Press Materials
Director of the Nicholls State University String Program
James Alexander is an American violinist who enjoys an international career as a teacher, soloist, chamber and orchestra musician. He currently heads the String Program at Nicholls State University, an intensive program for gifted string players, where he teaches violin, viola and chamber music. After working professionally in Europe as an orchestral and chamber musician, Alexander returned to the United States as artist-in-residence teaching violin at Louisiana State University in 1998, where he taught for nine years. Alexander was invited to coach at the String Quartet Symposium in Ernen, Switzerland and was on the faculty of the FEMUSC – International Music Festival of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Alexander is the director of the Pelican State Chamber Music Series, which is funded by the Louisiana Council for the Arts. He is a member of the Alexander-Soares violin and piano duo, currently in residence at Nicholls State University. The Duo performs a variety of repertoire with a special emphasis on the music of Brazil. A CD of the complete works for violin and piano by the Brazilian composer Liduino Pitombeira is available on the Centaur Records label.
Alexander is an active chamber musician and soloist having given concerts in Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Serbia, Brazil, Uruguay, Romania and throughout the United States. His performances have been broadcast locally and nationally on radio and TV. He was recently awarded The Diploma of Excellence for his significant contributions to Romanian music by the government of Romania and has been recognized as an honorary Alumnus of Nicholls State University. Most recently, he was invited as a guest artist to the Offenberg Festival in Germany, toured Brazil as a member of the Alexander-Soares Duo and performed at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage in Washington D.C. and the Atheneum in Bucharest. He has given master classes throughout Brazil and the United States as well as at the Dinu Lipati School of Music and the George Enescu School of Music in Bucharest, Romania.
Performers:
Carlos Cid Dominguez, violin from Dominican Republic
Luhan Lucena Ferreira de Souza, violin from Brazil
Dario Santos Oliveiro, viola from Brazil
Lucas Casagrande, cello from Brazil
They will perform:
Antonin Dvorak-String Quartet No. 12 “American” in F Major, Op. 96
Mvt. 4 Finale. Vivace ma non troppo
History of Strings Program
Strings program comes to campus
Ron Sapia|September 26, 2007
Photo by: Amy Mahler
Christiano Rodrigues, freshman from Joao Pessoa, Brazil; Raquel Coutinho, freshman from Joao Pessoa, Brazil and Hannah-Phyllis Urdea-Marcus, freshman from Bucharest, Romania, play their violins during practice.
The University’s Department of Fine Arts has started a new program in which students can study various string instruments. “I am very excited to start the strings program at Nicholls because I was involved in a similar program at Louisiana State University,” James Alexander, fine arts instructor, said.
Some of the elements in the program are music literature, relationship to the instrument, technique lessons, ensembles and recitals.
Students in the program will be involved in an outreach program in Baton Rouge and New Roads; concerts will be held there and at Nicholls.
As part of the students’ development, guests from all over the country will come to teach for a week at a time.
The strings program currently has four participants, three students from Brazil and one from Romania. The program is not just limited to violins; it also includes the violas, cellos and bass.
Alice Silva, freshman from Brazil, decided to attend Nicholls because of the program.
“Our professor traveled all the way to Brazil, we played for him and he chose us for the scholarship,” Silva said.
The four-year program is not open only to international students, and there is no extra fee for joining the program.
“There are many applicants who want to come here, especially from Brazil,” Alexander said.