Faculty String Trio
Monte Belknap, violin
Claudine Bigelow, viola
with guest artist
Nicole Pinnell, cello
7:30 PM | MAR. 12, 2026 | RECITAL HALL | MUSIC BUILDING
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Aria
Variatio 1 a 1 Clav
Variatio 2 a 1 Clav
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685–1750
Transcription for string trio by Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Variatio 3 Canone all’Unisuono a 1 Clav
Variatio 4 a 1 Clav
Variatio 5 . a 1 ô vero 2 Clav .
Variatio 6 . Canone alla Seconda . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 7 . a 1 ô vero 2 Clav . al tempo di Giga
Variatio 8 . a 2 Clav .
Variatio 9 . Canone alla Terza . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 10 . Fughetta . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 11 . a 2 Clav .
Variatio 12 . Canone alla Quarta . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 13 a 2 Clav
Variatio 14 a 2 Clav
Variatio 15 Canone alla Quinta a 1 Clav
Variatio 16 Ouverture a 1 Clav
Variatio 17 . a 2 Clav .
Variatio 18 . Canone alla Sesta . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 19 . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 20 . a 2 Clav .
Variatio 21 . Canone alla Settima . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 22 . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 23 . a 2 Clav .
Variatio 24 . Canone alla Ottava . a 1 Clav .
Variatio 25 a 2 Clav
Variatio 26 a 2 Clav
Variatio 27 Canone alla Nona a 2 Clav
Variatio 28 a 2 Clav
Variatio 29 . a 1 ô vero 2 Clav .
Variatio 30 . Quodlibet . a 1 Clav .
Aria
Biographies
Monte Belknap, violin
Monte Belknap is Associate Professor of Violin at Brigham Young University, where he maintains an active career as a performer, teacher, and chamber musician . His students have won competitions across the United States and perform with professional orchestras and chamber ensembles around the world .
Belknap is an accomplished soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer whose playing has been described as “warm and lyrical, with a deep sound,” and with “fingers flying up and down the fingerboard with ease .” He won the International Starling Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival in 1989, one of the premier violin competitions for emerging artists .
He previously served as concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and has performed as concertmaster for numerous studio orchestras across the United States . A passionate advocate for chamber music, Belknap performs regularly in concerts and festivals internationally and collaborates with artists across a wide range of musical styles .
At Brigham Young University he mentors a thriving violin studio whose graduates continue to build careers as performers, teachers, and arts leaders .
Claudine Bigelow, viola
Dr . Claudine Bigelow is Professor of Viola at the Brigham Young University School of Music in the United States . She has performed in Europe, the US, New Zealand, and Australia . As a soloist and chamber musician she can be heard on the Tantara label . She has been privileged to perform chamber music with Manahem Pressler, Orli Shaham, Ralph Matson, Paul Katz, Brant Bayless, the New Zealand, Fry Street and Avalon String Quartets .
Claudine has played with the viola sections of the National and Utah Symphonies, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, National Chamber Orchestra and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D .C . Every summer she performs with the Grand Teton Music Festival . Her varied performances have been broadcast on radio and television including PBS, NPR’s “Performance Today,” and KBYU-FM and KBYU-TV .
In 2012, Claudine was chosen to be a Fulbright Senior Scholar, where she served as artist-in-residence at the Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music in Wellington . While there she recorded the 44 Duos of Béla Bartók with the New Zealand violist, Donald Maurice, called Voices from the Past . They also published the critical edition of the pieces with Editio Musica Buapest . Critics have said the following about the CD:
“ wonderful strikingly emotional sheds fascinating light on the nuances of Bartók’s writing . . . It will forever change the way you hear these remarkable pieces .” — Terry Robbins, The Whole Note
“…the Bartók in particular, [will] catch the attention of Fanfare’s serious collectors,” — Ronald Grames, Fanfare Magazine
Nicole Pinnell, guest artist Nicole Pinnell, cellist, is soloist on four projects nominated for the Grammy award . She first toured at age twelve . A Carnegie Hall debut followed at age fourteen, with an international tour at age nineteen . Still sought out worldwide for her lyricism, passion, and elegance, Pinnell performs on hundreds of projects annually .
Highlights include four Grammy-nominated collaborations, her Billboard-Charting album Away in a Manger, a Cello Christmas, which Nicole also arranged and produced, and multi-media works heard by millions (Hogwarts Legacy, Lord of the Rings Online, and the Book of Mormon Videos) . Pinnell arranged and composed all works for her second solo album, “NeoClassical Cello Solo,” produced by Warner-Chappell Music .
Pinnell graduated with honors from both Arizona State University and the London College of Music . Her Master’s degree is in Contemporary Performance, with an emphasis in improvisation . Time spent studying with musicians from African, Hindustani, Native American, and Middle Eastern traditions has made Pinnell’s style even more evocative and unique, as has considerable skill in electric cello, looping, effects, improv, and composition . Nicole’s principal teachers include Kathleen Franceschi (National Suzuki Institute), Peter Howard (Cleveland Orchestra), and Eugene Friesen (Berklee School of Music), with additional coaching from soloists Yo-Yo Ma and Pinchas Zukerman .
Nicole has performed with some of the most famous musicians in the world, including Joshua Bell, Andrea Bocelli, Yo-Yo Ma, Olivia Rodrigo, Aerosmith, and Page and Plant . She also played full-time in the Utah Symphony under Joseph Silverstein and Keith Lockhart . Pinnell was awarded Educator of the Year by the American String Teacher Association (Utah) . Nicole is the
author of a new transformative curriculum for strings, teaching improvisation . For more information, contact Nicole through her website at nicolepinnell .com .
