The Beethoven Cycle · Evening III
Steven Moeckel, violin
Nathan Arch, piano

All ten of Beethoven’s violin sonatas in three evenings, in the month the world marks two hundred years since his death in Vienna on March 26, 1827. Former Tucson Symphony concertmaster Steven Moeckel has played the complete cycle three times. When he last played it in Tucson, in 2009, people were turned away at the door. This series was his idea.

Evening III opens with the “Spring” and ends the Cycle in C minor.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24, “Spring”
Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1

Intermission

Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2

The evening
Music in the sanctuary, then a reception in the Fellowship Hall with light hors d’oeuvres and a Q&A with Steven and Nathan.

The Cycle
Evening I · Tuesday, March 9 · Sonatas 1, 10 and 9 “Kreutzer”
Evening II · Wednesday, March 10 · Sonatas 2, 3, 4 and 8
Evening III · Friday, March 12 · Sonatas 5 “Spring,” 6 and 7

Steven Moeckel

As concerto soloist, concertmaster, and recitalist, violinist Steven Moeckel has engaged audiences and critics worldwide with his effortless virtuosity, vivid characterization and uncanny ability to capture the very essence of a work. A seasoned performer since childhood, Moeckel first appeared as concerto soloist at the age of 8. Since then, he has continued to solo with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, interrupted only by a two year period as Principal Soprano Soloist of the renowned Vienna Boys Choir.

Moeckel’s concerto repertoire encompasses everything from the standard classical and romantic masterpieces to the visceral virtuosity of the Shostakovich Concerto and Corigliano’s Red Violin. Invited to China under the auspices of the newly formed Ling Tung Foundation, he was the first Western violinist to perform the beloved violin concerto, The Butterfly Lovers, with a Chinese orchestra. His special affinity for the British repertoire has most recently led to performances of the Elgar, Britten, and Walton Concertos.

Steven Moeckel has performed as chamber musician and recitalist with Leon Fleisher and Menachem Pressler at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival and frequently appears in concert with William Wolfram. Notable performances include recitals at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, the Colorado College Music Festival and the Sunriver Music Festival. With his long time partner pianist Paula Fan, Moeckel has toured Europe and the Americas, and performed the complete cycle of the ten Beethoven Sonatas three times to critical acclaim. Together they have recorded three albums. His most recent album with Indiana University pianist, Joanna Goldstein, celebrates the works of women composers during the time of Suffrage.

As a communicator, Moeckel’s ability to involve audiences in an astounding range of repertoire distinguishes him as a musician of rare versatility. A Laureate of the venerable Sibelius Competition, his performances earned recognition in the Helsinki press for his ability to probe the mind of a composer. At home in myriad styles, with pianist Paula Fan he performed a 12 hour marathon charity concert featuring masterworks of the classical literature interspersed with intermezzi featuring country, tango and jazz.

Steven Moeckel is equally at home speaking about music. Since his first appointment as Co-Concertmaster of Germany’s Ulm Philharmonic at the age of 19, he has been involved in outreach and educational events for orchestras and festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. He has served as a frequent coach for the New World Symphony in Miami and in 2019 was invited to participate in the National Alliance for Audition Support, a group that trains minority classical musicians in audition preparation in conjunction with the Sphinx Organization, the New World Symphony and The league of American Orchestras. He has served as orchestra coach at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and has appeared as a guest on the podcast series, ‘Behind the Screen,’ hosted by JT Kane and Matt Corey.

A graduate of both the famous Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg and Indiana University in Bloomington, Steven Moeckel has served as Concertmaster of the Ulm Philharmonic in Germany, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, and the Santa Fe Opera. He is a board member of a non-profit focused on music awareness called The Wayback Foundation, and currently president of the Arizona chapter of American String Teachers Association. In 2020 he was awarded a tenured violin professorship at Northern Arizona University and is artistic director of the Oxmoor Farm International Chamber Music Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

Nathan Arch

Nathan Arch has enjoyed a varied career as collaborative pianist, organist, and choirmaster. A native of the Cayman Islands, he took his first piano lesson in second grade. Continuing this musical journey earned him yearly awards through the National Children’s Festival of the Arts (NCFA). After moving to America, Nathan added the organ to his list of instruments, serving in several different church capacities in Maryland, Virginia, and the D.C. area. Before coming to Arizona for graduate school, Nathan briefly studied with esteemed collaborative pianist Rita Sloan at the University of Maryland, College Park, through whose tutelage he owes the groundwork for his success as a pianist.

For two summer seasons, Nathan served as coordinator for the Saarburg International Music Festival (Germany) and the Vianden International Music Festival (Luxembourg). These festivals brought together renowned faculty and international students, for which Nathan facilitated weekly schedules and appropriate repertoire selection. He also served as Collaborative Piano Intern at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado for two summers. As a student, he attended the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy, and the International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany, performing as soloist and chamber musician, while also honing his skills as vocal coach.

Alongside his partnership with Steven Moeckel, Nathan co-founded two distinctly different musical duos: The Old Line Duo, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sadownik and ZelenArch, with saxophonist Kristen Zelenak. ZelenArch has toured nationally, most recently as guest artists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, highlighting the music of Carter Pann, Chair of Composition at the school. They have also released an album called Taking Flight, with original compositions by women composers for saxophones and piano.

As The Old Line Duo, Nathan and Stephanie have presented their program Meditations on America by invitation several times, most recently as guest artists at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. This program is a reflective concert experience told through a collection of American voices that make up part of the fabric of our country. Along with celebrating the achievements of our nation, it also allows space for difficult feelings and painful moments in our history.

Nathan currently serves as Collaborative Pianist, Senior at the Kitt School of Music at Northern Arizona University, where he coaches and prepares students for upcoming recitals and departmental performances, while also collaborating alongside other faculty at NAU and throughout Arizona. Nathan received the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) and Master of Music (MM) degrees in collaborative piano at Arizona State University, where he studied with Andrew Campbell. His research focused on the early chamber music of Aleksandr Borodin and his contemporaries, but his true passion lies in twentieth-century French music, particularly that of Francis Poulenc.