St. Andrews Bach Society

Following ten years as Associate Principal Cellist of the Saint Louis Symphony and other orchestras, Mark Votapek accepted a new appointment in 2008 as the professor of cello at the University of Arizona. He maintains annual appearances as teacher and performer at Indiana University’s Summer Festival, and as a frequent member of the Ebb and Flow Arts new music ensemble and performer for Pacific International Concert Artists.  Ebb and Flow Arts’ 2007-2008 performances were on 3 of the Hawaiian Islands and in South Korea.

In past appearances, 2003 marked his Aspen debut, collaborating with Sarah Chang and Joseph Kalichstein. His guest recitals this decade alone have brought him to concert halls inChicago, Orlando, Miami, Nashville, Interlochen, Kansas City, San Francisco, Tucson, Honolulu, and Hilo.  His 1996 performance of Schelomo with the Oregon Symphony was aired on NPR's Performance Today and as a teenager Mr. Votapek played in recital at the first World Cello Congress in Washington D.C. More recently, he presented the Dohnanyi Concertpiece for Cello and Orchestra in its premiere performances with both the Southern Great Lakes Philharmonic and the Saint Louis Symphony, and coached and led the cellos of the New World Symphony.  His four-years of annual concerto appearances in Honolulu earned praise from the state’s leading newspapers, with the Honolulu Advertiser hailing his most recent solo as “outstanding.”  And from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin: “During the Halekulani Masterworks series, we have occasionally had the chance to hear Votapek's cello in a few musical lines, and that was enough to understand his musicianship. In his interpretation of Saint-Saëns' work, however, we had the opportunity to hear how effortlessly he can reveal the instrument's colors and variety of registers. At the very beginning of the piece, after a short orchestral chord, his instrument played the main motif with verve and clarity. And his continual exchange with the orchestra, with which Votapek clearly felt comfortable, rendered the composer's idea of a seamless and unified work.”  Chamber music highlights include debuting the alternative venue Moving Parts Ensemble, and 2007  guest performances with the Brentano Quartet and at the Maui Classical Music Festival.  In 2008, Votapek’s performing was aired on Arizona Public Radio and multiple times on Hawaii Public Radio.

Mark Votapek credits his success to the guidance of many teachers and chamber music coaches, especially the master teaching of Janos Starker, with whom he studied from 1987 through 1992, and to direction received from violinists Josef Gingold and Rostislav Dubinsky.  When not performing or teaching, Votapek is often hiking and mountaineering.  Past climbs include Gannett Peak and Mt. Rainier, and in 2008 he hiked the complete 2500-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.