
April 17, 2011
Lark Quarte+ Todd Palmer at Friends of Chamber Music
Kiggins Hall at the Emma Willard School
Troy, New York
March 27, 2011
Brooklyn Philharmonic String Quartet
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Brooklyn, NY
March 11, 2011
North Eastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic
Wilkes Barre, PA
February 19, 2011
LARK Quarte+ with Koto Artist, Yumi Kurosawa
Tenri Gallery
LARK Quartethttp://www.larkquartet.com/
Brooklyn Philharmonichttp://www.brooklynphilharmonic.org/
Kinhaven Music SchoolDeborah Buck and Anthony Mazzocchi, Executive Directorshttp://www.kinhaven.org/
Purchase College - Academic Programs - Arts - MusicConservatory of Musicclick here for more info
Lark's Managerhttp://www.barrettvantage.com/
MCM indexhttp://www.mcmarts.com
LARK QUARTET: Composing America | Bridge Records, Inc.The Lark Quartet's latest CD, released Feb 4thclick here for more info
Klap Ur Handz - Lark Quartet , Endeavor Classicsclick here for more info
Joanne Rile Artists Managementhttp://www.rilearts.com
Anthony Mazzocchihttp://www.anthonymazzocchi.com/
Aestheticize MediaWebsite Design & Photographyhttp://www.aestheticize.com/

For solo and recital engagements, please contact Deborah directly at:

debbbuck1@gmail.com

For Lark Quartet

Tom Gallant
tgallant@mcmarts.com
(845) 691-4960

Rile & Gallant Artists
A partnership between Joanne Rile Artists & MCM Artists

Download EPK

Astor Piazzolla
Estaciones Porteñas
Primavera Portena
Deborah Buck
Deborah Buck - violin soloist
LISTEN
Samuel Barber
Concerto For Violin & Orchestra
III - Presto in Moto Perpetuo
Deborah Buck
Los Angeles Symphonic Camerata
David Buck
Deborah Buck - violin soloist
LISTEN
Claude Debussy
Sonata For Violin & Piano
Intermède: Fantasque Et Léger
Deborah Buck
Deborah Buck - violin
Molly Morkoski - piano
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata For Piano & Violin In G Major
III - Allegro Assai
Deborah Buck
Deborah Buck - violin
Robert Thies - piano
LISTEN
John Corigliano
Sonata For Violin & Piano
I - Allegro
Deborah Buck
Deborah Buck - violin
John Blacklow - piano
LISTEN
Arnold Schöenberg
Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47
Deborah Buck
Deborah Buck - violin
Molly Morkoski - piano
LISTEN
Eugene Ysaye
Violin Sonata No. 3
Ballade
Deborah Buck
LISTEN
Giovanni Sollima
Viaggio in Italia
Federico
Lark Quartet and Yousif Sheronick
LISTEN
Jennifer Higdon
Piano Quintet
II. Insects
Lark with Gary Graffman
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Publicity Photos


Photo Album


Gandharba's Song
Live and Recorded violin performed by Deborah Buck. Commissioned by the Brooklyn Philharmonic for Deborah Buck.

Gandharba's Song is about life in Katmandu, Nepal, where the ancient, modern, sacred and commercial parts of life mix freely and constantly. The track is made from a solo by Sarangi virtuoso Bharat Nepali. The video was made by Mary Harron and John C. Walsh. Music by Randall Woolf.
Lark Quartet plays Jennifer Higdon with Gary Graffman, Todd Palm
Lark had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Higdon , Gary Graffman, Todd Palmer, and Blaire McMillan in NYC prior to our Higdon CD recording sessions.
The Lark Quartet, Viaggio in Italia : Federico by Giovanni Soll
Classical Interludes with The Lark Quartet at the Brooklyn Public Library's Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture. November 17th, 2013.
William Bolcom: "Billy in the Darbies"(2009) written for The Lar
A few years ago, the Lark was introduced to Baritone singer, Stephen Salters. As we enjoyed exploring the tonal mix of string quartet and baritone voice, we ...