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Alicja Usarek-Topper

Alicja Usarek-Topper
Violin

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A native of Wroclaw, Poland, Dr. Usarek-Topper is a graduate of the Krakow Music Academy, and the Hochschule für Musik in München, Germany, and in December of 2000 received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Alicja Usarek has enjoyed a varied performing career as a solo recitalist, chamber player, and an orchestra musician. During her years in Europe she performed a solo concerto for radio broadcast in Ansbach, Germany, earned Honorable Mention at the String Quartet Competition in Budapest, Hungary and was a medal recipient from the Szymanowski Solo Competition in Krakow, Poland. Dr. Usarek has served as concertmaster of the Hochschule Chamber Orchestra in Venice, Italy and has performed with the Krakow Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra in Munich, the Austin Symphony and Civic Choir Orchestra, and the San Antonio Symphony. Dr. Usarek-Topper currently performs with the Valdosta Symphony and has served as assistant concertmaster of the Albany Symphony and the Central Florida Symphony. She served on the faculty of the City Music School in Ingolstadt, Germany in the years 1990-1992, teaching undergraduate violin majors. After completing her doctorate, she accepted the position as Director of Strings at Valwood College Preparatory School. Dr. Usarek-Topper now serves as Assistant Professor at the Valdosta State University, and is a member of VSO String Quartet in Residence. Usarek's musical expertise is not confined to violin performance. Having discovered Wagnerian influences in the early compositions of a Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, she became a published scholar and notable lecturer on the early works of Béla Bartók. Her article "Béla Bartók's 1907 Violin Concerto: In the Spirit of Tristan" is published by the International Journal of Musicology, vol. 7. Dr. Usarek-Topper has been awarded a research grant for continued Bartók scholarly investigation and authored a book review on Bartók Perspectives for IJM.