PROGRAM

Claude Debussy - Danses Sacrée et Profane 

(Lori Gemmel, harp / Bénédicte Lauzière & Jung Tsai, violin / Natasha Sharko, viola / John Helmers, cello)

Arnold Schoenberg -  Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4 

(Bénédicte Lauzière & Jung Tsai, violin / Natasha Sharko & Rebecca Diderrich, viola / John Helmers & Miriam Stewart-Kroeker, cello)

Intermission 

Felix Mendelssohn - String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 

Allegro moderato ma con fuoco 

Andante

Scherzo allegro leggierissimo

Presto

(Bénédicte Lauzière, Xueao Yang, Jung Tsai & Vicky Dvorak, violins / Natasha Sharko & Rebecca Diderrich, viola / John Helmers & Miriam Stewart-Kroeker, cello)

Danses Sacrée et Profane, for harp and strings The first dance of this lovely work, which Debussy composed in 1904, “sacred,” begins in a slow and stately mood set by unison strings, joined by the harp in an uplifting reverie, with numerous ascending and descending chromatic passages. The “secular” dance, which follows without a break, is in the form of a lilting waltz, with various statements of the main theme traded back and forth between the harp and strings. Towards the end of the piece, a short introspective reverie makes its appearance. The waltz then resumes at a joyous pace, followed by a majestic and sonorous ending.  Source: https://www.broadwaybach.org/musical_work/danses-sacree-et-profane/

Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899. Composed in just three weeks, it is considered his earliest important work. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's poem of the same name, combined with the influence of Schoenberg's strong feelings upon meeting the sister of his teacher, Alexander von Zemlinsky (1877–1942), whom he married in 1901.

Mendelssohn's String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, MWV R 20, was written by the 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn during the fall of 1825 and completed on October 15. Written for four violins, two violas, and two cellos, this work created a new chamber music genre. Conrad Wilson summarizes much of its reception ever since: "Its youthful verve, brilliance and perfection make it one of the miracles of nineteenth-century music." This was one of the first works of Mendelssohn to be very well received.

ARTISTS

Rebecca Diderrich, viola Born in London ON, Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the University of Toronto where she studied with Lorand Fenyves, and a Professional Performance Certificate from Lynn University in Boca Raton Florida where she studied with Ralph Fielding. While living in Florida, Rebecca was the principal violist of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra where she also appeared as a soloist. She was a violist with both the Palm Beach Opera and Florida Grand Opera orchestras for many years, and played frequently with the Naples Philharmonic and the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival. Rebecca also worked as a studio musician in Miami, recording on albums produced for many artists including Gloria Estefan, Christian Castro and Natalie Cole. After returning to Canada to raise her children closer to home, Rebecca became a member of the (now former) Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. John Helmers, cello A graduate of Queens University and Indiana University, where he studied with Janos Starker. John has served as principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic, the National Ballet of Canada and, since 1986, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony where he appeared often as soloist. During the Summer months he was a regular guest artist and mentor for the National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton. 

Vicky Dvorak, violin Vicky Dvorak is a violinist in the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and has been teaching and playing chamber music in this community since 1992. 

Lori Gemmell, harp Lori Gemmell was the Principal Harpist with the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony since 2000. She teaches at Wilfrid Laurier University and for the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Lori enjoys being involved in many solo and chamber music projects: with the Four Seasons Harp Quartet, with trumpeter, Larry Larson, harp duo with, Jennifer Swartz, harp and storytelling with her husband Tom Allen, and playing with pop artists Kevin Fox and Feist. Lori has two solo recordings, Prelude and Canadian Music for Harp, a harp duo recording with Jennifer Swartz, The Garden of Peacocks, and Divertissement with trumpeter Larry Larson. On April 12 she premiered “Partita” for violin and harp, with violinist Sheila Jaffe. This piece was written by internationally acclaimed Canadian composer Caroline Lizotte, commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts. 

John Helmers, cello John Helmers holds a MMus degree in Performance from Indiana University where he studied with Janos Starker. Since 1986, John has been the principal cellist of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Canadian Chamber Ensemble. He has previously served as the principal cellist of both the National Ballet of Canada (1982-86) and the Calgary Philharmonic.

Mr. Helmers has appeared as soloist with the Calgary, Hamilton and Kitchener Symphonies and has toured internationally as cellist of the CCE. John is currently a member of the teaching staff at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo. 

Bénédicte Lauzière, violin Described as “beautiful to watch and breathtaking to hear” by the Guelph Mercury, violinist Bénédicte Lauzière enjoys a prolific career on the Canadian stage. She was concertmaster of the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, with which she was featured as a soloist. She is an avid chamber musician, her recent collaborations including Emanuel Ax and members of the Penderecki String Quartet. As a recitalist, she enjoys her partnership with pianist Angela Park. She won numerous prizes and awards including the Prix d’Europe 2014, the Michael-Measures Award 2011, the Peter Mendell Prize 2010 as well as a grant for professional musicians from the Canada Council for the Arts. Ms Lauzière was a laureate of the Stulberg International String Competition in 2010 and won numerous first prizes at the Canadian Music Competition. As a soloist, her recent performances include Chausson’s Poème op. 25 (2023), Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto op. 35 in d major (2023), Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending (2021), Barber’s Violin Concerto op.14 (2018), Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (2018) with pianist Stewart Goodyear and cellist John Helmers, Korngold’s Concerto op.35 in d major (2016) and Ravel’s Tzigane (2016). She has been featured as guest soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, the Elora Festival, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. Bénédicte obtained her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York City in May 2014, where she studied with Masao Kawasaki with the support of the Karl H. Kraeuter, H. & E. Kivekas and Starr scholarships. She has performed both at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, studying with Jonathan Crow as recipient of the Lloyd Carr-Harris scholarship. In her younger formative years, she studied at Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal with Helmut Lipsky. 

Natasha Sharko, viola Natasha hails from Sudbury Ontario, where she happily spent her childhood developing preliminary violin skills; private instruction with the pre-eminent Kozak family, leadership in the Sudbury Youth Orchestra, and Symphony responsibilities formed the backbone of her love for performance. She also played Lead Alto Saxaphone in her high school Jazz and Concert Bands, broadening her range, and amplifying the rhythmic and perpetual inevitability of being onstage. University brought her into big city life— Montreal and Toronto, where she completed both Bachelors and Masters Degrees, and added Viola to her studies. Natasha thereafter freelanced for many years in Toronto, honing her craft, until the opportunity to lead the Viola Section in the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony arose. She humble served in that orchestra for 12 years, developing an unparalleled fellowship of Violists, and her heart grew three sizes that decade. Currently Natasha embraces a vibrant freelance lifestyle, renewing long-lost collegial partnerships and searching for a new Orchestral home. 

Miriam Stewart-Kroeker, cello Miriam Stewart-Kroeker was a tenured member of the (now former) Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and is a founding member of the Andromeda Piano Trio. She studied with Paul Pulford and the Penderecki String Quartet at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she received an Honours Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance as well as a Diploma in Chamber Music Performance. She went on to complete a Master’s degree in Cello Performance at McGill University under the direction of Matt Haimovitz. On top of performing with various orchestras throughout Ontario, Miriam is an active chamber musician and soloist. The Andromeda Trio recently received two grants from Canada Council for the Arts and the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund to commission and record a piece by local composer, Karen Sunabacka, which explores Métis-Mennonite relations in Canada, inspired by Karen and Miriam’s ancestries on Treaty 1 territory. 

Jung Tsai, violin Based in Ontario, Canada, violinist Jung Tsai has performed extensively in the region where she has served as 2nd Associate Concertmaster in Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra in Waterloo region in the past. Her other main appearances include performing as guest concertmaster and guest soloist with several local symphony orchestras in Ontario. Ms. Tsai is also a committed chamber musician in addition to her solo and orchestral performances. She has participated in the ensembles of string quartet and piano trio in the past which brought her to performances in North America. Recently she has been part of Coriolis chamber ensemble that has been annually presented in chamber series concert in Quebec and Ontario provinces. Jung received her Bachelor degree in Mannes The New School for Music (New York), Master Degree in DePaul School of Music (Chicago) and Artist Diploma in McGill School of Music (Montreal). During her stay in the United States she has won several prizes including winner of Mannes Community Concerto Competition, finalists of Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and Luminaries Fellowship winner of string category. Her past teachers include Nina Beilina, Ilya Kaler, Axel Strauss, Jonathan Crow and Denise Lupien. Based in Ontario, Canada, violinist Jung Tsai has performed extensively in the region where she has served as 2nd Associate Concertmaster in Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra in Waterloo region in the past. Her other main appearances include performing as guest concertmaster and guest soloist with several local symphony orchestras in Ontario. Ms. Tsai is also a committed chamber musician in addition to her solo and orchestral performances. She has participated in the ensembles of string quartet and piano trio in the past which brought her to performances in North America. Recently she has been part of Coriolis chamber ensemble that has been annually presented in chamber series concert in Quebec and Ontario provinces. Jung received her Bachelor degree in Mannes The New School for Music (New York), Master Degree in DePaul School of Music (Chicago) and Artist Diploma in McGill School of Music (Montreal). During her stay in United States she has won several prizes including winner of Mannes Community Concerto Competition, finalists of Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and Luminaries Fellowship winner of string category. Her past teachers include Nina Beilina, Ilya Kaler, Axel Strauss, Jonathan Crow and Denise Lupien. 

Xueao Yang, violin A native of China, Xueao began studying the violin at the age of four. At the age of twelve, she was accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She obtained her Bachelor of music with outstanding achievement and Master’s degree From McGill University. She also received her Performance Certificate in violin at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has also been the recipient of many scholarships due to her incredible musicianship, including but not limited to: the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Scholarship, the HP Robert Fung Scholarship, the Bill&Judy Watson Scholarship, and the Williamson Music Foundation Scholarship. Her teachers include Kevin Lawrence, Violaine Melançon, Denise Lupien and Felica Moye. Xueao was a member of Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal at the Montréal Chamber Music Festival in 2021 and a participant of the National arts Centre Orchestra Mentorship Program in 2022. Xueao has performed in music festivals such as Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, (USA), Zodiac Music Festival( France), Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival(USA), Pacific Music Festival (Japan) and the Brott Music Festival. She has been featured in solo masterclasses for James Ehnes, Daniel Philips and Donald Weilerstein. Xueao has frequently played with major orchestras in Canada, including Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, guest principal second violin with the Regina Symphony and the National Ballet of Canada. She served as associate principal second violin of the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for the 2022-2023 season. 

PROGRAM

Tomaso Vitali - Chaconne in G Minor

Sergei Prokofiev - Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94, originally piano/flute

Ottorino Respighi - Sonata in B Minor

ARTISTS

Adam Didderich, violin, is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began playing violin at age five. His advanced studies brought him to the University of Toronto and later to Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida for studies with Elmar Oliveira and Stephen Majeske. Most recently, he studied at the University of Miami with Glenn Basham and Felicia Moye. In addition to his violin studies, he had the opportunity to study jazz improvisation with Mark O'Connor, Vince Maggio and Whit Sidener . He has played with orchestras such as the New World Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and the Palm Beach Symphony. He also played many commercial recordings produced in Miami, including for Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Christian Castro, and many others. Since moving back to Canada in 2014 he has continued to record commercially, and has been playing with Sinfonia Toronto, Toronto Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and for Mirvish Productions.

Born in Japan and raised in Canada, pianist Dr. Lisa Tahara first came to public attention with her concerto debut aged 15. Critically acclaimed performances followed in venues across Europe, Mexico, Canada and the United States. A prizewinner at both the Canadian Music Competition and Canadian Concerto Competition in addition to numerous other awards and scholarships internationally – Lisa has given concerts extensively both as a chamber musician and soloist.

Following a successful European debut performing with the Danube Symphony Orchestra (in Budapest, Hungary) as a first-prize winner of the 2019 Piano Concerto Festival, the same orchestra called her a few months later to replace a suddenly injured colleague. This saw Lisa fly on only a few days notice to Europe and give a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto which was tremendously well received by the local press and colleagues alike.

A sought-after chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Lisa Tahara has over twenty years of experience working with instrumentalists and vocalists in addition to choral and instrumental ensembles. She is a founding member of the Integral Ensemble (formerly the Amarok Ensemble) and twice became one of only eight pianists chosen for the internationally renowned collaborative piano internship at the Banff Centre. Lisa has been invited to many chamber music festivals including the Toronto Summer Music Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and Festival Del Lago.

Her vast repertoire has seen concerto performances with orchestras across Canada including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Burnaby Symphony Orchestra, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Victoria Orchestra, Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and the Georgian Bay Symphony Orchestra.

A devoted and passionate music educator, Dr. Lisa Tahara recently joined the faculty at the University of Toronto. She also maintains an active teaching studio and her students have been awarded many top prizes in local music festivals. Dr. Tahara’s interests in music and how it affects the quality of life for older adults inspired her to conduct keyboard classes involving improvisation at the Dunfield Retirement Residency in Toronto, Ontario as part of her doctoral dissertation in 2013, and has given lectures and workshops on this subject across the country.

Lisa Tahara studied at the University of Victoria and University of Toronto, in addition to programs in Europe at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Wiener Musikseminar in Vienna. She has participated in masterclasses with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Menahem Pressler, and Andras Schiff.

Making her home in Toronto, Canada, she is a member of the College of Examiners for The Royal Conservatory of Music whilst additionally Lisa Tahara has adjudicated for numerous exams and festivals in Canada. She loves to travel and experience different cultures, and has a keen interest in reading and photography!

PROGRAM

Maddalena Lombardini - String Quartet No. 2

Maddalena Lombardini - String Quartet No. 5

Elfrida Andrée String - Quartet in D Minor 

Imogen Holst - Phantasy Quartet 

Pēteris Vasks - Fruit of Silence 

ARTISTS

Justin Kuryes (cello),  Sarah Pizzichemi (viola),  Willie Braun (violin),  Brandon Vance (violin)

Skyros Quartet brings a bright and inventive style to the performance stage, having concertized extensively on multiple continents. Skyros Quartet takes its name from the Greek isle of Skyros, one of a quartet of islands in the Aegean Sea. The members of Skyros Quartet are Sarah Pizzichemi, Brandon Vance, Justin Kurys, and Willie Braun. Established in 2010, they have been heard at some of the most prestigious venues and music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado), Seattle Chamber Music Society (Seattle), Deer Valley Music Festival (Park City, Utah), Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, Kansas), QuartetFest at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University and Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society (Ontario, Canada), the CommonTone Arts Music Festival (Moscow, Idaho), and at the University of British Columbia concert series (Vancouver, Canada). Skyros has also performed on tour in Xi’an and Hangzhou, China. In 2019, Skyros had the honor of giving the West Coast premiere of the newly composed Piano Quintet by Philip Glass with concert pianist Paul Barnes who commissioned the piece. During the 2017 season, Skyros Quartet, along with cellist Eric Wilson (Emerson String Quartet emeritus), gave the Canadian premiere of Mikołaj Górecki Elegy for Cello and String Quartet at the University of British Columbia.

Skyros released their debut album, INTROSPECTIVE ODYSSEY, to great international acclaim in August 2015. It can be heard on the Navona label of Parma Recordings, and includes works by Sibelius, Turina and Britten. As a quartet, Skyros has collaborated with many living composers in the performance of new music. Most recently performing with acclaimed percussion group arxduo, they gave the west coast premier of works for percussion duo and string quartet by Michael Laurello and Christopher Dietz. In 2019 Skyros worked with internationally renowned Latvian composer Pet̄eris Vasks presenting many of his works for string quartet. Skyros performed in the critically-acclaimed ballet Approaching Ecstasy with contemporary dance company Whim W’him, vocal ensemble The Esoterics, and composer Eric Banks. They have commissioned and premiered string quartets by Kate Skinner (Wounded Bird, She Dances, 2021), Sabrina Clarke (On Whale Beach, 2021), Liza Sobel (Prayer, 2011), and Devin Maxwell (Bouquet Canyon, CA, 2013). They have also worked with Tonia Ko (Aspen Music Festival and School), Charlie Leftridge (in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chamber Singers and again with the Esoterics), and Stephanie Martin (Sound in the Land conference at the University of Waterloo). In 2014, Skyros was featured at Fast Forward Austin, a new music festival in Austin, Texas. Skyros performed string trios and quartets by the four composers of the W4 New Music Collective: Ruben Naeff, Molly Herron, Matt Frey, and Tim Hansen. Skyros made up the core string section of the UT New Music Ensemble for its 2011- 2012 season.

Skyros earned Masters in Chamber Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, mentored by the Miró Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto. From 2012-2015, they served as the first Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music, where they completed Doctorates in Chamber Music Performance under the guidance of the Chiara String Quartet. Skyros was also mentored by Earl Carlyss (Juilliard Quartet), James Dunham (Cleveland Quartet), Sylvia Rosenberg, and members of the Takacs, American, Jupiter, and Pacifica String Quartets at the Aspen Music Festival and School Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. Skyros has also been coached extensively by the Muir and Penderecki String Quartets and composer Joan Tower.

Skyros is passionate about educating audiences to the wonders of the string quartet. They regularly visit schools, lead community engagement programs and interactive family concerts, enabling them to inspire audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. In 2015, the members of Skyros developed an in-school chamber music coaching program from the educational non-profit organization Chamber Music Guild. This in-school program provides weekly coachings to young string quartets using a curriculum designed by Skyros. The members of Skyros Quartet became artistic directors of CMG in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Skyros Quartet and CMG developed a chamber music podcast to stay connected to the larger music community called The Counterpoint Club. Members of Skyros have also served as faculty at Seattle University, Edmonds Community College, Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska), and the University of Texas at Austin String Project. At UNL, they were Graduate Teaching Assistants for chamber music outreach and a teaching-artist class that works with students to develop interactive presentations for children.

In February 2020, Skyros Quartet formed Constellation Creatives, their own non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Constellation Creatives champions innovative experiences of storytelling through the lens of music with a vision to forge an interactive cultural institution embedded in the Puget Sound community.

PROGRAM

Franz Joseph Haydn - String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No.2

Sergei Prokofiev - String Quartet No.2 in F Major, Op. 92, (“Kabardinian”)

Edward Elgar - Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84

ARTISTS

Anya Alexeyev, piano   Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Anya Alexeyev started studying at the Gnessin Music School at the age of five, and in 1989 entered Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory to become a student of the renowned professor Dmitri Bashkirov. The following year she was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Irina Zaritskaya. During her student years, Anya Alexeyev won numerous prizes including the John Hopkinson Gold Medal (Royal College of Music), Elizabeth, The Queen Mother’s Award for ” the most outstanding contribution to the Royal College of Music”, the First prize at the Newport International Piano Competition, Young Concert Artists Trust, and The Capital Radio/Anna Instone Memorial Prize.

Alexeyev has performed extensively in many countries across Europe (Britain, France, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Ireland, Greece, Germany, and Macedonia), as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Malaysia, and South Africa.

She has performed as a soloist on numerous occasions in all of London’s major concert halls – Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, and Barbican Hall. Throughout her career, she has also appeared in such venues as Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Herodes Atticus Theatre at the Acropolis in Athens, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Great Hall in Moscow Conservatory, Philharmonia Hall in St. Petersburg, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Johannesburg Symphony Hall, Dewan Filarmonik in Kuala Lumpur, Palais Montcalm in Quebec City, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and Bargemusic in New York.

She has performed concertos with many distinguished orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony, Vienna Chamber, The Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National, Deutschland Radio, City of Birmingham Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony and Sinfonietta, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, English Chamber, Belgian National Symphony, and Quebec Symphony, collaborating with such conductors as Temirkanov, Simonov, Oramo, Bakels, Judd.

Alexeyev has an extensive solo repertoire, ranging from baroque to cutting-edge contemporary music. In addition to enjoying playing standard concert repertoire,she has been following her passion for discovering lesser-known music, which resulted in performances and recordings of rarely played works and premieres. 

As a collaborative musician, she has participated in many chamber music festivals in Europe and North America.

Alexeyev has recorded for EMI, Dutton Epoch, Toccata Classics, and Marquis Classics labels. Her performances have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3 (UK), GMTV (UK), CBC (Canada), Deutschland Radio, and numerous other radio stations around the world. In 1995, she premiered Paul McCartney’s first solo piano piece, A Leaf, which was later released on CD for EMI Classics.

She is a faculty member at Wilfrid Laurier University, the Glenn Gould School, and the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists.

Penderecki String Quartet Celebrating their 36th  anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet began their career as winners of the Penderecki Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Łódz, Poland in 1986.   Now based in Waterloo, Ontario where they have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991, The Penderecki String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation.  The four Penderecki musicians (now originating from Poland, Canada, and USA) bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail).

The PSQ's international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, and Zagreb.  The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and from coast to coast in Canada.

Dedicated educators, the PSQ have been recent guests at Bloomington Indiana University’s String Academy, the Beijing Conservatory, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and with their partner universities in Osnabrück, Germany and Lyon, France.

To this day the PSQ is a devoted champion of the music of our time, having premiered over 100 new works from composers in Canada and abroad.   Penderecki Quartet's large discography includes over three dozen recordings including the chamber music repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms on both the Marquis and Eclectra labels, as well as the first Canadian release of the six Béla Bartók quartets.  Their disc of Marjan Mozetich’s “Lament in the Trampled Garden” won the 2010 JUNO Award for Best Composition.   In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  This followed with the recording of Penderecki’s Third Quartet along with quartets of Norbert Palej on the Marquis label.  In 2022, the PSQ was featured in Howard Shore’s soundtrack to David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future.

The Penderecki Quartet has performed with diverse artists such as Atar Arad, Jeremy Menuhin, Stewart Goodyear, James Campbell and have recently appeared with jazz saxophonist Jane Bunnett, jazz pianists Egberto Gismonti, Don Thomson and David Braid, pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, Dancetheatre David Earle, Pentaedre Wind Quintet, actor Colin Fox, and New York turntable artist DJ Spooky.

The Penderecki Quartet continue to be active members of the Faculty of Music at Laurier University where they have built the string program to be one of the top programs in Canada, attracting an international body of students. Their annual Quartetfest at Laurier is an intensive study seminar and concert series that has featured such ensembles as the Tokyo, Fine Arts, Lafayette, Miro, Ying, and Ariana String Quartets.

INFO COMING SOON!

INFO COMING SOON!

PROGRAM

Tabea Squire - “I danced, unseen“ for string quartet (2020)

Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 2 

Claude Debussy - String Quartet in G Minor 

ARTISTS

Helene Pohl (violin I), Monique Lapins (violin II), Gillian Ansell (viola), Rolf Gjelsten (cello)

Founded in 1987, the New Zealand String Quartet – Te Rōpu Tūrū O Aotearoa - exists to provide transformational chamber music experiences for all New Zealanders. Over the past 36 years the Quartet has established an international reputation for its insightful interpretations, compelling communication, and dynamic performing style. 

 The NZSQ provides dynamic and high-quality musical experiences for all New Zealanders embracing the fresh and familiar. The Quartet’s rich repertoire includes a wide variety of New Zealand music, composers’ cycles from Beethoven to Bartok, Mozart to Berg, and theatrical presentations encompassing spoken word and dance, from Haydn’s Seven Last Words to Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night. The NZSQ proudly champions New Zealand and Māori music and artists as cultural ambassadors at home and abroad. Since its inception, the Quartet has premiered over 150 New Zealand works, and now works closely with its Mātanga Ngā Toi Māori, taonga pūoro player Horomona Horo. 

The NZSQ takes a leadership and advocacy role in advancing music education. Devoted teachers and mentors, all members of the Quartet teach at the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī where the NZSQ has been Quartet-in-Residence since 1991, as well as running the Adam Chamber Music School in Nelson.  The NZSQ runs the NZSM Chamber Music Intensive Weekend in Wellington for up-and-coming chamber musicians, and regularly mentors students from Sistema programmes across the country. 

In 2023, Helene, Monique, Gillian, and Rolf surpassed 100 years of collective service to music in New Zealand. The three longest serving members of the Quartet have each been awarded the MNZM honour for services to music in New Zealand.

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTISTS

Celebrating their 36th  anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet began their career as winners of the Penderecki Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Łódz, Poland in 1986.   Now based in Waterloo, Ontario where they have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991, The Penderecki String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation.  The four Penderecki musicians (now originating from Poland, Canada, and USA) bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail).

The PSQ's international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, and Zagreb.  The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and from coast to coast in Canada.

Dedicated educators, the PSQ have been recent guests at Bloomington Indiana University’s String Academy, the Beijing Conservatory, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and with their partner universities in Osnabrück, Germany and Lyon, France.

To this day the PSQ is a devoted champion of the music of our time, having premiered over 100 new works from composers in Canada and abroad.   Penderecki Quartet's large discography includes over three dozen recordings including the chamber music repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms on both the Marquis and Eclectra labels, as well as the first Canadian release of the six Béla Bartók quartets.  Their disc of Marjan Mozetich’s “Lament in the Trampled Garden” won the 2010 JUNO Award for Best Composition.   In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  This followed with the recording of Penderecki’s Third Quartet along with quartets of Norbert Palej on the Marquis label.  In 2022, the PSQ was featured in Howard Shore’s soundtrack to David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future.

The Penderecki Quartet has performed with diverse artists such as Atar Arad, Jeremy Menuhin, Stewart Goodyear, James Campbell and have recently appeared with jazz saxophonist Jane Bunnett, jazz pianists Egberto Gismonti, Don Thomson and David Braid, pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, Dancetheatre David Earle, Pentaedre Wind Quintet, actor Colin Fox, and New York turntable artist DJ Spooky.

The Penderecki Quartet continue to be active members of the Faculty of Music at Laurier University where they have built the string program to be one of the top programs in Canada, attracting an international body of students. Their annual Quartetfest at Laurier is an intensive study seminar and concert series that has featured such ensembles as the Tokyo, Fine Arts, Lafayette, Miro, Ying, and Ariana String Quartets.

PROGRAM

“Love, Diversity, and Madness”

Schubert -  Piano Trio in E-flat Major (one of the major classics of the trio literature)

Shostakovich -  Piano Trio No. 1 “Poeme” (not his more famous Trio No. 2 - those who have heard No. 2 should really hear this one!) 

Paul Schoenfield -  Cafe Music (He is Professor of Composition at University of Michigan).

ARTISTS

Jung Tsai (violin), Rebecca Morton (cello) and Tomoko Inui (piano)

NOTES

Paul Schoenfield, also spelled Paul Schoenfeld or Pinchas Schoenfeld,[1] (born 1947, Detroit, Michigan) is a classical composer. He is known for combining popular, folk, and classical music forms.

He began to take piano lessons at the age of six, and wrote his first composition a year later. Among his teachers were Julius Chajes, Ozan Marsh and Rudolf Serkin. He holds a B.A. degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Doctor of Music Arts degree from the University of Arizona.

Schoenfield was formerly an active concert pianist, as a soloist and with groups including Music from Marlboro. With violinist Sergiu Luca he recorded the complete violin and piano works of Béla Bartók. He gave the premiere of his piano concerto Four Parables with the Toledo Symphony in 1983. Jeffrey Kahane recorded the work in 1994 with John Nelson and the New World Symphony. Also on the Argo CD are Vaudeville, Schoenfeld's concerto for piccolo trumpet, played by Wolfgang Basch, and Klezmer Rondos, concerto for flute, baritone and orchestra, performed by flutist Carol Wincenc. Critic Raymond Tuttle called the CD: "Some of the most life-affirming new music I've heard in a long time", while he characterized Four Parables as "wild silliness in the face of existential dread."

Andreas Boyde gave the European premiere of Four Parables in 1998 with the Dresdner Sinfoniker and Jonathan Nott, a live performance which was issued on the Athene Records label in 1999. In 2008 the work was released on Black Box Classics with Andrew Russo and the Prague Philharmonia led by JoAnn Falletta. Also on the CD Russo plays Four Souvenirs with violinist James Ehnes and the piano trio Café Music with Ehnes and cellist Edward Arron. Café Music was commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) and inspired by Schoenfeld's turn as house pianist at Murray's steakhouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It premiered at an SPCO chamber concert in January 1987 with Schoenfeld at the piano.

In 1994, the same year he was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize, an evening of Schoenfield's pieces was presented at Reinberger Hall by violinist Lev Polyakin and other members of the Cleveland Orchestra with the composer at the piano. Cleveland Orchestra principal violist Robert Vernon gave the world premiere of Schoenfield's viola concerto in 1998, and made the premiere recording, released on Naxos Records in the same year.

Schoenfield's two-act opera, The Merchant and the Pauper, was commissioned by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and given its premiere there in 1999. Its libretto is adapted from a tale fashioned and first told in 1809 by one of the most significant personalities in Hassidic history, philosophy, and lore- Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1811), the founder of the Bratslaver Hassidic sect.

Schoenfield's song cycle Camp Songs was commissioned by Seattle's Music of Remembrance (MOR). It was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2003.[3][4] The song cycle Ghetto Songs, commissioned by MOR, was recorded in 2009 by Naxos.

In 2010 Schoenfield's Sonata for Violin and Piano was premiered at Lincoln Center with Cho-Liang Lin, violin, and Jon Kimura Parker, piano.

Schoenfield was a Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan until retiring in 2021.[5]. He is also a dedicated scholar of the Talmud and of mathematics.

PROGRAM

David Sinclair's own compositions from his last two recordings, including: Bulerías, Tangos, Alegrías, Colombianas, Guajiras, Taranta, Granaína, Soléa, Rumba, Rondeña and Farruca

ARTIST

David Sinclair, flamenco guitar

¨David Sinclair is a WLU graduate with an honour´s degree in classical guitar performance, studying with Lynne Gangbar. Over the past 25 years, he has performed many concerts at the KWCMS.  He has lived in Granada, Spain since 2005 and he will be performing his own flamenco compositions from his last 2 recordings, ¨Paseo de Las Palmas¨ (2014) and ¨A Mi Padre¨(2023). 

PROGRAM

J.S. Bach: Prelude et Très Viste, Allemande, BWV 995

F. Sor: Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9 

J.S. Bach: Grave, Allegro, Andante from BWV 1003

J. Khalil: Strawhead 

H. Villa-Lobos: Prelude No. 1 in E-Minor 

J. Rodrigo: Très Pizas Españolas 

ARTIST Flavius Wagner was born in Germany (Baden-Baden) and started to play guitar at the age of 4 years. He was educated in the music school in Baden Baden for ten years. As he was 14 he changed to university of music to Stuttgart to get a pre college student. After his pre college he is now studying his bachelor also in stuttgart with Prof. Johannes Monno. In his lifetime, Flavius did a lot of national and international competitions. He won three times a first prize at „Jugend Musiziert“ this is a national german competiton. He gets a first prize by a competiton named „Gitarrophilia“ and a fourth prize in the Andres Segovia competition in germany. Also Flavius was awarded with the third prize at the „Visegrad Guitar Competition“ in Bratislava 2021. 2022 he was a finalist by the „international Hannabach prize“ in Augsburg also he was finalist by the great „Anna Amalia competition“ 2023 in Weimar (Germany). Flavius received a first prize in the competition at the International guitar Festival Sarajevo 2023, and in June 2023 he was awarded with the fourth prize by the IYC senior devision at the GFA convention in New York. Wagner is playing solo recitals and concerts, also with other instruments together as duo with violin or clarinet. He is also a part of a guitar quartet, where he is playing chamber music. Since 2022 he is lecturer for a national youth guitar and mandolin orchestra to lead the guitars in rehearsals. Many Masterclasses with world renowned teachers and guitarist like Prof. Reichenbach, Prof. Krivokapic, Prof. Andrea de Vitis and Prof, Judicaël Perroy gave him great influence and new musically and technically impulses.

PROGRAM

TBA 

ARTISTS

Adam Didderich, violin, is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began playing violin at age five. His advanced studies brought him to the University of Toronto and later to Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida for studies with Elmar Oliveira and Stephen Majeske. Most recently, he studied at the University of Miami with Glenn Basham and Felicia Moye. In addition to his violin studies, he had the opportunity to study jazz improvisation with Mark O'Connor, Vince Maggio and Whit Sidener . He has played with orchestras such as the New World Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and the Palm Beach Symphony. He also played many commercial recordings produced in Miami, including for Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Christian Castro, and many others. Since moving back to Canada in 2014 he has continued to record commercially, and has been playing with Sinfonia Toronto, Toronto Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and for Mirvish Productions.

Born in Japan and raised in Canada, pianist Dr. Lisa Tahara first came to public attention with her concerto debut aged 15. Critically acclaimed performances followed in venues across Europe, Mexico, Canada and the United States. A prizewinner at both the Canadian Music Competition and Canadian Concerto Competition in addition to numerous other awards and scholarships internationally – Lisa has given concerts extensively both as a chamber musician and soloist.

Following a successful European debut performing with the Danube Symphony Orchestra (in Budapest, Hungary) as a first-prize winner of the 2019 Piano Concerto Festival, the same orchestra called her a few months later to replace a suddenly injured colleague. This saw Lisa fly on only a few days notice to Europe and give a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto which was tremendously well received by the local press and colleagues alike.

A sought-after chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Lisa Tahara has over twenty years of experience working with instrumentalists and vocalists in addition to choral and instrumental ensembles. She is a founding member of the Integral Ensemble (formerly the Amarok Ensemble) and twice became one of only eight pianists chosen for the internationally renowned collaborative piano internship at the Banff Centre. Lisa has been invited to many chamber music festivals including the Toronto Summer Music Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and Festival Del Lago.

Her vast repertoire has seen concerto performances with orchestras across Canada including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Burnaby Symphony Orchestra, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Victoria Orchestra, Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and the Georgian Bay Symphony Orchestra.

Polish born cellist Dr. Dobrochna Zubek has established herself as a versatile artist dedicated to a wide-ranging musical repertoire and committed to exploring boundaries between artistic disciplines in her own words: “The bridge between the arts found in interdisciplinary performances fascinates me.  Through improvisation, I find that I can make a strong connection and create a dynamic and integrative performance.”  A soloist, chamber musician, orchestral cellist, and educator whose evolving and multi-faceted career has taken her to a number of cities in Europe, Asia, and North America. Over the years she has collaborated with a variety of artists such as Peter Gabriel, José Carreras, Shauna Rolston, and Gioconda Barbuto.

Zubek has held an orchestra position with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico (2009-2012) and on festival stages, she has participated as a soloist at Geneé International Ballet Competition, (2019) Banff Center for Arts and Creativity (2019) and Ottawa Chamberfest (2016) to mention the most recent. She has given a series of masterclasses in Poland, Canada, the USA, and China. Some of them as a part of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of New Music Festival held in Chinese Universities in Guiyang, Chengdu, and Hong Kong.

Zubek made her New York debut at La MAMA experimental theatre, an off-Broadway, with an all-female production of This is Why We Live for cello and two actors where she was described as a virtuoso cellist and her playing as soulful and wonderful.  As a member of Thin Edge New Music Collective, she has made a mark as a vibrant artist premiering new works in the Canadian new music scene. In a recent performance of the premier of The Pomegranate, a chamber opera written by cellist Kye Marshall, where Zubek was featured as a solo cellist.

As a recording artist, Zubek’s repertoire includes Mexico-Voyage followed by the Juno-nominated CD recording of Hymns of Heavens and Earth composed by Peter-Anthony Togni. Recent commissions and dedications include works by Lucia Álvarez, Norbert Palej, Andrzej Zubek, Parisa Sabet, and Gregory Newsome.

Zubek’s awards include, among others, first place in the Peggy Friedman Gordon Music Competition, (2002), the Sidney Liebermann Competition, (2004), and the 2007 Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Competition in the United States.

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTIST

Pianist, composer, and event organizer Michael Arnowitt is one of the most creative musicians of today. His imaginative musical landscapes, extraordinary sense of touch at the piano, and warm onstage personality have delighted audiences in concert halls around the world. He lives in the USA and Canada and has given piano performances in France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Korea. His life and music is the subject of a documentary film, “Beyond 88 Keys” (2004). The documentary, filmed in both the USA and Europe, contains footage of concert performances, educational talks, and interviews. The film has been broadcast on public television and shown at a variety of film festivals and venues including the Rode Pomp, an arts center in Gent, Belgium and the Anthology, a theater in New York City’s East Village. Once international touring resumes, he will be performing an 8 concert tour of China with the guitarist Steve Blair where the duo will perform in Beijing and other Chinese cities.

His past creative projects have included “If Music Be the Food of Love,” a performance of classical and jazz music about food with the simultaneous serving to the audience of the food tastes that inspired the composers, and a collaboration combining his piano improvisations with the live creation of paintings on stage by visual artists. In 2013, his composition “Haiku Textures” for three cello soloists and orchestra was premiered, the three cellos symbolizing the three lines of a Japanese haiku poem. He has also performed with the photographer Marjorie Ryerson a special multi-media program “Water Music” where piano music about water is combined with the projection of water photographs and readings on the subject of water written by leading musicians of today.

In 1989 Michael Arnowitt began his novel, 26-year long presentation of the complete 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, matching up his age as he performed the various sonatas with Beethoven’s age as Beethoven composed them. The eight concerts in the project, spaced out over 26 years, thereby became a study in the psychology of aging and development. Audiences have seen how Beethoven developed as a composer, how Arnowitt developed as a pianist, and the intersection of the two processes. He has performed these “Beethoven & Arnowitt” concerts throughout the United States and in Canada, Korea, and Germany.

Michael Arnowitt has appeared as piano concerto soloist with many orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Kiev Chamber Orchestra under Roman Kofman. He has performed in concert with the Ying Quartet, and has toured Canada and the United States giving duo performances with Beverley Johnston of Toronto, one of the world’s leading classical percussionists. The Washington Post said of a concert Michael Arnowitt performed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., “he played with an exquisite sense of touch, color and musical imagination.” The Rheinische Post said of a Michael Arnowitt performance in Düsseldorf, Germany, “he played with a striking virtuosity and deeply felt passion.”

Michael Arnowitt has also been the principal organizer of a number of large-scale fundraisers for humanitarian aid, among them an April 1999 benefit concert for Balkan war refugees that raised over US $10,000 and collected clothing and 300 emergency first aid kits for the refugee camps. In 2016 he organized a benefit concert for Syrian refugees, creating a special program surveying Syria’s diverse cultures, with thirty performers presenting Syrian secular and sacred music, poetry, short stories, and drama.

His current projects include working on a new composition, Sound Essence, for jazz quartet and Indonesian gamelan orchestra. He is also developing a new concept of a multi-sensory performance event where he will be collaborating with a fabric artist, chef, botanist, and technologists to create a novel concert where the audience will be presented music paired with related simultaneous experiences in all the senses – touch, smell, sight, and taste.

In 2021 he began working on writing a book of essays about music which will be published later this year by Fomite Press. These essays offer Michael Arnowitt’s insights about moments in his favorite pieces of piano and orchestral music along with anecdotes from his life as a touring concert pianist.

The internationally-known flutist and composer Louis Moyse said while in his 90’s:

“During my long musical career, I have met few really great artists in the various disciplines of the field and I am very pleased to name Michael Arnowitt, pianist and musician as one of them. He expresses his art on the highest level. I have great respect for his interpretations and his way to communicate to any audience his feelings through his love for music.”

PROGRAM

BEAUTY AND FEAR

Lera Auerbach -  Postlude

Sergei Prokofiev - Violin Sonata No. 1

Cécile Chaminade -  Trois Morceaux, Op. 31

Camille Saint-Saëns -  Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor

ARTISTS

Michael Sheppard, piano  Known as “a virtuosic soloist possessed of power, sensitivity, earthiness, and humor” (Whitney Smith, Indianapolis Star) with the “power to make an audience sit up and pay attention...thought- provoking for performers and listeners alike” (James Manheim, All Music Guide ), Michael Sheppard was a winner of the prestigious American Pianists Association Classical Fellow Award, a designation that led to the release of a critically acclaimed solo recording by Harmonia Mundi in 2007.

As a pianist, conductor and composer, Michael gives masterclasses, teaches and plays with some of the top singers and instrumentalists around the US; he also coaches singers, instrumentalists, and conductors, working at both the Peabody Conservatory and the Baltimore School for the Arts, sharing his love and understanding of music and the artistic process with future generations.

Jessica Tong, violin  Canadian violinist Jessica Tong has garnered international acclaim as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, having been described as an "outstanding talent" (Performing Arts in Canada) with "keen sensitivity and receptivity" (Bloomington Herald Times), who "allow[s] us to savour her sense of ardour and intensity, but never at the detriment of her tonal beauty." (ClassiqueInfo France). She has been a top prizewinner at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, the Toronto Symphony, Canadian Music and Yellow Springs International Chamber Music Competitions and has served as first violinist of both the Vinca and Larchmere String Quartets, during which time she was Artist-in-Residence for the Perlman Music Program in Florida, the ProQuartet Odyssée Program in France and at the University of Evansville in Indiana.

She is currently the Violin Professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia, Chamber Music Director of the Composers Conference, and the newly appointed Artistic Advisor at Avaloch Farm Music Institute.

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTISTS

Marcus Scholtes, violin 

Marcus Willem Scholtes is currently the Associate Concertmaster of Sinfonia Toronto, a Juno-award-winning ensemble. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he graduated with a Doctor of Music degree in Violin Performance in the studio of renowned pedagogue Mimi Zweig.

A multi-talented artist, Marcus is an active soloist on both the violin and piano, at times even performing as a soloist on both instruments on the same concert program. As pianist, he has most recently performed Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto, and has performed solo piano programs in South Korea.

As Concertmaster, Marcus has led the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival orchestra in Germany, and has performed and toured much of Europe with this ensemble, including concerts in Spain, Turkey, Poland, Budapest, the Czech Republic, and Denmark. Marcus is also an original member of Aldeburgh Strings based in the UK, which has recently recorded two CDs, both released to critical acclaim in the UK and Germany. Outside of his musical interests, he is a driving and automotive enthusiast.

Miriam Stewart-Kroeker, cello 

Miriam Stewart-Kroeker is a native of Hamilton, Ontario, where she began her studies at the age of 5.  She studied with Paul Pulford and the Penderecki String Quartet at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she received an Honours Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance as well as a Diploma in Chamber Music Performance.  She went on to complete a Master’s degree in Cello Performance at McGill University under the direction of Matt Haimovitz. She recently joined the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony cello section in January 2020.

​On top of performing with various orchestras throughout Ontario, Miriam is an active chamber musician.  She is a founding member of the Andromeda Piano Trio, who perform frequently for a number of chamber music series in the region, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, Guelph Connections Chamber Music Series, Conrad Grebel Noon Hour series, Toronto Chamber Players series and more.  In 2013 Miriam completed a winter residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in solo and chamber music, and her chamber ensembles have been the recipients of a number of awards. She has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Choir and the Georgian Bay Symphony

Ben Smith, piano

Described as having “scintillating technique” (Barrie Examiner), pianist Benjamin Smith has performed both as soloist and chamber musician across Canada and the United States. He has been a laureate of numerous competitions, including the Dublin International Piano Competition, the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, and the CMC Stepping Stone Competition. Guest appearances include the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the Las Vegas Young Artists Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic, Orchestra London, the Burlington Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, and the University of Toronto’s Hart House Orchestra. As soloist, he has performed under esteemed conductors Rossen Milanov, Marco Parisotto, and Yunior Lopez, with concertos including rarities such as the Schoenberg Piano Concerto. Summer festival performances include repeat appearances at Toronto, Stratford, Niagara, Port Milford, and New Park (Ithaca, NY). American performances include recitals for the Texas Chopin Society and Chicago’s Landowska Harpsichord Society. Recent seasons have seen two concerts in Carnegie Hall: once as soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue with the Hart House Orchestra, and previously in recital with Canadian cellist Dongkyun An. A disc with Mr. An of Saint-Saens, Schumann, and Beethoven was released in December 2016. Other commercial recordings available include a disc of Canadian chamber music (Aboriginal Inspirations, 2017) and extensive recordings for the 2022 Royal Conservatory Celebration piano series.

Devoting considerable time to chamber music, Ben has been heard nationally across Canada on CBC Music, as well as radio broadcasts in the UK. He has partnered in recital with a myriad of renowned artists including Martin Beaver, Timothy Chooi, Colin Carr, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Jacques Israelievitch, Jinjoo Cho, Stanislav Pronin, Gábor Tarkövi, Øystein Baadsvik, and William VerMeulen, as well as with ensembles such as the Penderecki, Cecilia, Annex, and Tokai string quartets. For two seasons he performed as one-third of the Israelievitch-Smith-Ahn piano trio. Involved with music of our time as well, he is regularly found playing keyboards with the Esprit Orchestra in Toronto, and has worked with composers John Corigliano, Reinaldo Moya, and Chandler Carter.

Increasingly in demand as a teacher, Ben has been active as an adjudicator and juror for festivals and competitions for many years, and has adjudicated many of the largest music festivals in Canada. His students have had success in this realm as well, including the CFMTA National festival. He has also served on panels for competitions internationally, most recently for the OPUS competition in the US.

Dr. Smith currently resides in Toronto, maintaining a concert schedule and serving on the faculties of both the Glenn Gould School (GGS) and the Taylor Young Artist Academy at the Royal Conservatory. Previously, he held a position on the piano faculty at Western University. His principal teachers included Andrea Battista, James Anagnoson, Julian Martin, and Christina Dahl. Along with a DMA from Stony Brook University, he holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Toronto, an Artist Diploma from the GGS, and a Masters from Juilliard.

PROGRAM

Schubert -  Shepherd on the Rock 

+ TBA

ARTISTS

James Kenneth Campbell (b. Leduc, Alberta, near Edmonton, 10 August 1949) is a Canadian/American clarinetist. He has more than 40 recordings, a Juno Award, a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year, the Order of Canada, and The Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Since 1988, Campbell has been teaching clarinet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He has been the Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario since 1985.

He won the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Talent Festival and the JM International Clarinet Competition in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1971. In 1972 he represented Canada at the 26th Congress of the International Federation of JM at Augsburg. Additionally, he was a semi-finalist in the Budapest International Clarinet Competition in 1970.

He was a jury member on various competitions, including the 1987 Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Belgrade, along with Walter Boeykens (Belgium), Thea King (UK), Ludwig Kurkiewicz (Poland), Milenko Stefanovic (Yugoslavia), Ernest Ackun (Yugoslavia), Marko Rudzak (Yugoslavia) and Stjepan Rabuzin (Yugoslavia)

The Canadian Music Council named him artist of the year in 1989, and he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1997.

Leslie Fagan, Soprano

I have performed under the batons of such noted conductors as Hans Graf, Sir David Willcocks, Jukke Pekke Saraste, Kent Tritle, Heinz Ferlisch, Victor Borge and Elmer Isler and have delighted audiences and critics alike at Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Bordeaux Opera House, Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall.

Highlights of my past engagements include: a solo concert of music of Stravinsky and Debussy with the Bordeaux Aquitaine Symphonie Nationale, France; Bach's Weinachts Oratorium in Stuttgart, Germany; Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England; Tafelmusik Orchestra and Choir in Toronto, Ontario; and an engagement as guest soloist at the International Choral Festival in Gouda, Netherlands.

In the spring of 2009, I premiered 5 Mendelssohn Lieder at Steinway Hall in New York with the Clarion Music Society. The previous season marked my official Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debut. I have been invited by both the Oratorio Society of New York under the direction of Kent Tritle and Music Sacra under the baton of Richard Westenburg to sing their performances of Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall. My Lincoln Center Debut was singing Carmina Burana with Musica Sacra and the world premier of Alessandro Cadario’s Cantata for Revival.

I have been fortunate enough to share the stage with many great artists including Victor Borge, Lois Marshall and Maureen Forrester.

On the opera stage, I have sung the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix; Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte; Sophie in Massenet's Werther; and Musetta in Verdi's La Boheme and Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff. At the Aldeburgh Festival in England, I performed the roles of Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

I can be heard frequently on CBC radio and have appeared on CBC television, BBC radio, BBC television and NPR.

Personal website: www.lesliefagan.com

Angela Park, piano

Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists. Praised for her “stunningly beautiful pianism” (Grace Welsh Prize, Chicago), “beautiful tone and sensitivity” (American Record Guide), and for performing “with such brilliant clarity it took your breath away” (Chapala, Mexico). Angela’s versatility as both soloist and chamber musician has led to performances across Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has performed for such notable series as Montreal’s Pro Musica, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut Tours, Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Stratford Symphony, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.

Angela developed a passion for chamber music early on in her music studies, and this has led to a varied career as a chamber musician. She has developed a longstanding collaborative partnership with violist Sharon Wei, both as a duo, and as former founding members (2006-2022) of the renowned Ensemble Made In Canada. Their work together reached across every province and territory across Canada, culminating in a JUNO Award for their Mosaïque Album in 2021. They have also toured as a duo for Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut, and continue to collaborate regularly with other musicians across the country.

Cellist Rachel Mercer and Angela have also forged an important duo partnership since their first performance in 2006. As the Mercer-Park Duo, they have performed and recorded a vast range of repertoire for cello and piano with a focus on Canadian contemporary composers. Rachel and Angela have been privileged to work with violinist Yehonatan Berick as the AYR Trio (2010-2020), with Mayumi Seiler as the Seiler Trio, and with Scott St. John as the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio.

Angela was previously a pianist for Piano Six – New Generation, an organization that toured remote communities across Canada. In 2019 she joined pianist Stéphan Sylvestre to form a piano duo, focusing on the complete Brahms Symphonies in their four-hand versions. Among other collaborations, Angela has performed with such international artists as violist Rivka Golani, violinist Martin Beaver, clarinetist James Campbell, soprano Leslie Fagan, and leading members of the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies.

Past and future highlights include a world premiere of John Burge’s Second Piano Concerto with Sinfonia Toronto, solo recitals for Confluence Concerts in Toronto and Consortium Aurora Borealis in Thunder Bay, tours with Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic, performances with Lyrica Baroque in New Orleans, Louisiana, collaborative recitals at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Ensemble Made In Canada tours of Canada and the United States. Angela has recorded independent solo albums, and collaborative discs with cellist Rachel Mercer and Ensemble Made In Canada for labels including NAXOS Canadian Classics, Centrediscs, and Enharmonic Records. She is also featured on a recording of Srul Irving Glick’s Suites Hébraïques with clarinetist James Campbell, saxophonist Wallace Halladay, and violinist Barry Shiffman.

In 2010 Angela earned her DMA in Performance from the Université de Montréal, and previously received her MMus and BMus degrees from the University of Toronto. From 2011-2014, Angela was Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She has given masterclasses and educational outreach workshops for universities and communities across Canada, as well as at SUNY New Paltz, Stanford, and Indiana University in the United States. Angela has been Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at Western University since 2019. She is a regular guest teacher at Music at Port Milford, a summer chamber music academy for high school students. Angela is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton, and sits on the board of the Stratford Summer Music Festival. 

PROGRAM

Arvo Pärt (b.1935) -  Für Alina (1976) 

Charles T. Griffes (1884-1920) -  Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan (1915) 

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - Sonata in B minor 

Intermission

Gian-Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) - Ricercare and Toccata (1953) 

(on a theme from “The Old Maid and the Thief”) 

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) -  Three Préludes, Book Two (1913) 

Géneral Lavine-eccentric

Bruyères

Feux d’artifice

Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) -  Caprice Espagnol, Op. 37 

ARTIST

Michael Lewin is one of America’s foremost concert pianists, winning over audiences in 30 countries with playing of “majestic power and searing emotion.” (The London Times). His career was launched with top prizes in the Franz Liszt International Competition, the American Pianists Association Award and the William Kapell (University of Maryland) International Piano Competition. His recordings have won a Grammy Award and a Roundglass Music Award.

He has appeared as orchestral soloist with the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony, China National Radio Orchestra, Bucharest Philharmonic, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, State Symphony of Greece, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and the Phoenix, Indianapolis, Miami, North Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, New Orleans, Colorado, Guadalajara, and Puerto Rico Symphonies. Solo appearances include New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theatre, Holland’s Muziekcentrum, Moscow’s Great Hall, the Athens Megaron, the National Gallery of Art, the Newport, Ravinia and Spoleto Festivals and PBS Television. His extensive repertoire includes over 40 piano concertos, with particular interest in the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and a host of American and Latin American composers.

Mr. Lewin’s award-winning discography on Sono Luminus, Naxos and Centaur includes a pair of acclaimed Debussy recordings entitled “Beau Soir” and “Starry Night”, the complete piano music of Charles T. Griffes and Scarlatti Sonatas for Naxos, “Michael Lewin plays Liszt,” “A Russian Piano Recital”, “Bamboula!” piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, “Piano Phantoms,” “If I Were a Bird” and the 4 Violin Sonatas by William Bolcom with Irina Muresanu.

Michael Lewin is Professor and Head of Piano at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Classical Music Director for Ethos Music in China. He gives master classes worldwide, directs the Boston Conservatory Piano Masters Series and has taught many prize-winning and successful pianists. He is a Juilliard School graduate and a Steinway Artist. His teachers included Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefebure, Adele Marcus and Irwin Freundlich. Please visit www.michaellewin.com for more information.

PROGRAM

Mozart: Divertimento K. 563

Janacek: String Quartet No. 1

and more TBA

ARTISTS

Jung Tsai, violin Based in Ontario, Canada, violinist Jung Tsai has performed extensively in the region where she has served as 2nd Associate Concertmaster in Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra in Waterloo region in the past. Her other main appearances include performing as guest concertmaster and guest soloist with several local symphony orchestras in Ontario. Ms. Tsai is also a committed chamber musician in addition to her solo and orchestral performances. She has participated in the ensembles of string quartet and piano trio in the past which brought her to performances in North America. Recently she has been part of Coriolis chamber ensemble that has been annually presented in chamber series concert in Quebec and Ontario provinces. Jung received her Bachelor degree in Mannes The New School for Music (New York), Master Degree in DePaul School of Music (Chicago) and Artist Diploma in McGill School of Music (Montreal). During her stay in the United States she has won several prizes including winner of Mannes Community Concerto Competition, finalists of Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and Luminaries Fellowship winner of string category. Her past teachers include Nina Beilina, Ilya Kaler, Axel Strauss, Jonathan Crow and Denise Lupien. Based in Ontario, Canada, violinist Jung Tsai has performed extensively in the region where she has served as 2nd Associate Concertmaster in Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra in Waterloo region in the past. Her other main appearances include performing as guest concertmaster and guest soloist with several local symphony orchestras in Ontario. Ms. Tsai is also a committed chamber musician in addition to her solo and orchestral performances. She has participated in the ensembles of string quartet and piano trio in the past which brought her to performances in North America. Recently she has been part of Coriolis chamber ensemble that has been annually presented in chamber series concert in Quebec and Ontario provinces. Jung received her Bachelor degree in Mannes The New School for Music (New York), Master Degree in DePaul School of Music (Chicago) and Artist Diploma in McGill School of Music (Montreal). During her stay in United States she has won several prizes including winner of Mannes Community Concerto Competition, finalists of Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and Luminaries Fellowship winner of string category. Her past teachers include Nina Beilina, Ilya Kaler, Axel Strauss, Jonathan Crow and Denise Lupien. 

Xueao Yang, violin A native of China, Xueao began studying the violin at the age of four. At the age of twelve, she was accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She obtained her Bachelor of music with outstanding achievement and Master’s degree From McGill University. She also received her Performance Certificate in violin at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has also been the recipient of many scholarships due to her incredible musicianship, including but not limited to: the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Scholarship, the HP Robert Fung Scholarship, the Bill&Judy Watson Scholarship, and the Williamson Music Foundation Scholarship. Her teachers include Kevin Lawrence, Violaine Melançon, Denise Lupien and Felica Moye. Xueao was a member of Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal at the Montréal Chamber Music Festival in 2021 and a participant of the National arts Centre Orchestra Mentorship Program in 2022. Xueao has performed in music festivals such as Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, (USA), Zodiac Music Festival( France), Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival(USA), Pacific Music Festival (Japan) and the Brott Music Festival. She has been featured in solo masterclasses for James Ehnes, Daniel Philips and Donald Weilerstein. Xueao has frequently played with major orchestras in Canada, including Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, guest principal second violin with the Regina Symphony and the National Ballet of Canada. She served as associate principal second violin of the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for the 2022-2023 season. 

Jody Davenport, viola Judith is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studied with members of the Penderecki String Quartet. She has been a member of the National Youth Orchestra, continuing her summer studies in Banff at the Orford Arts Centre and has participated in a number of QuartetFests at Wilfrid Laurier University. An avid chamber musician, Judith has performed on series such as the Stratford Summer Music Festival, KWS’s Baroque and Beyond, Leith Summer Festival, Perimeter Institute’s Bistro Series, Festival of the Sound, and the KWMS to name just a few. She is currently a member of the INNERchamber String Quartet. 

As an educator, Judith is very active in the Kitchener-Waterloo community teaching at Wilfrid Laurier, University of Waterloo (Conrad Grebel), as well as maintaining a small private studio. Judith is part of the resident faculty for IMC (Interprovincial Music Camp) and City of Lakes Strings Retreat at the Canadian Ecology Centre.  She is a long-time coach for the KW Symphony’s Youth Orchestra program and is in high demand as a clinician across Southern Ontario. 

Judith held the position of Associate Principal Viola with the KWS since October 2002 and maintains an active freelance career across Southern Ontario. Most recently, she was a member of the band for the North American debut of the new hit musical &Juliet in Toronto (Mirvish Productions).  She lives in Kitchener with her husband, Jeff and their small but mighty Scottish Terrier, Gus.

Rebecca Morton, cello Bio coming soon....

PROGRAM

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ARTISTS

For twenty-four years through live performances and acclaimed recordings, violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves have built an international career in the Canadian chamber ensemble Duo Concertante. Their name comes from the inscription over Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata, “in stilo molto concertante,” which implies the two performers are equal, dynamic voices. This defines their unique artistic relationship and the “deeply integrated performances that flow naturally as if the music were being created on the spot” (Gramophone). Outstanding musicians, champions of new Canadian music, visionary artistic directors, and inspiring mentors, Duo Concertante have forged a musical legacy and strive to provoke thought and engagement through music in innovative ways.

After their first concert in 1997, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald called Duo Concertante “two packages of musical dynamite that would credit any stage on the planet.” Since then, they have performed in more than 700 concerts across North America, Europe, Central America and China. Their recitals have received numerous accolades including the following critical quotes from national and international press:

• Grace and fire… fury and repose…a triumphant mass of non-stop energy – Wholenote

• Majesty, passion and excitement. Inspiring! – Wiener Zeitung (Vienna)

• Artistry, poetry and impeccable technique – La scena musicale

Duo Concertante’s recordings have set the benchmarks for musicians around the world. Of their epic recording Beethoven: Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano (a 3 CD album), preeminent critic John Terauds stated “…these beautiful interpretations are so good right down to the tiniest of details that they deserve to be called a reference in… contemporary performance”. Gramophone writes that Dahn and Steeves “do Atlantic Canada proud in this splendid new set” and describes their interpretation as a “miracle of… knowledge and poetry”. The album received critical praise in German, Austrian, British and Canadian media; it was featured for months on Air Canada’s entertainment system and is heard on CBC radio almost weekly.

Duo Concertante have twelve other acclaimed recordings on top Canadian labels ATMA, Centrediscs, and Marquis, many of which have won awards and special recognitions. The all-Canadian works CD Wild Bird includes Murray Schafer’s Duo for Violin and Piano which won a 2011 Juno Award (Classical Composition of the Year). A two-disc set of J.S. Bach’s Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard, received the first of three consecutive ECMAs for Classical Recording of the Year, followed by Incarnation in 2018 and Perfect Light in 2019. Their Franz Schubert: Music for Violin and Piano was selected by CBC Music as one of “Canada’s Top 20 Classical Albums of 2020.” Ecology of Being, released in 2022, features music written especially for Duo Concertante and inspired by the climate emergency. It has been praised as “a powerful and deeply moving album performed with world-class expressiveness and musicality …. This release is a stunning collection of highly personal works wonderfully performed by the duo.” (The Wholenote)

Duo Concertante are the founders and artistic directors of the Tuckamore Festival – an internationally acclaimed chamber musical festival held for two weeks each August. For 22 years, Tuckamore – a major contributor to the cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador – has put the province on the map by welcoming leading artists and emerging musicians worldwide to St. John’s. The Tuckamore Festival has presented more than 140 outstanding guest artists; mentored more than 400 young musicians and composers representing 10 countries around the globe; travelled to more than two dozen communities for school tours and performances; and produced more than 500 performances and events. In addition to Tuckamore, Duo Concertante regularly perform and collaborate with other artists of international stature at summer music festivals throughout North America, including the Ottawa International Chamberfest, Cactus Pear Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music, Festival of the Sound, Indian River Festival, Domaine Forget and Music Niagara.

As champions of Canadian music, Duo Concertante have few equals, and their lasting impact will be a legacy of new works created through their unprecedented commitment to commissioning new works. To date the duo has been responsible for sixty-nine new works and original arrangements for violin and piano by leading composers. This includes works by Andrew P. MacDonald (Double Concerto for violin and piano, Op. 51), Alice Ho (Capriccio Ballo, Cœur à cœur), Chan Ka Nin (Cool Mountain Water, Late in a Slow Time, Incarnation), Denis Gougeon (Chants du cœur), Omar Daniel (Wild Honey), Jean Lesage (Portrait of a Sentimental Musician in a Distorting Mirror), Kelly-Marie Murphy (Dance Me to Your Beauty with a Burning Violin), Brian Current (Faster Still with string quartet), Linda Bouchard (Spill Out), Kati Agócs (Supernatural Love), Andrew Staniland (The River within Us…, The Ocean is Full of its Own Collapse) and Jocelyn Morlock (Petrichor, Asylum). The Duo regularly includes new Canadian pieces alongside standard repertoire in such prestigious venues as Wigmore Hall (London), Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall (New York City), Shanghai City Theatre, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Roy Thomson Hall and the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and the Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing), among others.

Duo Concertante uses music as a means of drawing attention to issues of historical and social importance, often in collaboration with composers, writers, dancers, and actors. They also enjoy performing for children; their Ecology of Being and What life Throws at You programs have been shared with over 1500 students across Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 2020, Duo Concertante has been active creating unique music videos. Melissa Hui’s piece from the Ecology of Being project was made into a 21-minute film and won Best Experimental Film and Best Original Score at the 2020 IndieX Filmfest (Los Angeles). In 2022, the Duo created SOLACE – four films with music by Dawn Avery, Alice Ho, Jessie Montgomery and Cesar Franck. The Jessie Montgomery film, End of the Line, was an award winner at the Los Angeles Women’s Independent Film Festival.

Upcoming projects and commissions for 2023-2024 include a 60-minute dramatic/musical piece by playwright Robert Chafe and composer Randolph Peters which addresses issues relating to ocean change and sustainability, a new sonata written for the Duo by German composer Stefan Heucke, and a 40-minute multimedia piece by composer Alice Ho and animator Duncan Major inspired by Tom Dawe’s Newfoundland ghost stories.

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTISTS

This excellent ensemble is the Quartet in Residence at the Mannes School of Music in Manhattan. They all attended Rochester School of Music in the state of New York, and selected their name from the formerly huge Kodak company situated in Rochester.

Kodak Quartet is violinist Edgar Donati, violinist Martin Noh, violist Daniel Spink and cellist Blake Kitayama. They have performed with Grammy winning artists Time for Three, Kronos Quartet, and Jack Quartet and worked with members of the American, Beethoven, Juilliard, Pacifica, Verona, Jupiter, Arianna, JACK, and Ying Quartets.

“The dynamic, award-winning string quartet, Kodak Quartet, is setting the world on fire with their passionate and energetic playing". They are highly regarded for their work with contemporary composers on new compositions and for presenting traditional works with a contemporary flavor. Kodak's members hail from the US, Canada and France. Their international performance career brings concerts to a great diversity of people, season highlights include concerts at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. They have also performed for thousands of children at non-traditional performance venues including school concerts, movie theaters, and working alongside Rob Kapilow in his program “What Makes it Great?”. Kodak Quartet formed in Rochester, New York while attending the Eastman School of Music and are currently based in New York, NY.

Kodak Quartet has performed with Grammy winning artists Time for Three, Kronos Quartet, and Jack Quartet. They have worked with members of the American, Beethoven, Juilliard, Pacifica, Verona, Jupiter, Arianna, JACK, and Ying Quartets. The Kodak Quartet is currently the Cuker and Stern Resident String Quartet at the Mannes School of Music. “ [from their web pages on google)

Born in South Africa to French and Spanish parents, Edgar Donati is a true citizen of the world. He is fluent in three languages and has lived in many different countries, forging his own eclectic style. He began his studies at the age of 5 with Tedi Papavrami and Viollça Agolli, immediately winning first prize in Paris’ Flame Competition and the Vatelot Violin Competition. After moving to Serbia and winning first prize in the International Petar Konjovic Competition and the Young Artists Podium, Edgar made his solo debut with the Serbian Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra. He maintains an active performing career, and has given several solo recitals in Belgrade’s Kolarac Concert Hall and at the Serbian Academy of Fine Arts (SANU). He is also regularly invited to perform in Montreal, France, and Guadeloupe.

Edgar spent time at the Conservatoire National Régional de Paris before moving to North America where he received his Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music from McGill University’s Schulich School, studying with Marcelle Mallette and Axel Strauss. He also holds a Performer Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University under the tutelage of Mauricio Fuks. He has worked with Salley Koo and currently studies with Lucie Robert at the Mannes School of Music, as part of the graduate string quartet. He has also worked with several famous masters such as Alexandre Brussilovski, Vladimir Landsman, Dejan Bogdanovic, Yuri Volguine, Boris Kuschnir and Zakhar Bron

The Korean-Canadian violinist, Martin Noh, was born in South Korea and raised in Canada. He is an active performer, playing solo, chamber, and improvised works both nationally and internationally. In 2015, Martin made his debut with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and since then, has performed as a soloist with various symphony and chamber orchestras throughout Ontario. In 2017, he was selected as a national finalist at the Canadian Music Competition.

Martin has traveled the world as an orchestral musician, performing in world-renowned venues across North America, Europe, and abroad. A scholarship recipient at the Eastman School Of Music, Martin studied under the tutelage of Professor Oleh Krysa and has worked closely with members of the Ying Quartet as part of the Intensive Chamber music seminar. He has also worked with Salley Koo at Montclair State University. Martin is currently studying with Lucie Robert as part of the Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet residency.

In addition to his active performing career, Martin is also a dedicated teacher. He has maintained his international studio for over 5 years, sharing his knowledge and passion for music with students around the world.

Outside of violin, Martin enjoys playing various sports such as table tennis, basketball, badminton, and tennis. He currently plays on a violin made by Andranik Gaybaryan in 2018.

Blake Kitayama is a chamber musician, orchestral cellist, and music educator who strives to foster an accessible musical dialogue. Blake made his solo debut with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in 2003. Alongside positions with the Jackson Symphony and Huntsville Symphony, he most recently held a position with the Winston Salem Symphony and has recorded for Navano Records. In addition to performing recitals across the United States, Blake has appeared on national broadcasts APM’s Performance Today and WDAV. He currently enjoys performing concerts and outreach nationally and internationally with the Kodak Quartet.

An advocate for collaboration and new music, Blake has continuously worked across genres. He has provided cello and vocal harmonies for songwriters such as Sofie Zamchick, Anna Schofield, Fermata Caesura, and Fox Apt . In the classical world, he has also debuted dozens of new classical works for mixed ensembles written by his contemporaries.

As an educator, Blake has extensive experience working with all ages and backgrounds. He has maintained a private studio for over 8 years, and has taught at summer festivals alongside the Phoenix Quartet. He seeks to build curiosity and engage his students in the awareness and process that is cello playing.

He earned a Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University under the instruction of Felix Wang and his Master of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with Brooks Whitehouse. He most recently studied with Christine Lamprea at Montclair State University and Jay Campbell at the Mannes School of Music, as a member of the Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet.

Daniel Spink, violist, is an active performer, and collaborator with living composers. He has premiered and recorded new works for both solo viola and string quartet. He 

performs nationally and internationally as a solo, chamber, orchestral musician, and teacher with both violin and viola and with the string quartet, Kodak Quartet. Daniel regularly performs in outreach settings including past solo appearances with Central City Opera’s Inside the Orchestra chamber music performances for Merkin Hall’s “Bridges” series, the Eastman School’s Music for All series, and the Rochester Early Music Festival for Coffee Connection. Daniel has been a member of CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra since 2019. Daniel made his solo debut with orchestra at age 10 on violin. In 2016, Daniel was a finalist in the American Viola Society Festival’s National Solo Competition.  A lover of cross genre improvisation, he teaches and regularly performs in improvised concerts. In 2016, Daniel was a finalist in the American Viola Society Festival’s National Solo Competition. As a teacher, Daniel maintains a selective international studio of students across the US and overseas, including students In Europe, the UK, Japan, and Singapore. Daniel teaches violin, viola, and improvisation. Mr. Spink received his Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music at the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Carol Rodland and Masumi Per Rostad and was professor Rostad’s teaching assistant.   Growing up in Colorado gave Daniel a lifelong love of sunshine and the outdoors.  Away from the viola, he enjoys practicing mixed martial arts, swimming, cycling, and hiking and has performed as a jazz saxophonist at jazz clubs and venues in Denver.   Daniel plays an unnamed Italian violin from the 1860’s on generous loan from the Eastman School of music, and viola made by Nicolas Augustin Chappuy in 1768.

PROGRAM

Nov 6 - Concert 1

Brahms -  Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120, No. 1

Brahms -  Selections from Op. 116-119

Brahms -  Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, Op. 114

Nov 7 - Concert 2

Brahms -  Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120 No. 2

Brahms - Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115

ARTISTS

James Kenneth Campbell (b. Leduc, Alberta, near Edmonton, 10 August 1949) is a Canadian/American clarinetist. He has more than 40 recordings, a Juno Award, a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year, the Order of Canada, and The Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Since 1988, Campbell has been teaching clarinet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He has been the Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario since 1985.

He won the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Talent Festival and the JM International Clarinet Competition in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1971. In 1972 he represented Canada at the 26th Congress of the International Federation of JM at Augsburg. Additionally, he was a semi-finalist in the Budapest International Clarinet Competition in 1970.

He was a jury member on various competitions, including the 1987 Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Belgrade, along with Walter Boeykens (Belgium), Thea King (UK), Ludwig Kurkiewicz (Poland), Milenko Stefanovic (Yugoslavia), Ernest Ackun (Yugoslavia), Marko Rudzak (Yugoslavia) and Stjepan Rabuzin (Yugoslavia)

The Canadian Music Council named him artist of the year in 1989, and he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1997.

Leo Erice  Spanish pianist Leopoldo Erice enjoys a performing and teaching career, which has brought him to Europe, the two Americas, Asia, and Africa.  Among his performances, the recitals with cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, clarinettist James Campbell, the Cecilia, Quiroga, Vega, and Penderecki String Quartets, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española are especially noteworthy.  He is a faculty member at the University of Ottawa (Canada), has been a member of the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), has held the position of Associate Professor of Music at the American University of Sharjah (UAE), and also has taught at Middle Tennessee State University (USA).  Leopoldo has been guest faculty at Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio (Spain) and at Middlebury College (USA).

In 2006 Leopoldo founded the Festival Internacional de Música Clásica de Ribadeo (Spain), a summer chamber music festival and workshop whose mission is to offer high quality programming, to bring culture closer to the general public, and to develop the artistic abilities of its students.  The FIMCR has established itself as one of the cultural references of Northwestern Spain (www.fimcr.com)

Leopoldo has won several prestigious awards, including first prize at the Ciudad de Albacete National Piano Competition, and the prize for the best collaborative pianist at the Acisclo Fernández International Singing Competition, which he won by a unanimous jury vote.  He has also made recordings for television and radio programs in Spain, Argentina, Syria, and the USA.

Penderecki String Quartet

Jeremy Bell, violin

Jerzy Kapłanek, violin

Christine Vlajk, viola

Katie Schlaikjer, cello

The PSQ have been Quartet-in-Residence at Canada's Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991. Current members are from Poland, Canada, and the USA. Previously they were affiliated with the University of Wisconsin (1988–91). The quartet's annual Quartetfest at Laurier is an intensive study seminar and concert series.

The quartet's recording of Marjan Mozetich's Lament in the Trampled Garden won the Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year in 2010.

The Penderecki String Quartet is a champion of contemporary music and has premiered or commissioned over 100 new works from composers in Canada and abroad. Selected composers include Andrew Ager; Carmen Braden; Glenn Buhr; Ka Nin Chan; Brian Cherney; Omar Daniel; Srđan Dedić; John Estacio; Anthony Genge; Jarosław Gołembiowski; Peter Hatch; Christos Hatzis; Daniel Janke; Veronika Krausas;[4] Alice Ho; Matthew Malsky; David L. McIntyre; Piotr Grella-Możejko; Kelly-Marie Murphy; Norbert Palej; Laurie Radford; Jeffrey Ryan; J. Mark Scearce; David Scott; Linda Catlin Smith; Jesse Stewart; Kotoka Suzuki; and Marek Żebrowski.

In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

The Penderecki String Quartet was the first Canadian quartet to have recorded the complete Béla Bartók string quartet cycle.

In 2015 Polish composer Marek Żebrowski wrote "Fire" ("Pożar") for the quartet, which David Lynch used for his animated short of the same name.

The Penderecki String Quartet has performed world-wide, including appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Kraków, Vilnius, and Zagreb. The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil and from coast to coast in Canada.

PROGRAM

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) -  Piano Trio in E-flat Major

Darren Sigesmund -  New Work

Robert Schumann - Trio No. 1 in D Minor Op. 63

ARTISTS

Violinist Scott St. John, from London Ontario, is known for his joyful style of music-making and inspiring chamber music coaching. Scott is Concertmaster and Artistic Partner of the innovative ROCO Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, and teaches Chamber Music at University of Toronto. He performs frequently with the St. John – Mercer – Park Piano Trio, and returns often to the summertime Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Recently Scott was appointed as “Chamber Music Artist-in-Residence” at Western University in London Ontario.

Rachel Mercer Described as a “pure chamber musician” (The Globe and Mail) creating “moments of pure magic” (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents.

Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Artistic Director of the “5 at the First” Chamber Music Series in Hamilton. Rachel regularly collaborates with her longtime duo partner, pianist Angela Park, and was cellist of JUNO Award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008–2020), AYR Trio (2010–2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002–2010). Rachel has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa, and in Israel and has given talks on performance, careers, and the music business. An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 25 solo and chamber works, including cello concertos by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau.

Rachel is now the Principal Cellis, NYCO.

Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists. Praised for her “stunningly beautiful pianism” (Grace Welsh Prize, Chicago), “beautiful tone and sensitivity” (American Record Guide), and for performing “with such brilliant clarity it took your breath away” (Chapala, Mexico). Angela’s versatility as both soloist and chamber musician has led to performances across Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has performed for such notable series as Montreal’s Pro Musica, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut Tours, Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Stratford Symphony, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.

 Angela developed a passion for chamber music early on in her music studies, and this has led to a varied career as a chamber musician. She has developed a longstanding collaborative partnership with violist Sharon Wei, both as a duo, and as former founding members (2006-2022) of the renowned Ensemble Made In Canada. Their work together reached across every province and territory across Canada, culminating in a JUNO Award for their Mosaïque Album in 2021. They have also toured as a duo for Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut, and continue to collaborate regularly with other musicians across the country.

Cellist Rachel Mercer and Angela have also forged an important duo partnership since their first performance in 2006. As the Mercer-Park Duo, they have performed and recorded a vast range of repertoire for cello and piano with a focus on Canadian contemporary composers. Rachel and Angela have been privileged to work with violinist Yehonatan Berick as the AYR Trio (2010-2020), with Mayumi Seiler as the Seiler Trio, and with Scott St. John as the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio.

Angela was previously a pianist for Piano Six – New Generation, an organization that toured remote communities across Canada. In 2019 she joined pianist Stéphan Sylvestre to form a piano duo, focusing on the complete Brahms Symphonies in their four-hand versions. Among other collaborations, Angela has performed with such international artists as violist Rivka Golani, violinist Martin Beaver, clarinetist James Campbell, soprano Leslie Fagan, and leading members of the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies.

NOTES

Rebecca Helferich Clarke (27 August 1886 – 13 October 1979) was a British classical composer and violist. Internationally renowned as a viola virtuoso, she also became one of the first female professional orchestral players in London.[1]

Rebecca Clarke had German and American parents, and spent substantial periods of her life in the United States, where she permanently settled after World War II. She was born in Harrow and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London. Stranded in the United States at the outbreak of World War II, she married composer and pianist James Friskin in 1944. Clarke died at her home in New York at the age of 93.

Darren Sigismund 2010 JUNO nominee and Galaxie Rising Star winner Canadian trombonist Darren Sigesmund has firmly established his Strands project as one of Canada's leading national and international touring ensembles [for much more, just google Sigismunc]

Here is a veritable Trio to End All Trios! Friends and incredible musicians all (Scott and Angela are  husband/wife), they make for a rare combination! (Literally rare, since they all have day jobs in different places - Scott at U of T; Rachel wtih National Arts Center Orchestra, and Rachel at Western.) So we’re very happy that they could manage a date for us!

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTIST

Ms. Graef performed a wonderful concert for us a couple of years back. Here is her return engagement.

American cellist Anita Graef has garnered praise as a musician of “superb artistry” (Pasadena Now) who plays with “high energy and polish” (WQXR). She has appeared both nationally and internationally in concerto, recital and chamber music engagements, while establishing a reputation as an artist who is equally at home exploring traditional as well as contemporary works, along with a deep commitment to service, outreach and education. Notable appearances include features in Strings Magazine, as well as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, and “Concerts from the Library of Congress.” She has also performed as a guest of various radio programs, including WQXR, WFMT and NPR, among others.

As the winner of the 2022 Gheens Young Artist Award and the 2021 American Prize, recent seasons have seen concerto debuts from Ms. Graef with the Louisville Orchestra, the Arkansas Philharmonic, the Riverside Symphony, the Miami Valley Symphony and many others. She recently concluded an appointment as the 2023 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum of Art. Upcoming recital and chamber music appearances include engagements with the Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach, FL), Saugerties Pro Musica, the Turner Center for the Arts (Valdosta, GA), Musica Sierra (Lake Tahoe/Reno, NV), the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, and the Partnership for the Performing Arts (Brookings, OR), with return appearances to “Live from WFMT” and others. Ms. Graef has appeared at numerous festivals, most recently including the Victoria Bach Festival, Green Lake Festival of Music, along with Artist-in-Residence positions at pianoSonoma and Lake George Music Festival. In 2023, Anita assumed the role of Artistic Director for Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival.

Ms. Graef also serves as the Artistic Director of the Juliani Ensemble, an inventive, multi-faceted chamber ensemble, with whom she performs extensively both on tour and in residence in Chicago, directing their Saturday Salons series. In 2023, along with the other core members of the Juliani Ensemble, she helped to launch an outreach program in collaboration with the Mayfair Arts Center providing free music instruction, lessons and resources to students of all ages and backgrounds in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.

Born into a family of professional musicians, Anita grew up surrounded by music. Her introduction started with piano studies, while beginning to study cello at age four, later making her concerto debut at the age of twelve. She went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where she studied with professor Anthony Elliott. Following this, she received her Master’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a CSO/CCM Fellow, under the tutelage of Ilya Finkelshteyn.

When not making music, Anita enjoys reading, cooking, crocheting, weight lifting, hiking, horseback riding, any kind of dance training, spending time with friends and family, volunteer work and exploring new cities.

Ms. Graef performs on a modern Italian cello by Ferdinando Garimberti, dated 1923.

PROGRAM

Exploring the historical ties between France and North America through music, and the mutual influence between 20th century French and North American composers.

Debussy -  La cathédral engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral)

Poulenc - Improvisation No.11

Tailleferre -  Impromptu

Poulenc - Improvisation No.15

Tailleferre - Valse Lente

Debussy - Lescollinesd’Anacapri,(The Hills of Anacapri)

Frederic Rzewski - IV “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues”

Samuel Barber - selections from Souvenirs, 4-hands

Waltz - Pas de deux, Two-Step -- Galop

Alexina Louie -   Fastforward (Therrien)

Debussy -

II. La puerta del vino (WineGate): Mouvement de Habanera

VI. Général Lavine-eccentric: Dans le style et le mouvement d’unCakewalk

X. Canope (CanopicJar)

XII.F eux d’artifice(Fireworks)

Ravel -  Rapsodie Espagnole (4-hands version)

Jean-Luc Therrien

’For the early birds, there was a half hour chamber music performance by students of the Glenn Gould School. Jean-Luc Therrien, in his final year of the Artist Diploma program, performed seven of the nine movements from Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen (Forest Scenes) Op. 82. It was easy to find oneself in the haunted forest of Schumann’s imagination. His playing was absolutely exquisite.’’ Named one of the “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30” by CBC Music in 2020, it was said of pianist Jean-Luc Therrien that he “[…] was able to stand out through his frank playing, […] not hesitating to go off the beaten track to reveal to us his personal reading of certain passages. A very refreshing performance. » (La Scena Musicale)

With his playing always resolute, committed and sincere, the native of Repentigny in Quebec has for several years led an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist and educator throughout the world. Among other collaborations, he has shared the stage with notable musicians and ensembles including cellist Colin Carr, cellist Zlatomir Fung, The Happenstancers and the Claudel-Canimex Quartet. In February 2022, he was a soloist with the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra at Koerner Hall (Toronto) under the baton of conductor Tania Miller. As a soloist, he collaborated with Jeunesses Musicales Canada (2016) and Debut Atlantic (2022) for solo tours in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. He has also appeared at various festivals and concert series such as the Bach Festival (Montreal), Britten Pears Arts (United Kingdom) and Orford on the Road (Quebec).

Some recent achievements include his participation in the prestigious career development program, The Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), as well as his debut on national radio with the broadcast on CBC Music of a recital recorded in Toronto.

Tristan Savella

Based in Toronto, Filipino-American pianist Tristan Savella has been an active soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, and Europe. His career has taken him to performances at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City, the Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, Austria, and the Canadian Opera Company’s Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in Toronto. In 2019, he performed Saint Saens’ Carnival of the Animals with the Toronto Concert Orchestra, under Vincent Cheng, at Flato Markham Theater in Markham, Ontario and in 2013, his Piano Trio was chosen to represent the Eastman School of Music as part of “The Conservatory Project”, sponsored by the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. 

Tristan holds a Bachelor of Music in Applied Music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, a Master of Arts (Klavier Solistenausbildung) with highest distinction from the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School in Toronto, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Toronto. He is also an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. His principal teachers have included T.J. Lymenstull, George Kern, John O’Conor, Lydia Wong, Jamie Parker, and the late Marietta Orlov and Nelita True.

Furthermore, Tristan is the recipient of multiple prizes at various national and international competitions, including third place at the Concours Flame in Paris, first place at the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in New York City, and a finalist prize at YoungArts Week – sponsored by the National YoungArts Foundation – in Miami. Additionally, Tristan was awarded third prize at the 2018 Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition, alongside cellist, Kimberly Jeong. Apart from performing, Tristan works as a private piano and music theory teacher in Toronto, as well as an accompanist at The Royal Conservatory of Music and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company. Aside from music, Tristan enjoys traveling and is an avid tennis and ping pong fan.

PROGRAM 

TBA

ARTISTS

The QUATUOR MAGENTA (Ida Derbesse, 1st violin; Elena Watson, 2nd violin; Claire Pass-Lanneau, viola; Fiona Robson, cello) is a string quartet founded in 2021 and based in Paris. For the upcoming seasons, the quartet is in residence at Proquartet - Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre and junior artist in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation. 

Finalist at the 8th Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna, the quartet also won prizes at the 2023 FNAPEC competition (Académie des Beaux-Arts scholarship) and the Zukunftsklang Competition Stuttgart 2022 (3rd prize). 

The Quatuor Magenta has been invited to perform at numerous festivals in France, including the Festival de Radio France Montpellier, the Musikfest Parisienne, the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Un Été en France with Gautier Capuçon, the Modigliani Quartet’s Festival Vibre !, and the International Piano Festival in la Roque d’Anthéron, as well as in Switzerland (Festival de la Collégiale in Neuchâtel) and in Germany (Klangraum Konzerte in Cologne). They are featured on flutist Julien Beaudiment’s album California Dreamin’ which was released in 2023 on Klarthe. 

This season, contemporary music has pride of place with Quatuor Magenta’s participation in the Kronos Quartet’s “50 for the Future” Marathon at the Philharmonie de Paris’s String Quartet Biennial, as well as a recording project of Olivier Korber’s string quartet and performances of Yves Balmer’s string quartet in spring 2024. 

The Quatuor Magenta studies with the Quatuor Ébène at their quartet academy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, with the Quatuor Modigliani in the new Élite program at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and with Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartett at the Basel University of Music. They are grateful for the support of the Culture and Musique Foundation (Fondation de France) and that of ADAMI, and they work with Chapeau l’Artiste Production. 

PROGRAM

Haydn - Quartet in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5 (“The Lark”)

Chopin - Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Brahms - Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

ARTISTS

Noted for “an extraordinary range of colour” (Montreal Gazette), and “poetic brilliance” (Toronto Star), Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively in Europe, North America, and Asia, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Salle Gaveau, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and Bargemusic. Francine Kay made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as the winner and Recitalist of the Year of the New York Pro Piano Competition.

She has been soloist with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony, the Princeton Symphony, New York’s West Side Chamber Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra London, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Victoria Symphony and Sinfonia Toronto among others, under conductors such as Georg Tintner, Mark Laycock, Nurhan Arman, Agnes Grossman, Kevin Mallon, Jonathan Yates, and Simon Streatfeild. 

Francine Kay’s recordings on the Analekta and Audio Ideas labels have received international acclaim. Her recording of the Debussy Preludes was nominated for a JUNO Award and selected by Germany’s Fono Forum as as Disc of the Month, citing its “astonishing grace and floating sonorities”. Francine Kay gave the premiere of Canadian composer Oskar Morawetz’s Four Contrasting Moods which became a live recording for CBC records.  Ms. Kay’s performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, WCNY, Radio France, and the CBC, among others.

Ms. Kay’s collaborations include groups such as the Penderecki, Avalon, Wister, Harlem, Arianna String Quartets, Cantata Profana and Trio Arkel. She has performed at festivals such as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Icicle Creek International Chamber Music Festival, Music Mountain, the Banff Summer Festival, the Orford Arts Centre, the International Course of Interpretation, Nowy Sacz, Poland and the 60th Chopin Festival, Marienbad, Czech Republic. 

Francine Kay was the recipient of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award, the Chalmers Award, and grants from the Canada Council.

Ms. Kay received her Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Juilliard School studying with Adele Marcus, the Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in the master classes of Leon Fleisher, and the Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook studying with Gilbert Kalish. Ms. Kay was a chamber music fellow at Tanglewood, and a participant at the Banff Centre where she participated in the classes of George Sebok and Marek Jablonski. 

Francine Kay is currently on the faculty of Princeton University and is a regular faculty artist at the Zodiac Academy and Festival in the south of France. 

Celebrating their 36th  anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet began their career as winners of the Penderecki Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Łódz, Poland in 1986.   Now based in Waterloo, Ontario where they have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991, The Penderecki String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation.  The four Penderecki musicians (now originating from Poland, Canada, and USA) bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail).

The PSQ's international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, and Zagreb.  The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and from coast to coast in Canada.

Dedicated educators, the PSQ have been recent guests at Bloomington Indiana University’s String Academy, the Beijing Conservatory, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and with their partner universities in Osnabrück, Germany and Lyon, France.

To this day the PSQ is a devoted champion of the music of our time, having premiered over 100 new works from composers in Canada and abroad.   Penderecki Quartet's large discography includes over three dozen recordings including the chamber music repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms on both the Marquis and Eclectra labels, as well as the first Canadian release of the six Béla Bartók quartets.  Their disc of Marjan Mozetich’s “Lament in the Trampled Garden” won the 2010 JUNO Award for Best Composition.   In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  This followed with the recording of Penderecki’s Third Quartet along with quartets of Norbert Palej on the Marquis label.  In 2022, the PSQ was featured in Howard Shore’s soundtrack to David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future.

The Penderecki Quartet has performed with diverse artists such as Atar Arad, Jeremy Menuhin, Stewart Goodyear, James Campbell and have recently appeared with jazz saxophonist Jane Bunnett, jazz pianists Egberto Gismonti, Don Thomson and David Braid, pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, Dancetheatre David Earle, Pentaedre Wind Quintet, actor Colin Fox, and New York turntable artist DJ Spooky.

The Penderecki Quartet continue to be active members of the Faculty of Music at Laurier University where they have built the string program to be one of the top programs in Canada, attracting an international body of students. Their annual Quartetfest at Laurier is an intensive study seminar and concert series that has featured such ensembles as the Tokyo, Fine Arts, Lafayette, Miro, Ying, and Ariana String Quartets.

A native of Toronto, violinist Jeremy Bell earned a B. Mus degree from the University of Toronto, and from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received his Masters and Doctor of Music.

Dr. Bell is a recipient of numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts and is a prize winner of the Eckhardt Grammatté National competition and the Conseil Québécois’ Prix Opus. He has studied with David Zafer, George Neikrug, Joyce Robbins, Metro Kozak and with members of the Orford, Juilliard, Tokyo, and Orion string quartets. Joining the Penderecki String Quartet in 1999, Dr. Bell is Artist in Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches violin, chamber music, and lectures on the string quartets of Bartok and Beethoven. 

Described by the Toronto Star as a violinist who “agitates in the most intelligent and persuasive manner”, Bell has performed recently with the Penderecki Quartet at Arsenale Festival in Poland, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Is Arti Festival in Lithuania, MBZ Zagreb, State Museum of Music in St. Petersburg, REDCAT/Disney Centre in Los Angeles, Roxy/NOD in Prague, Fundacion Juan March in Madrid, Jane Mallet Theatre in Toronto, Paris University 8, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Indiana University in Bloomington, Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, Tovar Festival Venezuela, Virtuosi Festival Brazil, Adam Festival New Zealand, the Hong Kong Academy, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, the Banff Centre in Alberta, and the Chan Centre in Vancouver.

With the Penderecki String Quartet, Bell has recorded over 25 discs including the premiere Canadian recording of the Béla Bartók string quartet cycle, Marjan Mozetich’s ‘Lament in the Trampled Garden’ (winner of the 2010 JUNO Award for composition), and the complete Grieg sonatas for violin and piano with pianist Shoshan Telner. From 2000-2007, Bell was the artistic director of NUMUS Concerts where he created several multi-media events at the Perimeter Institute and with Dancetheatre David Earle. He has performed a wide range of music, performing baroque with Consortium Aurora Borealis and Les Violons du Roy, Cuban jazz with Hilario Duran, as well as collaborating with pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, NYC’s DJ Spooky, and rap star Jay-Z. In addition, Bell has performed as soloist with many orchestras in Canada, USA and Mexico, including the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra performing concertos of Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Dvorak, Hatzis, Locatelli, Lutoslawski, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Päart, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Schoenberg, and Vivaldi. As guest concertmaster he has appeared with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the New Zealand National Symphony, and the Canadian Opera Company. Dr. Bell plays a violin made in Canada by Mark Schnurr (2020).  Currently he is the artistic director of QuartetFest and the Leith Summer Festival, and has been on faculty at the Festival del Lago International Academy of Music since 2018.  

Internationally renowned violinist Jerzy Kapłanek has established himself as a chamber musician, member of the celebrated Penderecki String Quartet, soloist, dedicated teacher, adjudicator, artistic director of QuartetFest and lately as a jazz violinist

He performs throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America over 80 concerts each season. His album of works by Karol Szymanowski with pianist Stéphan Sylvestre was highly praised by The Strad magazine as “an outstanding release”. His discography with the Penderecki Quartet comprises over two dozen CD’s (Marquis, Eclectra, CBC, CMC, EMI, Decca labels), including the highly acclaimed recording of the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók.

Mr. Kaplanek has collaborated with such notable musicians as pianists David Braid, Leopoldo Erice , Vladimir Feltsman, Janina Fialkowska Francine Kay, Lev Natochenny, Jamie Parker, Stéphan Sylvestre, cellists Marc Johnson, Antonio Lysy Paul Pulford, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and clarinetist James Campbell amongst others. He is frequently heard on CBC Radio and NPR. He has made solo appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Peterborough and CBC Vancouver Symphonies and was a featured soloist at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Jerzy Kapłanek was born in Poland in 1965. His music education started at the age of six on piano and at the age of ten he began his violin studies. In 1984, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory in Bytom. In 1990, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Musical Arts from the prestigious Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. There, he studied with the distinguished teachers Janusz Skramlik, Aureli Błaszczok and Stanisław Lewandowski

In 1987-88 he studied with Efim Boico and the Fine Arts Quartet at the Chamber Music Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1989-90, he was a student of Sylvia Rosenberg in New York City and in 1990-91 he studied with Daniel Heifetz, the Guarneri String Quartet and its violinists, Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley. Pursuing his interest in performance practice, Mr. Kapłanek also worked with the pioneer of baroque violin, Jaap Schroeder.

Jerzy Kapłanek is presently a Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where since 1991 he has been teaching violin and chamber music. He frequently gives master classes in Canada and abroad. Mr. Kaplanek performs on a 2016 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin made in New York City.

Cellist Katie Schlaikjer is a member of the JUNO-winning Penderecki Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Colorado String Quartet from 2009 to 2013, and prior to that, cellist with the Avalon Quartet, award winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Melbourne Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild (NY). A consummate chamber musician and soloist, Ms. Schlaikjer has performed around the globe, with tours throughout Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Croatia, China, Australia, Columbia, Mexico and across Canada and the U.S, performing at the Kennedy Centre, the Beijing Concert Hall, The National Arts Centre, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and many more. 

As a chamber musician, Katie Schlaikjer has performed the complete Beethoven and Bartok quartets with both CSQ and PSQ, amongst an almost encyclopaedic range of quartet and chamber music repertoire, including over 100 new works written for the Penderecki Quartet. She has appeared in the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Caramoor festivals, as well as Festival of the Sound, Music from Salem, Ottawa Chamberfest, the annual Music Mountain festival (CT), and has recorded for Albany Records, Marquis Classics, and Elektra.  

Of Ms. Schlaikjer’s many solo appearances, recent engagements have included the premiere of J. Mark Scearce’s cello concerto “Aracana” with the University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s D major cello concerto with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in China. 

Guiding young artists and cultivating a vibrant studio of award-winning students has been a career objective as well as a passion, with several of her pupils continuing to advanced institutions such as the Glenn Gould School and Juilliard.  She has taught at the University of Connecticut, the Hartt Music School, Bard Conservatory and the New England Conservatory, and conducted masterclasses at the renowned UNAM (University) in Mexico City, Lynn University in Florida, the Cleveland Institute, the Colorado Quartet’s Soundfest, and Charles Castleman’s Quartet program.  At Wilfrid Laurier University, where she has been Artist-in-Residence with the Penderecki Quartet since 2013 where she teaches cello and chamber music. 

Violist Christine Vlajk has performed extensively in North and South America, Europe, much of China, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Some of the concert halls where she has performed with the Penderecki String Quartet have included Weill Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Kennedy Center, REDCAT Hall in Los Angeles, and the Hong Kong Academy to name a few.

She has held the positions of violist of the Penderecki String Quartet and Artist-in-Residence in viola and chamber music at Laurier University since 1997. She has received Prizes at the Banff, Coleman, Yellow Springs, Carmel and Evian Chamber Music Competitions. She was granted the Friedlander Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory and Scholarships to attend the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, The Julliard and Cleveland Quartet Seminars, all helping to pave the road for a life as a chamber musician. 

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Vlajk has Bachelor degrees in Viola Performance (B.M.) and Music Education (B.M.E.) from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a Masters degree in Viola Performance (M.M.) from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Her teachers have included Oswald Lehnert, Jerry Horner, Denes Koromzay and members of the Cleveland, Julliard, LaSalle, Takacs, and Fine Arts Quartets.

She has been guest soloist with the West Virginia Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Peterborough Symphony and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. She has performed recitals in Canada, the United States and Germany.

She has premiered two viola concertos by Peter Grella-Mozejko and Karol Gostyniski. As an orchestral player she has held the position of principal violist of the West Virginia Symphony and was a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival. 

Dedicated to the education of young people, she has performed an extensive series of children’s concerts across the United States and Canada. She has given master classes at Lynn Conservatory, Indiana University’s String Academy, Florida State University, University of Toronto, SUNY Fredonia, the Glenn Gould Professional School and many places in Mexico, China and New Zealand. 

As a member of the Penderecki String Quartet and the Montclaire Quartet, Vlajk has recorded nearly 30 recordings for the Koch, Leonarda, Eclectra, Marquis Classics and EMI labels. When she is not performing with her quartet or teaching her wonderful students, she enjoys nature, yoga, cooking and the finer things in life.

PROGRAM

Part 1 of Ms. Taves' complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas: No.s 17 ("Tempest"), 15 ("Pastorale"), 23 ("Appassionata")

ARTIST

Heather Taves Concert pianist Heather Taves brings her “radiantly beautiful, commanding and authoritative” artistry to audiences everywhere, as she connects with openness and humour to share musical worlds. An internationally respected classical artist, she is preparing the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas by Beethoven for completion in 2024. Heather shares this process in her entertaining blog “Beethoven Journey” at https://heathertaves.substack.com/

Gifted in multiple genres, Heather showcases her gifts as improvisor, composer, and writer. She is composing music for an event titled Painted Dances, joining forces with the popular Propeller Dance Company which includes wheelchair dancers, artist Julea Boswell, and emerging filmmaker Aaron Daniels Casey. As an improvisor, she plays keyboard in the Scott Parsons Band which presents stories of Black history to communities large and small. She has performed music by diverse living composers such as Israeli composer Oded Zehavi, Palestinian-Canadian composer John Kameel Farah, Turkish composer Can Kazaz, and British jazz pianist Julian Joseph.  Her vision is to share music in all its diverse facets as a powerful force to bring people together.

PROGRAM

Part 2 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 5, 9, 27 and 32 (the final sonata)

ARTIST

Heather Taves Concert pianist Heather Taves brings her “radiantly beautiful, commanding and authoritative” artistry to audiences everywhere, as she connects with openness and humour to share musical worlds. An internationally respected classical artist, she is preparing the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas by Beethoven for completion in 2024. Heather shares this process in her entertaining blog “Beethoven Journey” at https://heathertaves.substack.com/

Gifted in multiple genres, Heather showcases her gifts as improvisor, composer, and writer. She is composing music for an event titled Painted Dances, joining forces with the popular Propeller Dance Company which includes wheelchair dancers, artist Julea Boswell, and emerging filmmaker Aaron Daniels Casey. As an improvisor, she plays keyboard in the Scott Parsons Band which presents stories of Black history to communities large and small. She has performed music by diverse living composers such as Israeli composer Oded Zehavi, Palestinian-Canadian composer John Kameel Farah, Turkish composer Can Kazaz, and British jazz pianist Julian Joseph.  Her vision is to share music in all its diverse facets as a powerful force to bring people together.

PROGRAM

Brahms Sonatas for Piano and Violin:

Sonata in G major, Op. 78 

Sonata in A major, Op. 100

Sonata in D minor, Op. 108

Scherzo from the FAE sonata in C minor 

The F-A-E Sonata, a four-movement work for violin and piano, is a collaborative musical work by three composers: Robert Schumann, the young Johannes Brahms, and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich. It was composed in Düsseldorf in October 1853. The sonata was Schumann's idea as a gift and tribute to violinist Joseph Joachim, whom the three composers had recently befriended. Joachim had adopted the Romantic German phrase "Frei aber einsam" as his personal motto. The composition's movements are all based on the musical notes F-A-E, the motto's initials, as a musical cryptogram. Schumann assigned each movement to one of the composers. Dietrich wrote the substantial first movement in sonata form. Schumann followed with a short Intermezzo as the second movement. The Scherzo was by Brahms, who had already proven himself a master of this form in his E flat minor Scherzo for piano and the scherzi in his first two piano sonatas. Schumann provided the finale. (Wikipedia)

ARTISTS

David Gillham, violin, has an extensive solo and chamber music career, having performed throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas and South Africa. He has performed in major venues such as Tokyo’s Opera City and Bunka Kaiken Recital Halls, Baxter Concert Hall in Cape Town SA and the Chicago Cultural Centre, as part of the prestigious Dame Myra Hess memorial concerts.

An internationally respected pedagogue, David is regularly invited to teach, give masterclasses and serve on competition juries in North America, Europe and Asia.

In 2011, he joined the Faculty at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver Canada.

As an enthusiastic interpreter of chamber music, Mr. Gillham is currently a member of the Vetta chamber players, the Archytas Ensemble and the Ridge Piano Trio. He enjoyed extensive concertizing with the Arianna String Quartet as its second violinist from 2005-2012. In addition, he enjoys collaborating with musical personalities such as Regis Pasquier, Violaine Melançon, Johannes Moser, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Dunham, Atar Arad, Anton Nel, Jose Franch Ballester, Jane Coop and Robert Silverman to name just a few. He is regularly invited to festivals such as the Hammelburg, (Germany), Zodiac ( France ), FEMUSC (Brazil), Kuandu (Taiwan), Sonoran (USA), Pender Harbour and the Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Charlevoix, Quebec.

Inspired by Franco Gulli and Enrico Cavallo to continue performing the standard violin and piano duo repertoire with the same stylistic precision and unity as a string quartet, Mr. Gillham has performed the violin and piano duo repertoire with pianist Chiharu Iinuma for 20 years. Concerts have taken the duo to China, Taiwan, Japan, and across both the United States and Canada.

For Centaur Records, the duo has recorded sonatas by Grieg, Mendelssohn, Respighi and Beethoven.

As a soloist with orchestra, David has given performances with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Gateway Festival Orchestra of St. Louis, the Korea Jade Philharmonic, the West Coast Symphony , the Grand Forks Symphony and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. With the UBC symphony Orchestra, Mr. Gillham has toured Western Canada, performing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto and performed John Corigliano’s Chaconne from the Red Violin, with the composer in attendance as part of UBC’s Corigliano Festival.

Beyond the standard repertoire of solo and chamber music, Mr. Gillham has dedicated himself to the performance and recording of todays composers. His recording of Marcus Goddard’s two string quartets and string trio with the Archytas ensemble on the Palladino label, was released in 2020. He has also recently recorded Stephen Chatman’s Pender Harbour Suite for piano trio with pianist Corey Hamm and cellist Eric Wilson.

In 2018, Mr. Gillham had the honour of performing Juno nominated composer Alice Ping Yee Ho’s, Coeur а Coeur for violin and piano with Corey Hamm, live on CBC at the Juno Awards Classical Showcase Concert.

Mr. Gillham’s students have appeared as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony orchestra, The Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and the Philharmonia Northwest of Seattle. Many of his former students hold positions in major symphony orchestras, and have continued their studies at institutions such as the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Mr. Gillham is regularly invited to teach at universities such as Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, the Wuhan Conservatory, the Kaohsiung Normal University, the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, McGill University and the University of Toronto.

Mr. Gillham is co-ordinator of the violin-sessions at the Domaine Forget International Music Festival and Academy in Charlevoix, Quebec. The intensive four week program for gifted and advanced students from around the world, regularly features masterclasses by renowned violinists such as Vadim Gluzman, Rachel Barton Pine, Vadim Repin, Christian Tetzlaff and Midori.

A graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Manitoba, in 2002, David was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal for his contribution to the arts in Canada.

He plays on a violin made by Carlo Tononi, Venice Italy, 1725.

Japanese pianist Chiharu Iinuma has been increasingly in high demand as a teacher, coach and ensemble pianist.  A founding member of the Ridge Trio, the Chamber Ensemble Bloomington and the Duo Gillham-Iinuma, for many years she was the studio pianist for Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker, Franco Gulli, Neli Shkolnikova, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Miriam Fried, Yuval Yaron, Taras Gabora, James Campbell and IU String Academy at Indiana University's Jacobs School.  In 1993, she was invited to participate in the inaugural Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in New York.  She has been heard on NHK and CBC radios over the years.  In recent years, she has played in concerts and festivals in Germany, Sweden, Scotland, China, Taiwan, Japan, as well as across U.S. and Canada collaborating with Arianna String Quartet, Pendereki String Quartet, Adrian Anantawan, Dale Barltrop, Ariel Barnes,  Rachel Barton-Pine, Martin Beaver, James Campbell, Timothy Chooi, Marc Coppey, Mark Fewer, David Gillham, Tom Landschoot, Blair Lofgren, Antonio Lysy, Johannes Moser, Philippe Muller, Christoph Schickedanz, Alan Stepansky, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Rafael Wallfisch, Rob Weir, Thomas Wiebe, Eric Wilson, Min-Ho Yeh, among others. 

From 2001 to 2004, she was the Director of Accompanying at the University of Central Arkansas where the Duo Gillham-Iinuma was "Duo in Residence".  Chiharu has served as a staff pianist and coach at institutes such as the Meadowmount School of Music, Indiana University Summer String Academy and currently at the Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy in Quebec, Canada, where she is also on a faculty for the Collaborative Piano Program. 

She has recorded "Edvard Grieg: The Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano" with David Gillham for Centaur Records (CRC2873), and "Johannes Brahms: The Complete works for Violin and Piano" with Christoph Schickedanz also for Centaur Records (CRC3498).   

Chiharu was born in Nagano and raised in Tokyo, Japan.  Following her graduation from the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, she was awarded the Asahi Beer Arts Foundation Scholarship, which enabled her to study at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she received her Performer Diploma, Artist Diploma and Master’s degree.  Her teachers include Yoshimi Tamaki, Shuku Iwasaki, Shigeo Neriki and Leonard Hokanson.  

PROGRAM

TBA

ARTISTS

Robert Uchida, violin  Canadian violinist Robert Uchida, Concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, enjoys a varied career as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, and educator. His debut recording of Andrew Violette’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin won international acclaim, with Strings Magazine praising his “ravishing sound, eloquence and hypnotic intensity.”

Robert has been a concerto soloist with orchestras including the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Edmonton Symphony, Kingston Symphony, Ottawa Symphony, Red Deer Symphony, Symphony New Brunswick, Symphony Nova Scotia, Orchestre de la Francophonie, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. 

Robert is Artistic Director of the Longshadow Music Festival in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He has taught and performed at festivals throughout North America including the Arizona MusicFest, Banff International String Quartet Festival, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Music by the Sea, National Academy Orchestra, National Arts Centre Young Artists Program, New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, Rosebud Chamber Music Festival, Scotia Festival, Sewanee Music Festival, Summer Solstice Music Festival, and was Artistic Director of the Acadia Summer Strings Festival from 2010-2013. 

Before joining the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Robert was Concertmaster of Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax. He performed on a Juno-nominated recording with Sarah Slean, and recorded Requiem 21.5: Violin Concerto by Tim Brady, which won Classical Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards. As a guest concertmaster, he has worked with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Ottawa Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate teacher, Robert is a violin instructor at the University of Alberta, and has held teaching positions at Acadia University and the Manhattan School of Music Precollege. His students have continued their studies at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Guildhall School in London, have won major international competitions, and perform in ensembles in North America and Europe.

Robert holds a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Ottawa. His teachers and mentors include Andrew Dawes, Morry Kernerman, Patinka Kopec, Heratch Manoukian, David Stewart, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Robert loves volunteering and is honoured to have been inducted into the Ronald McDonald House’s Character Club in Edmonton. He performs on the "Dawes, de Long Tearse" Guadagnini violin with Vision Solo Titanium strings by Thomastik-Infeld Vienna.

Cameron Crozman, cello  “With a rich imagination and a keen mind” (Diapason Magazine), Canadian cellist Cameron Crozman leads an active performing career as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the USA, and Europe. He has appeared as a soloist with the Orchester National d'Ile-de-France (Paris), Montreal, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Vancouver Island Symphonies among others, and performances have taken him everywhere from the Philharmonie de Paris and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, to the Qidi Vidi Brewery of St. John's, Newfoundland . An avid collaborator and chamber musician, Cameron shares the stage with eminent artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Louis Lortie, Gérard Caussé, James Campbell, and members of the Ébène, New Zealand, and Penderecki String Quartets.

Winner of the 2021 Canada Council for the Arts Virginia Parker Prize, the Council's largest award for emerging classical musicians, Cameron was CBC/Radio-Canada's 2019 Classical Revelation artist and a laureate of Gautier Capuçon's Classe d'Excellence at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris . He has released critically acclaimed recordings for the ATMA Classique and Printemps des Arts de Monaco labels.

Cameron's debut album, Cavatina , recorded on the ca. 1696 “Bonjour” Stradivarius cello with pianist Philip Chiu, was released in 2019 and described by the French publication Classica Magazine as displaying “technical perfection with a personal style that leaves us wanting to hear more.” His most recent release from September 2023, Ricercari , features a program of 7 new pieces for solo cello by Canadian and international composers alongside the earliest compositions for solo cello by Domenico Gabrielli. His performances are broadcast on CBC, BBC, RTÉ Radio, Radio France, and Medici.tv.

Deeply committed to innovation in classical music, Cameron constantly imagines new ways to share his art with the world. He is active in leading projects commissioning and premiering new music by some of Canada's most recognized composers including Alexina Louie, Allan Gordon Bell, Liam Ritz, James O'Callaghan, and Kelly-Marie Murphy.

After studying in Canada with Paul Pulford, Cameron was a student at the Paris Conservatoire and received his “Prix de cello” with highest honors studying in the class of Michel Strauss. In 2018, he received a one year mentorship with violinist James Ehnes as part of the André-Bourbeau award from the Jeunesses Musicales Canada. Passionate about teaching the next generation, he has been invited to give masterclasses at the Académie Rainier III in Monaco, Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary, Lawrence University (Wisconsin), University of Montreal, and the Victoria Conservatory among others.

Cameron is the co-founder of ClassicalValley, a festival bringing together chamber music and wine in Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, and the artistic director of chamber music for the Edeta Arts International Festival in Llíria, Spain, designated a Creative City of Music by the UNESCO. He currently plays on a c. 1750 Gennaro Gagliano cello, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Instrument Bank.

Philip Chiu, piano  “A pianist-painter who transforms each musical idea into a beautiful array of colors” (La Presse), Philip Chiu is acclaimed for his brilliant pianism, sensitive listening, and a stage presence that eschews the hermit-pianist image and favours openness, authenticity, and connection with audiences. Inaugural winner of the Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer, Mr. Chiu has become one of Canada’s leading musicians through his infectious love of music and his passion for creation and communication.

He concertizes extensively as soloist and chamber musician and has performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts in most major venues across Canada, as well as concert halls in France, Japan and the United States. He recently made his debut for the La Jolla Music Society in California in their 50th anniversary season and will be appearing in Maine and Massachusetts in fall 2019. Chamber music partners have included James Ehnes, Emmanuel Pahud, Regis Pasquier, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bomsori Kim, Johannes Moser, and Raphael Wallfisch. He has a long-standing violin-piano duo with Jonathan Crow, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and violinist of the New Orford String Quartet. Mr. Chiu is a veteran touring artist of Prairie Debut, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Debut Atlantic, having toured the country 14 times with their generous support.

As Artist-in-Residence of Cecilia Concert’s 2018/19 Season, he immensely enjoyed programming four unique and imaginative concerts, and is looking forward to further exploring his creative side as Artist-in-Residence for Montreal’s La Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur in 2020. Other upcoming projects include a recording/concert tour of John Burge’s 24 Preludes for Solo Piano, as well as a recording/concert project with Pentaèdre, honouring the music of Jacques Hétu.

In addition to his performing activities, Mr. Chiu created the Collaborative Piano Program at the Domaine Forget International Academy and consulted for national and international competitions as a recognized expert in collaborative piano. He has also juried for provincial, national, and international competitions.

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Celebrating their 36th  anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet began their career as winners of the Penderecki Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Łódz, Poland in 1986.   Now based in Waterloo, Ontario where they have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991, The Penderecki String Quartet has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation.  The four Penderecki musicians (now originating from Poland, Canada, and USA) bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail).

The PSQ's international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, and Zagreb.  The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and from coast to coast in Canada.

Dedicated educators, the PSQ have been recent guests at Bloomington Indiana University’s String Academy, the Beijing Conservatory, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and with their partner universities in Osnabrück, Germany and Lyon, France.

To this day the PSQ is a devoted champion of the music of our time, having premiered over 100 new works from composers in Canada and abroad.   Penderecki Quartet's large discography includes over three dozen recordings including the chamber music repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms on both the Marquis and Eclectra labels, as well as the first Canadian release of the six Béla Bartók quartets.  Their disc of Marjan Mozetich’s “Lament in the Trampled Garden” won the 2010 JUNO Award for Best Composition.   In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  This followed with the recording of Penderecki’s Third Quartet along with quartets of Norbert Palej on the Marquis label.  In 2022, the PSQ was featured in Howard Shore’s soundtrack to David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future.

The Penderecki Quartet has performed with diverse artists such as Atar Arad, Jeremy Menuhin, Stewart Goodyear, James Campbell and have recently appeared with jazz saxophonist Jane Bunnett, jazz pianists Egberto Gismonti, Don Thomson and David Braid, pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, Dancetheatre David Earle, Pentaedre Wind Quintet, actor Colin Fox, and New York turntable artist DJ Spooky.

The Penderecki Quartet continue to be active members of the Faculty of Music at Laurier University where they have built the string program to be one of the top programs in Canada, attracting an international body of students. Their annual Quartetfest at Laurier is an intensive study seminar and concert series that has featured such ensembles as the Tokyo, Fine Arts, Lafayette, Miro, Ying, and Ariana String Quartets.

A native of Toronto, violinist Jeremy Bell earned a B. Mus degree from the University of Toronto, and from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received his Masters and Doctor of Music.

Dr. Bell is a recipient of numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts and is a prize winner of the Eckhardt Grammatté National competition and the Conseil Québécois’ Prix Opus. He has studied with David Zafer, George Neikrug, Joyce Robbins, Metro Kozak and with members of the Orford, Juilliard, Tokyo, and Orion string quartets. Joining the Penderecki String Quartet in 1999, Dr. Bell is Artist in Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches violin, chamber music, and lectures on the string quartets of Bartok and Beethoven. 

Described by the Toronto Star as a violinist who “agitates in the most intelligent and persuasive manner”, Bell has performed recently with the Penderecki Quartet at Arsenale Festival in Poland, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Is Arti Festival in Lithuania, MBZ Zagreb, State Museum of Music in St. Petersburg, REDCAT/Disney Centre in Los Angeles, Roxy/NOD in Prague, Fundacion Juan March in Madrid, Jane Mallet Theatre in Toronto, Paris University 8, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Indiana University in Bloomington, Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, Tovar Festival Venezuela, Virtuosi Festival Brazil, Adam Festival New Zealand, the Hong Kong Academy, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, the Banff Centre in Alberta, and the Chan Centre in Vancouver.

With the Penderecki String Quartet, Bell has recorded over 25 discs including the premiere Canadian recording of the Béla Bartók string quartet cycle, Marjan Mozetich’s ‘Lament in the Trampled Garden’ (winner of the 2010 JUNO Award for composition), and the complete Grieg sonatas for violin and piano with pianist Shoshan Telner. From 2000-2007, Bell was the artistic director of NUMUS Concerts where he created several multi-media events at the Perimeter Institute and with Dancetheatre David Earle. He has performed a wide range of music, performing baroque with Consortium Aurora Borealis and Les Violons du Roy, Cuban jazz with Hilario Duran, as well as collaborating with pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, NYC’s DJ Spooky, and rap star Jay-Z. In addition, Bell has performed as soloist with many orchestras in Canada, USA and Mexico, including the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra performing concertos of Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Dvorak, Hatzis, Locatelli, Lutoslawski, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Päart, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Schoenberg, and Vivaldi. As guest concertmaster he has appeared with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the New Zealand National Symphony, and the Canadian Opera Company. Dr. Bell plays a violin made in Canada by Mark Schnurr (2020).  Currently he is the artistic director of QuartetFest and the Leith Summer Festival, and has been on faculty at the Festival del Lago International Academy of Music since 2018.  

Internationally renowned violinist Jerzy Kapłanek has established himself as a chamber musician, member of the celebrated Penderecki String Quartet, soloist, dedicated teacher, adjudicator, artistic director of QuartetFest and lately as a jazz violinist

He performs throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America over 80 concerts each season. His album of works by Karol Szymanowski with pianist Stéphan Sylvestre was highly praised by The Strad magazine as “an outstanding release”. His discography with the Penderecki Quartet comprises over two dozen CD’s (Marquis, Eclectra, CBC, CMC, EMI, Decca labels), including the highly acclaimed recording of the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók.

Mr. Kaplanek has collaborated with such notable musicians as pianists David Braid, Leopoldo Erice , Vladimir Feltsman, Janina Fialkowska Francine Kay, Lev Natochenny, Jamie Parker, Stéphan Sylvestre, cellists Marc Johnson, Antonio Lysy Paul Pulford, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and clarinetist James Campbell amongst others. He is frequently heard on CBC Radio and NPR. He has made solo appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Peterborough and CBC Vancouver Symphonies and was a featured soloist at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Jerzy Kapłanek was born in Poland in 1965. His music education started at the age of six on piano and at the age of ten he began his violin studies. In 1984, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory in Bytom. In 1990, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Musical Arts from the prestigious Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. There, he studied with the distinguished teachers Janusz Skramlik, Aureli Błaszczok and Stanisław Lewandowski

In 1987-88 he studied with Efim Boico and the Fine Arts Quartet at the Chamber Music Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1989-90, he was a student of Sylvia Rosenberg in New York City and in 1990-91 he studied with Daniel Heifetz, the Guarneri String Quartet and its violinists, Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley. Pursuing his interest in performance practice, Mr. Kapłanek also worked with the pioneer of baroque violin, Jaap Schroeder.

Jerzy Kapłanek is presently a Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where since 1991 he has been teaching violin and chamber music. He frequently gives master classes in Canada and abroad. Mr. Kaplanek performs on a 2016 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin made in New York City.

Cellist Katie Schlaikjer is a member of the JUNO-winning Penderecki Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Colorado String Quartet from 2009 to 2013, and prior to that, cellist with the Avalon Quartet, award winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Melbourne Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild (NY). A consummate chamber musician and soloist, Ms. Schlaikjer has performed around the globe, with tours throughout Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Croatia, China, Australia, Columbia, Mexico and across Canada and the U.S, performing at the Kennedy Centre, the Beijing Concert Hall, The National Arts Centre, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and many more. 

As a chamber musician, Katie Schlaikjer has performed the complete Beethoven and Bartok quartets with both CSQ and PSQ, amongst an almost encyclopaedic range of quartet and chamber music repertoire, including over 100 new works written for the Penderecki Quartet. She has appeared in the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Caramoor festivals, as well as Festival of the Sound, Music from Salem, Ottawa Chamberfest, the annual Music Mountain festival (CT), and has recorded for Albany Records, Marquis Classics, and Elektra.  

Of Ms. Schlaikjer’s many solo appearances, recent engagements have included the premiere of J. Mark Scearce’s cello concerto “Aracana” with the University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s D major cello concerto with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in China. 

Guiding young artists and cultivating a vibrant studio of award-winning students has been a career objective as well as a passion, with several of her pupils continuing to advanced institutions such as the Glenn Gould School and Juilliard.  She has taught at the University of Connecticut, the Hartt Music School, Bard Conservatory and the New England Conservatory, and conducted masterclasses at the renowned UNAM (University) in Mexico City, Lynn University in Florida, the Cleveland Institute, the Colorado Quartet’s Soundfest, and Charles Castleman’s Quartet program.  At Wilfrid Laurier University, where she has been Artist-in-Residence with the Penderecki Quartet since 2013 where she teaches cello and chamber music. 

Violist Christine Vlajk has performed extensively in North and South America, Europe, much of China, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Some of the concert halls where she has performed with the Penderecki String Quartet have included Weill Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Kennedy Center, REDCAT Hall in Los Angeles, and the Hong Kong Academy to name a few.

She has held the positions of violist of the Penderecki String Quartet and Artist-in-Residence in viola and chamber music at Laurier University since 1997. She has received Prizes at the Banff, Coleman, Yellow Springs, Carmel and Evian Chamber Music Competitions. She was granted the Friedlander Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory and Scholarships to attend the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, The Julliard and Cleveland Quartet Seminars, all helping to pave the road for a life as a chamber musician. 

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Vlajk has Bachelor degrees in Viola Performance (B.M.) and Music Education (B.M.E.) from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a Masters degree in Viola Performance (M.M.) from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Her teachers have included Oswald Lehnert, Jerry Horner, Denes Koromzay and members of the Cleveland, Julliard, LaSalle, Takacs, and Fine Arts Quartets.

She has been guest soloist with the West Virginia Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Peterborough Symphony and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. She has performed recitals in Canada, the United States and Germany.

She has premiered two viola concertos by Peter Grella-Mozejko and Karol Gostyniski. As an orchestral player she has held the position of principal violist of the West Virginia Symphony and was a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival. 

Dedicated to the education of young people, she has performed an extensive series of children’s concerts across the United States and Canada. She has given master classes at Lynn Conservatory, Indiana University’s String Academy, Florida State University, University of Toronto, SUNY Fredonia, the Glenn Gould Professional School and many places in Mexico, China and New Zealand. 

As a member of the Penderecki String Quartet and the Montclaire Quartet, Vlajk has recorded nearly 30 recordings for the Koch, Leonarda, Eclectra, Marquis Classics and EMI labels. When she is not performing with her quartet or teaching her wonderful students, she enjoys nature, yoga, cooking and the finer things in life.

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Anita Pari, piano  

Anita Pari is a composer, pianist, and cellist from Ottawa, currently pursuing a PhD in Composition at McGill University. In recent years, Anita’s music has taken inspiration from a variety of themes, ranging from mental health to the study of birdsongs that she has encountered while birdwatching. Through her creative work, she often reflects on and reimagines aspects of her lived experience, drawing from circumstances and events that have shaped her identity. She has recently received the Luba Zuk Piano Duo Composition Commission Prize from McGill University and has been invited to compose a piece for the QUASAR saxophone quartet.

Anita’s compositional output includes music for orchestra, wind ensemble, choir, various chamber groups, solo piano, live electronics, and fixed media electronics. Her compositions have been performed by the Prisme Ensemble ("Incongruous"), the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble ("The Voices that Pull Me from the Darkness"), the McGill Wind Orchestra ("Bright Distance Blurring"), the Composer-Performer Orchestration Research Ensemble (“To A Lullaby”), the Cecilia Quartet (“Nocturne for Strings”), and the Harmonia Choir (Worlds Apart: Pappy's Song"), among other groups.

In addition to her work in composition, Anita frequently performs her own music or interprets other composers’ works in concert. Anita has given solo recitals across Ontario as well as soloist appearances with orchestras such as l'Orchestre classique de Montréal, the National Academy Orchestra, the Lancaster Symphony, and the Frost Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, she recorded and released a CD featuring a selection of her own compositions, which included her four-movement cello sonata “Escape” and her solo piano works “Directions” and “Urban Movement.” Later that year, she went on to perform these works at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. 

Anita holds ARCT diplomas in piano and cello as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from Carleton University, where she received the Governor General’s Academic Medal for graduating at the head of the 2020 undergraduate class. In 2022, she completed her Master of Music degree in Composition at McGill University. She currently studies composition with Dr. Melissa Hui, and has formerly studied with Dr. Brian Cherney (composition), Dr. James Wright (composition), Nicole Presentey (piano), Dr. Jamie Parker (piano), and Peter Rapson (cello).

Jaeyoung Chong, cello  

Jaeyoung Chong is a trained and established cellist and a profound musician passionate in many artistic medium such as improvisation, creative live performance, composition, electroacoustic technology and music production. His recent awards include Music New Brunswick's "Recording of the Year" for his self-produced album "Nostalgia".

Born in South Korea, Jaeyoung began studying at the age of 8 and quickly reached an advanced level when he moved to Canada with his family in 2005. Under the direction of Shimon Walt, a renowned cello professor at Dalhousie University, Jaeyoung has continued to develop his musical abilities leading to many awards and distinctions from local, provincial, and national levels. Summer music camps and festivals, such as Domaine Forget, NAC Pre-college program, Orford and National Youth Orchestra of Canada, are normal occurrence for young Jaeyoung and has managed to work with renowned cellists like Steve Doane, Matt Haimovitz, Blair Lofgren, Richard Aaron, Phillipe Muller, Laurence Lesser, and Collin Carr.

Jaeyoung received his Bachelor in Music Performance from the University of Ottawa in 2017 under the direction of Paul Marleyn. Jaeyoung was heavily involved in the Ottawa music scene throughout his undergraduate years. He was a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, was a featured soloist with the University of Ottawa Orchestra, won over $10,000 worth of scholarships, bursaries and competition which lead him to more performance opportunities such as being a featured soloist with the National Arts Center Orchestra. After his studies in Ottawa, he received a full-ride scholarship to Rice University and pursued his masters degree under the tutelage of Desmond Hoebig: a renowned soloist and orchestral cellist of today.

As for his creative endeavours, Jaeyoung has experimented with composition from an early age and continued to test his creative potential through solo works, chamber works and improvisation. At the age of 19 he released his first album “Endless” where he experimented with minimalist compositional techniques. Through out his studies at Rice University, he found an interest in electroacoustic music and performed a creative recital project called “New Modern” where he performed his own works accompanied by backing track produced by himself along with contemporary works by other composers and improvisations

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Guy Few is a virtuoso. As a powerful pianist and astonishing trumpeter, he delights his audiences with his intensity and charm. Montreal's Le Devoir calls him "outrageously gifted" and "quite simply phenomenal". It is no wonder that he is in demand as a soloist and has played with many orchestras in Canada and the USA.

Guy, often with Stephanie, has been a frequent performer on KWCMS concerts.

Stephanie Mara received an Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studied with Garth Beckett. As a collaborative pianist and coach for Wilfrid Laurier University, she works with students majoring in brass, bassoon, clarinet and cello and have assisted in masterclasses with Alain Trudel, Dennis Najoom and James Campbell. Her festival and series appearances include the Elora Festival, the Festival of the Sound, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Barrie Colours of Music and Quad City Arts (U.S.A.).

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ARTISTS

Described as “beautiful to watch and breathtaking to hear” by the Guelph Mercury, violinist Bénédicte Lauzière enjoys a prolific career on the Canadian stage. She was concertmaster of the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, with which she was featured as a soloist. She is an avid chamber musician, her recent collaborations including Emanuel Ax and members of the Penderecki String Quartet. As a recitalist, she enjoys her partnership with pianist Angela Park. She won numerous prizes and awards including the Prix d’Europe 2014, the Michael-Measures Award 2011, the Peter Mendell Prize 2010 as well as a grant for professional musicians from the Canada Council for the Arts. Ms Lauzière was a laureate of the Stulberg International String Competition in 2010 and won numerous first prizes at the Canadian Music Competition. As a soloist, her recent performances include Chausson’s Poème op. 25 (2023), Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto op. 35 in d major (2023), Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending (2021), Barber’s Violin Concerto op.14 (2018), Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (2018) with pianist Stewart Goodyear and cellist John Helmers, Korngold’s Concerto op. 35 in d major (2016) and Ravel’s Tzigane (2016). She has been featured as guest soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, the Elora Festival, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. Bénédicte obtained her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York City in May 2014, where she studied with Masao Kawasaki with the support of the Karl H. Kraeuter, H. & E. Kivekas and Starr scholarships. She has performed both at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, studying with Jonathan Crow as recipient of the Lloyd Carr-Harris scholarship. In her younger formative years, she studied at Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal with Helmut Lipsky.

Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists. Praised for her “stunningly beautiful pianism” (Grace Welsh Prize, Chicago), “beautiful tone and sensitivity” (American Record Guide), and for performing “with such brilliant clarity it took your breath away” (Chapala, Mexico). Angela’s versatility as both soloist and chamber musician has led to performances across Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has performed for such notable series as Montreal’s Pro Musica, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut Tours, Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Stratford Symphony, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.

Angela Park, pianist, developed a passion for chamber music early on in her music studies, and this has led to a varied career as a chamber musician. She has developed a longstanding collaborative partnership with violist Sharon Wei, both as a duo, and as former founding members (2006-2022) of the renowned Ensemble Made In Canada. Their work together reached across every province and territory across Canada, culminating in a JUNO Award for their Mosaïque Album in 2021. They have also toured as a duo for Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut, and continue to collaborate regularly with other musicians across the country.

Cellist Rachel Mercer and Angela have also forged an important duo partnership since their first performance in 2006. As the Mercer-Park Duo, they have performed and recorded a vast range of repertoire for cello and piano with a focus on Canadian contemporary composers. Rachel and Angela have been privileged to work with violinist Yehonatan Berick as the AYR Trio (2010-2020), with Mayumi Seiler as the Seiler Trio, and with Scott St. John as the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio.

Angela was previously a pianist for Piano Six – New Generation, an organization that toured remote communities across Canada. In 2019 she joined pianist Stéphan Sylvestre to form a piano duo, focusing on the complete Brahms Symphonies in their four-hand versions. Among other collaborations, Angela has performed with such international artists as violist Rivka Golani, violinist Martin Beaver, clarinetist James Campbell, soprano Leslie Fagan, and leading members of the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies.

Past and future highlights include a world premiere of John Burge’s Second Piano Concerto with Sinfonia Toronto, solo recitals for Confluence Concerts in Toronto and Consortium Aurora Borealis in Thunder Bay, tours with Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic, performances with Lyrica Baroque in New Orleans, Louisiana, collaborative recitals at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Ensemble Made In Canada tours of Canada and the United States. Angela has recorded independent solo albums, and collaborative discs with cellist Rachel Mercer and Ensemble Made In Canada for labels including NAXOS Canadian Classics, Centrediscs, and Enharmonic Records. She is also featured on a recording of Srul Irving Glick’s Suites Hébraïques with clarinetist James Campbell, saxophonist Wallace Halladay, and violinist Barry Shiffman.

In 2010 Angela earned her DMA in Performance from the Université de Montréal, and previously received her MMus and BMus degrees from the University of Toronto. From 2011-2014, Angela was Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She has given masterclasses and educational outreach workshops for universities and communities across Canada, as well as at SUNY New Paltz, Stanford, and Indiana University in the United States. Angela has been Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at Western University since 2019. She is a regular guest teacher at Music at Port Milford, a summer chamber music academy for high school students. Angela is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton, and sits on the board of the Stratford Summer Music Festival. 

PROGRAM

Fox Preludio (R. Smirnov)

Fox And Gardener ( R. Smirnov)

Kuwaka ( R. Smirnov)

Thinking Of You( R. Smirnov)

Elvira - Shtuken( R. Smirnov)

Amarilli Mia Bella( R.Smirnov after J. Caccini)

Preludio and Anarquitango ( R.Smirnov)

Rappel Des Oiseaux ( J.Ph. Rameau)

La Forqueray ( J.Duphly)

Cantaloupe ( H. Hancock)

Almoraima (Paco de Lucia)

Gitana (Serranito)

Calima (G. Nunez)

ARTIST

Roman Smirnov is an award-winning artist performing in classical and flamenco virtuoso guitar styles, as well as a producer, arranger and composer. Roman has participated in international festivals and musical projects in various musical styles, ranging from early baroque to modern music and jazz.

His compositions have an emphasis on emotional, energetic and innovative expressions from a number of cultures and traditions in music. He is inspired by a variety of epochs and genres such as baroque, classical, jazz, flamenco, world, folk music and even rock which influenced by great artists like J.S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, A. Piazzolla, Wolfgang Lendle, Paco de Lucia, John Scofield, Herbie Hancock and many others.

Roman is a classically trained guitarist. He obtained his musical education from the Tallinn Music Conservatory in Estonia, the Rubin Academy of Music in Israel, and the Academy of Music in Kassel, Germany, with the renowned guitar virtuoso Wolfgang Lendle. 

Since 2008 Roman lives in Canada and regularly performs solo programs, duets, trios, quartets and small orchestras. These performances feature a variety of musicians, from classical string quartets to jazz ensembles, opera singers and different ethnic instruments, like Chinese Pipa, Arabic Oud, etc.

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ARTISTS

Alexander Tselyakov, piano

Pianist and educator, Professor Alexander Tselyakov has been described as a "phenomenal pianist", having "an intoxicating sound", and "a perfect artistic individuality", and "...representing the best aspect of Russian pianism and all its attributes... effectively synthesized the emotional balance of Arthur Rubinstein and the more highly-strung febrile quality of Horowitz." Harris Goldsmith, New York Concert Review.

He began his concert career with the State Philharmonic Orchestra in his native Soviet Union at the age of nine. Alexander Tselyakov went on to win one of the leading prizes at the prestigious VIIIth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Second International Music Competition of Japan, the Ibla Grand Prize International Piano Competition and the Mazara del Vallo International Piano and Orchestra Competition in Italy, the Israel Competition and the New Orleans International Piano Competition. His playing has inspired standing ovations in Japan, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain, Portugal, France, England, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Finland, the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Turkey and Canada where he now makes his home. Tselyakov combines virtuosity with breath-taking musicality in the Russian tradition of great pianists. He studied with Lev Naumov (custodian of the Heinrich Neuhaus methods that are credited with producing many extraordinary twentieth-century Russian keyboard masters such as Gilels and Richter) at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Tselyakov has performed frequently with leading orchestras including the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio Symphony and the State Byelorussian Philharmonic. He has appeared with the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Symphonique de Québec, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia, to name a few.

Tselyakov has appeared as a recitalist at major festivals and concert halls around the world. He has performed at the Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, the Tel-Aviv Museum, the Toronto Art Centre (the Ford Centre), the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, the Palais Montcalm in Québec, the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, the Temppeliakin Kirkko Hall in Helsinki, the University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo, the Conservatorio Publico Professional in Granada (Spain), and at the Regentenbau Hall in Bad Kissingen (Germany). While still in Russia Tselyakov was appointed concert solo pianist with the Byelorussian State Philharmonic and Assistant Professor of Music at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

Tselyakov continued to impress audiences and critics alike. Several more important prizes followed along with recitals for such dignitaries as Michael Gorbachev and the late Yitzhak Rabin. In 1994, Tselyakov immigrated to Canada and made his debut to great acclaim that December at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Recitals across the country soon started to materialize.

Tselyakov is now counted in the ranks of Canada’s leading concert pianists. That indescribable “something extra” which is so evident in his concerts made an immediate impact on Canadian audiences and continues to do so. Recent concerts have included a highly successful performance at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York, critically acclaimed concerts at Wigmore Hall in London, performances at The Centre Cultural (Paris, France), the University of Chicago, the International Piano Festival in Istanbul, at Merkin Hall (New York), at the International Piano Festival (San Jose, CA), the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Phillips Collection (Washington), the Embassy Series (Washington), at Blackheath Hall (London), the Vendsyssel Festival (Denmark), the Stockholm-Royal Palace Music Festival (Sweden), at Bösendorfer Saal (Vienna, Austria), at Cristofori Concerten Hall (Amsterdam), and at the Concert & Congress Centre de Doelen, Rotterdam (Netherlands). Tselyakov has also been heard recently on WQXR New York’s “Reflections on the Keyboard”, on the Danish Radio, on the BBC Radio (London, UK), ON Erstsendung, DeutschlandRadio Berlin (Germany) and on CBC Radio (Canada).

Daniel Tselyakov, piano 

Daniel Tselyakov has been acclaimed for the sensitivity and depth of his interpretations and for the rare emotional intensity and bold energy of his performances. 

Born into a musical family Daniel began his piano studies at the age of five with his father, well-known Canadian pianist Alexander Tselyakov, before subsequently completing a Bachelor of Music degree at the Oberlin Conservatory with Angela Cheng and a Master of Music degree at the Université de Montréal. Daniel is presently pursuing his doctorate with Dr.Ning Lu and teaching at the University of Utah, USA. He has won numerous scholarships, trophies, awards and competitions including the McLellan Competition, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Scholarship Competition, the National Canadian Music Competition, The Livorno International Piano Competition (Italy), and San Jose International Piano Competition. He has received full scholarships to many well-known music academies such as Pinchas Zukerman’s’ Young Artist Program, Art of the Piano Festival, Toronto Summer Music and PianoTexas International Academy & Festival. 

Daniel has studied with legendary mentors including Sergei Babayan, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Olga Kern, Marc-André Hamelin, André Laplante, Marc Durand, and John Perry. He was the youngest musician ever to be invited as a guest artist with the prestigious Virtuosi Concert Series and has appeared as a soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Sinfonietta, the Winnipeg Symphony Chamber Orchestra and the San Luis Potosi Symphony Orchestra, Mexico. In April 2014 he made his debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. By the age of 12, he had performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as a soloist with the Penderecki String Quartet. He has performed in festivals such as the Music and Beyond, Ottawa ChamberFest, Perry Sound Festival, Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival, Agassiz Chamber Music Festival, Texas International Festival, Gijon International Piano (Spain) Festival. In Europe, he has given solo recitals in Italy, France, and Spain. 

Jerzy Kaplanek, violin

Internationally renowned violinist Jerzy Kapłanek has established himself as a chamber musician, member of the celebrated Penderecki String Quartet, soloist, dedicated teacher, adjudicator, artistic director of QuartetFest and lately as a jazz violinist

He performs throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America over 80 concerts each season. His album of works by Karol Szymanowski with pianist Stéphan Sylvestre was highly praised by The Strad magazine as “an outstanding release”. His discography with the Penderecki Quartet comprises over two dozen CD’s (Marquis, Eclectra, CBC, CMC, EMI labels), including the highly acclaimed recording of the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók.

Mr. Kaplanek has collaborated with such notable musicians as pianists David Braid, Leopoldo Erice , Vladimir Feltsman, Janina Fialkowska Francine Kay, Lev Natochenny, Jamie Parker Stéphan Sylvestre, cellists Marc Johnson, Antonio Lysy Paul Pulford, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and clarinetist James Campbell amongst others. He is frequently heard on CBC Radio and NPR. He has made solo appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Peterborough and CBC Vancouver Symphonies and was a featured soloist at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Jerzy Kapłanek was born in Poland in 1965. His music education started at the age of six on piano and at the age of ten he began his violin studies. In 1984, he received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory in Bytom. In 1990, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Musical Arts from the prestigious Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. There, he studied with the distinguished teachers Janusz Skramlik, Aureli Błaszczok and Stanisław Lewandowski

In 1987-88 he studied with Efim Boico and the Fine Arts Quartet at the Chamber Music Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1989-90, he was a student of Sylvia Rosenberg in New York City and in 1990-91 he studied with Daniel Heifetz, the Guarneri String Quartet and its violinists, Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley. Pursuing his interest in performance practice, Mr. Kapłanek also worked with the pioneer of baroque violin, Jaap Schroeder.

Jerzy Kapłanek is presently an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where since 1991 he has been teaching violin and chamber music. He frequently gives master classes in Canada and abroad.

Mr. Kaplanek performs on a 2016 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin made in New York City.

Katie Schlaikjer, cello

Cellist Katie Schlaikjer is a member of the JUNO-winning Penderecki Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Colorado String Quartet from 2009 to 2013, and prior to that, cellist with the Avalon Quartet, award winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Melbourne Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild (NY). A consummate chamber musician and soloist, Ms. Schlaikjer has performed around the globe, with tours throughout Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Croatia, China, Australia, Columbia, Mexico and across Canada and the U.S, performing at the Kennedy Centre, the Beijing Concert Hall, The National Arts Centre, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and many more.

As a chamber musician, Katie Schlaikjer has performed the complete Beethoven and Bartok quartets with both CSQ and PSQ, amongst an almost encyclopaedic range of quartet and chamber music repertoire, including over 100 new works written for the Penderecki Quartet. She has appeared in the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Caramoor festivals, as well as Festival of the Sound, Music from Salem, Ottawa Chamberfest, the annual Music Mountain festival (CT), and has recorded for Albany Records, Marquis Classics, and Elektra.

Of Ms. Schlaikjer’s many solo appearances, recent engagements have included the premiere of J. Mark Scearce’s cello concerto “Aracana” with the University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s D major cello concerto with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in China.

Guiding young artists and cultivating a vibrant studio of award-winning students has been a career objective as well as a passion, with several of her pupils continuing to advanced institutions such as the Glenn Gould School and Juilliard.  She has taught at the University of Connecticut, the Hartt Music School, Bard Conservatory and the New England Conservatory, and conducted masterclasses at the renowned UNAM (University) in Mexico City, Lynn University in Florida, the Cleveland Institute, the Colorado Quartet’s Soundfest, and Charles Castleman’s Quartet program.  At Wilfrid Laurier University, where she has been Artist-in-Residence with the Penderecki Quartet since 2013 where she teaches cello and chamber music.

Ms Schlaikjer received her Doctoral and Master’s degrees from Stony Brook University and her Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory where her teachers included Timothy Eddy and Laurence Lesser.

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ARTISTS

Four musicians with equally stellar pedigrees formed the New Orford String Quartet with the goal of developing a new model for a touring string quartet.  Their concept – to bring four elite orchestral leaders and soloists together on a regular basis over many years to perform chamber music at the highest level – has resulted in a quartet that maintains a remarkably fresh perspective while bringing a palpable sense of joy to each performance. The Toronto Star has described this outcome as “nothing short of electrifying. 

The New Orford String Quartet has seen astonishing success, giving annual concerts for national CBC broadcast and receiving unanimous critical acclaim, including two Opus Awards for Concert of the Year, and a 2017 JUNO Award for Best Classical Album. Recent seasons have featured return engagements in Chicago, Montreal and Toronto, as well as their New York City debut on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series.

The original Orford String Quartet gave its first public concert in 1965, and became one of the best-known and most illustrious chamber music ensembles. After more than 2,000 concerts on six continents, the Orford String Quartet gave its last concert in 1991. Two decades later, in July 2009, the New Orford String Quartet took up this mantle, giving its first concert for a sold-out audience at the Orford Arts Centre. The New Orford has since gone on to perform concerts throughout North America and lead residencies at the University of Toronto, Schulich School of Music, Mount Royal University, and Syracuse University. In September 2017 the Quartet became Ensemble in Residence at the University of Toronto, and was recently named Artistic Directors of the Prince Edward County Music Festival, where they made their curatorial debut in September 2018.

In 2011, the Quartet recorded its debut album of the final quartets of Schubert and Beethoven, released by Bridge Records to international acclaim. The recording was hailed as one of the top CDs of 2011 by La Presse and CBC In Concert and nominated for a JUNO Award in 2012. Critics have described the recording as “…flawless… a match made in heaven!” (Classical Music Sentinel); “a performance of rare intensity” (Audiophile Audition); and “nothing short of electrifying… listen and weep.” (The Toronto Star). Their follow-up album of the Brahms Op.51 Quartets was equally well-received, and received the 2017 JUNO for best chamber music album.

The New Orford is dedicated to promoting Canadian works, both new commissions and neglected repertoire from the previous century. New Orford String Quartet projects have included performances of major Canadian string quartets from the 20th century including works by Glenn Gould, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Jacques Hétu, R. Murray Schafer, and Claude Vivier, as well as commissions of new works from composers such as Francois Dompierre, Gary Kulesha, Airat Ichmouratov and Tim Brady. The Quartet thrives on exploring the rich chamber music repertoire; recent collaborations include those with pianists Marc-André Hamelin and Menahem Pressler.

The Quartet regularly tours in the major cities of North America, including Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Los Angeles; at the same time, the members feel strongly about bringing this music to areas that don’t often hear it, and as a result perform frequently in remote rural locations and smaller Canadian communities. The New Orford String Quartet are Artists-in-Residence at Western University in London, ON.  

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ARTISTS

For 50 years, concert pianist Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences and critics around the world. She has been praised for her musical integrity, her refreshing natural approach and her unique piano sound thus becoming “one of the Grandes Dames of piano playing” (Frankfurter Allgemeine).

Born in Canada, she began her piano studies with her mother at age 4 continuing on in her native Montreal with Yvonne Hubert. In Paris she studied with Yvonne Lefébure and in New York at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki, experiencing the best of both French and Russian piano traditions. Her career was launched in 1974, when the legendary Arthur Rubinstein became her mentor after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition, calling her a “born Chopin interpreter” laying the foundation for her lifelong identification with this composer.

Since then she has performed with the foremost orchestras worldwide under the baton of such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Sir Georg Solti, Sir Roger Norrington and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, to name one of the younger generation. She has won special recognition for a series of important premieres, notably Liszt’s newly discovered Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony and several contemporary piano concertos. Ms Fialkowska's discography includes many award-winning discs, e.g. the BBC Music Magazine’s 2013 “Instrumental CD of the Year" award as well as the Canadian "Juno Award" in 2018.

Her native Canada has bestowed upon her their highest honors: “Officer of the Order of Canada”, the “Governor General’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music” (Canada's equivalent to the US Kennedy Centre Awards), as well as three honorary doctorates. She passes on her wide musical experience in master classes and at her annual “International Piano Academy” in Bavaria, where she now resides and makes frequent appearances as a juror of the world's most prestigious piano competitions.

2020 began promising with another tour in North America featuring concerts in five Canadian provinces including a highly acclaimed recital at Salle Bourgie in Montreal as well as a recital at Willamette University in Oregon’s capital Salem, before the consequences of the corona epidemic stopped her tour cancelling her last two concerts. The subsequent lockdowns prevented numerous further engagements, although a brief loosening of the restrictions allowed her to return to the prestigious Klavier Festival Ruhr for an enthusiastically acclaimed recital in Dortumund (" ... a real pianistic moment of glory ..." Westallgemeine Zeitung) as well as to the Belfast International Arts Festival where she performed Beethoven’s piano concertos Nos. 3 and 4 in October of 2020

On May 7, 2021 Ms Fialkowska celebrated her 70th birthday.. Most of the concerts of her “Birthday Celebration Tour” were cancelled as well as the production of a new CD. Nevertheless her birthday was heartily celebrated in the media worldwide. In November her autobiography “A Note in Time” (Novum Publishing, London UK) was released.

She was looking forward to a tour of a seven weeks in Canada and the US starting in late January of 2022. But yet again, Covid restrictions and logistics put a spanner in the works. What remained of this tour was a short one-week trip across the Atlantic in early March with two concerts for Portland Piano International in the US and a triumphant comeback recital for the Ottawa Chamber Festival.

At the end of April 2022 Janina Fialkowska went on a tour of four Canadian provinces starting in Halifax with Symphony Nova Scotia, followed by a recital in Quebec City for the Club Musical. After concerts with the Calgary Philharmonic she performed in Ontario at the Guelph Festival as well as for the in Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society and at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts and at Montreal’s Salle Bourgie ending in Saskatchewan with the Regina Symphony and a recital in Saskatoon for Gustin House. After that she returned to Europe to perform at the Berlin Piano Festival in Germany’s Capital as well as the prestigious Klavierfruehling Deutschlandsberg in Austria followed by several recitals in Germany and a concert with the Rijeka Symphony (Croatia). Highlights in 2023: Rerturning to the Klavierfestival Ruhr (Düsseldorf), a concert with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, recitals in the UK as well as a tour of summer festivals and a winter tour in Ontario, Canada.

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After winning her first  competition at age 5, guitarist Cinzia Milani proceeded through more until, at age 12, she began tour performing and has since been just about everywhere  (including Canada - where she included master classes at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.)

Here are a few more small excerpts: 

In the latest years she performed in Mexico and she was a part of jury at “Concurso Internacional de Guitarra de Sinaloa”.

She created the show "Venere" of music composed and performed live by her, in collaboration with the dance company "Performing Dance": the feminine universe told through music and dance.

Further to her work as a guitarist, are her activities as a violinist; graduate in violin, she plays in various orchestras and, with them, performs both in Italy, Spain and France.

One of the few “repeats” we do from our overseas musicians, Cinzia is invited back because of the impression she made last  year!

PROGRAM

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Emilie Mayer - String Quartet TBA + more TBA

Monday, March 31, 2025

Emilie Mayer - String Quartet TBA + more TBA

ARTIST

“…Until Saturday evening, I had never heard a performance by one of these multilingual quartets where the classical repertoire was delivered at a level that was competitive with the finest traditional groups. But the Carpe Diem Quartet, appearing at the Dumbarton Church, was extraordinary. Among these contemporary quartets who speak in different tongues, the Carpe Diem is the best one out there." (The Washington Post, Washington, DC)

One of the most unique and sought-after chamber ensembles on the concert stage today, the Carpe Diem String Quartet is a boundary-breaking ensemble that has earned widespread critical acclaim. Carpe Diem defies easy classification with programming that includes classical, Romani, tango, folk, pop, rock, and jazz-inspired music. The Quartet appears regularly on traditional concert series stages like Carnegie Hall in New York City, Jordan Hall in Boston, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, The Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, National Library Concert Hall in Beijing, and The BinHai Performing Arts Center in Tianjin, as well as in unconventional venues like Poisson Rouge in NYC, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society of Half-Moon Bay, CA, and the Mug & Brush in Columbus, OH. 

“The Carpe Diem players turned in a fiery and flexible performance that was astonishingly free…” (The New York Times)

“With enthrallingly flawless execution and miraculous synchronicity, the Carpe Diem String Quartet wowed their New York audience on Saturday night at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall… With a flair for the romantic and technical expertise to spare, the ensemble is a perfectly structured, dexterously concentrated success...This ensemble must be held in only the highest and most reverent esteem…” (New York Theatre Guide)

“One would have to search long and hard to find a more charming and enjoyable chamber music concert . . . A number of elements contributed to this end result, not the least of which the superb musicianship of the four musicians - Carpe Diem is a seriously talented quartet in the most traditional definition.” (Herald-Tribune, Sarasota, FL)

Carpe Diem’s CD “Montana,” by composer (and quartet member) Korine Fujiwara, received this rave review in Strings Magazine: Carpe Diem “must be one of the most adventurous groups of its kind.”  Carpe Diem has recorded the complete cycle of the nine string quartets of Sergei Taneyev for Naxos, as well as the complete string quartets of Jonathan Leshnoff, Reza Vali’s The Book of Calligraphy and Longing, two CDs with singer/guitarist Willy Porter, Anansi and the Sky God with John Gunther, saxophone, the complete string quartets of Richard Jordan Smoot, Bruce Wolosoff’s Songs without Words, Quintets No. 1 and 2 for Mandolin and String Quartet by mandolinist Jeff Midkiff, and Dances of the Yogurt Maker - Music for String Quartet and Turkish Folk Percussion by Erberk Eryilmaz. Recently the CDs of Jeff Midkiff’s and Erberk Eryilmaz’s music were awarded Gold Prizes at the Global Music Awards.

Carpe Diem seeks out, and is sought after by, artists from many different genres for collaborations, including : American singer/songwriter/ guitarist Willy Porter, Latin Grammy winner/bandoneón player Raul Juarena, klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer, cellist Yo Yo Ma, banjo virtuoso Jayme Stone, Shannon Heaton, Celtic flautist, mandolinist Jeff Midkiff, trumpeter Tom Battenberg, classical guitarist Nicolo Spera, Chinese pipa player Yihan Chen, Jazz Quartet the Whirly Birds, and world master of the Persian santoor Dariush Saghafi.

Devoted to expanding the reach and impact of community engagement, Carpe Diem has been awarded six transformative outreach grants from the PNC Foundation ArtsAlive Awards. The Quartet’s outreach performances incorporate diverse and eclectic repertoire tailored to specific audience demographics; use cameras, video, and artistic contributions to enrich presentations visually; rely on communication from the stage to introduce music and engage the audience; and explore fun, imaginative, and thought provoking themes to connect audiences to chamber music. These carefully crafted performances have allowed the Quartet to reach underserved audiences including The Apache Nation, Ohio Women’s Reformatory residents, and families at the Columbus Museum of Art.

Sam Weiser, violin, formerly a member of the award-winning Del Sol Quartet, is a lifelong chamber musician and advocate of contemporary music. 

Sam has performed all over the country, from the Herbst Theater and the Kennedy Center to a raft floating along the Yampa River. He has premiered over 150 new works by composers such as Vijay Iyer, Huang Ruo, and Chen Yi. Sam is the violinist in sfSound, a member of One Found Sound, and the Assistant Concertmaster of the California Symphony. He studied with Ian Swensen, Lucy Chapman, James Buswell, and Patinka Kopec. He holds bachelors’ degrees from Tufts University (computer science) and the New England Conservatory (violin), as well as a master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (chamber music).

Marisa Ishikawa is an avid performer, educator, and entrepreneur based in Houston, TX. As a violin teacher and a founder and faculty member of Opus 1 Chamber Music School, she is passionate about cultivating a love for music in her students. As a performer in the internationally renowned Carpe Diem String Quartet and co-founder of the arts non-profit Austin Camerata, she is devoted to curating and presenting inclusive and engaging performances that showcase diverse composers and styles of music. In her free time, Marisa enjoys cooking and practicing yoga.

As a performer, Marisa has performed in Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Jordan Hall, as well as throughout Europe and China. She serves as the second violinist of the internationally recognized Carpe Diem String Quartet, a boundary-breaking ensemble that has earned widespread critical and audience acclaim for its innovative programming and electrifying performances. With the Quartet, she appears on the quartet’s recording, Dances of the Yogurt Maker, which features the string chamber works of Turkish composer Erberk Eryilmaz. This album was released in May 2021 on the MSR label, was produced by Grammy Award winner Judith Sherman, and received Gold Prize in the Global Music Awards. Marisa also composed her first work for string quartet as part of the quartet’s interactive virtual performance An American Story. This performance was sponsored by the PNC Arts Alive Grant and was released in May 2021.  

As an entrepreneur, Marisa co-founded the nonprofit chamber music organization Austin Camerata. Its mission is to enrich the city of Austin, TX by introducing new audiences to the world of chamber music through creative concerts, artistic collaborations, and community outreach. Dedicated to broadening the audience for chamber music, Austin Camerata performs an array of repertoire, from the most revered classical masterpieces to newly written, genre-defying works. The ensemble is known for creative artistic collaborations that augment the music’s emotional power, and performances frequently feature collaborations with visual art, creative writing, and dance ranging in style from flamenco, to hip-hop, to ballet.

In 2021, Marisa co-founded Opus 1 Chamber Music School, Houston chamber music program. Opus 1’s goal is to create experiences and ensembles – tailored to the unique personality and playing of every student – that foster a sense of community, high standards, and enthusiasm for each other and chamber music. Whether a student intends to pursue music as a career or as a lifelong hobby, Opus 1 equips them with the interpersonal and musical skills and passions that chamber music uniquely provides.

Marisa was born in Boulder, Colorado and began playing the violin at the age of three. Between 2011 and 2015, she earned a Bachelor of Music with Highest Honors from the University of Colorado Boulder. Additionally, she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with High Distinction from CU Leeds School of Business. From 2015 to 2017, Marisa studied with Brian Lewis at the University of Texas Austin, where she received the Starling Distinguished Violinist Scholarship and earned a Master of Music degree. In 2020, she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from CU Boulder under Charles Wetherbee. During this time, she worked as a Teaching Assistant giving individual lessons to undergraduate BM and BA violin students and assisting in major Music History courses and non-major Music Appreciation classes. Her final thesis, Keeping and Retaining Audiences in Today’s Classical World, explored reasons for and solutions to classical music’s declining audience population. Solutions include forming relationships with audience members, programming underrepresented musical voices, and presenting artistically collaborative performances.

Marisa has worked with numerous artists, such as Glenn Dicterow, Naoko Tanaka, Alexander Kerr, Rachel Barton Pine, Ani Kavafian, Peter Otto, and Stephen Rose, the Takács String Quartet, and the Miró String Quartet. As a soloist, Marisa has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Austin Civic Orchestra, and the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestra. Additionally, she has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival.

Montana native Korine Fujiwara is a founding member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, a devoted and sought-after chamber musician and teacher, and a gifted composer and arranger.

Ms. Fujiwara is Professor of violin and viola at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. She served for many years on the music faculty of Ohio Wesleyan University and is in great demand for master classes and clinics throughout the United States. Korine’s students have been accepted into the performance programs of such institutions as Indiana University, Cincinnati College Conservatory, and Northwestern University to continue their musical studies.

Named as one of Strings Magazine’s “25 Contemporary Composers to Watch,” Korine has received multiple commissions including works for opera, chamber ensembles, chorus, concerti, and music for modern dance. Her works have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, China, and Japan. Her musical language encompasses a wide range of influences, including classical, folk, jazz, and rock and roll. Her diverse artistic collaborations have helped to infuse her work with a rhythmic power and intensity. 

Critics have remarked of Ms. Fujiwara's music, “The ear is forever tickled by beautifully judged music that manages to be sophisticated and accessible at the same time,” “Contains a very rare attribute in contemporary classical music: happiness.” (Fanfare Magazine); “She knows how to exploit all the resources of string instruments alone and together; her quartet writing is very democratic, with solos for everyone; her solo violin writing is fiendishly difficult.” (Strings Magazine). “Fujiwara beautifully meets the challenge of weaving together different emotions across generations that make sense musically while delighting the ear.” (WOSU Classical 101 by Request) “Fujiwara’s music is rich and beguiling throughout.” (The Columbus Dispatch)  “Artfully layered and knitted together…While each “room” has its own musical personality, the poignant sections in which characters in different periods actually sing together—a trio, a sextet, and even an octet—dovetail perfectly. The dramatic arc builds persuasively to the climactic moments, shifting with increasing speed between scenes to the culminating revelation.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Korine is a recipient of an Opera America Commissioning Grant from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program, made possible through the generosity of The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, for the composition of “The Flood,” an award-winning opera with Stephen Wadsworth, librettist, premiered by Opera Columbus and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in February 2019.

Ms. Fujiwara is a gifted performer on both the violin and viola, and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Northwestern University, where she studied with Joseph Fuchs and Myron Kartman, respectively. Her other mentors include Harvey Shapiro, Robert Mann, and Joel Krosnik. Ms. Fujiwara is a member of the music honorary society Pi Kappa Lambda.

Korine began her orchestral career with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and served as a principal player and soloist with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus. She is also a former member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, where she held the position of Acting Assistant Principal Second Violin.

Korine performs on a 1790 Contreras violin, 2004 Kurt Widenhouse viola, and bows by three of today’s finest makers, Paul Martin Siefried, Ole Kanestrom and Charles Espey, all of Port Townsend, WA, USA.

Cellist Ariana Nelson is based in Houston where she is a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra. She frequently performs with other ensembles in the Houston area, including the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, and Texas New Music Ensemble. Ariana has taught and coached as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Southern University, and at AFA’s Chamber Music Academy. She is an avid proponent of new music and loves experimenting with different styles, including improvisation and folk music. This passion led her to co-found the Pacific Crest Trio in 2020, a group that dives into multiple genres and prioritizes engaging more audiences and community outreach. Her eclectic tastes have also led her to appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, performances for patients recovering in Mount Sinai Hospital’s transplant ward, and a performance with the Silk Road Ensemble at Tanglewood. In 2015 Ariana was invited to perform in a small chamber orchestra to accompany Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center as part of the Kennedy Center Honors event. Ariana has received many honors as a soloist, most recently winning third prize at the 2016 Eisemann Young Artists Competition in Dallas, Texas.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Ariana was steeped in chamber music as a child. Family influences in music extend three generations back to her grandfather, Alan Iglitzin, who was the founding violist of the Philadelphia String Quartet. Her mother Karen was the first violinist of the quartet before she started her own chamber music organization in Seattle, called Chamber Music Madness. Since age eight, Ariana has been playing string quartets. Her extensive chamber music experience has included coaching with renowned musicians such as Emanuel Ax, James Dunham, David Finckel, John Harbison, Desmond Hoebig, Jon Kimura-Parker, and Roger Tapping.

Ariana is passionate about bringing the joy of music to others in her community. In recent summers, Ariana has been an artist faculty member at the the Charles Ives Music Festival, a week long program for young students. There she teaches private lessons, coaches chamber music, and performs several concerts featuring new and contemporary music in Danbury, Connecticut. Additional summer appearances include the Grand Teton Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Fontainebleau Conservatoire Américain, Spoleto Festival USA, Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival and School, Le Domaine Forget Chamber Music Festival, the Olympic Music Festival and the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Italy.

Ariana received her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School in May of 2017 where she studied with Darrett Adkins. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she graduated cum laude in May of 2015. There she had the privilege of studying cello with Norman Fischer of the Concord Quartet.

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Friday, April 4 Part 3 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 12, 16, 25, 18

Sunday, April 6  Part 4 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 11, 22, 29 ("Hammerklavier")

Tuesday, April 8  Part 5 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 10, 14 ("Moonlight"), 24 ("à Thérèse"), 28, 30 (Op. 109, first of the great three final sonatas)

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Heather Taves Concert pianist Heather Taves brings her “radiantly beautiful, commanding and authoritative” artistry to audiences everywhere, as she connects with openness and humour to share musical worlds. An internationally respected classical artist, she is preparing the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas by Beethoven for completion in 2024. Heather shares this process in her entertaining blog “Beethoven Journey” at https://heathertaves.substack.com/

Gifted in multiple genres, Heather showcases her gifts as improvisor, composer, and writer. She is composing music for an event titled Painted Dances, joining forces with the popular Propeller Dance Company which includes wheelchair dancers, artist Julea Boswell, and emerging filmmaker Aaron Daniels Casey. As an improvisor, she plays keyboard in the Scott Parsons Band which presents stories of Black history to communities large and small. She has performed music by diverse living composers such as Israeli composer Oded Zehavi, Palestinian-Canadian composer John Kameel Farah, Turkish composer Can Kazaz, and British jazz pianist Julian Joseph.  Her vision is to share music in all its diverse facets as a powerful force to bring people together.

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Pioneering piano chamber music sensation ENSEMBLE VIVANT, “Canada’s Chamber Music Treasure” (John Terauds, Toronto Star), burst onto the international concert and recording scene over 30 years ago with exciting, innovative genre-diverse programming including Classical, the syncopated rhythms of Ragtime, The Great American Songbook, Latin and other Jazz-related styles. Veteran Jazz Icon, musician, composer, arranger Rick Wilkins, C.M. commented: “This is the highest-level chamber music-making. No matter the genre, there is magic in Ensemble Vivant’s music-making.” A favourite among audiences, Ensemble Vivant is also known for its warm and engaging rapport and its passionate, deeply communicative playing that touches the hearts and souls of listeners of all ages, bringing them lasting joy. As Opening Day Entertainment Group (ODEG) recording artists, Ensemble Vivant has 15 internationally acclaimed CDs that are heard regularly on radio and digital platforms around the world.

The core quintet is Catherine Wilson, piano/artistic director; Corey Gemmell, violin; Norman Hathaway, viola; Tom Mueller, cello; George Koller, bass. Regular collaborators include Aysel Taghi-Zada, violin; Liza McLellan, cello; Kevin Turcotte & Alex Brown, trumpet; Mike Murley, Allison Au and Tara Davidson, sax; Virginia MacDonald, clarinet; Juan Carlos Medrano, Latin percussion; Adrian Bent (drummer from Drake’s band) and many others.

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Music from their Latest album, Mappa Mundi (Bach, Mozart, Bonfa, Jobim, Roux, Côté-Giguère, Amelkina-Vera)

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Canadian Guitar Quartet: Steve Cowan, Jérôme Ducharme, Christ Habib,  Louis Trépanier

Since its debut in 1999, the Canadian Guitar Quartet has performed on three continents, going from one standing ovation to the next, and established a reputation as one of the finest guitar ensembles in the world. 

During its twenty-plus years, the CGQ has released four critically acclaimed albums while touring extensively in Canada and abroad, appearing in recital, and with orchestra. The CGQ’s first concert at the 92Street Y in New York city, part of the Art of the Guitar series, was extremely well received. Don WiTer Jr., of the New York City Classical Guitar Society, wrote: “The Canadian Guitar Quartet made one of the greatest New York City Debuts of any ar;s;c ensemble in decades…STUNNING !!!”. 

As well as performing and recording, the CGQ continues to mentor and direct young guitarists through clinics, masterclasses, and one on one teaching. 

While personnel changes have occurred over the years, the ensemble has remained commited to its core mission: chamber music at its highest level, presenting a robust mix of clever new arrangements of classical masterworks alongside bold new works for guitar quartet – most often penned by past and present members of the ensemble. The engaging repertoire, performed with the CGQ’s fiery virtuosity, augmented by the players’ easy and congenial rapport with the audience, all make a Canadian Guitar Quartet concert an event to remember.

“The Canadian Guitar Quartet dazzled the audience with their second-to-none ensemble playing” -Benjamin Verdery, Classical Guitar Magazine

"From the very first bars of the arrangement of Vivaldi's Concerto for two cellos, RV 531, which opens the album, charm and pleasure operate. We are dealing here with real chamber musicians: partners who know how to dialogue, listen to each other, and become one." - Frédérique Trudel, Radio-Canada

"The Canadian Guitar Quartet made one of the greatest New York City debuts of any artistic ensemble in decades at the 92nd Street Y ‘Art of The Guitar Series’ ...STUNNING !“  - Don Witter Jr, New York City Classical Guitar Society 

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The Chicago Brass Quintet has been pushing the bounds of chamber orchestration for more than four decades. Originally founded in a Northwestern dorm room, the Quintet rose to national prominence with the release of their first recording for Crystal Records and through a notable appearance at the International Trumpet Guild’s Conference in Ithaca, New York.

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Over the course of their history, the Quintet has made numerous contributions to the contemporary arts community, and has played to acclaim before audiences around the world. Today, the ensemble remains as vibrant as ever, and continues to engage with music lovers through an enriching calendar of concerts, workshops, and educational events.

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Madeline was a student of Wilma Berkel’s at Western, and Wilma said we’ve just got to have this musician, she’s going to be one of the finest Canadian guitarists! 

CBC Music’s ‘hot 30 under 30’

Hall’s trajectory continued this past summer, when she was named to CBC Music’s 2023 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30 list, reserved for those who are “highly skilled, creative, disciplined and determined to make their mark in the world of classical music.”

The honour included an invitation for Hall to play at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse historic site and museum in Toronto, where she performed Joaquin Turina’s Sonata, Op.61.

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Monday, June 9 Part 6 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 19, 20, 6, 21 ("Waldstein")

Wednesday, June 11 Part 7 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 1, 8 ("Pathétique")

Friday, June 13 Part 8 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 3, 7, 13, 26 ("Les Adieux")

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Heather Taves Concert pianist Heather Taves brings her “radiantly beautiful, commanding and authoritative” artistry to audiences everywhere, as she connects with openness and humour to share musical worlds. An internationally respected classical artist, she is preparing the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas by Beethoven for completion in 2024. Heather shares this process in her entertaining blog “Beethoven Journey” at https://heathertaves.substack.com/

Gifted in multiple genres, Heather showcases her gifts as improvisor, composer, and writer. She is composing music for an event titled Painted Dances, joining forces with the popular Propeller Dance Company which includes wheelchair dancers, artist Julea Boswell, and emerging filmmaker Aaron Daniels Casey. As an improvisor, she plays keyboard in the Scott Parsons Band which presents stories of Black history to communities large and small. She has performed music by diverse living composers such as Israeli composer Oded Zehavi, Palestinian-Canadian composer John Kameel Farah, Turkish composer Can Kazaz, and British jazz pianist Julian Joseph.  Her vision is to share music in all its diverse facets as a powerful force to bring people together.

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Cuore Piano Trio was founded in 2017 in Warsaw and it has quickly established itself as one of the leading chamber music groups of the young generation. Currently based in Vienna, the musicians are students of Avedis Kouyoumdjian (piano), Christian Altenburger (violin) and Stefan Kropfitsch (cello) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2022 the Trio gave three recitals at the renowned Musikverein in Vienna (Brahms-Saal) as part of the new concert cycle "Souvenir". The concerts were a huge success and the ensemble was reinvited to perform twice as many recitals in Brahms-Saal - a full season of the "Souvenir" concerts in 2023/2024. Additionally the musicians will appear in the Metallener-Saal of the Vienna Musikverein in June 2024.

Cuore Piano Trio's members - Zuzanna Budzyńska (violin), Jadwiga Roguska (cello) and Szymon Ogryzek (piano) - are passionate about introducing new audiences to the unknown classical music pieces written by less popular Polish composers. They constantly aim to create original music programs which include not only the widely known and loved masterpieceses, but also newly discovered works of the less fortunate composers of different nationalities.

Cuore Piano Trio has been a prizewinner of many international music competitions i.a. the Fanny Mendelssohn International Music Competition in Germany (1st prize in 2023), "Nouvelles Etoiles" International Music Competition in France (1st prize in 2021), Quebec International Music Competition (1st prize in 2020) or the Brilliant Talent Discovery Awards International Music Competition in Singapore (1st prize in 2019). In April 2023 they received the prestigious Ensemble of the Year 2022 award from the Italian chamber music network Le Dimore del Quartetto, as well as the Gioventù Musicale Prize. Cuore Piano Trio has been supported by the Polish Lubelskie Voivodeship within the "Lubelskie - Taste life!" program since 2022.

The Trio performs regularly in Poland, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic or Lithuania. In 2022 they performed during the Internationaler Bad Schandauer Musiksommer in Germany, Festival Mlada Praha in the Czech Republic or the Letnie Spotkania Kameralne Festival in Poland. In March 2023 they made their trio debut as soloists with Jyväskylä Sinfonia and Jan Söderblom, performing the Concerto for Piano Trio and Symphony Orchestra H. 231 by Bohuslav Martinu in Finland. They have been invited to perform at the PRISMA Festival in Powell River (Canada) in June 2023 as the Festival's ensemble in residence. In September 2023, as a result of being awarded the Grand Prix at the "Music & Stars" International Music Competition in Estonia (2022), the Trio is recording their debut solo album for the Spanish KNS Classical Label. The CD's repertoire includes pieces written by the Polish, French, Armenian and American composers of the 20th century.

Their recordings have previously been published by the Polish DUX Recording Producers Label. They have been very well reviewed i.a. by Maestro Simone Gramaglia ("Cuore Piano Trio gives an accurate, clear and passionate reading of the compositions highlighting the musical maturity that already characterizes this ensemble"). The musicians worked as editors on one of the recorded pieces - the Piano Trio in E major Op. 5 by Franciszek Lessel, which was later published by the EUPHONIUM Publishing House as a world premiere.

The musicians have received scholarships from the Polish Prime Minister, the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the "Bridge to the Future" Scholarship from the Globalworth Foundation and the Julian Cochran Foundation, the Société Générale Bank and others. Their work has been greatly influenced by artists such as Sibila Konstantinova, Vida Vujic, Fabio Bidini, Edward Zienkowski, Evgenia Epshtein, Jean Saulnier or Michael Flaksman.

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The Eliot Quartett was founded in 2014 and has become one of the most engaging string quartets of its generation. Hailing from Canada, Germany and Russia, the quartet’s members formed the group in Frankfurt am Main and have since gone on to win prizes at major national and international music competitions, including second prize at both the Mozart International Competition in Salzburg and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Prize of the German Music Competition as well as three additional special prizes, and first prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of a piece by Karol Szymanowski at the inaugural International Karol Szymanowski Competition in Katowice, Poland.

The Eliot Quartett has established itself as a cornerstone of the music scene in its hometown of Frankfurt, Germany. In addition to appearances at the Alte Oper, the Polytechnische Gesellschaft concert series and the Schumann Gesellschaft, the Eliot Quartett is a regular guest at the Holzhausenschlösschen in Frankfurt and founded its own festival ‘Eliots am Main’ in 2022.

The Eliot Quartett’s concert schedule includes performances at renowned festivals and concerts series throughout Europe. It has performed at the Bachfest Leipzig, the Kasseler Musiktagen, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Shostakovich Tage, the Festival Musica Sur and Delta Chamber Music Festival in Spain, the Styriarte in Graz, the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Schubertiade.

The four musicians began their chamber music instruction with Prof. Hubert Buchberger and went on to study with Prof. Tim Vogler at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main and with Prof. Günter Pichler at the Instituto Internacional de Música de Camera at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. The Eliot Quartett has received valuable musical guidance from Valentin Erben, Oliver Wille, Martin Beaver, and the Mandelring Quartet and enjoys a close working relationship with the esteemed pianist Alfred Brendel and the Belcea Quartet.

The Eliot Quartett is named after the American poet T. S. Eliot whose famous work “Four Quartets” was inspired by the innovative late Quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven. Eliot, like Beethoven, attempted to establish a connection between past, present and future by breaking away from the accepted classical forms of the time.

The Eliot Quartett has released several recordings on GENUIN classics.

Maryana Osipova  (1st Violin) was born in 1987 in Moscow into a musical family and is a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied with Prof. Marina Keselman and Prof. Maya Glezarova. She currently studies with Prof. Laurent Breuninger at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. Maryana has enjoyed success at several international violin competitions, winning third prize at the 2013 Yankelevich Violin Competition in Omsk, and sixth prize at the 4th China International Violin Competition in Qingdao in 2014.  As an avid chamber musician, Maryana has won prizes at the Vainiunas Competition in Vilnius in 2010, the London International Chamber Music Competition in 2010, and the Premio Vittorio Gui in Florence in 2011. Maryana attended masterclasses with Boris Kuschnir, Mihaela Martin (Kronberg Academy Masterclasses), Igor Ozim (Weimarer Meisterkurse), and Boris Belkin (Accademia Chigiana). She has performed at the Homecoming Festival in Moscow (2007—15), the Moscow Conservatory Youth Festival (2010—13), Svyatoslav Richter’s Festival in Tarusa, Oleg Kagan’s Festival in Moscow, and at the International Festival in Togliatti, where she premiered Polina Nazaykinskaya’s violin concerto. She has collaborated with musicians such as Boris Andrianov, Kristina Blaumane, Nikita Borisoglebsky, Boris Brovtsyn, Alexander Buzlov, Maxim Rysanov and Alexander Sitkovetsky and can be heard in Maxim Rysanov’s recording of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet on the Onyx label. Maryana Osipova holds a scholarship from the Oscar und Vera Ritter foundation.

Alexander Sachs (2nd Violin) was born in 1990 in Vancouver, Canada. He began his musical education at the Vancouver Academy of Music and took violin lessons with Prof. Taras Gabora. From 2008 to 2012, Alexander Sachs studied at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz with Prof. Anne Shih and from 2012 to 2016 at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main with Prof. Sophie Jaffé. He has attended masterclasses with Prof. Rainer Kussmaul, Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender and Prof. Gerhard Schulz (International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England). In 2011, Alexander received the Neumeyer Consort Scholarship for Baroque music and has performed with the ensemble throughout Germany (Göttinger Händelfestspiele, Magdeburger Telemanntage, Forum Alte Musik in Frankfurt).  As a member of the Goethe String Trio, he was selected in 2011 to the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Frankfurt e.V. Foundation. After completing a practicum with the 2nd violins in the Staatsorchester Darmstadt, Alexander spent a year in the 1st violins on a temporary contract. Since 2014, he holds a teaching position at the Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory at the Kronberg Academy.

Dmitry Hahalin (Viola) was born in 1988 and studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory as well as the Hochschule für Musik Mainz with Prof. Anne Shih. He then made the switch to viola and studied with Prof. Roland Glassl at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. Dmitry received a scholarship from the International Vladimir Spivakov Charity Foundation as well as the Neumeyer Consort scholarship for baroque music. He was selected in 2013 to the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Frankfurt am Main e.V. foundation. As a chamber musician, Dmitry won the 1st prize at the 2010 S. Vainiunas Competition in Latvia as well as the Chamber Music Prize of the Polytechnische Gesellschaft 2013 and has worked with Eduard Brunner, Nils Mönkemeyer, Manuel Fischer-Dieskau and the Talich Quartet. Since 2010, Dmitry has devoted more time to the field of historically-informed performance, completing a master’s degree in Baroque violin with Prof. Petra Müllejans. He has performed at the Telemann-Festtagen Magdeburg, the Göttinger Händelfestspielen and the Forum Alte Musik Frankfurt am Main and has worked with Ton Koopman, Konrad Junghänel, Michael Hofstetter and Andreas Scholl. Dmitry was selected as a scholarship recipient of the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz in 2014.

Michael Preuß (Violoncello) was born in 1985 in  Leipzig. He began his musical education as a pre-college student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig. Michael studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Rostock with Prof. Joseph Schwab and at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, where he completed his Diplom and Konzertexamen in 2015.  As an orchestral musician, he was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, and has held training positions with the Staatsorchester Darmstadt and the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He also held temporary contracts with the Sinfonieorchester des Staatstheater Giessen as principal cellist and with the MDR Sinfonieorchester in Leipzig. As a member of the Helenos Quartett, Michael won the Chamber Music Prize of the Polytechnische Gesellschaft and 1st prize at the “Cours et Concours” at the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. He also won 1st prize at the “HMT Interdisziplinär“ at the HMT Rostock as well as the Peter Pirazzi Foundation competition. Michael has attended masterclasses with Gustaf Rivinius, Wen-Sinn Yang, Gerhard Schulz, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Mandelring Quartett, and the Verdi Quartet.

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Turkwaz is a unique combination of four musician/singers, immersed in diverse traditions from mysterious Sufi devotional love songs, to rousing Thracian dance music. Each performer brings a special flavour to the group. Maryem Hassan Tollar draws on her Arabic language heritage, Jayne Brown and Sophia Grigoriadis bring their experience with Greek music to the mix and Brenna MacCrimmon adds her Turkish fascination.

They have a long-standing collective interest in Balkan traditions and add Albanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian and whatever else strikes their fancy to their repertoire. The love and respect they have for the traditions they draw from are clear but they are not afraid to arrange the tunes in new and unexpected ways to give them a fresh spin.

Maryem Tollar is a renowned Egyptian-Canadian vocalist, known for her world music performances. Her voice has been heard on the theme of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and A.R. Rahman’s Bollywood hit, Mayya Mayya. Tollar was the featured vocalist in Tafelmusik’s production of multi-media performances of “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee Houses” and the narrator and vocalist in “Safe Haven”. She performed Christos Hatzis’ piece “Syn-Phonia – Migration Patterns” with The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Inuit throat singer Tiffany Ayalik; and his multi-media piece “Constantinople” with The Gryphon Trio and Patricia O’Callaghan. She performs with several Toronto musical groups including Al Qahwa (Traditional Arabic Music and Original compositions); Turkwaz (Traditional Turkish, Greek, Arabic and Balkan vocal repertoire); and storyteller Dawne McFarlane, adding music and sounds for performances at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Scottish International Storytelling Festival and at Silence Guelph. Maryem will be touring in the fall of 2022 in “The Cave” (Libretto by Tomson Highway, Music by John Millard, Script by Martha Ross). In early 2023 she will be touring with the stage adaptation of Ann-Marie MaDonald’s book “Fall On Your Knees” providing music and acting in the role of Mrs. Mahmoud (Directed by Alisa Palmer, Script by Hannah Moscovitch). Maryem was awarded the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Prize for Performing Arts in 2019.

Brenna MacCrimmon is a Toronto-based interpreter of Turkish and Balkan songs – an adventure that began with a trip to a local public library’s vinyl collection in 1983. She has studied and performed with many notable masters of the traditions in both Turkey and the USA.  She works in a diverse range of musical projects, travels frequently to perform and teach and thinks you can never stop learning.

Sophia Grigoriadis, is a musician and teacher. Over the past 30 years her study of Greek, Balkan and Middle Eastern singing and percussion has led her to compose, perform and tour with many Toronto world and fusion ensembles. Her love of teaching and sharing her musical passion extends to all ages: as Church Choir Director of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, as Music teacher from Preschool to Grade 8 at Metamorphosis Greek Orthodox School, and to young children through her Clapping Land music studio, where her compilation world music CD Sound Adventures — Global Music for Children garnered the Parent’s Choice Foundation Silver Award.

“With their first album Nazar, the Toronto based vocal quartet Turkwaz introduces a wondrous world of uniquely imaginative songs. This compilation features a selection from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans, collected individually over many years. While the songs themselves are traditional, the creative vocal arrangements and the use of exotic world instruments make this music delightful to the ear and harmonically surprising at times. Turkwaz – Maryem Tollar, Brenna MacCrimmon, Sophia Grigoriadis and Jayne Brown – sounds both pure and raw, with sincerity and sentiment that comes from their deep appreciation of this music. Their individual voices are light yet loaded with emotion.

Collectively, the intended textures of their voices are exquisite. The lyrics, sung in Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Macedonian and Bulgarian, are pure poetry, and for the most part fragrant with love themes. Nested in between the songs are expressive improvisatory vignettes by guest artists – Demetrios Petsalakis (spectacular on bağlama, outi), Nagmeh Farahmand (daff, tombak), Ernie Tollar (duduk, bansuri flute, saxophone) and Andrew Downing (cello).

Among many charming songs, a few numbers stood out for me. Send Me a Message My Love, The Beloved Visited Me in the Myrtle Garden, Love on a Rainy Day and the lively Alexandris/Grandpa’s Brandy all share alluring harmonic twists and delicately ornamented melodies, the power of voices being a driving force. The word nazar is derived from Arabic “sight” or “seeing.” It is a perfect title for this album as the members of Turkwaz bring forward their musical vision to each song.”

– Ivana Popovich, Whole Note Magazine – August 29, 2016

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Yamaha Artist Jarred Dunn has been described by critics as “a piano sound-colour magician” (Muzikos Barai, Vilnius), “evocative and mystical” (New York Classical Music), "technically perfect" (Belarusian First Radio), and “a virtuoso with the most exquisite touch” (Freethought Today, Madison). Mr. Dunn is featured on the 2018 CBC Top 30 Under 30: Hot Canadian Classical Musicians (CBC) and has hosted CBC’s This is My Music. He is currently on the Faculty of McGill University Schulich School of Music and Alumni Committee of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

His playing has been heard on CBC/Radio-Canada, 98.7 WVMO, New Classical 96.3FM, WWFM, WQXR, Belarusian First Radio, and Madison Freethought Radio/Television. His recordings include Chopin and Debussy (AFA, 2018), Brahms in Solitude (2022); Chopin's Diary: The Mazurkas (Lexicon Classics, 2023), and a fourth album of the complete works of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (2024). Brahms in Solitude received attention in LaScena Musicale and Piano Professional (EPTA) as a five-star album, “His deft voicing and clarity speak to his understanding of the works of Brahms’s idol, J.S. Bach. His soft sound is at once full-bodied and resonant, and unthinkably quiet. Dunn’s precision, sense of musical direction, and knowledge of the piano’s every colour are on display here.”

Mr. Dunn won First Prize and Concerto Award at the 7th International Chopin Competition of Lithuania (Vilnius 2018), leading to concerts in Europe and abroad, and was a finalist/prizewinner in the 1st Jan Hofmann International Competition (Kraków 2019). He won prizes in Piano and Chamber Music at the Rome, Verona Zinetti, and Vitti International Competitions, and First Prize in McGill Piano Concerto Competition. He has performed worldwide as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestras, and his career has included invitations to perform in Poland, Hungary, Belarus, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Malta,The Czech Republic, England, United States, Canada, China, and Australia. He enjoys playing solo recitals, a capacity in which he performs regularly. Following Mr. Dunn's all-Chopin recital in Warsaw, one critic wrote,

The playing of the brilliant Canadian performer did not lack the “Polishness” that he had a chance to learn thoroughly from the best Polish teachers during his Master’s Studies in Katowice or later in Bydgoszcz. The “Polishness” was audible in every piece: from Nocturne in C minor op. 48 with its drama that was built by the pianist from the very first chords and the tragic ending, through Scherzo in E major op. 54, played with a great sensitivity, brilliant sound and technical mastery, to the brilliant Polonaise Fantaisie op. 61, a piece that is very complex harmonically and difficult in many aspects. Jarred Dunn showed his virtuosity, amazing sense of style, elegance and noble - but not excessive - sensitivity, passion - without being pathetic, beautiful piano and powerful forte, melodious - but not sugary - cantilena, broad phrasing and very rich, nuanced range of sounds.  -- Nina Sankari, K. Łyzczyński Foundation, Warsaw

In his repertoire are over forty concertos, representing his interest in this genre of performing. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Niagara Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, York Symphony, McGill Symphony, Toruń Symphony, NOSPR Katowice (National Radio Symphony of the Republic of Poland), Vilnius Chamber, Cantus Symphony (Vilnius), Eurasian Chamber (Berlin), Budapest Chamber, and Belarusian State Radio-Television Orchestras, among others. He has collaborated with conductors Bradley Thachuk, Denis Mastromonaco, Anna Duczmal-Mroz, Przemysław Fiugajski, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Jakub Chrenowicz, Erki Pehk, Sabatino Vacca, Alexander Liebreich, and Nurhan Arman.

As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Johannes Brahms International Master Classes (Poertscach, Austria), the Ãtma Quartet (Poland), Baroque cellist Jessica Korotkin, pianists Dominic Gál and Urszula Stańczyk, and violinist Anna Kuk (Reverb Ensemble), including performances of major works by Franck, Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, etc. in New York, Toronto, Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia, and Poland. He is on the artist-faculty of Semaine Internationale Piano at Musique de Chambre (Switzerland) working with such distinguished artists as Edith Fischer, Jorge Pepi-Alos, and Marc Jaermann.

Noted by Tonebase Piano as “a revered pedagogue,” Mr. Dunn has given lectures, workshops and master classes at The Juilliard School, Royal College of Music (London) Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts (Dallas), Bydgoszcz Academy of Music, Katowice Academy of Music, F. Chopin University of Music, Chetham's School of Music, McGill University, University of Puget Sound (Seattle), Laurier University, Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Vilnius New School of Music (Lithuania), Queen's University, and many others. His articles have been published in Canadian Music Educators’ Journal, Piano Magazine (formerly Clavier Companion), and Canadian Music Teacher. Of special importance to him was research at the former site of Auschwitz-Birkenau on music during the Holocaust, culminating in an article about Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (former cellist of the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra). He is featured in the Frances Clark Center From the Artist Bench series (2022). He has received awards and distinctions for his scholastic, musical, and pedagogical achievements including the Teacher Recognition Award (RTO), Graduate Prize of CFMTA National Essay Competition, and research-creation funding from the FRQSC and Canada Council for the Arts. 

His interest in a multitude of approaches to piano playing and musical personalities has taken him around the world. He participated in master classes with many renowned pianists, including Dmitry Alexeev, Dmitri Bashkirov, Seymour Bernstein, Rafał Blechacz, Andrea Bonatta, Janina Fialkowska, Leon Fleisher, Peter Frankl, Leslie Howard, Jenö Jandó, Robert Levin, Robert McDonald, John O’Conor, Choong-mo Kang, Tobias Koch, Julian Martin, Andrzej Jasiński, Seymour Lipkin, Matti Raekallio, Zbigniew Raubo, Hartmut Sauer, Ilja Scheps, Wojciech Świtała, Balasz Szokolay, and Nelita True. Currently based in Montreal, Dr. Dunn teaches at McGill University Schulich School of Music.

A double-graduate of the University of Toronto (MusBacPerf; B.Ed.), he also studied at Aspen Music Festival and School and The Juilliard School with Jacob Lateiner and Yoheved Kaplinsky. While in New York, he became one of the only members of his generation to study with Dorothy Taubman. Mr. Dunn graduated with Distinction from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice (MM, Diploma), where he was a student of Prof. Anna Górecka (daughter of composer H. M. Górecki). He completed his piano training in the class of Prof. Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. He holds a Doctor of Music (Performance) from McGill University Schulich School of Music, where he was invited to teach while still completing his studies. He worked extensively with Maria João-Pires in Portugal, about which the CBC published Five Things I Learned from Maria João-Pires. He also received important teaching from Andrei Gavrilov, Andrzej Jasiński, and Robert Levin.