Violin & Viola Masterclass with NJS

MARCH 22

5:00 - 6:30PM

Ages: ALL

Instructor: Brennan Sweet and Brett Deubner

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Performer Registration

The Count Basie Center Conservatory of Music welcomes NJS concertmaster Brennan Sweet and violist Brett Deubner for a violin and viola masterclass. Join us to hear exciting student performances and a special Q&A session with the artist. All ages welcome to attend. Student participants please send us a 1-2 minute sample video of your piece for the masterclass to audition, spaces are limited.


Noted for his “glowing, honeyed tone” according to NJ.com, Brennan Sweet has enchanted audiences for years with his delightful musicality and mastery of the violin. Brennan began his violin studies at the age of two in one of the first Suzuki programs in Canada, and as a teenager took lessons at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music while living in Budapest with his family. Studying later with the great master Josef Gingold at Indiana University, Sweet had the rare opportunity to serve as Professor Gingold’s teaching assistant for three years before joining the faculty of Indiana University as Lecturer, a position in which he helped students on artistic probation succeed in passing their juries. Mr. Sweet performed in several professional ensembles while in Indiana, including Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony and Chicago Sinfonietta, and held concertmaster positions of several regional orchestras including Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony and Richmond Symphony, beginning his career as an orchestral leader. He was a founding member of the Evansville String Quartet and performed as Assistant Concertmaster of the Colorado Music Festival for two seasons under Giora Bernstein.

In 1994 Mr. Sweet joined the New Jersey Symphony as Associate Concertmaster and subsequently led the orchestra for three seasons as Acting Concertmaster under the baton of Maestro Zdeněk Mácal. Mr. Sweet performed in other ensembles in the NYC area including Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein and has served as concertmaster for Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York Chamber Symphony and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. As a versatile musician Sweet has also played for various Broadway shows over the years such as Crazy For You, Candide, and High Society. He has performed extensively as a chamber musician and soloist throughout the tri-state area and was a faculty member of Kean University’s Concert Artists program. Mr. Sweet currently teaches at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and continues to perform as soloist and chamber musician throughout New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.


American violist Brett Deubner has established himself as one of the foremost violists of his generation. As a sought-after soloist who has performed with orchestras on five continents, Deubner has redefined the role of “solo artist” and given the viola a new standing in the world of classical music through his virtuosity, commitment to championing new music and dedication to fostering the next generation’ s young artists.
As a concerto soloist, Deubner’s debut with the Grammy award-winning New Jersey Symphony Orchestra premiering Lalo Schifrin’s Triple Concerto resulted in numerous subsequent engagements throughout the U.S. and abroad. Deubner went on to perform worldwide as one of this century’s most important viola soloists appearing with more than 90 orchestras in 14 countries to unanimous approval for “the warmth and sparkling” quality of his playing. (Doblinger Press, Vienna) To date Deubner has received over 50 viola concertos composed and dedicated to him and he has made 25 CDs on various labels such as Naxos, Orchid,Centaur, Innova, Parma and Albany to critical acclaim and glowing reviews.

In 2017 Deubner received the United States Congressional Certificate of Recognition for his commitment to music and education. In 2019 Deubner received a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical CD Recording” for his recording of Houston Dunleavy’s Concerto “A Kiss Before the World’s End” with the Orquesta de Heredia of Costa Rica. He is a recipient of the 2022 Global Music Awards Silver Medal for his recording “Transfiguration” an album of works by Stanley Grill for two, three and four violas of which he recorded all the parts.

In 2022-2023 Brett Deubner performed 10 viola concertos with orchestras in North and South America as well as Europe. In addition to recording with Brett’s piano partner Allison Brewster Franzetti in a highly acclaimed debut album “Mother Earth,” and Deubner also released his debut “Solo” album featuring works composed for him. In the fall of 2022 he made concerto recordings in Prague with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic and in Estonia with the Laanesaarte Kammerorkester. In the fall of 2023 Brett recorded the new viola concerto by American Patrick O’Malley with the BBC Scottish National Symphony for Orchid Classics.

A devoted and passionate chamber music collaborator, Deubner has performed with Pinchas Zukerman, Joseph Kalichstein, Andre MichelSchub, the Tokyo Quartet, Vermeer Quartet, Colorado Quartet clarinetists Guy Deplus and Alexander Fiterstein, as well as flutists Ransom Wilson and Carol Wincenc. Brett Deubner makes his home in the New York Metropolitan area where he is currently on the string faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York. He has served on the faculty of the Round Top Festival in Texas for the past 13 seasons. He plays on a viola made for him by Alejandro Bacelar and is officially endorsed by D’Addario, the world’s largest strings manufacturer, as a solo artist who uses the Kaplan Amo strings exclusively.

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