Kornacker, Thomas

Violinist who attended Indiana University and studied with Victor Aitay and Josef Gingold.

He enlisted in the Army and directed their chamber music program as well as performing soloist duties for the West Point Band.

On 30^th January 1966, he was one of the members of the U.S. Military Academy Band who appeared in recital at the Academy library, where he performed “Sonata in D minor, Op. 108, No. 3” with pianist, Howard Preminger.

Other groups with whom he has worked include Chamber Music, the Contemporary Quartet, the Florida Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Quartet, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

On 22^nd May 1976, the Contemporary Quartet and Sine Nomine Singers gave the world premiere of “Teisho” by Vivian Fine at Bennington College in Vermont.

The SPCO offered up Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Symphony No. 102 in B flat major”, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64” with soloist Pinchas Zukerman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s overture from Don Giovanni and Marc Niekrug’s “Chetro Ketl” in Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan on 1^st April 1986.

On 24^th May 1997, Bobby McFerrin conducted the SPCO in an all-Baroque program that comprised the allegro from “Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041”, “Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043” and “Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067” by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Concerto for Two Horns in E flat” by Josef Fiala and “Concerto for Two Oboes in C, Op. 9, No. 9” by Tomaso Albinoni.

The SPCO Chamber Ensemble entertained at the Carmel Woman’s Club on 12^th June 2007, when they interpreted Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio in C minor”, Mozart’s “Piano Quartet in E flat” and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “String Sextet” (“Souvenir de Florence”).

Recordings on which Thomas appears include: Album by Angel Grant; Copland: Appalachian Spring/Music for the Theatre/Latin American Sketches/Quiet City, Kodaly: Galanta Dances/Marosszek Dances—Bartok: Divertimento/Romanian Folk-Dances and Stravinsky: Pulcinella (Complete Ballet)/Concerto in E flat “Dumbarton Oaks” with the SPCO; Follow the Leader by Korn; Martin Boykan: Flume with the Contemporary Quartet; Mr. Fathead by David Newman; Open My Heart by Yolanda Adams; Rainbow by Mariah Carey; Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson; Streetwise by Richard Kastle; and, Time and Chance by Color Me Badd.

In the field of music education, he has given master classes and served as a coach for youth orchestras.

Here he is coaching a high school string orchestra…

Sources:

Kornacker, Thomas

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