Biography
WENDY PROBER, PIANO has performed throughout the U.S. and Israel as a critically acclaimed chamber musician and soloist. The founding pianist of the award-winning Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble and presenter of the popular Los Angeles based, SPaCE Salon, she has taught at Loyola Marymount University, the University of Judaism, and the Omaha Conservatory of Music Institute. A former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony (LAJS), she is the newly elected Chair of the Board of Directors and recently received a commendation from the City of Los Angeles for her work as an LAJS Teaching Artist. Ms. Prober has been a featured soloist with Robert Kapilow’s wildly celebrated, “What Makes it Great” series and locally has been soloist with many orchestras including Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra, Palisades Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of St. Matthew's, Occidental-Caltech Chamber Orchestra, LMU Chamber Symphony, the Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra and Riverside County Philharmonic. She has played with Israeli Master Percussionist Chen Zimbalista; L.A. Chamber Orchestra Principal Cellist Andrew Shulman; cellist Michael Fitzpatrick; cellist Emilio Colón at Indiana University, Los Angeles Philharmonic members violinist Mark Kashper and cellist Barry Gold; on Andrea Clearfield's Philadephia Szalon; and has performed at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles; and toured with violinist Lindsay Deutsch and TAKE 3, a pop-rock/classical crossover group. She has performed TV/film composer Charles Fox’s Victory at Entebbe concerto, including at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and with the LAJS at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A. where Fox wrote, “Wendy’s playing was as beautiful, spirited and rich in feeling as I could imagine.”
Highly sought after as an expert in new music, Prober is a close collaborator with composer Maria Newman, for whom she has premiered and recorded dozens of the composer’s works including the 2015 premiere of her piano concerto, Emma McChesney. Of her recording of Newman’s Maskil Piano Sonata, American Record Guide writes, “I can’t imagine a more committed or convincing performance.” Recent composer residencies with Newman include Indiana University, Central Washington University, and the Eastman School of Music. In 2018, Prober appeared on CBS Sunday Morning with composer/violinist Newman in a feature on the Newman family musical dynasty.
As founding pianist and Managing Director of Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble, Ms. Prober wrote and received multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, Utah Performing Arts Tour and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Bringing vitality and diversity to the concert stage, they have nationwide performances include: The Cerritos Center • The Bruman Chamber Music Series of the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts • Dame Myra Hess Concert Series •California Plaza Grand Performances • Syracuse University • La Jolla Athenaeum Arts and Music Library • Caltech • Museum of Neon Art • Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society • Newport Harbor Art Museum • Los Angeles County Museum of Art • Pittsburg State University • Dallas Museum of Art • Twentieth Century Unlimited • Brigham Young University • Maurice Abravenel Hall • University of Utah • Chamber Music Society of Logan • Southern Utah University • KiMo Theatre • Kerr Cultural Center • Verde Valley Concert Association • Willamette University • Headwaters Council for the Performing Arts • Memphis State University New Music Festival • University of Hawaii • Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Ms. Prober received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University where she studied with Robert Weirich, graduating with honors and elected lifetime member of the National Music Honors Society Pi Kappa Lambda. She worked with John Perry at the Aspen Festival, later earning her Master of Music with him at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. She has performed in master class for Claude Frank, Murray Perahia and Menahem Pressler, and was resident artist at the Sarasota Music Festival and Banff Centre for the Arts.
Ms. Prober is Principal Pianist of the Malibu Coast Silent Film Orchestra, whose performances include the Private Theatre of Hearst Castle, Eastman School of Music, University of Maryland, Annenberg Beach House, Central Washington University, LA’s Grand Performances, as well as the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival with legendary actress Katherine Ross. Their recorded performances for silent film are regularly broadcast on such networks as Turner Classic Movies. She is resident pianist at the Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture (MAHMA), the Malibu Coast Music Festival, and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony Chamber Players.
