Ani Kavafian Will Inaugurate Thaler Concert Violinist Series

Famed violinist Ani Kavafian, along with collaborative pianist Sahan Arzruni, will give the first performance in the Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series on Tuesday, October 29. Named in memory of the prominent Ithaca attorney, the new series was established to honor Louis Thaler's lifelong love of the violin. The free concert will take place at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall. In addition to sonatas by Debussy and Beethoven, the program will feature works by Khachaturian and Babadjanyan, two composers who, like Kavafian and Arzruni, are of Armenian heritage.

Kavafian, who was born in Turkey, began her musical studies with piano lessons at the age of 3. Six years later her family moved to the United States and Kavafian began studying the violin. At 16 she won first prize in both the piano and violin competitions at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, and went on to study with Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School. She is currently in great demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed with most of America's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Winner of many prestigious honors, including the Avery Fisher Prize, Kavafian has made three command performances at the White House and has been featured on numerous network and PBS television music specials. She currently serves on the faculty of McGill University in Montreal.

Arzruni, a native of Istanbul, has also given command performances at the White House as well as performed for the British, Danish, and Swedish heads of state. An artist of striking versatility, Arzruni has recorded a three-record anthology of Armenian piano music, established a reputation as a recitalist and chamber music partner, and performed as "straight man" in the comic performances of Victor Borge. He has contributed scholarly articles to various editions of the New Grove Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and has delivered papers at symposia held at Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and other institutions.

The Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series has been established by the Thaler/Howell Foundation. The impetus for this gift was provided by Louis's son Manley H. Thaler and his immediate family.

Louis Thaler, who died in 1979, practiced law in Ithaca for more than 50 years and was the founder and senior partner in the Thaler & Thaler law firm. From 1940 to 1941 he was the City of Ithaca attorney, and from 1944 to 1945 the president of the Tompkins County Bar Association. He also served as a special county judge and surrogate judge. He was actively involved in civic affairs and was a member of the Board of Governors of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Ithaca Rotary Club, and the Elks Club. In addition to his professional and civic activities, he was an amateur violinist.

In 1927 he married the former Rachel Shulman, a native Ithacan who studied piano at the Ithaca Conservatory of Music and who still lives in Ithaca. Louis and Rachel Thaler were devoted supporters of the Friends of Ithaca College. The Rachel S. Thaler Concert Pianist Series, established in 1991, and the newly created Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series, honor the Thalers' love of music and their support for the College and the School of Music. The Thaler/Howell Foundation, through the efforts of Manley H. Thaler, endowed both series to recognize Rachel and Louis Thaler and to ensure that outstanding violinists and pianists would always perform for the Ithaca College community and the residents of the surrounding area.