The Whitcomb-de Vries Duo
Benjamin Whitcomb (cello) and Vincent de Vries (piano) have been playing together since 2002. Both artists have active solo and chamber music careers, and although they live 1000 miles apart, they are always looking for opportunities to come together to play great chamber music. Both players have amazing technique, and their ensemble playing is as tight and precise as you will hear anywhere. Their main priority as a duo, however, is to play the music as expressively as possible, and thereby to give their audiences a truly moving experience at every concert. These musicians are passionate about music—they love to play together, and it shows. The duo has been touring major universities throughout the country giving chamber music concerts and master classes. Both musicians have released professional CDs of their recordings, and they are currently working on their first CD release as a duo.
Vincent de Vries, Piano
Vincent de Vries is an active performer, presenting recitals as a soloist, duo pianist, accompanist, and organist. His recent CD releases include “Into the 21st Century: Music for Horn and Piano” with Jeffrey Powers and a recital featuring the works of Brahms, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, and Milhaud with duo pianist Dr. Bradley Bolen. Both recordings will be released on the MSR label in the Spring of 2007. In addition to his piano performances, Dr. de Vries is a highly regarded concert organist, with over three hundred solo recitals and seven solo CD releases to his credit. In 2003 he received the silver medal from the “Arts, Sciences, et Lettres” in Paris for his contributions to the French organ literature.
He has performed in the master classes of such pianists as Earl Wild, Vladimir Tropp, Lev Vlasenko, Arnaldo Cohen, Claude Frank, and Jerome Rose. He is the recipient of many scholarships and has won awards in several competitions, among them first prize in the National Young Artist Competition in The Netherlands and first prize in the Sydney Wright Accompanying Competition at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. de Vries is Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Collaborative Piano at Baylor University. Prior to his appointment at Baylor University he was serving as an Assistant Instructor at The University of Texas at Austin-teaching instrumental accompanying to undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. de Vries received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a Performer’s Diploma from The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands, and a Master’s degree from Bowling Green State University. His principal teachers have included Nancy Garrett, Edward Auer, Jerome Rose, and Theo Bruins.
Benjamin Whitcomb, Cello
Benjamin Whitcomb is highly regarded for his interpretation and musicality. He plays with an enthusiasm that is contagious and a sensitivity that enthralls audiences. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he performs more than twenty concerts a year. He appears regularly on the "Sunday Afternoon Live from the Chazen" concert series broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio. In addition to his collaboration with pianist Vincent de Vries, he is a member of the Ancora String Quartet and the UW-Whitewater Piano Trio. He performs concertos with local orchestras, and he has also been a member of several orchestras in Texas and Wisconsin, including serving as Associate Principal Cello of the Madison Symphony and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He has produced several CDs of his recordings, including his 2007 release of solo cello works by Bach and Gabrieli on the MSR label.
Dr. Whitcomb is a frequent guest clinician and performer at high schools and summer camps, including the National String Workshop, and universities throughout the country. His book on effective practicing is scheduled to be available in the spring of 2008, and he is also a contributing author to the third volume of Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra. He has presented papers on cello and on music theory at several national conferences, including those of the American String Teachers' Association and the Society for Music Theory. He is also an articles reviewer and the editor of the Cello Forum of the American String Teacher journal. He is past president of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American String Teachers’ Association. Dr. Whitcomb served as chair of the instrumental faculty at the La Musica Lirica music festival in Nova Feltria, Italy, from 2004 to 2007.
Dr. Whitcomb is Associate Professor of Cello and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University, and he has studied with Phyllis Young, George Neikrug, and Evan Tonsing.