Fabio Parrini

With Kate Steinbeck, flute, and Kara Poorbaugh, viola. Mendelssohn (Trio in D Minor), Mozart, Chopin

Kate Steinbeck (photo: Warren Photography, Asheville, NC) Flutist and Pan Harmonia's artistic director Kate Steinbeck has distinguished herself across the US and abroad as a unique interpreter, passionate teacher and innovative music producer with repertoire that ranges from Bach to Balinese. She earned a Bachelor of Music from Baldwin-Wallace College studying with William Hebert (Piccolo Emeritus Cleveland Orchestra) and a Master’s in flute performance from the San Francisco Conservatory as a student of Tim Day (Principal Flute San Francisco Symphony). A former Fulbright scholar to Belgium, Kate won a First Prize in chamber music from the Belgian Royal Conservatory in Liège and thereafter spent several years in Germany while performing and teaching throughout Europe. Prior to moving to Asheville, she spent a decade free-lancing in San Francisco, where she was widely recognized for her work in contemporary music and was featured on many of the Bay Area’s most prestigious stages. Kate has produced two critically acclaimed CDs: Light in the Corner (2004) with percussionist Byron Hedgepeth and Luminescence (2010) with guitarist Amy Brucksch. She plays on a modern wooden flute manufactured by her husband, Chris Abell, of the Abell Flute Co. For more information visit www.katesteinbeck.com and http://pan-harmonia.org/

Kara Poorbaugh, violist, performs extensively across our region as an orchestral and chamber musician. Kara is a founding member of the Opal String Quartet, Principal Violist of the Asheville and Hendersonville Symphonies, and performs regularly with the Greenville Symphony (SC), Asheville Lyric Opera, and Symphony of the Mountains (TN). Kara collaborates frequently with chamber music organizations Pan Harmonia and AmiciMusic, and has made solo appearances with the Ballantyne Chamber Orchestra, Blue Ridge Orchestra, and Raleigh Symphony. As violist of the Opal String Quartet, Kara has performed in schools, bars, art galleries, street corners and concert halls. Opal has been featured on several regional chamber music series, and serves as Artists-in-Residence for the educational outreach programs of the Asheville Chamber Music Series and the Asheville Symphony Guild. Kara is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BMus-viola performance and music education) where she studied with John Graham and the Ying Quartet. While at Eastman, Kara performed and recorded with the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound and was a core member of Gamelan Lila Muni, a Balinese music ensemble. Kara started playing the viola at age eleven at the Duke University String School with Dorothy Kitchen. As a young adult, she served as principal violist in several youth orchestras, won concerto competitions, and attended summer festivals at Interlochen, Musicorda, Eastern Music Festival and Brevard Music Center. In addition to her extensive performance schedule, Kara maintains a full private studio of violin, viola, and chamber music students. In her spare time, Kara is an avid practitioner of Iyengar yoga, a devoted animal lover, and plays with the chamber-folk band Lovestruck Suckers.