Parry Karp
Cellist Parry Karp is Professor of Music, Artist-in-Residence, and director of the string chamber music program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. He became a member of the Pro Arte Quartet in 1976. Mr. Karp received his early training in Vienna, Austria and continued his studies with Peter Farrell in Urbana, Illinois. He studied first at the University of Michigan, then at the University of Illinois as a scholarship student of Gabriel Magyar. He was awarded the Kate Neal Kinley fellowship for excellence in the arts and won the National String Artist Competition in 1977. Parry Karp frequently performs solo recitals in the United States and Canada, and has performed as soloist with the San Salvador Symphony and many symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad. Recently, he gave the premiere of Lloyd Ultan's Cello Concerto, the second performance of John Harbison's new Cello Concerto, and performed at the International Enescu Festival. During his tenure with the Pro Arte Quartet he has recorded prolifically, most recently works of Roger Sessions, Samuel Rhodes, Walter Mays and Antonin Dvorak. As a solo recording artist, he has recorded works of Frank Bridge, Rebecca Clarke, Ernest Chausson, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alberic Magnard, Richard Strauss, and John Ireland. His recently completed a CD recording of Ernest Bloch's cello music will be released by Laurel Records later this year. Recent performances include the Six Suites for cello of J.S. Bach, the Dvorak Concerto, and rarely heard music of Georges Enesco. He recently produced a four-CD set celebrating his parents' musical careers, Howard and Frances Karp: A Half-Century of Music-Making.