Furman Chamber Strings on tour, closing concert set for March 14

Furman Chamber Strings featuring music faculty members Thomas Joiner (violinist and conductor) and Anna Barbrey Joiner (viola) will present music and workshops during a tour, which begins Friday, March 2. The closing concert for the tour is Wednesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. in Daniel Recital Hall on campus. It is part of Furman’s Cultural Life Program.

All tour events are free and open to the public. The concerts will include works by Arcangelo Corelli, Morton Lauridsen, Dag Wiren and Peter I. Tchaikovsky. The Joiners will be featured in Kurt Atterberg’s Suite for Violin, Viola, & Strings.

The Furman Chamber Strings, a group of 21 students selected from the Furman Symphony Orchestra, will stop at several venues throughout the Carolinas. The schedule follows:

Furman Chamber Strings members are selected from the FSO.

Furman Chamber Strings Spring Tour 2018

Friday, March 2, 10:10 a.m.
Greenville County Fine Arts Center
Greenville, S.C.

Friday, March 2, 3 p.m.
Northwest School of the Arts
Charlotte, N.C.

Saturday, March 3, 3 p.m.
Workshop & Concert
North Carolina Chamber Music Institute & Cary Classical Concerts
St. Francis United Methodist Church
Cary, N.C.

Sunday, March 4, 3 p.m.
First Baptist Church, Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina

Wednesday, March 14, 8 p.m.
Daniel Recital Hall, Furman University
Greenville, S.C.

For more information about the tour, contact the Furman University Music Department at 864-294-2086, or email the department at FurmanMusic@furman.edu.

Thomas Joiner

About Thomas Joiner
Thomas Joiner has appeared as a conductor, violinist, chamber player and teacher throughout the United States and 11 foreign countries. As Professor of Violin and Orchestral Activities at Furman, he conducts the Furman Symphony Orchestra in orchestral, operatic, and oratorio performances each year. As Music Director and Conductor of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra (N.C.) since 1998, Joiner’s creative programming has led to continued growth for the orchestra, community support and sold-out performances. In addition to the Masterworks Series, the HSO partners with area public schools presenting curriculum-based youth concerts to thousands of 3rd and 6th grade Henderson county children each year.

A sought-after guest conductor, Joiner led the Orquestra da Camera Theatre Sao Pedro during two residencies in Porto Alegre, Brazil, conducted the Greenville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Asheville Lyric Opera in three sold-out performances of “South Pacific,” and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the 2015 Masterworks Music Festival. A devoted educator, Joiner has served as conductor and clinician for All-State Orchestras in addition to presenting sessions at regional and national music education conferences from Alabama to Ohio. As a Director of the Furman Band and Orchestra Camp, he conducts the high school orchestra each summer.

As an orchestral violinist, Joiner has shared the stage with conductors Robert Shaw, Jorge Mester, John Nelson, and Keith Lockhart as well as soloists Renee Fleming, Frederica von Stade, David Daniels, Peter Serkin, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Joshua Bell. As an Artistic Ambassador for the United States Information Agency, he presented 17 violin recitals with pianist Douglas Weeks during a five-week tour of western Africa and the Middle East. During a sabbatical Joiner studied in Paris with eminent maestro John Nelson. He has twice served as a visiting professor at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.

For many years Joiner held the Dr. & Mrs. William J. Pendergrast, Sr. Artist Chair at Brevard Music Center (N.C.) where he served on the conducting staff and as a concertmaster of the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra. He was honored in 2009, along with his wife, violist Anna Barbrey Joiner, with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Previous positions also include Professor of Violin and Orchestral Activities at the University of Georgia School of Music, Associate Principal Second Violin of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, first violinist with the Louisville Orchestra, South Carolina president of the American String Teachers Association, and member of the national board of directors of the Conductors Guild.

Joiner earned the Doctor of Music in Violin Performance from Florida State University as a student of Gerardo Ribeiro, the Masters of Church Music in Musicology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Furman University. He is a native of Rock Hill, S.C. where he proudly held the post of drum major for the Rock Hill High School Bearcat Band.

About Anna Barbrey Joiner

Anna Barbrey Joiner

Anna Barbrey Joiner has performed with orchestras from South Carolina to South America and for more than two decades was a member of the artist-faculty of the Brevard Music Center. She has presented and co-authored research for international conferences in Chicago and Japan and written articles for numerous journals including The American String Teacher and American Suzuki Journal. Anna has served as president of the Suzuki Association of South Carolina and from 2009-2013 she was director of the South Carolina Suzuki Institute at Furman.

A devoted educator, she is in high demand as a clinician for public school string programs throughout the Southeast. Before returning to her alma mater, Furman University, as Professor of Viola and String Education, Joiner was Associate Professor of Music, Director of the Pre-College Division, and violist with the Franklin String Quartet at The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. She performs with her violinist husband, Thomas, as The Joiner Duo. They have twice served as artists-in-residence at the Universidade de Rio Grande de Sul in Brazil and performed as soloists with the Orquestra da Camera Theatre Sao Pedro. After presenting a New York debut recital in 2000 on the Donnell Library Concert Series, The Joiner Duo released a CD entitled Intermezzo.

In 2001, the duo spent a sabbatical in Paris and in 2010 and 2015 participated in the Furman Study Away Program at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. Anna received the Doctor of Music in Viola Performance, the Master of Music Education and Master of Music in Violin Performance from Florida State University and the Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Furman University. From 2012-2017 she served as program coordinator for Partners in the Arts, a Fine Arts Initiative at Furman designed to enhance the curriculum through on-campus residencies, regional partnerships with arts organizations, and community outreach.