BIOGRAPHY
Violinist Nancy McFarland Gaub has had a varied career as soloist, recitalist, chamber player, and orchestral musician on three continents. She is a Lecturer in Music at Grinnell College, where she frequently performs recitals and chamber music, teaches violin, and directs the chamber music program.
Ms. Gaub has been the acting concertmaster of the Cedar Rapids Symphony and is currently concertmaster of the Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra. In recent years she has performed Mozart’s Concerto for Violin and Piano, the Violin Concerto by Brahms, “Zigeunerweisen”, by Sarasate, and Vivaldi’s “Spring”, with the OSO.
Along with her husband, pianist Eugene Gaub, Ms. McFarland Gaub founded the critically acclaimed Roycroft Chamber Music Festival in East Aurora, NY, in 1994. Then a member of the first violin section of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, she was a frequent soloist with the BPO and other orchestras, including a live radio broadcast of Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 3, under conductor Aije Oue. The Buffalo News called her performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto “… the highlight of the evening”, and her Vivaldi “St. Anthone” Concerto, “superb”.
Ms. McFarland Gaub enjoys composing, working with composers and playing new music. Recently, she performed her piece “Woodsong” with her husband, and has completed her Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. With Red Cedar Chamber Music, she recorded (on Naxos and the Fleur de Lis labels ) the world premiere of Harvey Sollberger’s chamber work, “Perhaps Gilead”, to wide acclaim. She also has performed with folk, jazz and pop artists from the Chieftains to Judy Collins to Liberache to Natalie Cole, and has recorded with the Cousin John Band. She has performed at the Aspen, Spoleto (Italy), Chautauqua, Stowe (VT), Adirondack, Grant Park Symphony, Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival and the Festival de Invierno in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She has also performed as soloist and recitalist on radio and television broadcasts.
This season, Ms. McFarland Gaub looks forward to performing “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the OSO, and the Piano Quintet by Shostakovic with her husband and the Aspen Trio.
Originally from the Chicago area, Ms. McFarland Gaub received degrees from the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, and the Juilliard School, where she was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay. She studied historical performance at the Baroque Performance Institute of Oberlin. Her violin was made by Giovanni Grancino in 1695.
Ms. Gaub has been the acting concertmaster of the Cedar Rapids Symphony and is currently concertmaster of the Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra. In recent years she has performed Mozart’s Concerto for Violin and Piano, the Violin Concerto by Brahms, “Zigeunerweisen”, by Sarasate, and Vivaldi’s “Spring”, with the OSO.
Along with her husband, pianist Eugene Gaub, Ms. McFarland Gaub founded the critically acclaimed Roycroft Chamber Music Festival in East Aurora, NY, in 1994. Then a member of the first violin section of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, she was a frequent soloist with the BPO and other orchestras, including a live radio broadcast of Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 3, under conductor Aije Oue. The Buffalo News called her performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto “… the highlight of the evening”, and her Vivaldi “St. Anthone” Concerto, “superb”.
Ms. McFarland Gaub enjoys composing, working with composers and playing new music. Recently, she performed her piece “Woodsong” with her husband, and has completed her Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. With Red Cedar Chamber Music, she recorded (on Naxos and the Fleur de Lis labels ) the world premiere of Harvey Sollberger’s chamber work, “Perhaps Gilead”, to wide acclaim. She also has performed with folk, jazz and pop artists from the Chieftains to Judy Collins to Liberache to Natalie Cole, and has recorded with the Cousin John Band. She has performed at the Aspen, Spoleto (Italy), Chautauqua, Stowe (VT), Adirondack, Grant Park Symphony, Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival and the Festival de Invierno in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She has also performed as soloist and recitalist on radio and television broadcasts.
This season, Ms. McFarland Gaub looks forward to performing “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the OSO, and the Piano Quintet by Shostakovic with her husband and the Aspen Trio.
Originally from the Chicago area, Ms. McFarland Gaub received degrees from the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, and the Juilliard School, where she was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay. She studied historical performance at the Baroque Performance Institute of Oberlin. Her violin was made by Giovanni Grancino in 1695.
