Refractions of Bach
Karl Stobbe & Gwen Hoebig
April 5th, 7 p.m., Laudamus Auditorium (Canadian Mennonite University), Shaftesbury Blvd.
One of Winnipeg’s most celebrated soloists returns to the Winnipeg Baroque Festival stage for Refractions of Bach, sharing the composer’s seminal counterpoint alongside Stravinsky’s reinventions and Busoni’s transcendence.
About Karl Stobbe
Karl Stobbe is recognized as one of Canada’s most accomplished violinists, known for his dedication to excellence on the violin and classical music in all its forms. As a concertmaster, soloist, and chamber musician, Karl has been an audience favorite in small settings and large venues. Noted for his generous, rich sound and long, poignant phrasing, he is described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “an artist with soulful musicianship,” and by London’s Sunday Times as “a master soloist, recalling the golden age of violin playing… producing a breathtaking range of tone colours.”
Always looking to expand the concert stage, Karl has recently created a series of online concerts for digital concert platforms. Distinguished by his life-long love of the music for solo violin, this series features video recordings of all the unaccompanied violin repertoire of J.S. Bach. In honour of the 300th anniversary of Bach’s famous sonatas and partitas for solo violin, it also explores Bach’s influence through video performances of other solo violin repertoire of music by Bartok, Ysaye, Prokofiev, Biber, and others.
About Gwen Hoebig
Recognized as one of Canada’s most outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is the former Concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She joined the orchestra as Concertmaster in 1987, having been awarded the position as the unanimous choice of the audition committee. This position has allowed and encouraged her to pursue not only her love of orchestral playing, but also solo performances, chamber music performances, and teaching.
Gwen Hoebig has performed all the major violin concerti with orchestras across Canada, the United States and Europe. Particularly celebrated for her interpretation of new music, she has given the Canadian premieres of violin concertos by S. C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, T. Patrick Carrabré, Randolph Peters, Joan Tower, Christopher Rouse and Philip Glass, and Gary Kulesha.
As a chamber musician, Gwen has been a member of the Hoebig/Moroz trio with her husband, pianist David Moroz, and with her brother, cellist Desmond Hoebig for over 40 years. She is a founding member of the Clearwater Quartet which in addition to performances for the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society has been Ensemble-in-Residence of the University of Manitoba since 2019. She also regularly plays with her family; husband David, children Alexander (viola) and Juliana (cello) as the JAGD quartet.
Teaching is an integral part of Gwen’s life. She maintains a private studio in Winnipeg, and has students performing and teaching across North America. As founding Co-Artistic Director of the elite Morningside Music Bridge programme, she teaches and coaches young violinists from around the world in preparation for their international performing careers. She is also directly involved with numerous summer festivals and with the Winnipeg Youth Orchestras, currently serving as President of the WYO’s Board of Directors.
