QuartetFest is an intensive chamber music program at the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Music that brings young artists from across Canada and abroad together with world-renowned performers. QuartetFest is one of the most anticipated spring festivals by chamber music lovers and young musicians. Tickets will be available for individual concerts and as a pass for the whole series. Details coming soon!
Since 1992, Laurier's Quartet-in-Residence, The Penderecki String Quartet and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society have hosted Quartetfest.
Young artists from this year's Quartetfest perform. QuartetFest is an intensive chamber music program at the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Music that brings young artists from across Canada and abroad together with world-renowned performers. QuartetFest is one of the most anticipated spring festivals by chamber music lovers and young musicians. Tickets are available for individual concerts and as a pass for the whole series.
Since 1992, Laurier's Quartet-in-Residence, The Penderecki String Quartet and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society have hosted Quartetfest.
Young Artists of Quartetfest #1
Friday, May 29, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $20/$10 students on Ticketscene and at the door.
Quartetfest participants are free. A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
PROGRAM
Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No. 2
Kelly-Marie Murphy: Crazy Bout My Baby (Fats Waller) for string quartet, piano and trumpet
Paul Schoenfeld: 5 Days from the Life of a Manic-Depressive for piano duet
This concert co-produced with NUMUS.
NUMUS invites audiences to explore the bold sounds and ideas of a new generation of composers and performers while celebrating the innovators of the past.
Founded in 1985 by composer Peter Hatch and based in Waterloo, Ontario, NUMUS is one of Canada’s foremost new music organizations, renowned for its electrifying contemporary programming and high standards of artistry.
NUMUS showcases established and emerging talent from across Canada and the globe in Waterloo’s world-class venues. Diverse musical genres, traditional and experimental instruments and scored and improvised elements come together to create unique concertgoing experiences that capture the fluidity and relevance of contemporary music.
Exciting, challenging, ground-breaking: NUMUS is new music, now.
ARTISTS: Penderecki String Quartet, Guy Few (trumpet, piano), Cheryl Duvall (piano). Bios for all follow:
Penderecki String Quartet
Celebrating their 37th 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.
Guy Few, trumpet and piano
Guy Few’s instrumental versatility and fearless interpretations have been noted by the international press “outrageous…simply phenomenal” (Le Devoir, Montreal) and “sheer brilliance” (L.A. Times). As soloist with orchestra, recitalist or chamber musician he wows audiences with his technical ease and charm. Awards include a JUNO nomination, CAPACOA touring artist of the year, Penderecki Credo) and Sylva Gelber Foundation Award through the Canada Council for the Arts. Guy has appeared on CBC-TV, CTV, BRAVO, TV5 and European television broadcasts and is heard regularly on CBC Radio, and NPR. He is a Yamaha artist.
“Virtuoso”, “flawless”, “wild and joyous” are only a few of the reviews for Guy’s incredible trumpet playing. He performs regularly with Leslie Fagan, Stephanie Mara, Mark Fewer and others while maintaining collaborations with orchestras, festivals and series in Canada and the USA. Whether in traditional Baroque repertoire or Contemporary premieres, Guy infuses each performance with a commitment to technical and artistic perfection. “He coaxed out each note with brilliant clarity and restraint, dropping them like perfect pearls along a string.” (The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa USA).
Guy is fascinated by the challenges of four-hand repertoire and the collaborative piano tradition. He has performed with the Penderecki, Amati, and Amici string quartets and world class singers including Leslie Fagan, Colin Ainsworth and . Recordings include artistic endeavours with Stephanie Mara, Alain Trudel, Bellows and Brass, Festival of the Sound, and Boyd McDonald. Guy holds a Fellowship Diploma from Trinity College, London England and a member of the Leschetizky Association. “Few displayed lightness and humaneness that reminded the listener of another Canadian, Glenn Gould.” (The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, USA)
Cheryl Duvall, piano
Toronto’s Cheryl Duvall is recognized as one of Canada’s foremost talents in contemporary music both for her work as a pianist and interpreter, but also as a presenter and for her tireless advocacy. Versatility is among her most celebrated artistic traits; she has immersed herself in a vast array of compositional aesthetics and collaborative contexts. In all of these scenarios, her thoughtful agility and nuance imbue both the sonic and evocative domains with power and depth. She has toured and performed throughout Canada, Japan, Europe, Argentina , New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.
As the co-founder of the “adventurous and smartly programmed” (Musicworks Magazine) chamber group Thin Edge New Music Collective alongside Ilana Waniuk, she has commissioned over 80 works, mounted ambitious production that cross several disciplinary boundaries, and collaborated with leading international performers. The group’s 2023 recording Dark Flower, devoted to the chamber works of Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith was featured on the BBC and CBC radio, listed in the top 10 Modern Classical releases of 2023 by in The Wire Magazine, nominated for a JUNO Award, while amassing considerable acclaim in various media outlets.
To date, Cheryl has released three solo albums featuring works by Canadian composers, two of which have been nominated for Juno awards for Classical Composition of the Year. She is also the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga and Collaborative Pianist for Resound Choir and Rhe Durham Philharmonic Choir. She holds an Honours BMus and Diploma of Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Master’s of Piano Performance and Pedagogy from University of Toronto.
The Penderecki String Quartet with Guy Few (trumpet, piano) & Cheryl Duvall (piano)
This concert is co-produced with NUMUS
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 students on Ticketscene and at the door. Quartetfest participants are free.
A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No. 2
Kelly-Marie Murphy: Crazy Bout My Baby (Fats Waller) for string quartet, piano and trumpet
Paul Schoenfeld: 5 Days from the Life of a Manic-Depressive for piano duet
PROGRAM
Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Michael Conway Baker: Piano Trio
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (final version)
ARTISTS
Cellist Katie Schlaikjer joins violinist Sadie Fields and Guelph Musicfest director/pianist Ken Gee as the new member of the Festival Trio which has been performing since 2014.
Sadie now lives in Brussels, Belgium, and has a stellar career in Europe, performing in top-drawer ensembles, and recently become the new principal violinist of the famed Edinburgh String Quartet. But she grew up in Guelph before heading off for studies in Manchester and London, UK.
Katie Schlaikjer is the new member of the Festival Trio, as Paul Pulford has now retired from concert performance. Katie is well known as a member of the JUNO-winning Penderecki String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Music in Waterloo, Ontario. At Laurier she serves on the performance faculty, teaching cello and chamber music.
Ken is a Hamilton native and he was very involved in the local music scene, performing, organizing concerts, managing a string chamber orchestra, and was even a music critic for the Hamilton Spectator. Now living happily in Guelph, he has been performing even more, and founded and continues to organize Guelph Musicfest by himself.Details coming soon!
with Sadie Fields (violin), Katie Schlaikjer (cello) & Ken Gee (piano)
Sunday, May 31, 2026
VENUE HAS CHANGED The concert is now at Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 students on TicketScene and at the door. Quartetfest participants are free.
Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Michael Conway Baker: Piano Trio
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (final version)
This is the second of three Young Artists concerts during Quartetfest.
Young artists from this year's Quartetfest perform. QuartetFest is an intensive chamber music program at the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Music that brings young artists from across Canada and abroad together with world-renowned performers. QuartetFest is one of the most anticipated spring festivals by chamber music lovers and young musicians. Tickets are available for individual concerts and as a pass for the whole series.
Since 1992, Laurier's Quartet-in-Residence, The Penderecki String Quartet and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society have hosted Quartetfest.
Young Artists of Quartetfest #2
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $20/$10 students on Ticketscene and at the door. Quartetfest participants are free.
A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
PROGRAM
Beethoven: String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 130
Michael Matthews: String Sextet (2026 Premiere)
ARTISTS Penderecki String Quartet, Keynote String Quartet (Quartetfest Fellowship), Sharon Wei (viola), Thomas Wiebe (cello). Bios for all coming soon:
Keynote String Quartet (Quartetfest Fellowship)
Kai Schulz-Rousseau, violin
Elianna Van Raalte-Boeringa, violin
Meika Sonntag, viola
Caitlyn Liu, cello
Thomas Wiebe, cello
Cellist Thomas Wiebe has been heard by audiences and on radio broadcasts throughout North America and Europe. Mr. Wiebe regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician, including with ARC Ensemble whose 2025-26 schedule includes a three-concert residency in London, England’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Merkin Hall, Montreal’s La Salle Bourgie, Toronto’s Mazzoleni Hall as well as Manchester and Glasgow.
Mr. Wiebe’s most recent disc releases include the world-premiere recording of Ernest Kanitz’s Sonata for Solo Cello on Chandos and the chamber works of Omar Daniel on Centrediscs.
Mr. Wiebe has performed on numerous occasions as a guest artist with Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London Canada. He has also been soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York and with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded for the Chandos, CBC, Centrediscs, Doremi and Bowl labels. Please see selected recording links below.
Thomas Wiebe studied cello in his native Winnipeg with Julie Banton. He later studied at the Eastman School of Music with Robert Sylvester and Steven Doane, and at Yale University and the Juilliard School with Aldo Parisot. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale.
Mr. Wiebe is Associate Professor of Violoncello at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University in London.
Sharon Wei, viola
Canadian violist Sharon Wei is a dynamic and multifaceted artist, recognized for her excellence as a performer, educator, and dedicated contributor to Canada’s musical landscape. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Symphony of the Redwoods, Kingston Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, Thunder Bay Symphony, and London Symphonia, where she premiered Richard Mascall’s Ziigwan concerto with Indigenous Elder John Rice and conductor Tania Miller. This season, she premieres a new viola concerto by Canadian composer Saman Shahi with the Obiora Ensemble in Montreal.
Sharon is the violist of the acclaimed New Orford String Quartet, comprising principal players from the Toronto and Montreal Symphonies. The quartet is deeply committed to highlighting Canadian compositions through frequent commissions and performances of works by Ian Cusson, Ana Sokolović, Dinuk Wijeratne, Dean Burry, Samy Moussa, Marjan Mozetich, and Kelly-Marie Murphy. Their extensive touring across Canada includes performances from Yukon to PEI, along with residencies at Mount Royal University, Western University, the Isabel Bader Centre, and Toronto Summer Music.
As a co-founder of Ensemble Made in Canada, Sharon has played a pivotal role in cultivating a distinctively Canadian voice in chamber music. The ensemble’s Mosaïque Project—winner of the 2021 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year—brought together 14 Canadian composers and toured every province and territory. The project featured performances in venues ranging from major concert halls to natural landmarks like the seabed of the Hopewell Rocks, engaging audiences through interactive performances and original artwork submissions.
Over the past three years, violist Sharon Wei has led a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), merging music, science, and climate awareness. As part of Western’s Kaleidoscope of Creativity initiative, she curated a 2024 musical gallery that transformed campus spaces into immersive environments. Graduate student composers created original works based on NTP data, performed by faculty and guest artists, culminating in a panel discussion with scientists and musicians. The project uses music to interpret tornado data and environmental disruption, offering audiences both awareness and emotional resonance in response to Canada’s evolving climate landscape.
In 2025, the initiative expanded with a performance at the Ivey Business School, where the New Orford String Quartet premiered three new string quartets by Canadian composers Carmen Braden, Vincent Ho, and Cecilia Livingston. These works were later toured across Canada and the United States, broadening the project’s reach and impact.
The collaboration continues to evolve with a new viola concerto to be premiered this season, and a lecture-recital planned for the 50th International Viola Congress in Paris in 2026.
Sharon’s leadership in this project highlights how music can bridge disciplines, translating scientific research into meaningful artistic experiences that educate, inspire, and advocate for change.
Internationally, Sharon has performed at festivals including Verbier, Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff, Prussia Cove, and Giverny, and toured with Musicians from Marlboro to Carnegie Hall and other major venues. She has collaborated with artists such as James Ehnes, Marion Newman, Claude Frank, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. She is principal violist of the Verbier Chamber Orchestra and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on their Grammy-winning recording of Ives symphonies.
As a passionate educator, Sharon is Associate Professor of Viola and was Acting Assistant Dean of Research at Western University. She previously taught at Yale and Stanford and has given masterclasses across Canada, the U.S., and China. At Western, she developed a pioneering course on entrepreneurial and career-building skills for musicians.
Her artistry and leadership have been recognized with Western University’s 2022 Faculty Scholar Award, the viola prize from Yale University, and numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and FACTOR. She has recorded for Centrediscs, CBC, Onyx Classics, and Warner Classics, and is frequently heard on CBC Radio and Air Canada’s Enroute Entertainment.
Penderecki String Quartet
Celebrating their 37th 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.
The Penderecki String Quartet and the Keynote String Quartet with Sharon Wei (viola) & Thomas Wiebe (cello)
Friday, June 5, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 students on Ticketscene and at the door. Quartetfest participants are free.
A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
Beethoven: String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 130
Michael Matthews: String Sextet (2026 Premiere)
This is the third of three Young Artists concerts during Quartetfest.
Young artists from this year's Quartetfest perform. QuartetFest is an intensive chamber music program at the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Music that brings young artists from across Canada and abroad together with world-renowned performers. QuartetFest is one of the most anticipated spring festivals by chamber music lovers and young musicians. Tickets are available for individual concerts and as a pass for the whole series.
Since 1992, Laurier's Quartet-in-Residence, The Penderecki String Quartet and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society have hosted Quartetfest.
Young Artists of Quartetfest #3
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $20/$10 students on Ticketscene and at the door. Quartetfest participants are free.
A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
This performance is the culmination of a 3-day chamber music workshop for secondary students. Six quartets and trios, and a chamber orchestra will be featured.
Secondary School Workshop Concert
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 4:00 pm
Free admission A pass for all 6 Quartetfest concerts is $90 on Ticketscene and at the door.
Six quartets and trios, and a chamber orchestra will be featured.
PROGRAM
Joseph Bolougne, Le chevalier de Saint-George: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 14 no. 6
Hyacinthe Jadin: String Quartet in E major, Op. 3 No. 2
Mozart: String Quartet in E-flat major, K. 428
ARTISTS
The Eybler Quartet: Patrica Ahern & Julia Wedman (violins), Patrick Jordan (viola), Margaret Gay (Cello)
The Eybler Quartet came together in late 2004 to explore the works of the first century and a half of the string quartet, with a healthy attention to lesser known composers such as their namesake, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler. The group brings a unique combination of talents and skills: razor-sharp ensemble skills, technical prowess, expertise in period instrument performance and an unquenchable passion for the repertoire. The Toronto-based ensemble’s live performances have consistently garnered praise as “glowing and committed”, “spirited” and “lively and energizing”. Their recording of Joseph Haydn’s Op. 33 String Quartets for the Analekta label was called “simply a treasure” by Early Music America, “the tempos are beautifully chosen, the ensemble perfect, and the intonation absolutely pure. This is music-making that reflects the deeply human and attractive qualities found in Haydn the composer—good humor, wit, and invention.” Their recording with clarinetist Jane Booth won praise from Gramophone for being “totally engaging performances that breathe life into Backofen’s music”. Their most, Beethoven Quartets, Opus 18 nos. 1-3 garnered this praise from Gramophone: “…the revelations flood in: the swiftness with which the Eyblers take the great Adagio of Op 18 No 1 allows violinist Aisslinn Nosky’s almost vibrato-free period-instrument tone to sound breathtakingly fragile.” Their latest recording, the world premiere of Franz Weiss’s String Quartets Op. 8, nos. 1-2, is currently available.
Violinists Julia Wedman and Patricia Ahern, and violist Patrick G. Jordan are members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Cellist Margaret Gay is much in demand as both a modern and period instrument player. In September 2022 Patricia Ahern joined the group, replacing founding member Aisslinn Nosky.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Joseph Boulogne, Le chevalier de Saint-George: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 14 no. 6
Hyacinthe Jadin: String Quartet in E major, Op. 3 No. 2
Mozart: String Quartet in E-flat major, K. 428
photo credit: Aleksandar Antonijevic ASquared Photography
PROGRAM
Mozart: Sonata K.302
Medtner: Sonata No.1, Op.21
Beethoven: Sonata No.9, Op.47, "Kreutzer"
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.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 3:00 pm TBA
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Mozart: Sonata K.302
Medtner: Sonata No.1, Op.21
Beethoven: Sonata No.9, Op.47, "Kreutzer"
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTIST
Originally from Nanning, China, Junwen Liang began his piano studies at the age of nine and made his solo debut at thirteen. As a featured soloist, Junwen has collaborated with orchestras including the Central Texas Philharmonic, Penn State Philharmonic, and Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of esteemed conductors such as Jeffery Meyer, Michael Hall, Gerardo Edelstein, and Stefan Sanders. His interpretation of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra was broadcast on WSKG radio. Additionally, he was invited to present a solo performance on WRTI Classical Radio in Philadelphia, further establishing his reputation as a promising concert pianist and showcasing his growing presence in the classical music scene.
Since 2023, Junwen’s career has flourished as a versatile recitalist, with invitations to esteemed series including Lake Barcroft Concerts, Arts Club of Washington, Sunday Recital Series at Saint Thomas, Trinity Concert Series, and the Sevenars Music Festival, recognized by Time Magazine as one of the nation’s finest small festivals. During the 2024/25 season, he performed over 35 engagements across North America and China, appearing in prominent series such as Fripp Island Friends of Music, Saugerties Pro Musica, Chamber On The Mountain, and Boston Court Pasadena, while also holding residencies at universities in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Guangzhou. In the summer of 2025, he further broadened his reach with recital debuts in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Minnesota, in addition to an interview on KPR Radio and guest residencies at Ithaca College and the University of Northwestern – St. Paul.
Beginning with the 2025/26 season, Junwen’s schedule continues to expand with performances across the United States — including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and California — alongside international debuts in France, Canada, and China. He is also preparing his first album with Sheva Collection, a distinguished label based in Italy and the UK, in collaboration with Naxos of America, Inc.
In addition to his solo career, Junwen extends his musical talents engaging as a collaborative pianist with professional instrumentalists and singers in the thriving music scenes of Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore County, Maryland. Recognized for his exceptional collaborative skills, he was honored with the Clara Ascherfeld Award in Accompanying, and the title of "Outstanding Collaborative Pianist" at the Peabody Institute, which he was featured in their esteemed Noon:30 Concert Series. In February 2024, at the invitation of concert pianist Chantal Balestri, Artistic Director of the Lunigiana International Music Festival, Junwen participated in the Puccini Concert Project held at NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo. This special event, in collaboration with the Festival Puccini Torre del Lago, commemorated the composer's 100th Anniversary. Junwen showcased his talent through solo arrangements and engaging vocal duets alongside guest soprano Marina Medici.
Furthermore, Junwen's collaborative ventures led to his participation in a piano quintet, coached by Michael Kannen, director of Peabody’s Chamber Music Program. The quintet's outstanding artistry earned them the distinction of being the only chamber group from Peabody selected to perform at Carnegie Hall’s Master Class Series, offering a unique opportunity to collaborate with Ludwig Quandt, principal cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Junwen's commitment to musical excellence is also exemplified by his participation in prestigious music festivals, including Texas State International Piano Festival, Lunigiana International Music Festival, Art of the Piano at CCM, Atlantic Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Orford Musique, and Philadelphia Young Pianists' Academy. He has worked with famous pedagogues and concert pianists including Piotr Paleczny, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Johnathan Biss, Gary Graffman, Jerome Lowenthal, Charlotte Ching-Yun Hu, Andre Laplante, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Vladimir Feltsman, Robert McDonald, Ursula Oppens, Jeremy Denk, and more.
A recipient of numerous awards, Junwen's trajectory began with victories in esteemed competitions in China at the age of 12. This journey continued globally with triumphs in the New York International Piano Competition, Naftzger Young Artist Competition, Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Juliusz Zarębski International Music Competition (Poland), Music International Grand Prix, and WPTA Spain. Notably, he secured first prizes in the Crescendo International Music Competition, Nouvelles Etoiles International Music Competition (France), The Princeton Festival International Piano Competition, YMIC International Music Competition, Philadelphia International Piano Competition, and The American Prize. In Spring 2019, Junwen's achievements were crowned with the exclusive Spencer Merit Award at the National Society of Arts & Letters in Bloomington, an honor given to only one pianist that year.
Junwen graduated with a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, under the tutelage of Richard Goode. His past mentors include Christopher Guzman (Penn State - DMA), Roberto Plano, Edward Auer (Indiana University - MM), and Charis Dimaras (Ithaca College - BM).
Currently based in Philadelphia, Junwen teaches piano and chamber music in the Department of Music at University of Pennsylvania; and is represented worldwide by Price Attractions.
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Vine: Piano Sonata No. 1
Beethoven: Sonata Opus 57 “Appassionata”
Poulenc: 15 Improvisations
ARTIST
Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed across Canada and abroad. Described as an “authentic musician with a sparkling technique” (Le Droit) and
“full of fire and warmth” (the New York Times), Shoshana has a passion for engaging audiences with exciting performances. She made her solo orchestral début with the
National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16 and has since performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Boston
Classical Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra.Shoshana received a Bachelor’s degree on full scholarship from Boston University,
a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University. She has taught piano and coached ensembles
at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, Wilfrid Laurier University, and currently teaches piano at McMaster University. She frequently gives masterclasses,
adjudicates competitions, and examines for the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Shoshana has performed at numerous summer festivals including the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Elora Festival, the Kincardine Summer
Music Festival, the Brott Music Festival, and the Blueridge Chamber Music Festival. She has been awarded honors at the International Stepping Stone Competition, the
Esther Honens International Piano Competition and the Canadian Concerto
Competition. Shoshana’s recordings include solo works of Canadian composer Colin Mack (CanSona), the Grieg violin/piano sonatas with Jeremy Bell (Chestnut
Hall Music), Mozart Sonatas and Sonatinas (The Mozart Effect) and the six Bach Keyboard Partitas (Centaur Records).
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 3:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Vine: Piano Sonata No. 1
Beethoven: Sonata Opus 57 “Appassionata”
Poulenc: 15 Improvisations
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTISTS
Based in Kitchener, Ontario, violinist Jung Tsai has performed extensively in the region where she serves as 2nd Associate Concertmaster in Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. 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 the 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.
Dr. Daniel Ramjattan has become an ambassador for the classical guitar in Canada, having premiered dozens of chamber and solo works for guitar. He has given recitals in Vienna, Austria, Italy, and various locations across Canada, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Japan, and has received an array of top prizes in provincial and national solo guitar competitions. He has performed in festivals such as Koerner's 21C Festival, Open Ears, Waterloo, Guitar Alla Grande, INNERChamber, Ottawa Chamberfest, the Livorno Music Festival, Italy, the Alte Schmiede Kunstverein, Vienna’s Contemporary music series, Toronto Guitar Society’s Guitar Weekend, Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, and many more. He also gave his concerto debut with Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in 2023 with the Stratford Symphony.
His debut studio album, "Inspirations: New Works for Solo Guitar," features his interpretation of six brilliant works by Canadian composers, including three world premiere recordings, available for streaming on all major platforms. CBC Radio’s Paolo Pietropaolo featured the album as the Record of the Week in March 2022, and WholeNote Magazine described his playing as "beautifully clean."
He recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto in August 2022, where he wrote his dissertation on music performance anxiety in classical guitarists, receiving a senior doctoral fellowship from New College in 2021-2022. He often shares insights from his research with his guitar students and performance coaching clients and has given lectures on the topic at McGill University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University, Memorial University, the University of Waterloo, Mount Royal University, and more. CBC television’s the National has also interviewed him as an expert on music performance anxiety.
In 2020, he joined Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Music as a classical guitar instructor, and designed and inaugurated the the Faculty of Music’s first music performance anxiety and performance skills course in Fall 2022. His students have received top prizes at the OMFA Ontario provincial guitar competitions, have received the RCM Gold medal, and have attended undergraduate and graduate programs throughout Canada. He has adjudicated several competitions, including the Canada West Performing Arts Festival and the FCMF National Music Festival.
Daniel’s past mentors have included Patrick Roux, Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, the late great Bruce Holzman, Lorenzo Micheli, and Jorge Caballero, and he has performed in masterclasses for world- class artists such as Sergio Assad, Judicael Perroy, Pavel Steidl, Fabio Zanon, and many others. He has taken first prize at competitions such as the Ottawa-Gatineau guitar competition and OMFA Provincial Guitar Competition open level in 2014 and 2016. He also placed second in the FCMF National Guitar Competition in 2016, and placed as a finalist in the Montreal and Hamilton International Guitar Competitions.
Friday, July 10, 2026
NEW Venue (details coming soon), 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio and more TBA
ARTISTS
Magisterra https://www.magisterra.com/ (for this concert, a piano trio configuration)
Anya Alexeyeva, piano
Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin
Katie Schlaikjer, cello
(scroll down for links to individual artist bios)
Magisterra Soloists has become the face of visionary chamber music in Southern Ontario in London, Ontario, Magisterra Soloists has a current string roster of over 49 international musicians hailing from more than 25 countries, who have performed in over 130 concert performances and 35 school outreach visits, in collaboration with over 35 international special guest artists (piano, winds, voice).
Founded in 2016 by internationally-acclaimed violinist, Artistic Director Annette-Barbara Vogel, the ensemble is proud to call upon some of the finest chamber musicians worldwide, bringing first rate festival-style chamber music concerts to the region through its “Magisterra at the Museum” concert series and annual Christmas concert series, among others.
Magisterra Soloists plays a significant role in invigorating and enriching the local artistic experience. Its carefully crafted programs engage timeless masterworks in tandem with countless intriguing new discoveries. Performances showcase the ensemble’s boundless curiosity and total commitment to sharing gems from the string chamber music literature with the community.
The ensemble’s interactive educational “Magisterra in Schools” program has reached thousands of youth from kindergarten to high school. Magisterra Soloists is particularly passionate about bringing face-to-face exposure to the arts to underprivileged and rural school communities.
With the help of generous financial supporters, Magisterra Soloists aims to bring fully subsidized educational performances to school-aged children. To date, the ensemble has presented educational programming in both English and French to over 4000 students.
Magisterra Soloists is committed to providing invaluable professional development to young talent. Its “on the job” mentorship program, “Magisterra Fellows”, has already provided intensive artistic training to nearly two dozen deserving emerging artists, in support of their future careers as professional musicians.
To encourage the development of school-aged string players, Magisterra also hosts an annual searchlight audition: the Young Performer’s Award (YPA). Recipients of the YPA earn a small stipend and the opportunity to perform solo with the ensemble.
Magisterra Soloists is proud to serve both our local and national artistic community. As champions of Canadian art and artists (with commissioned works by Canadian composers Kevin Morse, Emily Doolittle, Edgar Suski, and Abby Richardson-Schulte), the ensemble has already successfully completed five multicity tours through both Canada and Brazil.
2025 ROSTER Musicians
2025 GUEST Musicians
2025 Magisterra FELLOWS
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Location and time TBA
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio and more TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTISTS
Joseph Petric, accordion Delivering music so diverse, so bold, so alive you're frightened to forget it' (Coda, USA) Mr. Petric's solo career began with an official London debut acclaimed by The Independent. His American debut given a citation in “Performances of the Year” by the Washington Post’s Joseph D. McLellan was followed by a trajectory across the Classical concert hall with appearances at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Bunkai Kaikan and Walt Disney Hall. His 360 commissions reflect far ranging explorations and deep connection with audiences, a curatorial initiative well in tune with the artistic stewardship of the Arditti Quartet and the American Wind Symphony.
Mr. Petric's concerto-led career began with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jukka Pekka Saraste followed by a historic performance of three concertos in one evening with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, David Tudor, the Penderecki Quartet, Pentaedre, IRCAM, London Southbank, the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, Tokyo Spring, Montreal's MnM Festival, SMCQ and 'le NEM'.
As a historian, Mr Petric's contributions illuminate a new epistemology with his retrieval of Giovanni Gagliardi’s forgotten 1911 treatise Manualetto del Fisharmonicista, the first confirmation of the origins of the concert accordion in the literature, and the anthropology of more than 54 forgotten period instruments and patents 1900-40. He was invited to a professorship by the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal (Québec) where he mentors the international graduate accordion program.
He plays a bespoke instrument modelled on the 1910 Camerano built by Leo Niemi, 1996, Sudbury, Ontario. He considers Hugo Noth and Colin Tilney his masters. Mr. Petric divides his time between Upper Canada, Montreal and the old Ionian coast.
Ari Cohen-Mann, oboe Ari Cohen Mann (they/them) serves up "brilliant virtuosity" (The Whole Note) through their playing and brightness and optimism through their popular social media channels. Ari has been hailed as the "Jonathan Van Ness of the oboe" (CBC Music), proudly championing their queer identity and serving as a role model for LGBTQ youth. Ari is a dynamic recitalist, new music proponent, orchestral musician, and educator based in Toronto. Ari was recently named on CBC’s 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30. Ari is a Howarth Artist and plays on a Howarth LXV-VT oboe.
With playing described as “emotionally charged” (Ludwig van Toronto), Ari is passionate about advancing the instrument as a solo voice in recitals and chamber music. Ari's solo debut at Carnegie Hall was with harpist Noël Wan, as featured artists in the Yale in New York series. Ari has performed as concerto soloist with the National Academy Orchestra, Canadian Studio Symphony, and Ontario Philharmonic.
Ari was a prizewinner at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition, and the winner of the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award. They were a semi-finalist in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition.
A champion of new music and lesser-known solo music for the oboe and English horn, Ari has been fortunate to premiere pieces by Kevin Day, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicky Sohn, Matthew Emery, Liam Ritz, and Felipe Téllez. Ari has fostered a partnership with the Yarilo Contemporary Music Society in Vancouver, BC as both a featured recitalist and ensemble member for Steve Reich’s Tehillim. Ari has served as guest principal oboe with the Esprit Orchestra.
Feeling equally at home within the orchestra, Ari cherishes performing with ensembles in Canada and abroad. In Ontario, Ari has appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Toronto, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, and Windsor. Their festival appearances include The National Repertory Orchestra (Breckenridge, Colorado), L’Orchestre de la Francophonie, The National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and The National Youth Orchestra of Canada where they received the Award of Excellence. Outside of North America, they have toured to India, China, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Portugal.
Ari teaches oboe at Wilfrid Laurier University as well as the Royal Conservatory of Music and Oscar Peterson School of Music. Ari has previously held positions as an Oboe Instructor at Yale College and as a Teaching Artist at the Yale Music in Schools Initiative. They proudly serve as a Mentor for the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. Ari is a frequent clinician at arts high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. For information about oboe lessons including free trial lessons for prospective Laurier students, click here.
Ari is a graduate of the prestigious Artist Diploma program at the Yale School of Music. They completed their Master of Music at Mannes School of Music and their Bachelor of Music at the University of British Columbia where they were awarded the UBC Medal in Music. Ari’s teachers and mentors include Sarah Jeffrey, Stephen Taylor, Sherry Sylar, and Beth Orson.
Ari’s debut album VORTEX released in 2025 on Orchid Classics and has been hailed as "an especially good entry point into the world of the oboe.” (CBC Music) Order signed CD/vinyl or stream here.
Friday, September 18, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTIST
In September 2009, pianist Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction. Since then she has appeared all over the world to great acclaim.
Her recital programmes are frequently reviewed in superlatives, and her concerto appearances with major orchestras are noted in glowing terms by the world’s music press. Sofya has been praised for her "tremendous precision and colouration...exquisite soft playing ...with delicacy" and described as a “Rach star"(Washington Post).
Sofya Gulyak’s resume includes prizes from many prestigious piano competitions: she is a 1st prize winner of William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International Piano Competition, Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, Isang Yun International Piano Competition in South Korea, San Marino Piano Competition, winner of Busoni Competition in Italy and prize winner of Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris.
Recitals and concert appearances have been numerous, with Sofya Gulyak having performed all over the globe in such venues as La Scala Theatre and Sala Verdi in Milan, Herculessaal in Munich, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Osaka Symphony Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Kennedy Center in Washington, Hungarian National Opera, Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg, Hong Kong City Hall, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Musashino Cultural Centre in Tokyo, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Teatro Municipal adn Cidade des Artes in Rio de Janeiro, Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, Aberdeen Music Hall, Salle Molière in Lyon, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, King Theatre in Rabat, Kursaal in Bern, Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen and many others.
Sofya Gulyak appeared as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, Rio de Janeiro Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Budapest Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’ Arena di Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica di Bologna, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Slovak Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Copenhagen Symphony, Ulster Symphony, Ochestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestre National de France, Shanghai Philharmonic, Oulu Philharmonic, Leipzig Philharmonic, Pensacola Symphony, Tatarstan Symphony, Philippines Philharmonic, Morocco Philharmonic and others
She collaborated with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sakari Oramo, Mark Elder, Donald Runnicle, Vasily Petrenko, Alexander Lazarev, Karl-Heinz Steffens, David Hill, Alan Buribayev, Eiving Gullberg Jensen, Theodor Guschlauer, Rory McDonald, Tamami Nishimoto, Danail Rachev, Fabio Mastrangelo, Michele Mariotti, Fuat Mansurov, Alexander Sladkovsky, Mario Kosik, Jesus Medina,Tomomi Nishimoto, Istvan Denes, Peter Rubardt, Anna-Maria Helsing, Dalia Stasevska and others. The festivals in which Sofya Gulyak participated include Klavier Ruhr Festival, Chopin Festival in Duzniki-Zdroj, Festival du Sceaux, International Keyboard Festival in New York, International Strasbourg Festival, Busoni Festival, Harrogate Festival, Krakòv Piano Festival, New Zealand Piano Festival, Ravello Festival, Festival Chopin in Paris, Shanghai International Piano Festival and many others.
Sofya Gulyak’s recording of Russian piano music (Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev) was released on Champs Hill Records in 2013 and received a 5 stars review in Diapason magazine (“What a pleasure to hear the piano blossoming and projecting in the most vivid of ways when played by Sofya Gulyak. The singing sound alongside dazzling and powerful execution distinguishes an outstanding natural pianist”) and praising reviews in Gramophone (“This is a stunning debut album…”) and Guardian magazines (“Sofya Gulyak is a fearless pianist, never afraid to scale the most technically demanding heights of the repertoire and equally proud to wear her heart on her sleeve”). Her CD with Brahms music was released on Piano Classics in the spring of 2015 and got glowing reviews from American Record Guide ("The Handel Variations is among the top contenders on record. From the very first notes she takes charge and envelops us in a thrilling sequence of variations that will send goose bumps to susceptible listeners. Not only does she perform with arresting contrast and lovely, soft floating tone. She keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the music presses ever forward. Sometimes I was reminded of the young Argerich.." and Fanfare magazine (" Her musicality is beautifully attuned to the spirit of Brahms...I must praise Kazan-born Russain pianist Sofya Gulyak, whose impressive reading places a stronger emphasis than Perahia's in the continuity of the variations... She is a natural Brahmsian whatever his moods."). Her last CD with the Chaconnes for Piano was released by Champs Hill Records in 2017.
Sofya Gulyak is a native of Kazan (Russia) where she studied in a Special Music College under Nailya Khakimova, and then in Kazan State Conservatoire under Professor Elfiya Burnasheva. After that she continued her studies at the Piano Academy "Incontri coi Maestri" (Imola, Italy) with Boris Petrushansky and at the Royal College of Music in London with Vanessa Latarche.
Sofya Gulyak attended as a jury member the International Piano Competitions in Italy, Serbia, France, Greece, USA, and was invited to teach master classes in China, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Mexico, USA, and Germany. In past and recent years she has been on the faculty at the Royal College of Muisc in London, Kazan State Conservatory, Monteverdi Conservatory of Bolzano.
Her playing has been broadcast on radio and TV in Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Germany, USA, Finland, Denmark, Serbia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom (BBC 3 and BBC 4).
Monday, September 21, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
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.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
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
Benjamin 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.
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Location and time TBA
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Chamber Scenes
Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat
Bartok: Contrasts
more TBA
ARTISTS
The Millwood Trio unites three of Canada’s most distinguished musicians, whose artistic paths have intertwined for nearly thirty years. Violinist Jasper Wood, pianist Gregory Millar, and clarinetist Michael Westwood bring together decades of experience, profound musical insight, and a finely tuned collaborative instinct, creating an ensemble voice that is at once luminous, sensitive, and compelling. Their performances combine clarity, warmth, and expressive depth, drawing audiences into a richly textured chamber-music experience.
Jasper Wood’s internationally acclaimed career as a soloist and chamber musician, together with his extensive discography and his long-standing role as Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the University of British Columbia, contributes a radiant, virtuosic string voice to the trio. Gregory Millar offers nuanced pianistic artistry, honed through studies at McGill University, the Glenn Gould School, the University of Toronto, and the Eastman School of Music, and a performance career spanning Canada, the United States, and Europe. Michael Westwood has performed across Canada and in Europe frequently performing much of the standard chamber music repertoire and commissioning and performing many new Canadian compositions over the past three decades.
Over decades of collaboration, the trio has cultivated a rare musical chemistry, allowing them to approach the repertoire for violin, clarinet, and piano with remarkable precision, interpretive depth, and expressive nuance. Their programs encompass classical masterpieces, 20th-century innovations, and contemporary works, each brought to life with keen attention to detail, dynamic contrast, and the subtle interplay that arises from nearly thirty years of shared artistry.
The Millwood Trio presents chamber music as a living conversation—elegant, intimate, and deeply expressive—offering audiences performances that linger long after the final note.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Chamber Scenes
Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat
Bartok: Contrasts
more TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTISTS
Zemlinsky String Quartet: František Souček, Petr Střížek (violins), Petr Holman (viola), Vladimír Fortin (cello)
Many of you will remember the unforgettable complete Dvorak quartet series the Zemlinsky Quartet performed for us in 2018 and their performances here and in Guelph last fall 2025.
Founded in 1994 while the members were still students, the ZEMLINSKY QUARTET has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. The Zemlinsky Quartet won the First Grand Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2010. They have also been awarded top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005) and London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where they also received the Audience Prize. The Quartet was recipient of the
Alexander Zemlinsky Advancement Award in 2008. Other notable prizes include Beethoven International Competition (1999), New Talent Bratislava (2003), Martinů Foundation String Quartet Competition (2004), and the Prize of Czech Chamber Music Society (2005). In the season 2016/17, Zemlinsky Quartet was appointed as the residential ensemble of the Czech Chamber Music Society.
While students at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of renowned Czech string quartets including the Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartets. The ensemble also took part in several master classes including ProQuartet, in France and Sommerakademie in Reichenau, Austria where they were awarded First Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Janáček. From 2005 to 2008, the quartet studied
with Walter Levin, the first violinist of LaSalle Quartet. Their recent mentor has been Josef Klusoň, the violist of the Pražák Quartet.
The Zemlinsky Quartet is named after the Austrian composer, conductor and teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), whose enormous contribution to Czech, German and Jewish culture during his 16-year residence in Prague had been underrated until recently. His four string quartets (the second one being dedicated to his student and brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg) belong to the basic repertoire of the ensemble. Since 2005, the quartet has maintained a special relationship with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation in Vienna.
The Zemlinsky Quartet performs regularly in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Korea). Recent major appearances of the Zemlinsky Quartet include London’s Wigmore Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Library of Congress, Place des Arts in Montreal, Prague Spring Festival, and their New York debut on Schneider/New School Concerts Series.
Their vast repertoire contains more than 200 works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak to works by contemporary composers. The members of the ensemble also perform as soloists and are individual prize-winners of several competitions (Concertino Praga, Spohr International Competition Weimar, Tribune of Young Artists UNESCO, Rotary Music Competition Nürnberg,Beethoven International Competition, Kocian International Competition).
Between 2006-2011, the Zemlinsky Quartet were Assistant Quartet-in-Residence at Musikakademie Basel in Switzerland. Music education is an important part of
their professional life and during their tours, the quartet is often invited to give master classes to students of any age. They also perform educational concerts for
students. Recently, František Souček and Petr Holman have been appointed Professors at the Prague Conservatory.
TWO CONCERTS!
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Sunday, November 1, 2026
Locations TBA, both at 7:00 pm.
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Programs TBA
PROGRAM
Bartók: Rhapsody
Janáček: Sonata
Beethoven: Sonata No. 9 “Kreutzer”
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.
Friday, November 6, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Bartók: Rhapsody
Janáček: Sonata
Beethoven: Sonata No. 9 “Kreutzer”
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTIST
Boris Krajný is a Czech pianist, best known for his work on Czech and French pianism. He was awarded the Académie Charles Cros's 1982 Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of Albert Roussel, Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc piano concertos. He has also recorded Sergei Prokofiev and Béla Bartók's 3rd piano concertos together with Jiří Bělohlávek's Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Maurice Ravel's complete piano works for Supraphon. Krajný obtained an honourable mention at the 1975 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition. He teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Selected performance venues - Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colón, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Moscow Conservatory's Tchaikovsky Hall, Sydney Opera House, Wigmore Hall.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTIST
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed concert pianist. He concertized across Europe, United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, China, and his performances were broadcast in the USA, China, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, and Poland. Mr. Żukiewicz consistently receives critical acclaim, while his innovative programming - focused on exploring connections between the popular and the lesser-known gems of the traditional and contemporary repertoire - continues to engage and inspire audiences around the world.
In high demand as soloist and chamber musician, Adam Piotr Żukiewicz concertizes internationally. Highlights of recent performances include Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Macky Auditorium in Boulder, Colorado, as well as recitals at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London (UK), Royal Łazienki Theatre in Warsaw, and Chicago Cultural Center (Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series). Recent concerto performances include collaborations with the Shanghai Nine Trees Philharmonic, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Flagstaff Symphony, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony, Loveland Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Greeley Chamber Orchestra, and Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra (Zlin, Czechia). Mr. Żukiewicz has performed in some of the most prestigious concert venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Residenztheater in Munich, Goldensaal at the Musikverein in Vienna, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, KKL Luzern, and many others. He is also a frequent contributor to the Colorado Public Radio, where his broadcast recordings can be heard on air and online.
Following his successful debut with the Shanghai Nine Trees Philharmonic in 2024, Mr. Żukiewicz was invited to participate in the Chinese Mid-Autumn national celebrations in the same year. His performance of Chopin’s Mazurka Op. 59, No. 2 was broadcast on Chinese national tv (CCTV), reaching the audience of 1.4 billion.
Mr. Żukiewicz’s creative musical activities led to a recording of a critically-acclaimed debut album The Beginnings, exploring musical ideologies and languages of the great masters of the past and the present. This unique album is rooted in the artist’s musical inspirations and artistic philosophy. Opening with the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Fryderyk Chopin, Mr. Żukiewicz presents the music and cultural heritage of the modern masters Krystian Kiełb (Poland) and Jacobus Kloppers (South Africa/Canada), closing the album with a stunning work by the legendary jazz musician Oscar Peterson.
The Beginnings was released to critical acclaim by the DUX label in November 2018, and selections of the album are broadcast regularly by the Colorado Public Radio Classical in the USA.
Competition successes include several first prizes in competitions in Poland, First Prize at the 2012 Shean Piano Competition in Canada, First Prize at the 2011 TD Canada Trust Music Competition, and Second Prize at the 13th Pacific Piano Competition in 2011 in Richmond, BC. Mr. Żukiewicz is also a medalist of the 2014 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Spain, and a winner of the First Prizes in Piano and Chamber Music categories in the 2024 Virtuoso Music Awards.
Always interested in new music, Mr. Żukiewicz regularly commissions and presents modern works: most recently Tom Lopez's Confetti Variations (2012-14, with Canadian premiere in 2025), Jim Klein/Ian Jamison's Piano Sonata (2021), Krystian Kiełb’s Obrazy (Paintings) (2018), Oscar Peterson’s Goodbye Old Friend (arr. Don Thompson/Adam Piotr Żukiewicz - European premiere), Brooke Joyce’s Lament for Orlando (2016), Stefano Sacher’s La memoria di Medea (2016), Zdenek Trnka’s Cervnova Nokturna (sonata pro klavir) (2015) and John Beckwith’s Follow me (2013) with clarinetist Peter Stoll (recording released on an album Calling by the Centrediscs label).
Following his long-lasting interests in the music of Fryderyk Chopin, in 2021, Mr. Żukiewicz has received a USA government grant to complete the "Chopin Unknown" recording research project. The project will have wider educational implications through the presentation of the recently published and never recorded study works of Chopin (Three Learned Fugues after Cherubini) as well as more renowned works, directly influenced by those. The project will contribute to the research of the compositional practice of Late Chopin and address Performance Practice issues associated with the development of his Late Style.
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Toronto and Masters of Music degree from Indiana University. He has also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, and was a music scholar at the United World College of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy. His mentors and teachers include James Parker, Marietta Orlov, Arnaldo Cohen, Jerome Lowenthal, Vanessa Latarche, Dario de Rosa, Alberto Miodini, and Paweł Zawadzki.
Enthused by sharing music, thoughts and experiences of music, Mr. Żukiewicz also enjoys teaching, lecturing, impromptu performances, singing in an amateur choir, and musical discussions with musicians and music lovers alike. Beyond music, he takes pleasure in reading, connecting with people, sports, travel, and nature, which he finds most inspiring.
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz served as faculty at the University of Toronto and St Michael's Choir School in Toronto. His students studied in renowned institutions such as Royal College of Music (London, UK), Indiana University, and Eastman School of Music, and their successes include festival and competition awards in Canada, USA, Singapore, and Italy. Students of Mr. Żukiewicz also have successful performing and teaching careers, including academic positions in universities and conservatories in USA and China.
Mr. Żukiewicz is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. He served as a Resident Faculty Pianist at the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in Duino (Italy), and teaches at the Euro Arts Euro Music Festival (Poland) and International Concerto Festival and Competition Academy (Czechia). Adam Żukiewicz founded the Beethoven in the Rockies Concert Series, and co-founded the Trieste International Piano Festival. He is a Certified Teacher of the Royal Conservatory of Music Curriculum and a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners. Mr. Żukiewicz frequently adjudicates piano competitions and festivals, and has been an adjudicator of the Steinway Piano Competition since 2017. Mr. Żukiewicz is a founding member of the Max Joseph Piano Trio and the Colorado Piano Trio.
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz is a Steinway Artist and a recipient of the Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award.
Friday, November 20, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTIST
Flavius Wagner from Romania is one of the most promising young guitarists in Europe. His playing combines technical precision, emotional depth and natural stage presence. Both as a soloist and in chamber music, he captivates audiences with clarity, balance and musical intelligence.
Flavius discovered his passion for the guitar at a young age. Guided by dedicated teachers, he built a solid technical foundation and developed a deep understanding of sound and phrasing. He later continued his studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, where he refined his musical voice under internationally renowned guitarists.
Wagner has performed at major festivals and concert halls across Europe, including the International Guitar Festival in Koblenz and the Salzburg Guitar Festival. His performances are praised for their focus, tonal beauty and emotional control. His repertoire ranges from Bach and Tárrega to Villa-Lobos and contemporary composers, revealing both stylistic range and artistic curiosity.
In addition to his solo work, he is an active chamber musician who collaborates with orchestras and instrumentalists. These collaborations enrich his musical expression and highlight his versatility as a thoughtful and sensitive performer.
Flavius Wagner’s playing is marked by precision, warmth and attention to detail. His interpretations are clear and lyrical, yet full of expressive energy. He has a strong interest in exploring new repertoire and often includes contemporary or lesser-known works in his programs, helping to expand the artistic possibilities of the classical guitar.
Alongside his concert career, Wagner is dedicated to teaching. He gives masterclasses and workshops across Europe, encouraging young guitarists to develop their own artistic voice while mastering the technical demands of the instrument. His teaching emphasizes clarity, balance and musical understanding rather than showmanship.
Flavius Wagner continues to perform widely and is preparing new recording projects featuring both classical and modern works. His dedication to the instrument, together with his musical insight, positions him as one of the notable voices of the new generation of classical guitarists.
Weekend of Nov 28/29, 2026 - Date coming soon!
Location and time TBA
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA (Beethoven, of course!)
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.
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.
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.
Penderecki String Quartet
Wednesday, December 16, 2026
Location TBA, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTISTS
The Seiler Trio unites three exceptional Canadian musicians, Mayumi Seiler, violin, Rachel Mercer, cello, and Angela Park, piano, who explore the rich traditions of the piano trio repertoire with a unique blend of intensity, passion, and generosity. Their performances also include ventures into diverse styles and new Canadian compositions.
Mayumi Seiler A violinist of impeccably tailored artistry, Mayumi Seiler is renowned for her exciting performances of concerto, recital and collaborative works both live and on disc. She has graced stages from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein and in London at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall for The Proms. In performances of depth and delight, she has collaborated with renowned soloists and conductors, and created a distinguished series of concerts which played to sold-out houses in Toronto over 14 seasons.
Mayumi Seiler has appeared as concerto soloist with major symphonies around the globe, including the Royal Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Moscow Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Montréal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Academica Salzburg, Bournemouth Symphony, City of London Sinfonia and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, among others. She has collaborated with such noted conductors as Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, David Atherton, Christopher Hogwood, Neville Marriner, Sandor Vegh, Hugh Wolff and Richard Hickox.
Among Ms. Seiler’s extensive list of recordings are the Beethoven Concerto, the two Mendelssohn Concertos and three of the Haydn Violin Concertos with the City of London Sinfonia and Richard Hickox conducting on the Virgin Classics label. She has recorded Stravinsky’s Le Baiser de la Fée with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and David Atherton, also on Virgin Classics. Her many recordings of chamber music, including works of Schumann, Dohnanyi, Boccherini and Mozart, appear on the Hyperion and Capriccio labels.
While nurturing a busy schedule as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Japan and the Americas, Ms. Seiler founded Toronto’s Via Salzburg – acclaimed as “One of the best roads to our musical hearts” (Toronto Star). In Via Salzburg she led a string orchestra in regular performances at the Glenn Gould Studio for sold out audiences. Through 14 seasons she curated programs with renowned artists from Europe and Asia and combined varied art forms such as dance, pantomime and painting into Via Salzburg events, winning the embrace of audiences and the praise of critics citing the performer’s “combustion of creative energy – they clearly love what they are doing” (Toronto Star).
She has collaborated with many of the world’s leading soloists, including violinists Maxim Vengerov, Richard Tognetti and Ruggiero Ricci, violist Veronika Hagen, cellists Steven Isserlis and Colin Carr, pianists Menachim Pressler, André Laplante, Yael Weiss and Ikuyo Nakamichi, clarinetist David Shiffrin, and guitarist Elliot Fisk among many others.
An active and passionate teacher, Mayumi Seiler serves on the faculty at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She has held a professorship at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, has given masterclasses worldwide and has adjudicated at numerous international violin competitions. She began her musical upbringing in Osaka, Japan, where she was born of Japanese/German parentage. Wedded to the violin from the age of three, she received her musical education at the renowned Mozarteum during the formative years of her childhood in Salzburg.
Mayumi Seiler performs on the 1684 Croall Stradivarius.
Rachel Mercer Described as a "pure chamber musician" (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 NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton and Orleans, Ontario. Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, St. John-Mercer-Park Trio and Ironwood Quartet, and was cellist of JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the 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 30 works including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber work by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, Abigail Richardson-Schulte, John Burge and Jocelyn Morlock. She can be heard in recording on Naxos, Analekta, Atma, Leaf Music, Centrediscs, EnT-T, Pipistrelle, and in 2012, recorded the complete Bach Suites (Pipistrelle) on the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Rachel currently plays a 17th century cello from Northern Italy.
Recent seasons included the world premiere of a Cello Concerto by Stewart Goodyear, written for Rachel, supported by the Ontario Arts Council, and premiered with the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa, and appearances with the Kingston Symphony (Lalo), Thunder Bay Symphony (Ichmouratov), Canadian Sinfonietta (Haydn C), and Cathedral Bluffs Orchestra (Elgar). Recent solo and chamber recordings include "Our Strength, Our Song" (Centrediscs), an album of 6 duos by Canadian women including 3 new commmissions recorded with her sister, Akemi Mercer-Niewohner, Canadian composer John Burge's "One Sail" with the Thirteen Strings Orchestra (Naxos), and "Mascarada" for cello and flamenco dancer by Alice Ho with the Allegra Chamber Orchestra. In 2023, the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio toured and released "Under A Veil of Stars" (Leaf Music), an album of chamber music by Kevin Lau including two new commissions. In 2020, Ensemble Made In Canada culminated its 2 year tour of the Mosaïque Project with a live-streamed video production grand finale concert in FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catherines, which was also the release of the album: Mosaïque.
Since 2006, Rachel appears in recital with pianist Angela Park as the Mercer-Park Duo. The duo performs across Canada, presenting the duo repertoire alongside new Canadian works. Their debut disc was released in July 2011 and the duo received Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council and FACTOR support to record all-Canadian music by composers of their generation, released on Naxos Canadian Classics in 2014. They were joined from 2010-2020 by violinist Yehonatan Berick, forming the AYR Trio.
As a member of JUNO-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada from 2008-2020, Rachel toured regularly across Canada and the United States and performed for schools, seniors' residences, universities, the Canadian Music Centre, CONTACT (for young entrepeneurs), gave talks on the music business from a performer's perspective, and regularly workshopped with a range of composers from student to professional, as well as being Artist-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario. The group's multiple commissions include John Burge's JUNO-nominated piano quartet (on Centrediscs) and "The Mosaïque Project", a cross-Canada tour from 2018-2020 including multi-media and a 14-composer commission. The album won the 2021 JUNO award for Classical Album of the Year (Chamber/Solo).
As a member of the Aviv String Quartet from 2002-2010, Rachel played in halls such as the Auditorium du Louvre, Zurich Tonhalle, Wigmore Hall, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Library of Congress in Washington DC, Baxter Hall in Cape Town, St Lawrence Centre in Toronto, and at festivals such as Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Lockenhaus, Davos, Colmar, Oslo and Ottawa. The quartet released cds on Naxos and Dalia Classics and celebrated its 10th anniversary with a complete Shostakovich cycle at the 2007 Verbier Festival. Collaborations included performances with Jorg Widmann, Boris Berman, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, James Tocco, Boris Petrushansky, Elisso Virssaladze and Anton Dressler. The quartet also gave masterclasses, coaching and outreach performances in the United States, Israel, South Africa and Canada, including at the University of Toronto.
Born in Edmonton, Rachel began cello studies at the age of three with Diana Nuttall. She spent formative years with Kristl Armstrong at the Vancouver Academy of Music, where she made her solo debut with the Vancouver Academy Chamber Orchestra at the age of 12. After moving to Ontario, Rachel attended the Royal Conservatory of Music and received the Gold Medal for her Associate Diploma, studying with Susan Gagnon and David Hetherington. She received a BM from the University of Toronto with Shauna Rolston, an MM with honours from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser, and a solo diploma from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Dmitri Ferschtman. Rachel attended Orford, Banff, Holland Music Sessions, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, Scotiafest, Proquartet, the Juilliard Quartet Seminar and the Verbier Academy, for masterclasses with Boris Pergamenschikow, Frans Helmerson, Lynn Harrell, Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Gregor Horsch, Harro Ruijsenaars, Valentin Berlinsky, Valentin Erben, Henry Meyer and Walter Levin.
Angela Park JUNO-nominated 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 was a board member of the Stratford Summer Music Festival from 2019-2023, and is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton.
Seiler Trio - Mayumi Seiler (violin), Rachel Mercer (cello), Angela Park (piano)
Saturday, December 19, 2026
Location and time TBA
Tickets $40/$10 student on Ticketscene and at the door
Program TBA
PROGRAM
"BAROQUE...ish"
Andrew Sords and Cheryl Duvall return to KWCMS with works by Vitali, Bach, Kreisler, Stravinsky, and others.
ARTISTS
American violinist Andrew Sords maintains a prolific touring schedule with his piano trio and as soloist with orchestras. Having appeared on four continents and in nearly all of the 50 states, his performances have been cited for combining visceral virtuosity and ravishing tone, while international critics have endorsed Sords as “a fully formed artist” (Kalisz-Poland News), “utterly radiant” (Canada’s Arts Forum), and “exceptionally heartfelt and soulful” (St. Maarten’s Daily Herald). In 2018, an appearance at Festival Bravissima in Guatemala was heralded by the Prensa Libre: “Sords demonstrated what it means to be an artist. He paired maximum delicacy with fire and brilliance, and had a subtle handling of sonority – clearly audible even in his softest and sweetest moments.” Sords has received numerous awards and distinctions reflecting his career trajectory, including the Pittsburgh Concert Society’s Career Grant; was profiled by NPR’s “Morning Edition”, XM’s “Derek and Romaine Show”, and STRINGS Magazine (covering his residency in Trinidad and Tobago); and has recently made débuts for the Ravinia Festival, Québec’s Lakeshore Chamber Festival and Série de musique de chambre, and with orchestras in Scotland, Australia, the Caribbean, Canada, and Poland. The 2022/23 concert season features return appearances in Montréal, Beverly Hills, Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre, Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, the Norton Museum Series in West Palm Beach, and performances of concerti by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Wieniawski, and Bologne.
Cheryl Duvall, piano has established herself as one of Canada’s foremost contemporary music interpreters, immersing herself in a wide variety of compositional aesthetics and collaborative endeavours. Her lucid sense of contour, evocative sonic and emotional presence, and boundless versatility make her both a dynamic soloist and in-demand collaborator. In 2016, Duvall’s artistry was recognized with a nomination for the KM Hunter Award.
She co-founded the “adventurous and smartly programmed” (Musicworks Magazine) chamber group Thin Edge New Music Collective alongside Ilana Waniuk in 2011. Since their inception, they’ve commissioned over 80+ works, mounting lavish multidisciplinary productions while collaborating with internationally renowned composers and performers. TENMC was awarded the 2020 Friends of Canadian Music Award from the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre for being ‘an important musical innovator, working creatively across disciplines with an unwavering commitment to diverse and equitable programming’. In January 2020, she released her debut solo piano album Harbour, a highly acclaimed recording released on the Redshift Record Label featuring the music of Canadian composer, Anna Hostman. Harbour was chosen as the #1 Modern Composition Recording of 2020 by UK’s ‘The Wire’ Magazine and was nominated for a Juno for Classical Composition of the Year. Her next solo album, Intimes exubérances will be released in April 2024 on the Redshift record label. Duvall was appointed the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga in February 2022 and was also the interim-co-artistic director of the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth for the 2021-2022 season. She operates a full private teaching studio, is a member of the College of Examiners with the Royal Conservatory of Music, and adjudicates piano competitions across Canada.
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 students on TicketScene and at the door.
"BAROQUE...ish"
Works by Vitali, Bach, Kreisler, Stravinsky and others.
PROGRAM
Variations a la Carte
Bach: Aria Variata, BWV 989
Haydn: Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII: 6
Beethoven: Six Variations in D major, Op. 76
R. Schumann: Bünte Blatter, op. 99 #1 (Nicht schnell, mit Innigkeit)
R. Schumann: Romanze, op. 32 #3 (sehr rasch und mit Bravour)
Walker: Variations on a Kentucky Folk Song (1953)
Brahms Paganini Variations, Book 2, Op. 35
ARTIST
Peter Vinograde, piano An outstanding interpreter of J.S. Bach and contemporary composers, pianist Peter Vinograde regularly tours the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Recent seasons featured performances in Nanjing, Rome, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Singapore, Taipei, and Xiamen. More recently, he recorded Arnold Rosner’s Piano Concerto #2 with the London Philharmonic, and gave two recitals at the new Usina Art Center in Buenos Aires. A recent National Gallery recital featured all seven Bach Toccatas.
As a chamber musician, Peter Vinograde has appeared at the Bard, Bargemusic, Caramoor, and Wolftrap Festivals. As a collaborative artist, he toured throughout Asia with violinist Midori, including her Singapore debut, also performing with her at the Cape Cod and Mostly Mozart Festivals.
His numerous distinctions began with first prize in the 1971 J.S. Bach International Competition, followed by a New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall and an N.E.A.-sponsored Lincoln Center recital at Alice Tully Hall. He has been featured on NPR's Performance Today and CBC-TV's the Journal. CDs include releases on the Albany, CBC, Decca and Phoenix labels. His primary teacher was Zenon Fishbein.
In conjunction with his Bach for Pianists class at the Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Vinograde annually presents Bach recital/lectures at conservatories and universities, most recently at C.S.U. Northridge, Juilliard, Oberlin, and Northwestern.
"Instantly impressed as a pianist with a big technique, a lively mind, and a passionate commitment to the music.” - The New York Times (N.Y. Debut)
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 3:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Variations a la Carte
Bach: Aria Variata, BWV 989
Haydn: Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII: 6
Beethoven: Six Variations in D major, Op. 76
R. Schumann: Bünte Blatter, op. 99 #1 (Nicht schnell, mit Innigkeit)
R. Schumann: Romanze, op. 32 #3 (sehr rasch und mit Bravour)
Walker: Variations on a Kentucky Folk Song (1953)
Brahms Paganini Variations, Book 2, Op. 35
PROGRAM
Kreisler: Praeludium & Allegro
Beethoven: “Spring” Sonata
Leslie Fagan, Special Guest - TBA
Bloch: Nigun, from Baal-Shem suite
Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances
ARTISTS
Moshe Hammer, violin
Admired for his artistic style, unique interpretations and vibrant tone, violinist Moshe Hammer is Hungarian-born, was raised in Israel and studied there with Ilona Feher. As a student of Jascha Heifetz he was a medal winner at the Concours Jacques Thibaud in Paris.
Hammer’s tours have taken him across North America, Europe, Israel and the Far-East. His performances have consistently energized critics, thrilled audiences and earned respect among his colleagues.
A naturalized Canadian, Moshe Hammer has traveled the concert venues of the world and performed with many symphony orchestras. He was also the founder and leader of the Toronto based chamber group, The Amadeus Ensemble.
As member of Da Camera, he has thrilled audiences in Canada, the US and Europe with regular visits to the Netherlands, including the world renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Moshe is a regular and welcome guest in various music festivals on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He brings to his performances a charismatic stage presence, a tone of unmatched subtlety, vitality and artistry of the highest order.
Hammer loves to work with young musicians and offers master-classes everywhere he travels. His wide ranging discography reflects a multi-faceted talent.
In 2007 Moshe launched The Hammer Band – From Violence to Violins. With this project, school kids in priority areas are presented with free music lessons and violins.
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 was a board member of the Stratford Summer Music Festival from 2019-2023, and is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton.
with Special Guest, soprano Leslie Fagan
Friday, May 8, 2026
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Kreisler: Praeludium & Allegro
Beethoven: “Spring” Sonata
Leslie Fagan, Special Guest - TBA
Bloch: Nigun, from Baal-Shem suite
Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances
PROGRAM
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 33 No. 2, “The Joke”
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969): String Quartet No. 5
Dinuk Wijeratne (b. 1978): Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems
Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat major
ARTISTS
Ida Derbesse, 1st violin
Elena Watson-Perry, 2nd violin
Claire Pass-Lanneau, viola
Fiona Robson, cello
“A model of technical discipline, elegance and musical excellence” (La Croix, transl.), the QUATUOR MAGENTA was founded in 2021 and is already performing on France’s most prestigious stages, from the Philharmonie de Paris to the Festival de RadioFrance Montpellier. Their “remarkable balance, flexibility and spontaneity” (Diapason, transl.) not only thrills their audiences, but led them to the finals of the 8th Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna and earned them prizes at the 2023 FNAPEC competition (Académie des Beaux-Arts scholarship) and the 2022 Zukunftsklang Competition Stuttgart (3rd prize). November 2024 marked the quartet’s first international tour to Canada with six concerts in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, generously supported by the Centre National de la Musique and SPEDIDAM.
The Quatuor Magenta is based in Paris, France, where they are junior artist-in-residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation and ensemble-in-residence at Proquartet - Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre. They have been invited to perform at numerous festivals in France, including the Musikfest Parisienne, the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Un Temps pour Elles, Un Été en France with Gautier Capuçon and the Modigliani Quartet’s Festival Vibre!, as well as in Switzerland (Festival de la Collégiale in Neuchâtel) and in Germany (Klangraum Konzerte in Cologne).
Last season, contemporary music had 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 Biennale. This season includes six octet performances alongside the renowned Quatuor Van Kuijk, in partnership with La Belle Saison.
The Quatuor Magenta was honoured to participate in the inaugural year of the Élite program at the École Normale de Paris, under the mentorship of the Quatuor Modigliani. They currently study with the Quatuor Ébène at their quartet academy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, as well as with Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartet at the Basel University of Music. They are grateful for the support of the Safran Foundation and ADAMI. They work with Chapeau l’Artiste Production.
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
New!! The Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 33 No. 2, “The Joke”
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969): String Quartet No. 5
Dinuk Wijeratne (b. 1978): Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems
Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat major
PROGRAM
Cosmic Connections
Philip Glass - Opening (1981)
Mari Alice Conrad - the moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes (2021) *†
Monica Pearce - leather (2018) †
Noora Nakhaei - Echoes of the Past (2021) *†
Paolo Griffin - Resonant Bodies in Space (2023) *†
Harry Stafylakis - Light Symbolic: i. the quiet violence of celestial motion; ii. death of a sun, act of creation (2023) *†
Philip Glass - Closing (1981)
* written for SHHH!!
† Canadian Composer
Framed by the hypnotic minimalism of Philip Glass’ “Opening” and “Closing”, Cosmic Connections explores a dreamscape of beautiful and unexpected sounds. Featuring four recent Canadian works written for SHHH!!, the program reflects on the vastness of space, distilling celestial motion into human scale, and investigates the gravity of memories, meaning, and our shared human experiences.
ARTISTS
Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham are the two members of SHHH!! Ensemble, a duo carving a space for themselves as electrifying performers of new music. With a keen ear for experimentation and exploration, SHHH!! has been deemed “truly virtuosic and intense” by Toronto’s Confluence Concerts and called “a beautiful discovery” following their debut with the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.
Formed in 2017, SHHH!! Ensemble began developing their signature “avant-accessible” style through residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Canadian Music Centre. Since then, SHHH!! has continued to develop innovative repertoire for their ensemble by commissioning and premiering new works by Kelly-Marie Murphy, John Beckwith, Harry Stafylakis, Jocelyn Morlock, and Monica Pearce, among many others.
SHHH!! Ensemble’s provocative “Spirits” program, premiered in January 2020 at the Canadian Music Centre, has since toured at concert series and festivals across Canada, including the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, LUMINA, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec’s Montreal New Music Festival. Featuring music by J.S. Bach, Andy Akiho, Jocelyn Morlock, Monica Pearce, Micheline Roi, and others, “Spirits” is a journey through composers’ reflections on the nature of creativity, meditation, Scotch whisky, and The Beyond.
SHHH!! Ensemble’s creativity and vitality were especially notable through the pandemic with one critic commenting “This virtuoso duo are so agile and inventive… I doubt anything short of a geological cataclysm will shut them down” (The WholeNote). 2020-2022 saw major highlights such as the duo’s acceptance into the prestigious Evolution: Classical career development residency at the Banff Centre, a National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms concert, the world-premiere of JUNO-winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s Spirit Gradient with the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival in Newfoundland, and a nationally broadcast recital on the CBC Radio 2 program “In Concert”.
In February 2023 SHHH!! Ensemble “enthralled” (Winnipeg Free Press) in their debut as soloists in the world premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s concerto Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. A repeat performance of that concerto the following week with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra was met with a standing ovation.
As co-Artistic Directors of the Ottawa New Music Creators, Zac and Edana take pride in their role as presenters of weird and wonderful new sounds in the National Capital Region, curating programs known for cutting-edge invention drawing from local and international artists.
SHHH!! Ensemble’s debut album Meanwhile (Analekta) was released in October 2022 to critical acclaim, reaching top positions on Apple Music and Spotify playlists, as well as being nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards. The title track, Meanwhile, was the first piece written for SHHH!! by composer John Beckwith.
The duo’s sophomore album, a large-scale commissioned work by Frank Horvat entitled An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene (Leaf Music), released on October 20, 2023. La Scena Musicale gave the recording 5 stars, calling it a “masterpiece” and “a much needed reminder of the healthy world we are all working toward”.
We regret to announce that this concert has been CANCELLED due to illness.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Program: Cosmic Connections
PROGRAM
Scarlatti - Two Sonatas in F minor, K. 466 and 239
Chopin - Deux Nocturnes, op. 62
Nocturne in B Major, op. 62 no. 1
Nocturne in E Major, op. 62 no. 2
Ravel - Sonatine, M. 40
I. Modéré
II. Mouvement de menuet
III. Animé
Andrew J. Yang - Impromptu in F# minor, op. 3 (2025)
Brahms - 6 Klavierstücke, op. 118
I. Intermezzo. Allegro non assai, ma molto appassionato
II. Intermezzo. Andante teneramente
III. Ballade. Allegro energico
IV. Intermezzo. Allegretto un poco agitato
V. Romance. Andante—Allegretto grazioso
VI. Intermezzo. Andante, largo e mesto
Brahms - Fantasie Capriccio in D minor, op. 116 no. 7
ARTIST
Deemed a “gifted, sincere musician and serious artist” by the legendary pianist Ruth Slenczynska and “a prodigy, [running] the emotional gamut from brooding introspection to manic exuberance” (San Francisco Examiner), American-Icelandic pianist Andrew J. Yang has an active international performance career across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Born and raised in California, Yang grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2020, he indefinitely moved to Iceland, where he has established himself as one of the most promising musicians in the country. For three years, Yang resided in Patreksfjörður, a beautiful small village of seven hundred inhabitants in the remote Westfjords region of Iceland. After a successful debut at Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Fréttablaðið, remarked: “Yang’s playing was full of emotion with amazing musical high points. Small nuances were beautifully executed, and the keystrokes were refined and even dreamy.” Yang is the founder and artistic director of the International Westfjords Piano Festival and Iceland Piano Festival.
Yang won top prizes at the 30th International FLAME Piano Competition (Paris) and the 5th Metropolitan International Piano Competition (New York City). Yang has also received awards from the Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, Thaviu-Issac Piano Competition, and the Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition, and was a semifinalist at the Schimmel International Competition (Germany) and Campillos International Piano Competition in Spain. Yang received the 2023 Eyrarrósin Encouragement Award from First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, and a “White Rose” Medal of Honor for musical excellence from President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö. Recent concerts include solo recitals at the Mozarthaus in Vienna, Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Musiikkitalo in Helsinki, Judaica Foundation in Krakow, and the Hoheikan in Sapporo. Yang has performed at most of the major New York venues including Carnegie Hall, Victor Borge Hall, and the Museum of Modern Art. He has also played extensively across Canada, including at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Centre d'arts Orford, and venues across British Columbia. Yang has also been invited to major festivals around the world including Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain, Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival in Florida, Austria International Piano Festival and Seminar, Krakow Piano Summer in Poland, Paderewski Piano Festival in Raleigh, Mannes Sounds Festival in New York City and Menningarnótt in Reykjavik.
Yang’s most important teachers are the late Dr. William Wellborn, with whom he studied from childhood in 2007 until his passing in 2023, and Antoinette Perry. He has also studied with and been mentored by Ruth Slenczynska, Adam Wibrowski, James Giles, Dang Thai Son, and Robert McDonald. Yang received both a B.A. in Economics and B.M. in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. Upon graduation with an M.M. in Piano Performance from Mannes School of Music, he received the Steinway & Sons Award, a distinction given to the most outstanding graduating pianist. Yang then spent three years as a full-tuition scholarship D.M.A. doctoral student at USC Thornton School of Music (concurrently with living in Patreksfjörður), where also taught undergraduate and graduate piano major students as one of the two chosen Studio T.A.’s.
A former competitive athlete in badminton, track & field, and basketball, Yang also pursued an amateur boxing career, training out of the legendary John's Boxing Gym in the Bronx, NY. He trained mixed martial arts (MMA) under head coach Justen Hamilton at Modern Martial Arts in Pasadena, California. Yang also plays violin and guitar and is passionate about creating other genres of music, cooking, literature, and travelling. Yang is currently on the piano faculty at Tónlistarskólinn í Reykjavík and Tónskóli Sigursveins. He is also on the artist faculty at Krakow Piano Summer since 2023.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Scarlatti - Two Sonatas in F minor, K. 466 and 239
Chopin - Deux Nocturnes, op. 62
Ravel - Sonatine, M. 40
Andrew J. Yang - Impromptu in F# minor, op. 3 (2025)
Brahms - 6 Klavierstücke, op. 118
Brahms - Fantasie Capriccio in D minor, op. 116 no. 7
PROGRAM
Villa-Lobos: Etude No. 11, Prelude No.s 4 & 1
Brouwer: El Decameron Negro
Domeniconi: Koyunbaba
Villa-Lobos: Melody and Cadenza from guitar concerto
Yu: Codenza and Finale from guitar concerto (commissioned by the performer)
ARTIST
Guitarist Pierre Beaudry performs through the world. His extensive concert career takes him to Europe, North America, China and South East Asia, where his solo performances are acclaimed both by the public and the press. The critics have rewarded him for his interpretations of Baroque, Modern and Avant-garde music.
In addition to being a laureate of the International Music Competition of Finale Ligure in Italy, he received numerous grants from the Quebec Arts Council, and is a DAAD alumni (German Academic Exchange Service).
He studied in Germany at the Cologne Music Academy (Artist Diploma, with Honors), in France at the Paris Conservatory of Music (1st Prize) and at the Nice Conservatory of Music (1st Prize). His most important teachers have been Alexandre Lagoya, Ako Ito (student of the legendary Ida Presti) and pianist Marc Durand. His interpretations are also marked by long-term studies of musicology and performance practice.
Since 2001, due to a major mechanical disorder in the spine, Pierre Beaudry is forced all the time to play guitar in an orthostatic position, i.e. standing up. This position is absolutely unusual in modern classical guitar. He never stopped giving concerts and gave his first performance standing up, in solo, in France on May 18th, 2006.
In the period from 1993 to 2006, he has been on the music faculties of three universities in Quebec, Canada (Concordia, Bishop’s and Sherbrooke).
He is currently professor of guitar at the Tiziano Rossetti International Music Academy in Lugano, Switzerland. Only in one year, six guitarists under his coaching have won prizes in international competitions. Five awards were given to him for his teaching in 2023 and 2024 by: Sound Espressivo Competition, World Classical Music Awards, Music & Stars Awards, European Classical Music Awards and Birmingham International Music Competition.
He also is on the faculty of Aeyons Classical, the Australian international teaching platform.
He presently plays a guitar by Philip Woodfield Moore, entirely designed for standing up performance. He played before Otto Vowinkel guitars for over 25 years.
Saturday, March 28, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Villa-Lobos: Etude No. 11, Prelude No.s 1 & 4
Brouwer: El Decameron Negro
Domeniconi: Koyunbaba
Villa-Lobos: Melody and Cadenza from guitar concerto
Yu: Codenza and Finale from guitar concerto (commissioned by the performer)
PROGRAM
F. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Chamber version)
A. Creeggan: Harlequin and Pierrot
F. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
ARTISTS
Pianist Tomoko Inui http://www.tomokoinui.com/ has built a career shaped by curiosity, collaboration, and a lifelong commitment to musical expression. After living in several cities around the world, she moved from Alaska to Montreal in 2003 to study at McGill University under Kyoko Hashimoto, where she later received the Bruneau Prize for her outstanding solo recital. She has been an affiliated professor at conservatoire de musique de montreal and has worked as an official accompanist at Queens University, an organist at Eglise Saint Arsene, and a pianist for the Montreal West Operatic Society.
Based in Montreal, Tomoko contributes actively to the city’s cultural life through solo and chamber performances within the Accès Culture Montréal network and beyond. She has been a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society since 2019, and has also appeared with the Lakeshore Chamber Music Society (2019, 2024) and Music Mondays in Toronto.
An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with artists such as the Alexander String Quartet in Florence, violist Marcus Thompson in Montreal, and cellists Laurentiu Sbarcea in the Czech Republic and Valentin Scharff in Austria. She also took part in the International Music Festival and Workshop (2003–2011) and contributed to the FriedensKonzert (Peace Concert) series in Liesing, Austria (2014–2015).
Her recording projects include works by Mozart, Chopin, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff, realized with recording engineer Meining Cheung (2008 and 2013). Tomoko holds both Licentiate and Master’s degrees in piano performance from McGill University, and also earned a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography, a field in which she worked for several years before dedicating herself fully to music.
Toronto native Andrew Creeggan studied composition and piano at McGill University after leaving the ‘pop’ group Barenaked Ladies and continues his journey as a musical creator with astonishing variety. He uses the moniker Andiwork for his solo recordings of experimental instrumental music and released his fifth in 2023. His fourth installment won the ECMA for ‘instrumental album’ in 2022. Creeggan has enjoyed a collaboration with theatre director Kim Collier including original music for Red (2011), The Great Gatsby (2014), 40 Days and 40 Nights (2018) and Everybody (2021). As a composer the orchestral work “Harlequin and Pierrot” was commissioned by OneMusic orchestra and premiered at BeethovenFest in Bonn, Germany (2023) and his current project is a 45 min. orchestral work based on the Mi'kMaq creation story. Arranger for many artists and most recently 12 songs for Ben Caplan and string quartet. He is working on the soundtrack to artist Jon Claytor’s upcoming graphic novel ‘Nowhere.’ His recent producing credits include Les Païens “Carte Noire” winner of 2018 ECMA and Umläb (2021 debut EP ‘Disque Space’) a group he has since joined (and they just released ‘Radio Silence’ Sept. 2025). He lives in Moncton, NB with his wife and two sons.
Eri Kosaka, violin joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and became Principal Second Violin in 2022. Prior to her current position, Ms. Kosaka was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for two seasons and a violin fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Growing up in Tokyo, Japan, Ms. Kosaka started playing the violin at age six and took lessons with Akiko Tatsumi and Michael Tseitlin. After graduating from Toho High School of Music and Toho Gakuen College of Music in Japan, she was awarded a scholarship from the Yamaha Foundation to study abroad. Ms. Kosaka graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. She has participated in festivals and music academies across the U.S., Japan, and Europe, including the Aspen Music Festival and Sarasota Music Festival in the U.S., Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, Salzburg Music Academy in Austria, and Courchevel International Music Academy in France. As a soloist, she has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, and Central Aichi Orchestra.
Kun Yan is a Toronto-based violinist and has served as Associate Principal Second Violin of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since the 2023–24 season. Her musical journey began in Hunan, China, where she started violin at the age of five and made her solo debut with the Hunan Symphony Orchestra at eight. At eighteen, she moved to the United States to continue her musical studies.
A devoted chamber musician, Kun is a founding member of the Blanche String Quartet at the New England Conservatory and the VIA Piano Trio at The Juilliard School. She has appeared at venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Jordan Hall, performed in masterclasses with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, and participated in festivals including Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Bowdoin, Morningside Music Bridge, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and the Music Academy of the West, where she was part of the String Leadership Program working with Glenn Dicterow and Rainer Honeck.
Kun is a member of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, having recorded the ensemble’s debut album featuring repertoire from Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro to works by JUNO Award–winning composer Dinuk Wijeratne. She also performs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Chamber Soloists and has collaborated with artists including James Ehnes.
Kun holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory.
Evalynn Tyros, viola Evalynn Tyros’s freelance career includes performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, and the New World Symphony.
Evalynn holds several degrees in viola performance, including a Bachelor’s and Graduate Diploma from McGill University, where she studied with André Roy, and a Master’s degree from Rice University, where she studied with James Dunham.
While performance is her primary focus, Evalynn has also been an avid teacher of beginner viola and violin for the past twelve years. She has taught in music-integrated primary and secondary school programs, El Sistema–inspired after-school initiatives, and through a modest private studio. She believes music is not only an art form but also a gateway to learning, and she strives to make music education more accessible.
Lucia Ticho, cello leads a multifaceted career as a performer and teacher. She is a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and serves as cellist of Toronto’s Bedford Piano Trio. She has performed with the Houston Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and St. Louis Symphony, and has appeared as soloist with the Brampton Rose Orchestra, Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Lucia performs widely with the Bedford Trio and at series and festivals across North America, including DACAMERA (Houston), Chamber Music @ New Park (Ithaca), and the Gibson Classical Concert Series (Toronto). Her collaborators include violinist Stefan Jackiw, singer-songwriter Ben Folds, and dancer Lil Buck. A champion of new music, she has performed with leading contemporary ensembles across North America and commissioned a solo cello work by Chicago composer Kim Diehnelt. She has premiered numerous works written for the Bedford Trio’s IMMERSED concert project. A dedicated educator and Suzuki-certified instructor, Lucia’s students have been admitted to top conservatories and universities. She holds degrees from Columbia University and The Juilliard School and is an alumna of major summer festivals in both the United States and Canada.
Jesse Dale, double bass, was born in the small town of Salado, Texas, and grew up in Denton, Texas. He attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, where he studied closely with many Dallas Symphony musicians, including privately with Roger Fratena, as well as Lancer Hardy of the US Air Force Band. After two years at the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Todd Seeber and Tom Van Dyck, he graduated summa cum laude in 2021 from the University of North Texas, where he studied under renowned pedagogue Jeff Bradetich.
Dale has performed with many acclaimed ensembles, including the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the Callithumpian Consort, and the Phoenix Orchestra of Boston. A lover of new and under-performed music, he gave the American première of Andris Dzenītis’s Iron-Wood for double bass and piano as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s What I Hear prelude concert series in 2018. Jesse joined the double bass section of the Toronto Symphony in 2023.
Friday, March 20, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Schubert: String Quintet in C major
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 (chamber version)
Creeggan: Harlequin and Pierrot
PROGRAM
Sky Macklay: "Many Many Cadences"
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 71 No. 2 in D Major
Kevin Lau: String Quartet No. 7 "Surfacing" *Commissioned by the Poiesis Quartet
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: "Pisachi (Reveal)"
Sergei Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 2 in F Major
ARTISTS
Poiesis String Quartet
Celebrated for their "multifaceted artistry" and "brilliantly idiomatic" programming (New York Times), the Poiesis Quartet is the winner of the 2026 Cleveland Quartet Award and the First Prize and Commission Prize recipients of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In 2023, they were also named the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize winners at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In May 2024, Poiesis joined the Concert Artists Guild roster for North American management as winners of the Louis and Susan Meisel Competition.
Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. With a focus on expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers, the Poiesis Quartet infuses each performance with unique moments of synchronicity and verve. Their 2024 debut album ‘as we are’ on the Bright Shiny Things label, which features world premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was lauded for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). Having had presented several world premieres of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kitty Brazelton, and Cara Haxo, their commission of String Quartet No. 7 ‘Surfacing’ by Chinese-Canadian composer Kevin Lau received its world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution in 2025. Furthermore, the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis, presents the world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026.
Poiesis is honored to be selected as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefl Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and as the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University, Poiesis has also previously acted as ensemble-in-residence of concertnova, a Cincinnati-based collective which presents multi-sensorial and interdisciplinary concert experiences. Recent and upcoming engagements include the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, Newport Classical, Chamber Music Raleigh, Noe Music, Guarneri Hall, and the Austin Chamber Music Center, amongst others. Highlights of the 2025-26 season include performances of ‘Absolute Jest’ with the Dayton Philharmonic in Dayton, OH and with the Oberlin Orchestra in Oberlin, OH. Poiesis has completed multiple international residencies in Punta del Diablo and Punta del Este, Uruguay; the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy; the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, CAN; the University of Victoria in British Columbia, CAN; and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France. Additionally, the Poiesis was selected as the only North American ensemble to compete in the prestigious 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition in Alberta, CAN.
The Poiesis Quartet is currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) studying under the Ariel Quartet. As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and members of the Verona Quartet. As a multi-faceted ensemble, in addition to their performance degrees from Oberlin, members of the quartet also individually received formal education in disciplines such as chemistry, comparative American studies, feminist studies, baroque, and jazz. When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages, share ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach.
Sarah Ying Ma (they/she) is pursuing an A.D. at the University of Cincinnati's CCM where she studies with Kristin Lee and is mentored in chamber music by the Ariel Quartet. Sarah was named a 2024 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence with host Fred Childs, and is the recent 2nd Prizewinner of the 2023 Dallas International Violin Competition: "Her impassioned account was gripping from start to finish. She commanded that rarest of effects, pianissimos at the threshold of audibility that still radiated intensity" (The Dallas Morning News). In 2024, Sarah was accepted as a semifinalist in both the solo and ensemble divisions of the Concert Artists Guild Louis & Susan Meisel Competition, and later advanced to the finals with Poiesis. As a soloist, Sarah has performed internationally with the Dallas Chamber Symphony, Ensemble 212, the Accademia D’Archi Arrigoni, and many more. Sarah was featured in Show 393 on NPR’s “From the Top'' and was a winner of the 2021 National YoungArts Competition. They have attended Heifetz International Music Institute and Kneisel Hall, and was the Dorothy Richard Starling fellow at Aspen Music Festival as a student of Robert Lipsett, Donald Weilerstein, and Paul Kantor. Sarah was a laureate of the 2019 Cooper International Competition sponsored by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins and the Anthony Quinn Foundation. After transferring from undergraduate studies at The Juilliard School with Donald Weilerstein and Li Lin & Masao Kawasaki in the Pre-College Division, Sarah now holds a B.M. in Violin Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where they studied with Sibbi Bernhardsson.
Max Ball (they/he) is a current A.D. student at the University of Cincinnati's CCM, studying with Kristin Lee and quartet with the Ariel Quartet. He has a particular passion for chamber music, putting together a number of recitals, and attending summer programs such as the BUTI String Quartet Intensive, Encore Chamber Music Institute, and Madeline Island Fellowship Program. Alongside classical music, he is also pursuing a minor in jazz studies, studying under Gerald Cannon and Jay Ashby, and joining several ensembles at Oberlin. A particular highlight is the PI (performance and improvisation) ensemble, in which players across all departments of the conservatory join forces with guest artists from around the world, playing many varied styles of music. Max holds a B.M. in Violin Performance with a minor in Jazz Studies from Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Sibbi Bernhardsson.
Jasper de Boor (any pronouns) is a recent graduate of Oberlin Conservatory where they double majored in violin and viola with David Bowlin and Kirsten Docter. Currently, they study viola and chamber music at the University of Cincinnati's CCM with Ayane Kozasa and the Ariel Quartet. Aside from quartet, they love to sight read music, play piano and Baroque violin, and sleep.
Drew Dansby (he/him) is a recent double-degree graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, with degrees in cello performance under Darrett Adkins and chemistry with minors in Comparative American Studies and sociology. Drew joined the cello section of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra full-time beginning in the 2023-24 season, becoming the youngest member of the orchestra at 22. He has served as an acting cellist in the Charlotte Symphony, associate principal cellist of the New York String Orchestra, and principal cellist of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Originally from Charlotte, NC, Drew made his solo debut with the Charlotte Symphony at age 15. Drew is also a founding member of the Charlotte Piano Trio, which has performed 14 concerts over 5 years across North Carolina, and was the founder and director of the 2022 Myers Park Summer Series. Drew has been recognized as a National YoungArts winner and gold medalist in the Cleveland Cello Society competition. Drew was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA for three summers, including as a violinist in 2018 and as principal cellist in 2019, and he was the first member in the history of the orchestra to be accepted on two instruments. As a winner of Oberlin's concerto competition, he performed David Baker's Concerto for Cello and Jazz Band with the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble in April 2024.
Photo (top left) by Jake Dyson. Courtesy of Banff Lake Louise Tourism. Image courtesy of the BISQC.
Saturday March 14, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Sky Macklay: "Many Many Cadences"
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 71 No. 2 in D Major
Kevin Lau: String Quartet No. 7 "Surfacing" *Commissioned by the Poiesis Quartet
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: "Pisachi (Reveal)"
Sergei Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 2 in F Major
Performances from the most recent BISQC competition and from past years can be viewed here.
PROGRAM
Beethoven: Trio in E Flat Major No. 1, Op. 1
Turina: Trio No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 76
Brahms: Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op.8
ARTISTS
Magisterra https://www.magisterra.com/ (for this concert, a piano trio configuration)
Anya Alexeyeva, piano
Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin
Tom Landschoot, cello
(scroll down for links to individual artist bios)
Magisterra Soloists has become the face of visionary chamber music in Southern Ontario in London, Ontario, Magisterra Soloists has a current string roster of over 49 international musicians hailing from more than 25 countries, who have performed in over 130 concert performances and 35 school outreach visits, in collaboration with over 35 international special guest artists (piano, winds, voice).
Founded in 2016 by internationally-acclaimed violinist, Artistic Director Annette-Barbara Vogel, the ensemble is proud to call upon some of the finest chamber musicians worldwide, bringing first rate festival-style chamber music concerts to the region through its “Magisterra at the Museum” concert series and annual Christmas concert series, among others.
Magisterra Soloists plays a significant role in invigorating and enriching the local artistic experience. Its carefully crafted programs engage timeless masterworks in tandem with countless intriguing new discoveries. Performances showcase the ensemble’s boundless curiosity and total commitment to sharing gems from the string chamber music literature with the community.
The ensemble’s interactive educational “Magisterra in Schools” program has reached thousands of youth from kindergarten to high school. Magisterra Soloists is particularly passionate about bringing face-to-face exposure to the arts to underprivileged and rural school communities.
With the help of generous financial supporters, Magisterra Soloists aims to bring fully subsidized educational performances to school-aged children. To date, the ensemble has presented educational programming in both English and French to over 4000 students.
Magisterra Soloists is committed to providing invaluable professional development to young talent. Its “on the job” mentorship program, “Magisterra Fellows”, has already provided intensive artistic training to nearly two dozen deserving emerging artists, in support of their future careers as professional musicians.
To encourage the development of school-aged string players, Magisterra also hosts an annual searchlight audition: the Young Performer’s Award (YPA). Recipients of the YPA earn a small stipend and the opportunity to perform solo with the ensemble.
Magisterra Soloists is proud to serve both our local and national artistic community. As champions of Canadian art and artists (with commissioned works by Canadian composers Kevin Morse, Emily Doolittle, Edgar Suski, and Abby Richardson-Schulte), the ensemble has already successfully completed five multicity tours through both Canada and Brazil.
2025 ROSTER Musicians
2025 GUEST Musicians
2025 Magisterra FELLOWS
Friday, March 6, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel , 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student Ticketscene and at the door
Beethoven: Trio in E Flat Major No. 1, Op. 1
Turina: Trio No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 76
Brahms: Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op.8
PROGRAM
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Variations Concertantes, Op. 17
Mark Gottlieb: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Stravinsky: Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Sonata for Piano and Cello in D Major, Op. 58
Concert in tribute to Sydney Bulman-Fleming with Pamela Highbaugh Aloni, cello and Futaba Niekawa, piano.
Dr Sydney Bulman-Fleming (Aug.23, 1944 - Sept. 16, 2025) was a professor of Mathematics at WLU, a gifted pianist, and a long-time friend of Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. He was instrumental in ensuring the growth of KWCMS in the early years, performing often on our concert series with musical friends including Ofra Harnoy, Yariv Aloni, members of the KWS, and many more.
The KWCMS concert on March 2, 2026, featuring cellist Pamela Highbaugh Aloni and pianist Futaba Niekawa, will be in memory and celebration of Syd and his dedication to music.
We hope you’ll be there!
KWCMS regulars will remember Pam fondly as the cellist of the now-sadly-disbanded Lafayette String Quartet. It is especially fitting that Pam will be performing in a KWCMS concert devoted to Syd’s memory— she enjoyed a long musical and social friendship with Syd and his family.
Upon learning of Syd’s death, a number of people have inquired whether it would be possible to donate to the KW Chamber Music Society in his honour. The short answer is yes! Instructions on how to donate are here. And please let us know, by email to kwmusicroom@gmail.com, that your donation is for the Syd Bulman-Fleming Fund, so his family can receive a list of donors.
ARTISTS
Pamela Highbaugh Aloni, cello
Praised for her “meltingly beautiful solos” (The Detroit News) and performances of “depth and insight” (Times Colonist), Pamela is a co-founding member of the prize – winning Lafayette String Quartet.
Since 1991, Pamela along with her quartet colleagues has been an Artist in Residence at UVic, where she teaches cello, chamber music and co-supervises the strings mentoring course in collaboration with School District 61. She and the LSQ maintain their leadership in one of the strongest university string programs in Canada. The Lafayette quartet celebrated 25 years of musical life together in 2011. Highlights of these years include a celebration of the millennium performing all sixteen of Beethoven’s string quartets, tours in North America and Europe, and the initiation of the Lafayette Health Awareness Forum. Recordings include a recent title “Tre Vecchi Amici” featuring works written for the quartet. Their CBC recording “Death and the Maiden” was awarded “Outstanding Classical Recording of the Year” by the Western Canada Music Awards.
A native of California, Pamela served as principal cellist with the Detroit’s Renaissance City Chamber Players. She was a Ford Motor Company Artist in Residence at the Center for Creative Studies Institute of Music and Dance and a faculty member at Oakland University. She earned her BMus and MMus degrees from California State University, Northridge and Indiana University. Her principal teachers include Peter Rejto, Janos Starker and Paul Katz.
An enthusiast teacher, Ms. Highbaugh Aloni served for ten years on the faculty at the Courtenay Youth Music School and Festival and for the past six years has been the coach for the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra cello section. She has performed both as a soloist and recitalist and has been a guest artist with the Sooke Philharmonic, Vetta Ensemble of Vancouver, Victoria Summer Festival, Eine Kleine Summer Music, Chamber Music San Juan, and the Victoria Symphony’s Summer Cathedral Series, and has served as principal cellist with the Galiano Ensemble since its inaugural season in 2000. Pamela plays on a George Craske cello made in England, 1850.
Futaba Niekawa, piano
Futaba Niekawa is lecturer in music (chamber and collaborative music) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she has been on faculty since 2015.
Known for her verve and sensitivity, Niekawa pushes the boundaries of her artistry as a versatile pianist, chamber musician, and mentor across genres and disciplines. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, England, Spain, Taiwan, and her native Japan.
To date, she has released five recordings encompassing solo, four-hands, duo, and chamber music from classical to newly composed works. Niekawa’s curiosity for multidisciplinary collaboration and performing music of her generation continuously develops into artistic partnerships with composers, dancers, poets, and visual artists.
In demand as a collaborative pianist, Niekawa has performed with violist Atar Arad, clarinetist James Campbell, violinist Charles Castleman, and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has been engaged as a collaborative pianist at the Banff Centre, New England Conservatory, Boston Ballet School, Meadowmount School of Music, the IU Summer String Academy, and the Perlman Music Program.
Niekawa and violinist Kerry DuWors have performed as duo526 since 2011. After their latest release, Duo Fantasy, critics praised them as “a beautifully balanced duo” (Gramophone magazine) and said they “create an art that goes beyond mere interpretation. The personality of the two musicians expands out with a creative attitude towards the world” (Sonograma Magazine).
The duo’s reach extends beyond the stage, including to its annual Sonata Seminar, where Niekawa and DuWors mentor and nurture the love of collaboration in the next generation, as well as their scholarly research and innovative projects on esoteric duo works.
Niekawa earned her Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Natalya Antonova, Thomas Schumacher, and Jean Barr, and her Master of Music from New England Conservatory, with the late Patricia Zander and Irma Vallecillo.
In addition to her teaching position at Indiana University, she has appeared as a guest teacher at universities across North America. She has been invited as a performer and presenter at the Regina Chamber Music Festival and Dream Big: Music Out of Bounds conference, and as an adjudicator for the National Society of Arts and Letters.
Most recently, Niekawa has been a founding member of Chamberfest Brown County, a community outreach nonprofit initiative, creating platforms for accessible high-level performances in the local area.
In Memory of Syd
Monday, March 2, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student Ticketscene and at the door
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Variations Concertantes, Op. 17
Mark Gottlieb: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Stravinsky: Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Sonata for Piano and Cello in D Major, Op. 58
PROGRAM
Standchen by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), arr. Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) (guitar solo)
Sonata Arpeggione by Franz Schubert, arr. Pascal Valois: Allegro moderato, Adagio and Allegretto (violin, viola, cello and guitar)
Capricio no. 24 by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), arr. Pascal Valois (violin, viola, cello and guitar)
Notturno op. 21 by Wenzel Thomas Matiegka (1773-1830), arr. Schubert: Lento e Patetico and Zingara (violin, viola, cello and guitar)
Romance from the Grand Sonata by Paganini (guitar and violin)
Menuetto from Quartet op. 4 no. 1 by Paganini (violin, viola, cello and guitar)
Standchen by Franz Schubert (violin, viola, cello and guitar)
ARTISTS
Pascal Valois: romantic guitar
Jessy Dubé: violin
Sari Tsuji: viola
Simon Desbiens - Cello
Guitarist Pascal Valois is dedicated to reviving enthusiasm for the guitar scene during the Romantic era. He performs music from the nineteenth-century repertoire by using various period instruments, ornamentation, stylistic practices of the period, as well as improvisation, which was customary in that era.
After graduating with honours at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal under Jean Vallières, and receiving the award Pierre J. Jeanniot during his studies at Université du Québec à Montréal with Alvaro Pierri, Valois studied romantic guitar with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and with David Starobin in New York. He has also received a doctorate in Performance Practice from Université Laval. Recently, he has played in Basel, Paris, Riga, San Francisco, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. He has been a soloist with many ensembles, among them Rigas’s Ensemble Samsara and Montreal’s Les Idées Heureuses. He has also given master-classes in many institutions, including the Manhattan School of music, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.
Pascal Valois has received the most renowned bursaries in Canada for guitar performance (Canada Council for the Arts) as well as Musicology (FQRSC and SSHRC). He has also been awarded scholarships from the Desjardins Foundation, the Wilfrid-Pelletier Foundation, the Laval University Foundation, and the Université du Québec à Montréal Foundation. Pascal Valois recorded for the Centaur Records and Analekta labels.
Pascal Valois is a professor of classical guitar at the Alma College and Conservatoire de Saguenay. His students have won national music competitions and were awarded gold medals in national guitar exams. You can contact him for private lessons: pascalvalois@hotmail.com.
“The Québecois Valois is an exceptionally fine soloist who plays with a romantic temperament, coaxing many colors from a small instrument and shaping his phrases with such skill that one hears a whole narrative in his wordless playing. He plays with dimension, passion, and elegance (...)."
— Chris Petitt, Seen and Heard International, New York
Jessy Dubé, violin Hailing from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Jessy Dubé started her musical career at the Conservatoire de Musique de Saguenay, Quebec, and pursued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, in Switzerland. Since then she had held the position of concert master of the Orchestre de la Francophonie with whom she toured in South America and with Chamber Music Basel she toured in Europe and Israel.
Her interest in early music inspired her to participate in workshops with Tafelmusik in Toronto and with Sigiswald Kuijken at the Petite Bande Summer Academy in Belgium. Jessy plays regularly with the Arion Baroque Orchestra and L’Harmonie des Saisons in Montreal. A new passion for the viol was inspired by a project initiated by Les Voix humaines and supported by the Quebec Arts Council to teach professional string players how to play the viol. She recently received a foundation scholarship to continue studying the viol with Mélisande Corriveau.
Sari Tsuji, viola holds degrees in violin and early music performance from McGill University where she studied with Thomas Williams, Emlyn Ngai, Hélène Plouffe, Hank Knox, and Betsy MacMillan. She is a founding member of Seasons Baroque, a Fredericton-based chamber music ensemble in which she also plays the bass viol. Sari has performed in England, Italy, Japan, the US, and across Canada with Ensemble Arion, Aradia Ensemble, les Voix Baroques, and the Lameque Festival Orchestra. She has recorded with Ensemble Arion and La Bande Montréal Baroque for the early-music.com and ATMA labels, and with Aradia Ensemble and the Toronto Chamber Orchestra for Naxos.
Marie-Michel Beauparlant, cello holds a diploma from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (2005), a Master’s degree in performance from Rice University (2008) and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in performance from Stony Brook University (2014). She has studied with Denis Brott, Norman Fischer and Colin Carr. She is a past winner of the Radio Canada young artists program (2006) and been invited to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center (2006–2008) where she completed her training with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Levine.
Passionate about contemporary music, Marie-Michel has participated in numerous North American premieres and has performed at the Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival. During her time at Stony Brook, she became a member of the Contemporary Chamber Players of the University and participated in the World Premieres Concerts in New York (2011), concerts devoted to Ligeti, Stockhausen and Crumb, as well as a professional recording of music by Lansing Mcloskey.
Since the end of her formal studies, Marie-Michel has pursued a growing interest in the art of improvisation and early music performance. She has taken part in various programs offered by the Canadian Baroque ensemble Tafelmusik and studies Baroque cello with Christina Mahler and Elinor Frey.
Marie-Michel has won numerous prizes and scholarships including the Concerto Competition and the “Prix” in cello and chamber music from the Montreal Conservatory of Music, the Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award from the Tanglewood Music Center and the Jeanne Lamon Scholarship from Tafelmusik. She also received full scholarships for her studies at Rice and Stony Brook Universities. She has participated in numerous Master Classes with musicians and renowned professors including Yo-Yo Ma. She performs regularly with various Canadian ensembles including the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and the Violons du Roy.
A dedicated teacher, Marie-Michel has taught for fifteen years in various institutions including Rice University, Amhesrt College, The Bement School in Massachusetts and currently the Cooperative of Music Teachers of Montreal, the Regina Assumpta College and the school Des Cèdres of Laval.
Sunday, February 22, 2026
First United Church, 2:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
The guitar music of Schubert and Paganini
PROGRAM
East of Budapest
Pancho Vladigerov: Biliana platno beleshe
Lubomir Pipkov: Pastorale
Milcho Leviev: Sonata for violin and piano
Georgi Zlatev Cherkin: Sevdana
Dobrinka Tabakova: Rodopa
Pancho Vladigerov: Grand Choro
Scroll down for notes about these composers.
ARTISTS
Georgy Valtchev, violin
Lora Tchekoratova, piano
Performing together as violin and piano duo since 1996, Valtchev and Tchekoratova made their debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at the concert series Musical Treasures from Bulgaria under the sponsorship of the Cyril and Methodius International Foundation. Ever since, the artists have appeared together in numerous recitals and chamber music collaborations throughout the United States and Europe to great audience and critical acclaim. Their adventurous programming has led them to musical explorations and collaborations with contemporary composers and has inspired them to create platforms for cultural exchange between the United States and other countries. The duo often commissions and presents the works of American composers in Bulgaria and vice versa, brings music from the Balkans to the Western stages.
The duo appears regularly at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Kennedy Center, and at many international chamber music festivals and concert series, including Sofia Music Weeks, Varna Summer, and Apolonia in Bulgaria, Baståd Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, the Deerfield Memorial Hall Summer Concerts and the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. The artists’ program "East of Budapest", featuring composers from Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Albania, was presented at universities across the country, including New York University (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World), Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, and Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD. Their debut CD of Béla Bartók's Violin and Piano Rhapsodies and Sonatas is available on Gega New through ArkivMusic. Their next album will be released in 2026 – a chamber music recording with works by Dobrinka Tabakova. Lora and Georgy are both distinguished Juilliard graduates. Lora received her Doctorate of Musical Arts under the guidance of the great American pianist Seymour Lipkin and the contemporary music champion Joel Sachs. Georgy was a pupil of the world renowned violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. Their duo projects have been supported by numerous grants and awards by the American Foundation for Bulgaria, the Kitteridge Fund, The Arthur Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The Duo has performed the majority of the standard classical Violin and Piano repertoire, most notably the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Piano and Violin (in three concerts), the three Brahms Sonatas for Piano and Violin as well as the sonata for Violin and Piano of Ravel, Debussy, Strauss, Mozart, Faure, Franck, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Grieg. In addition, they frequently program the works of Yanacek, Enescu, Bartok, Vladigerov, Leviev, Tabakova, and many other 20th and 21st century masters.
In August, 2018, Lora and Georgy launched “The Off the Beaten Path Chamber Music Festival” in the village of Kovachevitsa, South Western Rhodope mountains, Bulgaria. Since then, the festival has become a beloved summer destination for music lovers from Bulgaria and beyond and a nature sanctuary for renowned chamber music artists to rehearse, perform, and commission new works. In addition to presenting the festival, the musicians also bring music education to the area and are involved in the restoration of the community center at the village. During the season, they reside in New York City.
COMPOSERS
Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978) was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He studied composition with Prof. Paul Huon and piano with Heinrich Bardt at the High State Academy of Music in Berlin. In 1920 he graduated with a degree in composition from the Academy of Arts in Berlin, where he studied with Prof. F. Gernsheim and Prof. G. Schumann. Between 1920 and 1932 Vladigerov worked as a conductor and composer at “Deutches Theater” in collaboration with the famous director Max Reinhardt and wrote music for his performances. In 1928 he took part in the Festival of Bulgarian Music in Prague. He performed at many concerts in Germany and France. After returning in Bulgaria, Vladigerov became Professor in piano and composition at the State Academy of Music in Sofia. He is one of the founders of the "Contemporary Music" Society in Sofia. Winner of the Mendelssohn Prize (1920) and “Gottfried von Herder”Award (1968), Vladigerov is one of the first Bulgarian composers whose music is recognized all over the world.
Lubomir Pipkov (1904 - 1974) was born in Lovech, Bulgaria. His father is the composer Panayot Pipkov. He studied piano with Ivan Torchanov and Henryk Wiesner and continued his education at the Paris Ecole Normale de Musique, where he studied composition with Paul Dukas, Nadia Boulanger and piano with Yvonne Lefebure. After returning to Bulgaria, he worked as a choirmaster and accompanist at the National Opera in Sofia. Pipkov is co-founder of the “Contemporary music“ Society of Bulgarian Composers. He was also Director of the National Opera in Sofia (1944 - 1948), President of the Union of Bulgarian Composers (1945 - 1954) and Professor of vocal ensembles at the State Academy of Music - Sofia. Founder of “Music” magazine, Pipkov has participated in many international juries and congresses, being also active as a man of letters and a poet, publicist and public figure, pedagogue and artist. Through the universality of his artistic and personal qualities Pipkov joints the ranks of the leading intellectuals of our century.
Milcho Leviev (1937-2019) was a Bulgarian jazz musician composer, arranger, and pianist. He worked for much of his life in the United States. Milcho Leviev was born on December 19, 1937 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in a Jewish family. He graduated from the State Conservatory in 1960. His professors were Pancho Vladigerov and Andrey Stoyanov. He began his career in the theater. He was appointed conductor of the Big Band of Bulgarian National Radio from 1962 to 1963. From 1963 to 1968 he worked as a soloist and conductor of Plovdiv and Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. He created Fokus'65 Jazz band, which toured at home and abroad until 1970 with great success. One of his most famous works of this period is the arrangement of the song of Paul McCartney's "Yesterday". He also writes film music. In 1970, at the invitation of Don Ellis he left Bulgaria and went to Los Angeles. He stayed with him until 1977. In 1980, he returned briefly in the country and gave a series of concerts He was on numerous tours throughout Europe and the USA. He taught at the University of California, a Southern and Master Class at New Bulgarian University. He is an author of symphonies and chamber music . In 1997, he was awarded with the order "Stara Planina" for "extraordinary his great contribution to the Republic of Bulgaria in the field of music and the 60th anniversary of his birth".
Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin (1905-1977) studied for two years at the State Academy of Music majoring in Piano under Ivan Torchanov and Music Theory under Professor Dobri Hristov, Professor Pavel Stefanov and Professor Nikola Atanassov (1923-25). He graduated from the State Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna in 1929 as a student of the vocal pedagogue T. Lierhammer. Concurrently he studied composition with Y. Marx. After his graduation he taught Singing at the State Academy of Music (1929-36) and assisted Professor Lierhammer in Vienna. In 1938 he returned to Bulgaria. In 1940 he joined again the staff of the State Academy of Music as a lecturer. He became full professor (1944), was elected Rector (1948-54) and Dean of the Opera Studies Faculty (1960-74). He worked as a vocal pedagogue at the Conservatories of Peking, Tientsin and Shanghai (1955-58). His students were among the well-known Bulgarian singers as Lyuba Velic, etc. He composed two operettas; cantatas; chamber music; 50 solo songs; songs for mixed, equal voices and traditional music choir, etc. In the 1940s and 1950s he wrote his best chamber-instrumental works including his Pastoral for flute and piano or Sevdana for violin and piano (which later was transcribed for other instruments), as well as the songs The Blue-eyed Girl, the cycle Bachelor Songs, etc. They are among the emblematic musical-poetical repertoire for the Bulgarian performers.
Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980) studied music at Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Born in Bulgaria, her music has been broadcast and performed in her native country as well as in other European countries. Her orchestral work Thrace was performed at the Barbican in London, and Insight and On a bench in the shade were both premiered at the Cheltenham International Music Festival. The 2003 Moscow festival ‘Homecoming’ featured a performance of Dancing on Cobbled Streets. Commissions include the chamber operas The Custard Tart Opera and Midsummer Magic, and a viola concerto The Song of the Enchanting Viola. Tabakova won the Lutoslawski Composition Prize in 1999, the Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud Prize, and a medal at the fourth Vienna International Music Competition.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
The Registry Theatre, 3:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
East of Budapest
Pancho Vladigerov: Biliana platno beleshe
Lubomir Pipkov: Pastorale
Milcho Leviev: Sonata for violin and piano
Georgi Zlatev Cherkin: Sevdana
Dobrinka Tabakova: Rodopa
Pancho Vladigerov: Grand Choro
PROGRAM
Storms of Life
Chopin
Barcarolle Op.60, in F sharp Major
Etude op. 10 no. 4 in C sharp minor
Etude op. 10 no. 5 in G flat Major “Black Keys”
Schubert
Allegro in A minor, D 947 “Lebensstürme” (Storms of Life)
Chopin
Etude op. 25 No. 1 in A flat Major “Aeolian Harp”
Scherzo No.2, Op. 31 in B flat Minor
Scriabin
Sonata-Fantasy No. 2, op. 19 in G Sharp Minor
Mozart
Sonata No.10 in C major, K.330
Strauss/Schulz-Evler
Concert Arabesque on "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"
Auber-Liszt-Cziffra
Tarantella di bravura aus “La muette de Portici”, S.386
Mendelssohn
Andante and Allegro Brilliante
ARTISTS
Agnė Radzevičiūtė and Dmitri Levkovich, solo piano and piano 4-hands
Ukranian-born Canadian pianist and composer Dmitri Levkovich’s performances were praised for "artistic sophistication far above the ordinary" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and "understanding of the music far beyond most young pianists” (American Record Guide). His original compositions were reviewed in the Philadelphia’s Broad Street Review - “…the musicians could jump right into the heartfelt melodies and big emotional surges of Levkovich’s slow movement.”
Recent performance highlights include Grieg Concerto with Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Liszt First Piano Concerto at the Great Hall of Berlin Philharmonie, a debut at the Ravinia Festival and 2nd International Mariinsky Far East Festival . Dmitri was featured in ARTE TV's "Stars of tomorrow" and "Living the Classical Life" interview series. His debut recording of Rachmaninoff’s 24 Preludes was met with worldwide critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the 2016 International Classical Music Award.
He has performed over 30 different piano concertos, with orchestras that include the Cleveland Orchestra, China National , Dresden Philharmonic, Gulbenkian, Frankfurt HR Radio, Mariinsky, Slovak Philharmonic, and Utah Symphony Orchestra under conductors Valery Gergiev, Jahja Ling, George Pehlivanian, Vladimir Spivakov, Markus Stenz, and Sebastian Weigle. He has performed at Great Halls of the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Berlin Philharmonie, Gulbenkian Foundation, Moscow Conservatory, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Warsaw Philharmonie, as well as Mariinsky Theater’s Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Dmitri honed his skills on the piano under the guidance of Sergei Babayan for 11 years and in composition at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the winner of more than 20 international piano competitions, including the China, Cleveland, German Piano Award, Gina Bachauer, Jose Iturbi and the Vendôme Prize. Dmitri has earned numerous ‘audience favorite’ awards and special prizes, notably for best performance of Chopin’s works.
In the fall of 2021, Dmitri toured Switzerland with Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, performing at Basel and Bern Philharmonic Halls. The same season, he performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with Baden-Baden Symphony Orchestra at the Frankfurt’s Alte Oper. Since recently, Dmitri is getting recognition as a composer. The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra has performed his "Fantasie" for piano and orchestra, and his Piano Trio was performed at the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
Agnė Radzevičiūtė's first international stage appearance was at the age of 10 on a tour in Switzerland. Since then performances have taken her to Belgium, Canada, Israel, Finland, France, Portugal, Poland, Russia and the USA. She has performed Chopin and Mozart concerti with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Kaunas Symphonic and St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (Lithuania). On seven separate occasions, Agnė performed at the Vilnius’s National Philharmonic Hall, most notably in Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, K 466 under the baton of R. Šervenikas and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. She received distinctions from the President of Lithuania as well as the Ministry of Education for her “active performance career and representing Lithuania on the international stage”. In 2018, she made her United States orchestra debut with Chagrin Valley Studio Orchestra under the baton of Steve Eva. In April 2023, Agnė debuted with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra in a performance which was streamed live on the Lithuanian National Television.
Agnė graduated with valedictorian distinctions from the foremost art school of Lithuania - the Čiurlionis School of Art. The school orchestra toured Lithuania and Russia with Agnė as a featured soloist. While still in Lithuania, she was a part of the Rostropovich Foundation performers’ roster and was supported by prof. Michel Sogny’s foundation “SOS Talents”, based in Switzerland. She earned her Bachelor and Master Degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and her Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. Throughout the years Agnė feels fortunate to have had guidance from such esteemed musicians as Sergei Babayan, Michel Beroff, Philippe Entremont, Dmitri Levkovich, David Louie, John Perry, André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Swann as well as members of the American String Quartet.
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Chopin
Barcarolle Op. 60, in F sharp Major
Etude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor
Etude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat Major “Black Keys”
Schubert
Allegro in A minor, D 947 “Lebensstürme” (Storms of Life)
Chopin
Etude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat Major “Aeolian Harp”
Scherzo No.2, Op. 31 in B flat Minor
Scriabin
Sonata-Fantasy No. 2, Op. 19 in G Sharp Minor
Mozart
Sonata No.10 in C major, K.330
Strauss/Schulz-Evler
Concert Arabesque on "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"
Auber-Liszt-Cziffra
Tarantella di bravura aus “La muette de Portici”, S.386
Mendelssohn
Andante and Allegro Brilliante
PROGRAM
Franz Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821
R. Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113
Zoltán Kodály: Adagio
Rebecca Clarke: Sonata for viola and piano
ARTISTS
Meagan Milatz, pianist, is winner of the prestigious 2025-2028 Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer and the 2024 Prix Opus “Discovery of the Year”. She is “a remarkable pianist with a seemingly limitless palette of expression” (Le Devoir). Meagan regularly shares the stage with top international musicians including Andrew Wan, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Stefan Dohr, Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic, cellist Matt Haimovitz, and mandolinist Avi Avital. In 2022, Meagan was named co-artistic director of HausMusique, along with cellist Cameron Crozman.
Awarded the 2024 Prix Choquette-Symcox by Fondation Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Meagan’s recent engagements have included performances with Olivier Charlier, Michel Michalakakos, Cho-Liang Lin, Peter Hanson, Olivier Charlier, Pablo Hernán Benedí, Steven Dann, and tubist Øystein Baadsvik, among others. Internationally, Meagan has performed at the New Ross Piano Festival in Ireland in 2023 - the first Canadian musician to be invited - as well as at the Edeta Arts International Chamber Music Festival where she appeared in concert in Spain with violinists Wolfgang Redik in 2024 and Kai Gleusteen, concertmaster of the Orchestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, in 2022. Meagan recently embarked on a 2024 European recital tour with cellist Cameron Crozman in Italy, France, Malta, and Portugal.
Meagan has appeared as a soloist alongside orchestras such as the Edmonton, Regina, Sherbrooke, and McGill Symphonies. Meagan was top prize winner in the Shean Piano Competition, CFMTA National Piano Competition, and Canadian Music Competition, and the recipient of a Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award. Her performances are regularly broadcast on CBC/Radio-Canada.
Meagan has a recording contract for nine albums of solo and chamber music with ATMA Classique. She recently recorded an album of music for fortepiano and natural horn alongside Louis-Pierre Bergeron, released in December 2023. For the 2019/2020 season, Meagan undertook a 50-concert, Canada-wide tour alongside violinist Amy Hillis as the duo “meagan&amy”, winners of the first-ever Pan-Canadian Partnership Recital Tour offered by Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Debut Atlantic, and Prairie Debut.
Meagan began her studies in Saskatchewan and holds a Master’s degree from McGill University. She is grateful to her teachers and lifelong mentors Cherith Alexander, Ilya Poletaev, Philip Chiu, and Tom Beghin with whom she was greatly privileged to study the fortepiano. Enthusiastic about helping the next generation of young musicians, she is a passionate faculty member of the “Session sonates violon et piano” of Camp Musical du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
Meagan lives in Montreal where she loves biking, reading outside whenever possible, and enjoying the occasional tasty pastry.
The versatile violinist and violist Victor Fournelle-Blain leads an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Principal Viola of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, he also teaches viola at McGill University and orchestral studies at Université de Montréal. After studying violin at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal under Johanne Arel, he went on to work with Ani Kavafian at the Yale School of Music, and subsequently joined the class of André Roy as a viola student at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Winner of McGill’s 2014 Golden Violin Award, the 2012 Prix d’Europe, and Second Prize winner of the 2010 OSM Competition, Victor Fournelle-Blain has performed as a guest soloist with various orchestras including the Orchestre Métropolitain and the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil. As violinist of the Grand-Duc Trio, he regularly collaborates with renowned musicians including Charles Richard-Hamelin, Andrew Wan and Brian Manker. Victor Fournelle-Blain currently plays a violin by Carlo Tononi and a viola by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, both generously loaned to him by Canimex.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Franz Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821
R. Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113
Zoltán Kodály: Adagio
Rebecca Clarke: Sonata for viola and piano
PROGRAM
Improvisation
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Lute Suite no. 2, BWV 997
I. Preludio
II. Fuga
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
Sevillana-Fantasia
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
XVIII. "El Sueno de la Razon Produce Monstruos", from Caprichos de Goya
Patrick Roux (b. 1962)
Valse Vertigo
Naoko Tsujita (b. 1985)
Echoes from the Sea
I. Island Whisper
II. Island Wind
III. Raging Waves
Raphael Weinroth-Browne (b. 1991)
Catharsis
I. Ire
II. Confusion
III. Reverie
IV. Absolution
ARTIST
Daniel Ramjattan, guitar Dr. Daniel Ramjattan has become an ambassador for the classical guitar in Canada, having premiered dozens of chamber and solo works for guitar. He has given recitals in Vienna, Austria, Italy, and various locations across Canada, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Japan, and has received an array of top prizes in provincial and national solo guitar competitions. He has performed in festivals such as Koerner's 21C Festival, Open Ears, Waterloo, Guitar Alla Grande, INNERChamber, Ottawa Chamberfest, the Livorno Music Festival, Italy, the Alte Schmiede Kunstverein, Vienna’s Contemporary music series, Toronto Guitar Society’s Guitar Weekend, Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, and many more. He also gave his concerto debut with Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in 2023 with the Stratford Symphony.
His debut studio album, "Inspirations: New Works for Solo Guitar," features his interpretation of six brilliant works by Canadian composers, including three world premiere recordings, available for streaming on all major platforms. CBC Radio’s Paolo Pietropaolo featured the album as the Record of the Week in March 2022, and WholeNote Magazine described his playing as "beautifully clean."
He recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto in August 2022, where he wrote his dissertation on music performance anxiety in classical guitarists, receiving a senior doctoral fellowship from New College in 2021-2022. He often shares insights from his research with his guitar students and performance coaching clients and has given lectures on the topic at McGill University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University, Memorial University, the University of Waterloo, Mount Royal University, and more. CBC television’s the National has also interviewed him as an expert on music performance anxiety.
In 2020, he joined Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Music as a classical guitar instructor, and designed and inaugurated the the Faculty of Music’s first music performance anxiety and performance skills course in Fall 2022. His students have received top prizes at the OMFA Ontario provincial guitar competitions, have received the RCM Gold medal, and have attended undergraduate and graduate programs throughout Canada. He has adjudicated several competitions, including the Canada West Performing Arts Festival and the FCMF National Music Festival.
Daniel’s past mentors have included Patrick Roux, Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, the late great Bruce Holzman, Lorenzo Micheli, and Jorge Caballero, and he has performed in masterclasses for world- class artists such as Sergio Assad, Judicael Perroy, Pavel Steidl, Fabio Zanon, and many others. He has taken first prize at competitions such as the Ottawa-Gatineau guitar competition and OMFA Provincial Guitar Competition open level in 2014 and 2016. He also placed second in the FCMF National Guitar Competition in 2016, and placed as a finalist in the Montreal and Hamilton International Guitar Competitions.
Saturday, January 31, 2026
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Works by: Bach, Turina, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Roux, Tsujita, Weinroth-Browne
PROGRAM
Last Words, New Thoughts
Experience the monumental closing thoughts of Haydn and Brahms in their final works written for solo piano. Rarely performed gems by George Enescu reveal the luminous genius that prompted Pablo Casals to declare him ‘the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart.’
Haydn: Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob XVI:52
Brahms: 4 Klavierstucke, Op. 119
Enescu: Toccata from Suite No. 2, Op. 10
Enescu: Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, Op. 24, No. 1
ARTIST
Hong Kong-born Canadian pianist Dane Ko is active as recitalist, chamber musician and educator on international stages. Highlights in the 2024-25 season included recital tours to Montreal, Toronto, Hong Kong, Macau, where he gave masterclasses and workshops at The University of Hong Kong, University of Macau, and the University of Toronto. In the 2025-26 season, Dane makes his recital debuts in Ottawa for DOMS, the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society, Montreal International Bach Festival, Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur and Algoma Conservatory Concerts in Sault Ste. Marie.
As soloist, Dane has performed in France, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Canada and the US in such venues as the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, Koerner Hall of The Royal Conservatory, Le Château de Fontainebleau and Palazzo Chigi Saracini. Among Dane’s growing accolades are prizes at Prix Ravel in Fontainebleau, The Shean Piano Competition, The Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition, and the Canadian Music Competition “Stepping Stone”. Dane has given interviews and performances on Florida’s Classical WSMR, Hong Kong’s RTHK Radio 4, and CBC Radio One.
A dedicated and sought-after music educator, Dane serves as an instructor of piano at McGill University and is invited for lectures and masterclasses worldwide. Dane adjudicated the 2025 Ontario Music Festivals Association (OMFA) Provincial Finals and served as a member of the inaugural Junior Jury of the 2024 Montreal International Piano Competition (CMIM). Dane is also an award-winning research scholar, passionate about investigating and communicating the intersections of culture, psychology and physiology. Dane won the the Canadian Federation of Music Teacher Association (CFMTA) National Conference student presentation competition in 2025 with a project on the foundational philosophies of Chinese traditional music. Dane is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in 2024 with his doctoral research on the pedagogical legacy of his late teacher, Marietta Orlov.
From his first encounter with music, Dane cultivated a diverse musical pallet that spans genres and cultures, from Chinese traditional music to jazz. Forging his path as a classical pianist, his musical cultures eventually collided in opportunities to appear as soloist in the Yellow River Concerto with Yao Yue Chinese Orchestra and in duo with prominent instrumentalists including Erhu virtuoso George Gao. Dane’s love and affinity for improvisation continues to permeate all the music he has encounters, dabbles in jazz, popular music, and is a strong proponent of improvising ornamentation and cadenzas in Baroque and Classical repertoire.
In the classical realm, Dane has trained with preeminent artistic figures across Europe, Asia and North America at the Chigiana Music Academy, Mozarteum Summer Academy, Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Art, Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, International Summer Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Lilya Zilberstein, Robert Levin, Klaus Hellwig, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, Benedetto Lupo, John Perry, Ya-Fei Chuang among numerous others. He is particularly grateful to his primary teachers Marietta Orlov, Anna Fomina, Lydia Wong and Ilya Poletaev. Dane holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance, an Advanced Certificate in Performance, a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Toronto and an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory. Dane is a Doctor of Music candidate at McGill University Schulich School of Music.
For more about Dane, please visit www.dane-ko.com
Sunday, January 25, 2026
First United Church (Chapel), 3:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door.
Last Words, New Thoughts
Haydn: Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob XVI:52
Brahms: 4 Klavierstucke, Op. 119
Enescu: Tocccata from Suite No. 2, Op. 10
Enescu: Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, Op. 24, No. 1
PROGRAM
Mozart: Piano Trio in G major, K.564
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op.101
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op.67
ARTISTS
Jung Tsai (violin), Rebecca Morton (cello) and Tomoko Inui (piano)
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.
Rebecca Morton, cello Cellist Rebecca Morton inspires audiences with her honesty, ease, and love of music making. She began her studies at the age of six in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario and went on to study as a scholarship student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with Vladimir Orloff and David Hetherington where she was awarded the Gold Medal for achieving the highest string mark in Canada. Continuing at the Eastman School of Music, she was the recipient of a six year scholarship and graduated with highest distinction receiving Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees under Paul Katz and Steven Doane. Since graduating, she has won numerous scholarships and awards including semi-finalist in the 2003 Eckhardt-Gramatte String Competition.
Currently living and freelancing in Toronto, Rebecca has played with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, group of 27, Toronto Masque Theatre, Contact Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Stratford Festival Orchestra and the Niagara Symphony. Sought after as a principal player, she has been guest principal of Symphony on the Bay, Talisker Players and the Kingston Symphony. A gifted soloist and ensemble member, she was a member of the Kamareli String Quartet for many years and has been heard in many solo and chamber music recitals, including performances with ChamberWorks!, Nota Bene, Past Perfect, at the Toronto Music Garden and in recordings with Final Fantasy. Most recently, she has performed with members of the Canadian Opera Company at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Gallery 345, theMcMaster Concert Series, and with the McMaster Trio. In September of 2015, Rebecca joined the cello section of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Tomoko Inui, piano http://www.tomokoinui.com/
Pianist Tomoko Inui has built a career shaped by curiosity, collaboration, and a lifelong commitment to musical expression. After living in several cities around the world, she moved from Alaska to Montreal in 2003 to study at McGill University under Kyoko Hashimoto, where she later received the Bruneau Prize for her outstanding solo recital. She has been an affiliated professor at conservatoire de musique de montreal and has worked as an official accompanist at Queens University, an organist at Eglise Saint Arsene, and a pianist for the Montreal West Operatic Society.
Based in Montreal, Tomoko contributes actively to the city’s cultural life through solo and chamber performances within the Accès Culture Montréal network and beyond. She has been a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society since 2019, and has also appeared with the Lakeshore Chamber Music Society (2019, 2024) and Music Mondays in Toronto.
An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with artists such as the Alexander String Quartet in Florence, violist Marcus Thompson in Montreal, and cellists Laurentiu Sbarcea in the Czech Republic and Valentin Scharff in Austria. She also took part in the International Music Festival and Workshop (2003–2011) and contributed to the FriedensKonzert (Peace Concert) series in Liesing, Austria (2014–2015).
Her recording projects include works by Mozart, Chopin, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff, realized with recording engineer Meining Cheung (2008 and 2013). Tomoko holds both Licentiate and Master’s degrees in piano performance from McGill University, and also earned a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography, a field in which she worked for several years before dedicating herself fully to music.
Friday, January 16, 2026
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student on TicketScene and at the door
Passage Through Light and Shadow
A journey from Mozart’s radiant elegance to Brahms’s passionate intensity and Shostakovich’s haunting darks.
Mozart: Piano Trio in G major, K.564
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op.101
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op.67
PROGRAM
Complete Beethoven Violin/Piano Sonatas
Friday November 14 Sonata No.s 1, 2, 3, 5
Sunday November 23 Sonata No.s 8, 4, 7
Sunday, January 11, 2026 Sonata No.s 6, 10, 9
ARTISTS (photo by Karen E. Reeves)
Corey Gemmell, violin A Hamilton native, Corey Lyle Gemmell began violin lessons with local Hamilton teacher Jackie Sutherland and later continued lessons with Mark Fujino before studying with David Zafer and Mark Skazinetsky at the University of Toronto. While studying in Hamilton he joined the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO) where he served as concertmaster under the direction of the legendary Glenn Mallory.
Mr. Gemmell currently makes his home in Markham, Ontario. He has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, Germany, the United States and China.
In high demand for his extensive experience as a concertmaster, Corey is presently Concertmaster for Esprit Orchestra, Sinfonia Ancaster, Burlington Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Toronto. He has also served in this capacity with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Brott Music Festival/National Academy Orchestra, Elora Festival Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, Burlington New Millenium Orchestra and the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra.
Very active in Toronto’s thriving musical theatre scene, Mr. Gemmell has been concertmaster in such musicals as Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to name but a few. One of his personal favourites was performing as concertmaster in the Hugh Jackman Show.
As a soloist Mr. Gemmell has performed much of the standard repertoire for violin and orchestra. In recent seasons, he has performed solos and concertos by Brahms, Sarasate, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Vivaldi. In 2025, he is performing concertos with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto.
Mr. Gemmell has been a member of Ensemble Vivant, the Elgin String Quartet, and the National Piano Trio. He has been a frequent guest artist with New Music Concerts, with whom he performed and led workshops at the National Conservatory of Beijing in 2016. He has been a guest on such series as Live!@WestPlains in Burlington, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Array Music, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. In addition to the Gemmell & Smith violin-piano duo with pianist Benjamin Smith, Mr. Gemmell performs as part of Duo Regale with organist Aaron James, exploring 20th and 21st-century repertoire for violin and organ.
Mr. Gemmell is a member of the faculty for the National Music Camp of Canada as well as a member of the Royal College of Examiners. He has also been on faculty at the Great Lakes International Summer Music Institute at Algoma University, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Western Ontario. He is sought-after as a clinician and adjudicator at music festivals and institutes across the country.
In 2022 Mr. Gemmell recorded several new works, released in 2023, of solo and chamber music by Canadian composers Ronald Royer, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Brandon Walker, and Elizabeth Raum, in association with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. He can be heard on recordings of the Mozart Effect, having recorded several of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas and many of Mozart’s String Quartets for the series. With Ensemble Vivant he completed three albums, including a 2022 release, “iFugue”, to critical acclaim. He was one of the contributing artists to record the Royal Conservatory of Music’s complete violin syllabus in 2013. He has also recorded other works by Mozart, Brahms, Ravel, Robert A. Baker as well as numerous movie and commercial recordings.
Mr. Gemmell performs on a violin made in Milan in 1907 by Cipriano Briani and a violin made for him in 2005 by renowned Toronto luthier, Hratch Armenious, using bows by Lamy, Martin and Voirin.
Benjamin 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 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. Festival performances include repeat appearances at Toronto, Banff, 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 include a disc of Canadian chamber music (Aboriginal Inspirations, 2017) and extensive solo recordings for the 2022 Royal Conservatory Celebration piano series. 2025 saw the release of two albums on the Orchid Classics label, one with cellist Daniel Hamin Go, and another with oboist Ari Cohen Mann.
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.
Increasingly in demand as a teacher, Ben often serves as a juror for music festivals and competitions, 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.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
First United Church, Waterloo, 3 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student each concert on TicketScene and at the door.
The final concert of Gemmell & Smith's Complete Beethoven violin/piano sonatas. Originally scheduled Nov 28, but postponed because of weather.
Beethoven Sonata No.s 6, 10, 9
PROGRAM
String Quartet Op. 18, No. 6
Grosse Fuge Op. 133
String Quartet Op. 59, No. 1
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.
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.
BEETHOVEN'S BIRTHDAY CONCERT!
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Beethoven:
String Quartet Op. 18, No. 6
Grosse Fuge Op. 133
String Quartet Op. 59, No. 1
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach: Violin Sonata BMV 1003
M.M. Ponce: Sonata No. 3
L. Berkeley: Sonatina for Solos Guitar Op. 51
C. Guastavino: Sonata No. 1
ARTIST
Flavius Wagner, guitar virtuoso, born and raised in Baden-Baden, began learning the guitar at an early age. He achieved early success in competitions such as Jugend Musiziert, where he was awarded several first prizes.
At the age of 14, he became a junior student at the HMDK Stuttgart in the class of Prof. Johannes Monno, where he has been studying for a Bachelor of Music since 2022.
Wagner is a prizewinner and winner of renowned guitar competitions in Bosnia, Chicago, Florida, and New York. Concert tours have taken him to Venice and Canada.
Flavius Wagner teaches on behalf of the State Music Council and at the Youth Choir of Baden-Württemberg. In addition to his solo activities, he also works in various chamber music ensembles.
Saturday, December 13, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $25/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
J.S. Bach: Violin Sonata BMV 1003
M.M. Ponce: Sonata No. 3
L. Berkeley: Sonatina for Solos Guitar Op. 51
C. Guastavino: Sonata No. 1
PROGRAM
Montague Ring: Four Moorish Pictures
Florence Price: Barcarolle; Etude
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Papillon
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in F minor, K. 466/L. 118; Sonata in B minor, K. 27/L. 449
Frederic Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39; Nocturne in F-sharp minor Op. 48, No. 2; Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
ARTIST
Award-winning Canadian pianist Luke Welch was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and grew up nearby in Mississauga. He played his first public performance at age seven, and his early private piano teachers include Catherine Kuzeljevich and John-Paul Bracey. He later graduated from Western University in Canada with Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and completed additional graduate studies in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Welch has also participated in the classes of Jean-Bernard Pommier, Cecile Ousset, Dang Thai Son, Stephane Lemelin, André Laplante. He has performed extensively on the international stage including appearances in Canada, United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and New Zealand.
Highlight performances include recitals at Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Germany, St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and Castletown House in Ireland. He has also appeared at St. Andrew’s-on-the-Terrace in Wellington (New Zealand), Music Mondays in Toronto, the American Cathedral in Paris, Waalse Kerk in Breda (Netherlands), and Geelvinck Muziek Museum in Zutphen (Netherlands).
Welch made his debut as soloist with Durham Chamber Orchestra in Toronto and has since collaborated with a number of orchestras including the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Mumbles Symphony Orchestra, Winchmore String Orchestra, Greenway Strings, York Chamber Ensemble, and Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra.
In addition to his performance commitments, he has also been highly sought after as an interdisciplinary collaborative pianist. He has worked closely with a number of renowned international academies and companies including Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dans Ateliers, Holland Dance Festival, Codarts Rotterdam Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Dutch National Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada.
Welch’s recordings have international received critical acclaim, and his performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio, WQXR-FM in New York, WXXI in Rochester, KING-FM in Seattle, and Radio Classique. His most recent album, ‘Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Piano Works’ has also been featured as CBC In Concert’s Album of the Week.
In addition to his published writing in the Globe and Mail (including ‘Life as Black Classical Pianist’, and ‘Black sopranos Othalie Graham, Audrey Dubois Harris and Measha Brueggergosman on inclusion and Black Lives Matter‘), La Scena Musicale Magazine, and WholeNote Magazine, he was named the 2018 recipient of the Harry Jerome Arts Award – distinguished with national recognition by the Black Business and Professional Association.
Welch has taught in both Canada and Europe, and was appointed to the Faculty of Piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music Oscar Peterson Program in 2022.
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 3:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Montague Ring: Four Moorish Pictures
Florence Price: Barcarolle; Etude
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Papillon
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in F minor, K. 466/L. 118; Sonata in B minor, K. 27/L. 449
Frederic Chopin: - Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39; Nocturne in F-sharp minor Op. 48, No. 2; Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
PROGRAM
Complete Beethoven Violin/Piano Sonatas
Friday November 14 Sonata No.s 1, 2, 3, 5
Sunday November 23 Sonata No.s 8, 4, 7
Friday November 28 Sonata No.s 6, 10, 9
ARTISTS (photo by Karen E. Reeves)
Corey Gemmell, violin A Hamilton native, Corey Lyle Gemmell began violin lessons with local Hamilton teacher Jackie Sutherland and later continued lessons with Mark Fujino before studying with David Zafer and Mark Skazinetsky at the University of Toronto. While studying in Hamilton he joined the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO) where he served as concertmaster under the direction of the legendary Glenn Mallory.
Mr. Gemmell currently makes his home in Markham, Ontario. He has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, Germany, the United States and China.
In high demand for his extensive experience as a concertmaster, Corey is presently Concertmaster for Esprit Orchestra, Sinfonia Ancaster, Burlington Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Toronto. He has also served in this capacity with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Brott Music Festival/National Academy Orchestra, Elora Festival Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, Burlington New Millenium Orchestra and the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra.
Very active in Toronto’s thriving musical theatre scene, Mr. Gemmell has been concertmaster in such musicals as Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to name but a few. One of his personal favourites was performing as concertmaster in the Hugh Jackman Show.
As a soloist Mr. Gemmell has performed much of the standard repertoire for violin and orchestra. In recent seasons, he has performed solos and concertos by Brahms, Sarasate, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Vivaldi. In 2025, he is performing concertos with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto.
Mr. Gemmell has been a member of Ensemble Vivant, the Elgin String Quartet, and the National Piano Trio. He has been a frequent guest artist with New Music Concerts, with whom he performed and led workshops at the National Conservatory of Beijing in 2016. He has been a guest on such series as Live!@WestPlains in Burlington, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Array Music, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. In addition to the Gemmell & Smith violin-piano duo with pianist Benjamin Smith, Mr. Gemmell performs as part of Duo Regale with organist Aaron James, exploring 20th and 21st-century repertoire for violin and organ.
Mr. Gemmell is a member of the faculty for the National Music Camp of Canada as well as a member of the Royal College of Examiners. He has also been on faculty at the Great Lakes International Summer Music Institute at Algoma University, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Western Ontario. He is sought-after as a clinician and adjudicator at music festivals and institutes across the country.
In 2022 Mr. Gemmell recorded several new works, released in 2023, of solo and chamber music by Canadian composers Ronald Royer, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Brandon Walker, and Elizabeth Raum, in association with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. He can be heard on recordings of the Mozart Effect, having recorded several of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas and many of Mozart’s String Quartets for the series. With Ensemble Vivant he completed three albums, including a 2022 release, “iFugue”, to critical acclaim. He was one of the contributing artists to record the Royal Conservatory of Music’s complete violin syllabus in 2013. He has also recorded other works by Mozart, Brahms, Ravel, Robert A. Baker as well as numerous movie and commercial recordings.
Mr. Gemmell performs on a violin made in Milan in 1907 by Cipriano Briani and a violin made for him in 2005 by renowned Toronto luthier, Hratch Armenious, using bows by Lamy, Martin and Voirin.
Benjamin 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 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. Festival performances include repeat appearances at Toronto, Banff, 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 include a disc of Canadian chamber music (Aboriginal Inspirations, 2017) and extensive solo recordings for the 2022 Royal Conservatory Celebration piano series. 2025 saw the release of two albums on the Orchid Classics label, one with cellist Daniel Hamin Go, and another with oboist Ari Cohen Mann.
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.
Increasingly in demand as a teacher, Ben often serves as a juror for music festivals and competitions, 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.
Friday, November 14, 2025, 7 pm, Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 3 pm at the Registry Theatre
Friday, November 28, 2025, 7 pm, Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU
Tickets $30/$10 student each concert; $75/$25 student* for all three concerts
*student ticket pkg for all three concerts can only be purchased at the door; regularly priced pkgs can be purchased either at the door or on TicketScene.
Fri Nov 14 Sonata No.s 1, 2, 3, 5
Sun Nov 23 Sonata No.s 8, 4, 7
Fri Nov 28 Sonata No.s 6, 10, 9
PROGRAM
Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F Major K. 370
James Rolfe: Oboe Quartet 2006
Viet Cuong: Six Canadian Scenes
Francaix: “Quatuor” for English Horn, Violin, Viola, and Cello
Mozart: Adagio for English Horn and Strings K580a
ARTISTS
David Vanbiesbrouck, oboe David Vanbiesbrouck is an active orchestral free-lancer and lover of all things oboe. He lives in Guelph where he plays principal oboe with the Guelph Symphony, and owns and operates Oboerific Reeds. David is an alumnus of Wilfrid Laurier University where he studied with Jim Mason and Graham Mackenzie. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, foraging wild edibles and fungi, and curating his large collection of orchids.
Nora Pellerin, violin Nora Pellerin completed her Masters in Violin Performance at the University of Ottawa, under the tutelage of David Stewart, and received the Bessie Ewen Scholarship in Orchestral Studies. She got her undergraduate degree at McGill University, studying with Ellen Jewett and Andrew Dawes.
Nora has considerable experience playing with orchestras, including acting as concertmaster for the McGill Symphony Orchestra, University of Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and University of Ottawa Opera Orchestra. She was an apprentice with the Boris Brott National Academy Orchestra for many summers. Today, Nora performs with orchestras throughout Ontario, including those of London, Niagara, Windsor, Kingston and the (now former) Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. She was principal second in the Georgian Bay Symphony for many years, and more recently holds that position with the Peterborough Symphony. In addition, she has participated in several summer music programs, including Domaine Forget in Quebec and the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival. She is violist of the Kestrel String Quartet.
Kat Mrmak, viola Kat began learning violin and piano at age 4. She studied both instruments, as well as viola, at Wilfrid Laurier University, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree on both violin and viola. Kat has toured Europe twice with the Niagara Youth Orchestra, and Canada once with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She was also a member of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, under the late Boris Brott, for many years. Now, a freelance musician, Kat enjoys playing with various groups, including Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Niagara Symphony, Jeans n’ Classics, and others. She also teaches violin and piano, and plays fiddle in her band, Chandler McQuade with Kat.
Ben Bolt-Martin, cello Ben Bolt-Martin is the Principal Cello of London Symphonia. He is also a founding member of INNERchamber, an inventive and intimate chamber music series in Stratford and has performed 22 seasons with the Stratford Festival of Canada, performing live and recording incidental music. Ben has also featured as a soloist across Canada with a special interest in new music reflecting humanity's search for meaning. Ben was the featured performer on the Juno nominated recording Notes Towards.
In addition to an active life as a composer, Ben has arranged music for performance and recording for Ron Sexsmith, Dayna Manning, The Sultans of String, The Bookends, The Steel City Rovers and many others. Ben teaches cello at University of Waterloo and conducts the London Youth Symphony.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F Major K. 370
James Rolfe: Oboe Quartet 2006
Viet Cuong: Six Canadian Scenes
Francaix: “Quatuor” for English Horn, Violin, Viola, and Cello
Mozart: Adagio for English Horn and Strings K580a
PROGRAM
Mozart: Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K.478
Oswald: Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op.26
Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op.60
ARTISTS
Durval Cesettti, piano
Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin
Jutta Puchhammer, viola
Kayami Satomi, cello
(scroll down for links to individual artist bios)
Magisterra Soloists has become the face of visionary chamber music in Southern Ontario in London, Ontario, Magisterra Soloists has a current string roster of over 49 international musicians hailing from more than 25 countries, who have performed in over 130 concert performances and 35 school outreach visits, in collaboration with over 35 international special guest artists (piano, winds, voice).
Founded in 2016 by internationally-acclaimed violinist, Artistic Director Annette-Barbara Vogel, the ensemble is proud to call upon some of the finest chamber musicians worldwide, bringing first rate festival-style chamber music concerts to the region through its “Magisterra at the Museum” concert series and annual Christmas concert series, among others.
Magisterra Soloists plays a significant role in invigorating and enriching the local artistic experience. Its carefully crafted programs engage timeless masterworks in tandem with countless intriguing new discoveries. Performances showcase the ensemble’s boundless curiosity and total commitment to sharing gems from the string chamber music literature with the community.
The ensemble’s interactive educational “Magisterra in Schools” program has reached thousands of youth from kindergarten to high school. Magisterra Soloists is particularly passionate about bringing face-to-face exposure to the arts to underprivileged and rural school communities.
With the help of generous financial supporters, Magisterra Soloists aims to bring fully subsidized educational performances to school-aged children. To date, the ensemble has presented educational programming in both English and French to over 4000 students.
Magisterra Soloists is committed to providing invaluable professional development to young talent. Its “on the job” mentorship program, “Magisterra Fellows”, has already provided intensive artistic training to nearly two dozen deserving emerging artists, in support of their future careers as professional musicians.
To encourage the development of school-aged string players, Magisterra also hosts an annual searchlight audition: the Young Performer’s Award (YPA). Recipients of the YPA earn a small stipend and the opportunity to perform solo with the ensemble.
Magisterra Soloists is proud to serve both our local and national artistic community. As champions of Canadian art and artists (with commissioned works by Canadian composers Kevin Morse, Emily Doolittle, Edgar Suski, and Abby Richardson-Schulte), the ensemble has already successfully completed five multicity tours through both Canada and Brazil.
2025 ROSTER Musicians
2025 GUEST Musicians
2025 Magisterra FELLOWS
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Mozart: Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K.478
Oswald: Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op.26
Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op.60
PROGRAM
A journey from Spanish keyboard music to the Viennese Classic Style through the work of a forgotten composer – Manuel Blasco de Nebra
D. Scarlatti:
Sonata in D Major K.492
Sonata in B Minor K. 197
Sonata in F Minor K. 386
W.A. Mozart:
Fantasia and Fugue in C Major K. 394
Fantasia in C Minor K. 396
M. Blasco de Nebra:
Sonata No. 10 in C Major
Sonata No. 1 in C Minor
F. Schubert: Drei Klavierstücke D946
ARTIST
Pianist Ida Pelliccioli was born in Bergamo, Italy. She studied at the Nice Conservatoire de Région and at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris - Alfred Cortot in the class of Serguei Markarov, Unesco Artist for Peace. During her studies, Ida Pelliccioli was awarded several scholarships, amongst them, one from the Zygmunt Zaleski Foundation and one from Fondation Albert Roussel.
Ida Pelliccioli participated in number of master-classes, among others with Jean-Claude Pennetier, Gerard Wyss and received a double diploma in interpretation and pedagogy, at the École Normale in Paris.
She received artistic guidance from Norma Fisher who teaches at the Royal College of Music in London and she is one of the rare pianists to have received guidance from the cuban concert pianist Jorge Luis Prats.
Ida chose to avoid the international competition circuit and, before becoming a full-time pianist, received a double master diploma at the Sorbonne University - in Italian Literature and in Ancient Greek History, specializing for the latter in the practice of music during the Hellenistic period.
Ida has been performing throughout Europe, Canada, Australia and South Africa. In 2024 she has debuted in Sweden, Lithuania, Austria, Iceland and Australia. She has debuted in Singapore and will also play for the first time in Thailand in 2025. During her 2024-2025 Season, Ida will perform, among other prestigious venues, at the National Gallery in London and the Royal Theater and Concert Hall in Nottingham and the Lyceum Club in Florence in collaboration with Amici della Musica di Firenze.
Ida shows a great interest in contemporary music: in 2023 she has performed music by Polish composer Elżbieta Sikora with soprano Joanna Freszel live on French radio – France Musique - in September 2023.
Ida has always been opened to other forms of art and collaborations. She appeared on screen, playing the role of a pianist, for the american TV Series “Find me in Paris” – Season 1 and 2 (2017/2018) and the french TV Series “Munch” (2018) and “Le diplôme” (2025).
In 2019, she has been casted to double the role of the pianist in the short movie „Quand on ne sait pas voler” directed by Thomas Keumurian and produced by FILMO.
In 2021 Ida also took up a teaching position at Paris Conservatoire du 8ème arrondissement.
Ida is currently studying to become a Sommelier and has received the international certification WSET2 in wines. She is developping a project of oenological concerts where she will pair wines with the repertoire she will be performing.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
D. Scarlatti:
Sonata in D Major K.492
Sonata in B Minor K. 197
Sonata in F Minor K. 386
W.A. Mozart:
Fantasia and Fugue in C Major K. 394
Fantasia in C Minor K. 396
M. Blasco de Nebra:
Sonata No. 10 in C Major
Sonata No. 1 in C Minor
F. Schubert: Drei Klavierstücke D946
PROGRAM
Zemlinsky: String Quartet #1, A Major, Op.4
Smetana: String Quartet #1, E Minor, "From My Life"
Janacek: String Quartet #2 "Intimate Letters"
ARTISTS
Zemlinsky String Quartet: František Souček, Petr Střížek (violins), Petr Holman (viola), Vladimír Fortin (cello)
Many of you will remember the unforgettable complete Dvorak quartet series the Zemlinsky Quartet performed for us in 2018.
Founded in 1994 while the members were still students, the ZEMLINSKY QUARTET has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. The Zemlinsky Quartet won the First Grand Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2010. They have also been awarded top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005) and London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where they also received the Audience Prize. The Quartet was recipient of the
Alexander Zemlinsky Advancement Award in 2008. Other notable prizes include Beethoven International Competition (1999), New Talent Bratislava (2003), Martinů Foundation String Quartet Competition (2004), and the Prize of Czech Chamber Music Society (2005). In the season 2016/17, Zemlinsky Quartet was appointed as the residential ensemble of the Czech Chamber Music Society.
While students at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of renowned Czech string quartets including the Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartets. The ensemble also took part in several master classes including ProQuartet, in France and Sommerakademie in Reichenau, Austria where they were awarded First Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Janáček. From 2005 to 2008, the quartet studied
with Walter Levin, the first violinist of LaSalle Quartet. Their recent mentor has been Josef Klusoň, the violist of the Pražák Quartet.
The Zemlinsky Quartet is named after the Austrian composer, conductor and teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), whose enormous contribution to Czech, German and Jewish culture during his 16-year residence in Prague had been underrated until recently. His four string quartets (the second one being dedicated to his student and brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg) belong to the basic repertoire of the ensemble. Since 2005, the quartet has maintained a special relationship with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation in Vienna.
The Zemlinsky Quartet performs regularly in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Korea). Recent major appearances of the Zemlinsky Quartet include London’s Wigmore Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Library of Congress, Place des Arts in Montreal, Prague Spring Festival, and their New York debut on Schneider/New School Concerts Series.
Their vast repertoire contains more than 200 works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak to works by contemporary composers. The members of the ensemble also perform as soloists and are individual prize-winners of several competitions (Concertino Praga, Spohr International Competition Weimar, Tribune of Young Artists UNESCO, Rotary Music Competition Nürnberg,Beethoven International Competition, Kocian International Competition).
Between 2006-2011, the Zemlinsky Quartet were Assistant Quartet-in-Residence at Musikakademie Basel in Switzerland. Music education is an important part of
their professional life and during their tours, the quartet is often invited to give master classes to students of any age. They also perform educational concerts for
students. Recently, František Souček and Petr Holman have been appointed Professors at the Prague Conservatory.
Friday, October 24, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 Student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Zemlinsky: String Quartet #1, A Major, Op.4
Smetana: String Quartet #1, E Minor, "From My Life"
Janacek: String Quartet #2 "Intimate Letters"
___________________________________
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Guelph Youth Music Centre, Guelph, 7:30 pm
In collaboration with the KWCMS, Guelph Musicfest presents the Zemlinsky Quartet for a second concert in Guelph, with a contrasting program:
Beethoven: Quartet in F Minor “Serioso” Op. 95
Janáček: Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata”
Dvořák: the famous “American” Quartet, Op. 96 in F Major
Guelph Musicfest Concert and Ticket Info here. Special pricing for KWCMS followers!
PROGRAM
Jarred Dunn plays Schumann
Romanze Op. 28, No. 2
Waldszenen Op. 82
Fantasiestücke Book 1, Op. 12
Piano Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 11
ARTIST
Pianist Jarred Dunn won first prize and concerto award at the Lithuanian International Chopin Competition and is a prize winner of the Jan Hoffman, D. Vitti, Verona Zinetti, and Rome Premio International Competitions. He is described by critics as a “piano sound-colour magician” (Muzikos Barai), “evocative and mystical” (New York Classical Guide), and “technically perfect” (Belarus Radio). He is heard on CBC, New Classical 96.3FM, WWFM, WQXR NYC, Belarus Radio, 98.7 WVMO, PianoPod, and elsewhere.
He records for Lexicon Classics, ATMA Classique, and Audio for the Arts. His 2025 album Górecki’s World of the Piano (ATMA) features the complete HM Górecki piano solo and piano duo works, recorded with Anna Górecka (Górecki’s daughter). Fanfare calls Chopin’s Diary: The Mazurkas, “some of the best Chopin since Rubinstein.” Brahms in Solitude won praise in LaScena and Piano Professional: “a Brahms natural…like Radu Lupu, Jarred Dunn is an innately ‘thinking’ pianist who knows how to place every note without the end result sounding calculated…entirely successful creation.” His next album will feature the works of Robert Schumann.
Mr. Dunn performs at Yamaha Performance Centre, Warsaw Chopin Museum, NOSPR Katowice, Dvorana Hall, Isabel Bader Centre, Owen Arts Center, Opera Bordeaux, Chapelle Musique du Bon-Pasteur, Canadian Music Centre, Klavierhaus Göttingen, Vilnius Town Hall, NYC Klavierhaus, Cecilia Concerts Halifax, Vancouver Valley Concerts, and the Chopin Festival of New York. In his repertoire are over forty concerti and he has performed with numerous orchestras in North America and Europe. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with ATMA Quartet, pianists Anna Górecka and Maria João-Pires, cellist Marc Jaermann, and violinist Anna Kuk as Duo Mirage.
He gives lectures and master classes at The Juilliard School, Mannes College, Oberlin College-Conservatory, SMU Meadows, Bydgoszcz Academy, Katowice Academy, Royal College of Music, Guildhall, and pre-colleges in North America, Europe, and
Australia. He teaches at Semaine International Piano et Musique de Chambre, Kallmünz Summer Piano Festival, Chetham’s International Piano Summer School, Talent Master Courses in Brescia, Tonebase Summer Piano Festival in Vermont, and others. He regularly serves as a juror for national and international competitions. He is on the Alumni Committee of Aspen Music Festival and is a Yamaha Artist.
He has presented research at the CFMTA National, NCKP, and numerous university conferences, published in academic journals, and is the author of Górecki’s Solo Piano Music (Bloomsbury). He is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions for his artistic, scholarly, and pedagogical achievements. While completing his Doctorate at McGill University, he was invited to its faculty. He studied with Andrei Gavrilov, Maria João-Pires, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Anna Górecka, Andrzej Jasiński, Dorothy Taubman, Jacob Lateiner and Yoheved Kaplinsky. For more information, visit www.jarredunn.com.
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
An all Schumann program:
Romanze Op. 28, No. 2
Waldszenen Op. 82
Fantasiestücke Book 1, Op. 12
Piano Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 11
PROGRAM
Uncountable, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Lost and Found, by Jeff Reilly
Tenore, by Jeff Reilly
Silk, by India Gailey
How Long We Wait with Minds as Quiet as Time, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Outside In, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Passages, by Peter-Anthony Togni and Jeff Reilly
Illuminations, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Benedicite, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Silentio, by Peter-Anthony Togni
ARTISTS
Blackwood: Peter Anthony-Togni, Jeff Reilly India Gailey
Blackwood’s unique, dark and lyrical sound has the precision and clarity found in any classical ensemble, but also taps into the expressive freedom found in the improvisational gestures of contemporary jazz. Bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and pianist/organist Peter-Anthony Togni and JUNO-nominated cellist India Gailey explore plainchant, European jazz and contemporary classical techniques, developing a deep musical connection to create music that critics have called “sonically haunting”.
Blackwood has toured Europe, Asia and across North America, performing in international venues such as Shostakovich Hall in St Petersburg, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, St. John’s Smith Square in London, and in Paris’s Église Saint-Séverin. As a duo, Peter and Jeff have recorded award-winning chamber and string orchestra works featuring bass clarinet on the ECM, Warner Classics and ATMA Classique labels, garnering 4 JUNO nominations between them. With India, who bring their explorations, improvisations and collaborations with Andrew Noseworthy, Nicole Lizée, Yaz Lancaster, Philip Glass and more to the table, the Blackwood Trio continues to explore new ways in which music can be seen, felt, and heard.
Thursday, October 16, 2025
First United Church, 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Uncountable, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Lost and Found, by Jeff Reilly
Tenore, by Jeff Reilly
Silk, by India Gailey
How Long We Wait with Minds as Quiet as Time, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Outside In, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Passages, by Peter-Anthony Togni and Jeff Reilly
Illuminations, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Benedicite, by Peter-Anthony Togni
Silentio, by Peter-Anthony Togni
PROGRAM
Music from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans
ARTISTS
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
Music from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans
Saturday, October 4, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL
Scroll down for details of each concert in this series.
FESTIVAL PASS for all 7 concerts $120
QUARTET PASS for all 5 quartet concerts $100
All passes also available at the door.
PROGRAM
Complete Shostakovich String Quartets
Thurs, Sept 25, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 1, 10, 15
Fri, Sept 26, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 5, 14, 2
Sat, Sept 27, 2025, 3:00 pm No.s 7, 12, 3
Sat, Sept 27, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 4, 13, 9
Sun, Sept 28, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 6, 11, 8 and Shostakovich's two pieces for string octet with the Penderecki String Quartet!
ARTISTS
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.
Part of our SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL Sept 18, 20, 25, 26, 27 (two concerts), 28
Thursday, Sept 25, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 1, 10, 15
Friday, Sept 26, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 5, 14, 2
Saturday, Sept 27, 2025, 3:00 pm No.s 7, 12, 3
Saturday, Sept 27, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 4, 13, 9
Sunday, Sept 28, 2025, 7:00 pm No.s 6, 11, 8 and Shostakovich's two pieces for string octet with the Penderecki String Quartet!
All concerts at Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU
Ticket prices $40/$10 student each concert
Shostakovich Festival Pass (all 7 concerts) $120
Complete Shostakovich Quartets (5 concerts) $100
(tickets and passes also available at the door)
With funding from the Goethe Institute.
PROGRAM
J. Haydn: Piano Trio in E Flat Major Hob. XV:29
J. Brahms: Piano TrioNo. 2 in C Major Op. 87
D. Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 67
ARTISTS
"Cuore Piano Trio played brilliantly” - these words were used by the Musikfreunde Magazine to describe the trio's debut in the Brahms Hall of the Wiener Musikverein in 2022. Spirited interpretations and excellent technique are some of the many assets of the ensemble, which draws ever-greater attention of the European and American music industry. An ensemble of ECMA - European Chamber Music Academy, "Ensemble of the Year" of the Italian chamber music network Le Dimore del Quartetto and "Ensemble in Residence" of the Canadian PRISMA Festival 2023, in 2025 the Cuore Piano Trio performs in Austria, Poland, UK, Germany, Lithuania, Italy and Canada. They have recently been awarded the 1st prize and the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra Prize at the 10. International Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition 2025 in Gdańsk (Poland).
Cuore Piano Trio was founded in 2017 in Warsaw. Currently based in Vienna, the ensemble studies under Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Johannes Meissl, Patrick Jüdt and Sibila Konstantinova within ECMA and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. They perform at the Brahms Hall of the Musikverein Wien regularly, as the official ensemble presenting the „Souvenir” concert cycle, which consists of six recitals each season since 2022. Additionally the musicians perform within the festivals of the Musikverein: "Scandal? Courage!" in 2024 and "Clara's Blumenalbum" in 2025. Recently they have received the mdw Artist title awarded by the Career Centre of the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna to the most promising students of the institution.
The Trio is passionate about introducing new audiences to the unknown classical music pieces in the output of less popular Polish composers. In January 2024, as a result of being awarded the Grand Prix at the Music & Stars International Music Competition in Estonia, the Trio's debut album was released. „Never Twice the Same” (KNS Classical) presents an extraordinary set of Polish, French, American, and Argentinian pieces and has recently been very well reviewed by Patrice Imbaud (ResMusica), who wrote: „(...) Winners of numerous international competitions, and based in Vienna, the trio boasts originality, discovery and the pleasure of playing as the key words of their repertoire, of which this CD constitutes a living reflection. (...)”. The album is available on all streaming platforms.
The Trio performs in Europe and North America regularly. They appeared during festivals such as the Lange Nacht der Musik in Munich (Germany), Festival Mlada Praha in Prague (the Czech Republic), the K&K Kalkalpen Kammermusik Festival in Molln (Austria) or the Karol Lipiński Festival in Radzyń Podlaski (Poland). In 2023 they made their concerto 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 were the Ensemble in Residence of the Canadian PRISMA Festival 2023 in Powell River and after „capturing the hearts of the audience" (Festival Newspaper, June 2023) they returned to British Columbia in 2024 for the "Never Twice the Same” BC 2024 Tour and gave 12 recitals in Vancouver and the area, promoting their debut album.
Cuore Piano Trio has been a prizewinner of many international music competitions i.a. the 10. International Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition 2025 in Poland (1st prize), 10. Premio Internazionale Giangrandi-Eggmann di Musica da Camera di Cagliari 2024 in Italy (3rd prize), Nouvelles Etoiles International Music Competition in France (1st prize), Quebec International Music Competition (1st prize) or the Brilliant Talent Discovery Awards International Music Competition in Singapore (1st prize). In April 2023 they received the 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 is supported by the Polish Lubelskie Voivodeship within the „Lubelskie - Taste life!” program since 2022.
Their live recordings have previously been published by the Polish DUX Recording Producers Label and were very well reviewed: „(...) Cuore Piano Trio gives an accurate, clear and passionate reading of the compositions highlighting the musical maturity that already characterizes this ensemble. (...)” - Simone Gramaglia, Quaretto di Cremona. The musicians worked as editors for the EUPHONIUM Publishing House on a Franciszek Lessel's Piano Trio in E Major op. 5, which was later published 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 Hatto Beyerle, Patrick Jüdt or Vida Vujic. They participated in masterclasses led by Eberhard Feltz, Michael Flaksman, the Lafayette Quartet, Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartett) or Eckart Runge (former member of the Artemis Quartet). The Trio has recently been accepted to NSKA - The Netherlands String Quartet Academy, where they will soon start an intensive training program under the guidance of Quatuor Danel and guest artists of the Academy.
Part of our SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL Sept 18, 20, 25, 26, 27 (two concerts), 28
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Shostakovich Festival Pass (all 7 concerts) $120
(tickets and passes also available at the door)
J. Haydn: Piano Trio in E Flat Major Hob. XV:29
J. Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major Op. 87
D. Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 67
PROGRAM
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
Mozart: String Quartet in D Major, K499
Janacek: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
ARTISTS
Canadian pianist and Steinway Artist Arthur Rowe is a critically acclaimed recitalist, soloist with orchestra and chamber musician.
Following a New York solo recital, The New York Times wrote: “The Canadian pianist Arthur Rowe made an immediate and positive impression...before eight bars had gone by, one knew he was capable of vigor without heaviness, energy without excess of drive. It was first-rate playing: a kind of execution tinglingly alive to the shape and contribution of each phrase." Reviewing a solo recital in London England, The London Times spoke of his "unusual clarity of articulation," and "poetry of expression," and David Burge, writing in The San Diego Tribune said, "Rowe is a marvelous pianist...even when he is pushed to the limit by extreme virtuosic demands...he can concentrate all of his considerable talents on vital matters of phrasing, tone and ensemble."
A highly respected chamber musician, Mr. Rowe’s first collaborative performances began while he was still a second year student at Western University, when he was invited to tour in concerts across Canada with esteemed Professor of Cello Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. While completing graduate studies at Indiana University with Gyorgy Sebok, he was performing recitals, chamber music and concerti at venues in the United States and Canada, many recorded for broadcast by CBC Radio and NPR in the U.S. In the ensuing decades he has performed widely throughout North America and has been a guest artist at summer festivals in Blossom, Interlochen, Niagara, Santa Fe and Seattle, as well as in France, New Zealand, and Yugoslavia.
Arthur Rowe has recorded with various artists for the Crystal, ebs, Innova, GM and Fanfare labels. In 2004 The Harrington String Quartet joined forces with Arthur Rowe and Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil in New York, for a performance of the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, which was reviewed by Harris Goldsmith as a "reading that rivaled the benchmark recordings by Franzescatti/Casadesus/Pascal, and Heifetz/Sanroma/New Arts.”
In 2007, he released an all-Schubert recording on the Centaur label (available on Apple Music). Fanfare magazine’s review says, “Rowe’s reading (of the posthumous B-flat Sonata) is one of the most beautiful I have heard...The D. 899 Impromptus are equally impressive...his purling right-hand runs recall Schnabel’s velvety sound...every harmonic change is underscored by a delicate nuance of color change. This kind of expression cannot be taught; it is in the bloodstream and the soul.”
In addition to his performing activities, Arthur Rowe has for many years been the Artistic Director of both the Victoria Summer Music Festival, and The Jeffery Concerts in London Ontario. Through these venues he has an opportunity to present both world renowned artists and exceptional young artists to audiences in these communities. Some of his recent performances have included concerts with laureates of the Banff International String Quartet Competition including the Dover, Viano, Marmen and Isidore Quartets. In 2022, Arthur Rowe and Jonathan Crow, Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony, performed the complete cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas in Victoria and London, Ontario.
Having previously held positions at the University of Iowa and the University of Western Ontario, Arthur Rowe is a Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at the University of Victoria, where he has also served as Acting Director of the School of Music and Acting Associate Dean of Fine Arts. While at UVic he was instrumental in enabling the School of Music to become Canada’s first All-Steinway School of Music. He has also been a guest clinician at numerous Universities in North America including the Cleveland Institute, Oberlin, and The University of Texas at Austin.
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.
Part of our SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL Sept 18, 20, 25, 26, 27 (two concerts), 28
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU, 7:00 pm
Shostakovich Festival Pass (all 7 concerts) $120
(tickets and passes also available at the door)
Mozart: String Quartet in D Major, K499
Janacek: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
Saturday, Sept 27, 2025, 5:00 pm (following the 3:00 Eliot Quartett concert)
Post-concert Talk
Shostakovich: A Life in Thread
Susan Carroll-Clark is a historian, project manager, writer, editor, educator, and historical textile artist who has been embroidering since the age of eight. She uses a variety of embroidery techniques with both silk and cotton threads, working directly from photographs and artwork, most commonly employing a technique known as needle painting. Susan will be explaining the techniques used to create the 28 portraits of Shostakovich on exhibit, before examining a selection of the works in the context of his life and music.
Susan was a violinist through high school and although it's been many years since she played, she has retained her love of classical music and credits Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony no. 10 with getting her through the final revisions to her PhD. thesis in medieval history. About seven years ago she began diving deeper into Shostakovich's music and life, and began traveling to see as many of his works live as possible--only to be thwarted in 2020 when concerts were cancelled during lockdown. The series of portraits of Shostakovich that will be displayed became a creative outlet for Susan as she developed and honed her needlework skills, and continues to this day. Susan lives in Stoney Creek with her husband and four cats, and works for a public-sector pension plan as an educator. She is also a copyeditor and writer for the DSCH Journal, a long-running biannual publication devoted to the life and music of Dmitri Shostakovich.
Join others who will be brown-bagging their dinner that day, if you like. There will be a break before the 7:00 concert that evening.
PROGRAM
From Paris to Rio
Opening with Napoléon Coste’s Fantaisie ‘Le Départ’, this recital begins and returns to French inspiration, nodding to Alexandra's upcoming album ‘Letters from Paris’.
Napoléon Coste: Fantaisie Dramatique: ‘Le Départ’, Op.31
Ernest Shand: Varsovie Mazurka, Légende, In Stately Measure
Three Celtic Pieces
i. The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond Neil (arr. David Russell)
ii. Farewell to Stromness Maxwell Davies (arr. Walker)
iii. Whiskey, You’re the Devil Trad. (arr. Russell)
Jorge Morel: Sonatina
Louiguy/Piaf (arr. Snowden): La Vie En Rose
Cabral/Piaf (arr. Dyens): La Foule
Recognised by The Guardian as "a young 21st-century virtuoso", Alexandra Whittingham's creative spirit is reshaping classical music and defying conventions. At the age of 16 she began to film her performances of popular guitar repertoire as a personal project, rapidly creating a large community of fans worldwide with over 65 million views. Having just signed exclusively to Decca Classics, recording continues to play an important part in Alexandra's career.
Her debut album 'My European Journey', released in 2021, was described as "a superb debut" by BBC Music Magazine. The album sees Alexandra's passion for romantic guitar music combine with a love of discovering lesser-known composers and bringing them into the spotlight. The recording lead to her being chosen as one of Classic FM's ’30 under 30' artists in 2022, followed by performing on Sky Arts last year for their ‘Rising Stars’ programme hosted by Julian Lloyd Webber. Alexandra’s new album ‘Letters from Paris’, her first for the Decca Classics label, is due to be released this October.
Alexandra has enjoyed recent performances at such events as Classic FM Live at the Royal Albert Hall (with the with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) and a UK duo tour with guitarist Stephanie Jones. Earlier this year she had a 43-concert tour of North America as part of the ‘International Guitar Night’ show, and looks forward to returning to the US for her first solo tour there in March 2026.
The presence of music education in schools is something that Alexandra has been passionate about since having the opportunity to take her first formal guitar lesson at the age of eight. In addition to giving masterclasses at music colleges around the world, she also enjoys holding regular workshops and presentations in schools with the aim of involving more young people from diverse backgrounds in classical music.
Working alongside the London-based publishing house Camden Music, Alexandra released her first publication, 'A European Journey', in 2023. Aimed at beginner to intermediate-level guitarists, the book comprises a selection of popular and lesser-known 19th-century European guitar works. Her latest release includes selected pieces by the English composer Ernest Shand.
Alexandra began her studies at Chetham's School of Music at the age of eleven, where she now teaches alongside her former professor. She went on to gain a scholarship to study with Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music in London and graduated with both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. During her time at the Academy she was awarded the Timothy Gilson Guitar Prize, a Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music and the Regency Award.
Alexandra is an Augustine Strings artist.
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Tickets $30/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
From Paris to Rio
Napoléon Coste: Fantaisie Dramatique: ‘Le Départ’, Op.31
Ernest Shand: Varsovie Mazurka, Légende, In Stately Measure
Three Celtic Pieces
i. The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond Neil (arr. David Russell)
ii. Farewell to Stromness Maxwell Davies (arr. Walker)
iii. Whiskey, You’re the Devil Trad. (arr. Russell)
Jorge Morel: Sonatina
Louiguy/Piaf (arr. Snowden): La Vie En Rose
Cabral/Piaf (arr. Dyens): La Foule
PROGRAM
W. A. Mozart: Sonata in C Major K303
A. Beach: Sonata Op. 34
R. Strauss: Sonata Op. 18
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.
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
W. A. Mozart: Sonata in C Major K303
A. Beach: Sonata Op. 34
R. Strauss: Sonata Op. 18
PROGRAM
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata
Franck: Cello Sonata
Bach: Gamba Sonata #2
ARTISTS
Savon Duo
Known for their vibrant connection on stage and ability to share their love of andexcitement for music with audiences, the Savon Duo is a young chamber music duo fromKitchener-Waterloo. They ?irst met in high school but only began playing together in the fall of 2024, after reconnecting during their studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. They are bound both by this shared history and a common goal to present classical music as a living artform, one full of innovative and refreshing possibilities. In their time together, the duo has performed all around the KW area, and received instruction from such musicians as Heather Taves, Daisy Leung, Roman Borys, and the members of the Penderecki String Quartet.
Yvon Arseneault, cello
Yvon Arseneault finished his studies this past spring, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from Wilfrid Laurier University. In early 2023, he was one of the winners of the WLU Concerto Competition and had the opportunity to play Lalo’s cello concerto with the Laurier Orchestra the following year. He has received multiple awards within Laurier such as the Erich R.W. Schultz Music Award Endowment Fund, the Frederick P. Schneider Music Award, and the Lois and Charles Macdonald Music Bursary. In the fall, he will be attending South Methodist University in Texas in their Performer’s Diploma program, studying under Andrés Diaz. This past December he played Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos with Francisco Vila at the Festival Internacional de Música de Esmeraldas. He has also attended music festivals such as Orford Musique, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, the Castleman Quartet program, the Maine Chamber Music Seminar and Festival del Lago in Mexico, working with musicians such as Charlie Castleman, David Rose and Philippe Muller. He is constantly striving to learn more and grow his passion as he continues to develop his skills on the cello and share his music with the world.
Sam Domzella, piano Sam Domzella will be entering his fourth year at Wilfrid Laurier University in the fall, studying with Anya Alexeyev in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in piano performance. He was not particularly fond of the piano when he first started, but he began to enjoy it at the age of 9, after he won his first scholarship at a local music festival. In 2023, he was the winner of the Ken Murray Concerto Competition at Laurier, affording him the opportunity to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with both the Laurier Symphony and the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. He is also a two-time recipient of the Dorothy M. Elliot Scholarship for Performance. His life in music has been guided by his teachers, family, and friends both within WLU and without, who continue to be an inspiration to him. Along with solo performance, he greatly enjoys chamber playing, having the good fortune both to play with several of his university peers in the past years, as well as attending chamber music programs in Ochsenhausen, Germany, and St. John’s, Newfoundland, last year.
Thursday, July 24, 2025
First United Church, Waterloo (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Tickets $20/$10 student (on TicketScene and at the door)
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata
Franck: Cello Sonata
Bach: Gamba Sonata #2
PROGRAM
Ottorino Respighi: 5 pieces for violin and piano
Sergei Rachmaninoff: 2 Morceaux de salon, op 6
Paul Schoenfield: Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano
John Corigliano: Violin Sonata
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.
Jui-Sheng Li, piano Praised by the New York Concert Review as “[a] musician of integrity and depth” and lauded by La Scena Musicale as “a dedicated and uniquely authentic artist,” Taiwanese pianist Jui-Sheng Li has garnered international acclaim in recent years. He has performed across Asia, Europe, and North America in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Château de Fontainebleau in France, Konzerthaus Blaibach in Germany, National Concert Hall in Taiwan, and both Montréal Symphony House and Bourgie Hall in Canada.
Additionally, he has performed at renowned festivals and institutions such as the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Brevard Music Center, the Castleman Quartet Program, the Easter Music Festival, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, the International Music Workshop and Festival, the International Summer Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Musical Chairs Chamber Music Festival, the New York University Summer Piano Intensive, and the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival. His performances have also been broadcast on the Rukus Avenue Radio in Los Angeles, USA and the National Education Radio of Taiwan.
As a performing artist, Jui-Sheng believes that music transcends language and culture, serving as a profound means of expression that forges connections with audiences worldwide. His concert programming reflects a creative vision, blending traditional repertoire with lesser-known but equally exquisite works. His solo album, Recollection (2023), invites listeners on an intimate journey through his musical memories, featuring pieces by Schumann, Scriabin, Rathaus, and Taiwanese composer Ming-Hsiu Yen. These works, rooted in diverse cultural traditions, reflects the influences that have shaped his artistry. Released globally under IAN Records in Munich, Germany, Recollection is available: https://ianrecords.lnk.to/Recollection. To listen to Recollection, you can also visit: https://youtube.com/channel/UC4nVXU5x5qErKJghSV9pFAw?si=TdZCd99rGwNx2EV9.
As an educator, Jui-Sheng has held teaching positions at Northwestern Polytechnic, McGill University, and the University of Wyoming. Understanding the challenges young artists face in pursuing professional careers, he is committed to fostering their growth. He frequently collaborates with organizations on benefit concerts, such as the Healing Notes Series with the Cedar Cancer Foundation, and fundraising initiatives like In Concert for Cambodia, founded by Ms. Flora Liebich, to support less privileged communities.
Currently based in Montréal, Jui-Sheng serves as a Piano Educator with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra’s Music for Children initiative and as an Adjunct Lecturer at Singapore Raffles Music College. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where he studied under Professor Kyoko
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Ottorino Respighi: 5 pieces for Violin and Piano
Sergei Rachmaninoff: 2 Morceaux de Salon, Op. 6
Paul Schoenfield: Four Souvenirs for Violin and Piano
John Corigliano: Violin Sonata
PROGRAM
Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080 (Formosa Quartet)
Contrapuntus I
Contrapunctus XIII
Contrapunctus III
Contrapunctus IX
George Enescu: Octet for strings in C Major, Op. 7
ARTISTS
Formosa String Quartet
Winners of the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the FORMOSA QUARTET has been hailed as “spellbinding” (The Strad) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), and has given critically acclaimed performances at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Wigmore Hall in London, die Glocke Bremen, and the Kammermusiksaal at the Berliner Philharmonie.
For two decades and counting, the Formosa Quartet has forged uncharted musical terrain in performances that go “beyond the beautiful and into the territory of unexpectedly thrilling… like shots of pure espresso” (MUSO Magazine). The founding members’ interest in championing Taiwanese music and Indigenous cultures has since expanded to include the exploration of the rich folk traditions and heritages found in America today. Whether in its uncompromisingly exploratory approach to the standard quartet literature; its socioculturally probing American Mirror Project; or its unique Sets curated from its collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements, the Formosa Quartet is committed to an insatiable search for the fresh and new in string quartet expression.
The Formosa Quartet undertakes a variety of residencies at organizations and institutions across North America and Asia. The ensemble serves as the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYOC) and has enjoyed residencies at Art of Élan; Rice University, University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; San Diego State University, and Heidelberg University. During the 2023-2024 season, they held the M. Thelma McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair in the Humanities at Eastern Michigan University where they launched their American Mirror Project, a collaborative initiative that holds up mirrors and highlights personal reflections on the history, identity, and meaning of "America” through a thought-provoking exploration of American music.
The Formosa Quartet has played a leading role in actively commissioning new works, contributing significantly to the modern string quartet repertory. FQ’s 2019 milestone album From Hungary to Taiwan includes premiere recordings of three Formosa commissions: Lei Liang’s Song Recollections, Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, and Wei-Chieh Lin’s Five Taiwanese Folk Songs. Other works composed for the quartet include pieces by Dana Wilson, Wei-Chieh Lin, Shih-Hui Chen, and Clancy Newman. Forthcoming commissions and premieres include works by Angelique Poteat, Paul Novak, and Shih-Hui Chen.
The members of the Formosa Quartet – Jasmine Lin, David Bernat, Matthew Cohen, and Deborah Pae – have established themselves as leading solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians. With degrees from the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, they have performed in major venues throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe and have been top prizewinners in prestigious competitions such as the Paganini, Primrose, Fischoff, and Naumburg competitions. As chamber musicians, they have appeared regularly at the Marlboro, Kingston, Santa Fe, and Ravinia festivals, as well as at Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor, and Chamber Music Northwest. The members of the Formosa Quartet currently serve on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, Roosevelt University, and Heifetz International Music Institute. They have previously taught at the Taos School of Music and the Juilliard School.
Formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan, the Formosa Quartet’s cultural identity has since expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Eastern European roots. Their name “Formosa” is taken in its most basic sense: Portuguese for “beautiful.”
The Formosa Quartet forms an octet with violins Andrea Guarneri (1662) and Samuel Zygmuntowicz (1984), a Peter Westerlund viola (2014), and a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (1885).
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.
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.
Monday, June 16, 2025
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 students (WLU students free); Quartetfest Pass for all 5 concerts $70
Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (Formosa Quartet)
Contrapuntus I
Contrapunctus XIII
Contrapunctus III
Contrapunctus IX
George Enescu: Octet for Strings in C Major, Op. 7
PROGRAM
Sunday, June 15
Part 8 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 3, 7, 13, 26 ("Les Adieux")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, Final Concert
Sunday June 15, 2025 Part 8 including Les Adieux
Registry Theatre, 3:00 pm Note early time!
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student; Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Part 8 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 3, 7, 13, 26 ("Les Adieux")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $15/students free; Quartetfest Pass for all 5 concerts $70
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Friday, June 13
Part 7 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 1, 8 ("Pathétique"), 12, 31
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here.
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle
Friday, June 13, 2025 Part 7 including Pathétique
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student (WLU students free); Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Part 7 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 1, 8 ("Pathétique"), 12, 31
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $15/$10 student (WLU students free) ; Quartetfest Pass for all 5 concerts $70
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Wednesday, June 11
Part 6 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 4, 19, 20, 6, 21 ("Waldstein")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here.
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 Part 6 including Waldstein
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student (WLU students free); Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Part 6 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 4, 19, 20, 6, 21 ("Waldstein")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
PROGRAM
TBA
ARTISTS
TBA
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $15/$10 student (WLU students free); Quartetfest Pass for all 5 concerts $70
Program TBA
PROGRAM
Brahms: String Quartet No.3 in B flat Major, Op. 67
Chan Ka Nin: Soulmate for solo cello
Schubert: Cello Quintet D. 956
ARTISTS
Cellist Paul Marleyn tours regularly in North America, Europe and Asia. As a frequent participant in summer festivals including the Prussia Cove, Busan, Festival of the Sound, Domaine Forget, Casalmaggiore, Leicester and Ottawa international festivals, he collaborates with artists such as Boris Berman, Miriam Fried, James Somerville, Paul Neubauer, Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Dann, Joshua Bell, and with members of the Tokyo, Vermeer, New Zealand, St. Lawrence and Hagen quartets. He has appeared as soloist with the London Philharmonia, Belgrade Philharmonic, European Chamber, Winnipeg Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony and Manitoba Chamber orchestras. The Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Agassiz Chamber Music Festival since 2000, and the International Cello Festival of Canada since 2011, Paul was the cellist in Trio Hochelaga from 2006-2012. He has made several compact disc recordings on the United Records, CALA, ATMA, Signum Classics, CBC and RCA Victor labels. From 1993-7, Paul was principal cellist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and has served at professor of cello at the University of Manitoba, and more recently at the University of Ottawa, where he now mentors an award-winning studio of young cellists.
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student (WLU students free) ; Quartetfest Pass for all 5 concerts $70
Brahms: String Quartet No.3 in B flat Major, Op. 67
Chan Ka Nin: Soulmate for solo cello
Schubert: Cello Quintet D. 956
PROGRAM (see detailed program notes here)
J.S. Bach: Fantasy and Fugue in A minor, BWV 944
Franz Schubert: “Hüttenbrenner” Variations in A minor, D. 576
J. Brahms: Four Pieces for Piano, op. 119
1. Intermezzo in B minor
2. Intermezzo in E minor
3. Intermezzo in C major
4. Rhapsody in E♭ major
L. V. Beethoven: “Waldstein’” Sonata #21 in C Major, op. 53 (extended version)
1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante in F Major, “Andante Favori”, WoO 57
3. Introduzione: Adagio molto
4. Rondo: Allegretto moderato; Prestissimo
ARTIST
Peter Vinograde, piano An outstanding interpreter of J.S. Bach and contemporary composers, pianist Peter Vinograde regularly tours the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Recent seasons featured performances in Nanjing, Rome, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Singapore, Taipei, and Xiamen. More recently, he recorded Arnold Rosner’s Piano Concerto #2 with the London Philharmonic, and gave two recitals and a master class at the new Usina Art Center in Buenos Aires. In March 2019, a National Gallery recital featured the seven Bach Toccatas. 2024 features performances in Canada and Italy, including Kenneth Laufer’s 200 Years: A History of the United States from 1776-1976.
As a chamber musician, Peter Vinograde has appeared at the Bard, Bargemusic, Caramoor, and Wolftrap Festivals. As a collaborative artist, he toured throughout Asia with violinist Midori, including her Singapore debut, also performing with her at the Cape Cod and Mostly Mozart Festivals.
His numerous distinctions began with first prize in the 1971 J.S. Bach International Competition, followed by a New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall and an N.E.A.-sponsored Lincoln Center recital at Alice Tully Hall. He has been featured on NPR's Performance Today and CBC-TV's the Journal. CDs include releases on the Albany, CBC, Decca and Phoenix labels. His primary teacher was Zenon Fishbein.
In conjunction with his Bach for Pianists class at the Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Vinograde annually presents Bach recital/lectures at conservatories and universities, this past season at Juilliard, Oberlin, and Northwestern.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
The St. Matthew's Centre (formerly St. Matthews Lutheran Church), Kitchener 3:00 pm Note 3 pm start time!
Bach: Fantasy and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 944
Schubert: Hūttenbrenner Variations, D. 576
Brahms: 4 Klavierstücke, Op. 119
Beethoven: “Waldstein” Sonata Op. 53 and Andante Favori, WoO 57 (original slow movement)
PROGRAM
Saudade no. 3 - Roland Dyens (1955-2016)
Rituel ad libitum
danse
fete and final
Shard - Elliott Carter (1908-2012)
Cello suite no. 6 in D major - J.S Bach (1685-1750) *see detailed notes about this work here
prelude
allemande
courante
sarabande
gavottes I and II
Gigue
El Decameron Negro - Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)
Harp of the Warrior
Flight of the Lovers through the Valley of Echoes
Ballad of the Young Maiden in Love
Sonata For Guitar Op. 47 - Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
Esordio
scherzo
canto
finale
ARTIST
Guitarist Madeline Hall 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.
Friday, May 23, 2025
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Bach: Cello Sonata No. 6
Ginestera: Sonata For Guitar Op. 47
and works by Dyens, Carter and Brouwer
PROGRAM
MUSIC FROM ACROSS THE AMERICAS
Anthony DiLorenzo: Fire Dance
Fisher Tull: Exhibition
Michael Kamen: Brass Quintet
Morley Calvert: Three Dance Impressions
Daniel Anderson: Huapango
Ignacio Calvo: Andean (arr. Jay Lichtann)
Astor Piazolla: Maria De Buenos Aires (arr. Bob Driggs)
Astor Piazolla: Oblivion (arr. Serdar Cezemci)
Ignacio Calvo: Girl from Ipanema (arr. Jay Lichtmann)
Aaron Copland: Old American Songs (arr. James Mattern)
ARTISTS
The Chicago Brass Quintet has been performing together for more than forty years. It currently tours internationally performing throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, North and South America. They have recorded for the Delos, Centaur, Crystal, GIA and Covenant labels and have broadcast often on WFMT, National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The New Yor Times says “The Chicago Brass Quintet has established itself as one of the best brass quintets in the world." The Chicago Tribune, “They project a crisp sonic brilliance that enlivens every score they play."
Ross Beacraft, Trumpet, performs as Principal Trumpet with the Chicago Opera Theater, and the Elgin Symphony. In addition, he has performed often with the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago’s ballet and theater orchestras and in many radio and television commercials. Former appointments include principal trumpet with the Norwegian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Oslo, third assistant first trumpet with the North Carolina Symphony, brass department chair, lecturer in trumpet and Director of Admissions for the DePaul University School of Music. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, his primary teachers were Adolph Herseth, Vincent Cichowicz, William Scarlet, Arnold Jacobs, Sidney Mear and Harry Glantz.
Matthew Lee, Trumpet, is an active freelance artist in the Chicago area. He performs with the Chicago Brass Quintet, the Millar Brass Ensemble, the Illinois Philharmonic, extra with the Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and a variety of chamber music ensembles. Holding a BA in Music Education from Western Illinois University and an MM in Performance from Northwestern University, he has studied with William DeJong, Vincent Cichowicz and Adolph Herseth. Mr. Lee has taught at DePaul University and Elmhurst College .
Alex Laskey is a Chicago based horn player and teacher. Alex has held positions with the Virginia Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Along with these ensembles, he has performed as a guest with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, and Alabama Symphony among others. In addition to his orchestral work, Alex has enjoyed performing in a variety of styles with highlights including a touring with the musical Wicked, performing with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and recording with John Williams.
Adam Moen, Trombone, currently holds the positions as section trombone with Elgin Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic. He performs regularly with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater and the Illinois Philharmonic. As a substitute player, he has performed with the major orchestras of Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee, St. Louis, as well as the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Grant Park Symphony. He served as 2nd Trombone/Assistant Principal with the Lyric Opera for the 2007-08, 08-09 seasons. Adam has extensive experience performing in chamber and contemporary ensembles. The list includes Chicago Chamber Musicians, Fulcrum Point, ICE, Pink Martini, Music Now, Contempo and The Rembrandt Chamber Players.
Matthew Gaunt, Tuba, enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator. He has recorded and toured internationally as a former member of Burning River Brass, Proteus 7, and Boston Brass. He has also performed with Empire Brass, Center City Brass Quintet, Rhythm & Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and the Millar Brass Ensemble. Mr. Gaunt performed as the tubist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2020. He has also performed in concerts and tours with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Cincinnati Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, and many regional orchestras in New England and around Chicago. He has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician at festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Blossom, Chautauqua, and Music Masters MMCK. Matt is on the faculty of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University teaching tuba, euphonium and coaching chamber music.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Trillium Lutheran Church, Waterloo, 7:00 pm
“I am so thrilled that you have the CBQ booked on your series, as this is a truly special group of phenomenal brass players!“
- Larry Larson, former Principal Trumpet , KW Symphony
MUSIC FROM ACROSS THE AMERICAS
Anthony DiLorenzo: Fire Dance
Fisher Tull: Exhibition
Michael Kamen: Brass Quintet
Morley Calvert: Three Dance Impressions
Daniel Anderson: Huapango
Ignacio Calvo: Andean (arr. Jay Lichtann)
Astor Piazolla: Maria De Buenos Aires (arr. Bob Driggs)
Astor Piazolla: Oblivion (arr. Serdar Cezemci)
Ignacio Calvo: Girl from Ipanema (arr. Jay Lichtmann)
Aaron Copland: Old American Songs (arr. James Mattern)
PROGRAM
Clementi: Sonata in C Major Op. 33 No. 3
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op. 24
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
ARTIST
In September 2009, pianist Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction. Since then she has appeared all over the world to great acclaim.
Her recital programmes are frequently reviewed in superlatives, and her concerto appearances with major orchestras are noted in glowing terms by the world’s music press. Sofya has been praised for her "tremendous precision and colouration...exquisite soft playing ...with delicacy" and described as a “Rach star"(Washington Post).
Sofya Gulyak’s resume includes prizes from many prestigious piano competitions: she is a 1st prize winner of William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International Piano Competition, Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, Isang Yun International Piano Competition in South Korea, San Marino Piano Competition, winner of Busoni Competition in Italy and prize winner of Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris.
Recitals and concert appearances have been numerous, with Sofya Gulyak having performed all over the globe in such venues as La Scala Theatre and Sala Verdi in Milan, Herculessaal in Munich, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Osaka Symphony Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Kennedy Center in Washington, Hungarian National Opera, Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg, Hong Kong City Hall, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Musashino Cultural Centre in Tokyo, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Teatro Municipal adn Cidade des Artes in Rio de Janeiro, Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, Aberdeen Music Hall, Salle Molière in Lyon, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, King Theatre in Rabat, Kursaal in Bern, Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen and many others.
Sofya Gulyak appeared as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, Rio de Janeiro Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Budapest Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’ Arena di Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica di Bologna, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Slovak Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Copenhagen Symphony, Ulster Symphony, Ochestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestre National de France, Shanghai Philharmonic, Oulu Philharmonic, Leipzig Philharmonic, Pensacola Symphony, Tatarstan Symphony, Philippines Philharmonic, Morocco Philharmonic and others
She collaborated with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sakari Oramo, Mark Elder, Donald Runnicle, Vasily Petrenko, Alexander Lazarev, Karl-Heinz Steffens, David Hill, Alan Buribayev, Eiving Gullberg Jensen, Theodor Guschlauer, Rory McDonald, Tamami Nishimoto, Danail Rachev, Fabio Mastrangelo, Michele Mariotti, Fuat Mansurov, Alexander Sladkovsky, Mario Kosik, Jesus Medina,Tomomi Nishimoto, Istvan Denes, Peter Rubardt, Anna-Maria Helsing, Dalia Stasevska and others. The festivals in which Sofya Gulyak participated include Klavier Ruhr Festival, Chopin Festival in Duzniki-Zdroj, Festival du Sceaux, International Keyboard Festival in New York, International Strasbourg Festival, Busoni Festival, Harrogate Festival, Krakòv Piano Festival, New Zealand Piano Festival, Ravello Festival, Festival Chopin in Paris, Shanghai International Piano Festival and many others.
Sofya Gulyak’s recording of Russian piano music (Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev) was released on Champs Hill Records in 2013 and received a 5 stars review in Diapason magazine (“What a pleasure to hear the piano blossoming and projecting in the most vivid of ways when played by Sofya Gulyak. The singing sound alongside dazzling and powerful execution distinguishes an outstanding natural pianist”) and praising reviews in Gramophone (“This is a stunning debut album…”) and Guardian magazines (“Sofya Gulyak is a fearless pianist, never afraid to scale the most technically demanding heights of the repertoire and equally proud to wear her heart on her sleeve”). Her CD with Brahms music was released on Piano Classics in the spring of 2015 and got glowing reviews from American Record Guide ("The Handel Variations is among the top contenders on record. From the very first notes she takes charge and envelops us in a thrilling sequence of variations that will send goose bumps to susceptible listeners. Not only does she perform with arresting contrast and lovely, soft floating tone. She keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the music presses ever forward. Sometimes I was reminded of the young Argerich.." and Fanfare magazine (" Her musicality is beautifully attuned to the spirit of Brahms...I must praise Kazan-born Russain pianist Sofya Gulyak, whose impressive reading places a stronger emphasis than Perahia's in the continuity of the variations... She is a natural Brahmsian whatever his moods."). Her last CD with the Chaconnes for Piano was released by Champs Hill Records in 2017.
Sofya Gulyak is a native of Kazan (Russia) where she studied in a Special Music College under Nailya Khakimova, and then in Kazan State Conservatoire under Professor Elfiya Burnasheva. After that she continued her studies at the Piano Academy "Incontri coi Maestri" (Imola, Italy) with Boris Petrushansky and at the Royal College of Music in London with Vanessa Latarche.
Sofya Gulyak attended as a jury member the International Piano Competitions in Italy, Serbia, France, Greece, USA, and was invited to teach master classes in China, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Mexico, USA, and Germany. In past and recent years she has been on the faculty at the Royal College of Muisc in London, Kazan State Conservatory, Monteverdi Conservatory of Bolzano.
Her playing has been broadcast on radio and TV in Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Germany, USA, Finland, Denmark, Serbia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom (BBC 3 and BBC 4).
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Clementi: Sonata in C Major Op. 33 No. 3
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op. 24
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
PROGRAM
Music from their Latest album, Mappa Mundi
Mozart: Sonata K448 (arr. Trépanier)
Amelkina-Vera: Pulsar
Roux*: Prologue, Fougue et Allegro Trépidant
Côté-Giguère*: Empty Houses
Jobim/Bonfa: Areias Bracas, Orfeu Negro (arr. Trépanier)
*Canadian composer
ARTISTS
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 CDs 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 Witter 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 artistic 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 committed to its core mission: chamber music at its highest level by presenting a robust mix of classical masterworks in clever new arrangements alongside bold original works for guitar quartet – most often penned by past and present members of the ensemble. The engaging repertoire, the CGQ’s fiery virtuosity, the players’ easy and congenial rapport with the audience, all make a Canadian Guitar Quartet concert an event to remember.
The Canadian Guitar Quartet play Knobloch strings.
Steve Cowan
Described as “an elegant musician with a strong, crisp sense of rhythm” (American Record Guide), guitarist Steve Cowan has performed throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. International highlights from recent seasons include concerto performances with Ensemble Del Arte (Germany), the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (New Zealand) and two solo albums with HR Recordings (Spain).
As a chamber musician, Steve performs regularly with Forestare, a Montréal-based string ensemble. His duo with guitarist Adam Cicchillitti has premièred 21 new works and released an album of Canadian music titled FOCUS (Analekta, 2019); their next recording, Impressions intimes (Analekta, 2021), features original arrangements of Debussy, Ravel, Mompou and Tailleferre. As of 2022, he is also the newest member of the renowned Canadian Guitar Quartet.
Steve is a first-prize winner at eight international competitions and is currently a guitar instructor at McGill University.
Jérôme Ducharme
Since winning the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, Jérôme Ducharme has become highly sought for solo recitals, chamber music projects, concerto performance as well as for his teaching. He has been invited to perform in various festivals in Canada, U.S.A and Mexico, and has given concerts for numerous guitar societies and other concert series.
He recorded with Naxos (CD of the month, La Scena Musicale) and a DVD with Melbay (premier recordings of works by Canadian composer Maxime McKinley) in addition to participating in CD’s featuring other artists.
Jérôme has taught at McGill University since 2011, and in 2019 began teaching positions at Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and Domaine Forget Summer Academy. His students have won honors in competitions and have success in their professional life.
Christ Habib
With an exciting and promising carrier in expansion, Christ Habib’s perseverance, discipline and enthusiasm makes him an incredibly passionate musician.
Other than standing out in numerous national and international competitions, Christ was named one of Canada's Top 30 Classical Musicians Under 30 (2020 edition) and had his debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in October 2020 with renowned conductor Alexander Shelley in Canadian composer Jacques Hétu's Concerto for guitar and strings Op.56.
In the course of 12 years of studying at the Gatineau Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Patrick Roux, he completed his Master’s Degree (2019) and has received a prize in chamber music as well. Christ has had the chance to refine his musicianship by playing in numerous masterclasses for great masters and going to numerous musical academies such as the International Music Academy of the Domaine Forget and the Boston Guitar Academy as well.
He currently teaches in his own private studio.
Louis Trépanier
Over a career that is now well into its third decade, Louis Trépanier has shown himself to be a seasoned chamber musician, occasional soloist, experienced pedagogue, composer and arranger, always with his customary energy and sensitivity.
He is a founding member of the Canadian Guitar Quartet, as well as Trio Tangere. With these two ensembles, as well as through various other collaborations, he has performed on three continents and judged competitions on the national and international levels.
He completed his formal musical education in 1998 at the Conservatoire de musique de Hull with Patrick Roux; Louis also furthered himself by working with leading musicians in masterclasses or in collaboration projects.
Since 2002, he has been teaching at the University of Ottawa’s School of Music, where he is the Coordinator of the Guitar Sector.
Sunday, May 4, 2025
The Registry Theater, 3:00 pm Note early time!
Music from their latest album, Mappa Mundi (Bach, Mozart, Bonfa, Jobim, Roux, Côté-Giguère, Amelkina-Vera)
PROGRAM
Christus: The Dragon and the Phoenix (solo cello)
Rodrigo: Como Una Fantasia )solo cello)
Vivaldi: Sonata No. 5 in E Minor
Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Van Goens: Scherzo
Rachmaninoff: Sonata in G Minor Op. 19
Grace Tin Yen Christus: is a Chinese American composer living in Denver Colorado . She is a graduate of the Julliard school of music and wrote 'the dragon and the phoenix ' for the occasion of her daughter's wedding . 2024 is the year of the dragon in the Chinese calender .
Joaquin Rodrigo: 1901/1999 .He wrote 'como una fantasia ' for solo cello in 1979 , 40 years after his famous guitar concerto . At the age of 3 he become totally blind after a childhood illness and he wrote his music painstakingly in braille .'Como una fantasia' uses a very different musical language to the Aranjuez guitar concerto and is a musical tone poem for the cello in which the initial cantabile theme is transformed into jagged dissonant clashes and dramatic passages in which Spanish fragments are combined with sounds from Rodrigos memory including references to the sirens in the civil war and a grotesque waltze . Everything comes full circle in the end back to the broad singing theme .
Vivaldi wrote at least 10 sonatas for cello and continuo, this being one of the most well known . The cello was still a relatively new instrument and Vivaldi was one of the first composers to treat it as a singing instrument not just as a bass line . He was himself a priest as well as a voice instructor and he uses the singing quality of the instrument to it's full in the haunting Sicilienne 3 rd movement.
Max Bruch 1838/1920 was born in Cologne to non jewish parents , his father was a police inspector and mother a soprano .The Kol Nidrei is taken from the most sacred of Hebrew texts and is a recited prayer of atonement before the Yom Kipur. Bruch dedicated this to the jewish community of Liverpool where he was director of the orchestra .
Daniel Van Goens 1858/1904 was a Dutch cellist and composer who became famous in France who suffered poor health and was forced to give up the cello and move to Switzerland . He was known at his peek as the ' king of spiccato 'and this scherzo was written to show this off .
Rachmaninov dedicated the work to Anatoliy Brandukov , famous for his rich tone, who gave the first performance together with the composer on december 2nd 1901 in Moscow. The sonata was composed after a long period of depression and was written at the same time as his famous Piano Concerto No 2. The piano part is notoriously difficult and the cello part consists of long singing lines responding to the piano which generally introduces these glorious themes .
ARTISTS
The English cellist, Michael Kevin Jones, studied Music Performance Piano/Cello at Royal College of Music in London. While a student there he was chosen to play for the Royal family and awarded a German government scholarship for further study in Köln. He continued his studies at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, Germany (from 1987). He studied with Pauline Ballard, Dulce Haigh Marshall, Michael Evans, Joan Dickson, Johannes Goritzki.
Michael Kevin Jones has found a unique place for himself among today's performers. After his studies he quickly became solo cellist and toured the world with top musical groups. He has developed a non conventional career incorporating multi-musical activities and he is also an avid teacher and coach.
As member of 'the Jones Maruri cello guitar duo, Michael Kevin Jones had his first top 10 selling CD 'Original music for cello and guitar' in Hong Kong and China and as a soloist his recording of the complete J.S. Bach' Cello Suites (BWV 1007) on a 1667 Stradivarius cello for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has received international critical acclaim and several audio awards. Projects for 2018 and 2019 included solo tours of South Africa, Canada and Europe. He currently lives in Madrid, Spain.
Henry Wong Doe, piano “Pianism in a whole different league, namely: art”. These words from Tel Aviv’s Ha’aretz illustrate Henry Wong Doe’s sincerity and passion for music. Since winning “Audience Favorite” prizes at both the Arthur Rubinstein and Busoni International Piano Competitions, Henry continues to engage audiences with thoughtful programming and insightful performances.
Henry Wong Doe has performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay Singapore, St.Martin-in-the-Fields, London, U.K., the Sydney Opera House in Australia and Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has been a featured artist at the Busoni International Piano Festival in Bolzano, Italy, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago, USA and the Brussels Piano Festival in Belgium.
Henry has performed with noted orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber, and Israel Philharmonic, and collaborated with conductors Christopher Hogwood, Mendi Rodan, Fabio Mechetti and Edvard Tchivzel. Appearances on television and radio include BBC Radio 3 (UK), ABC Classics FM and Channel 9 (Australia), Concert FM and TVNZ (New Zealand), WNYC Radio (New York), WFMT Radio (Chicago), WQED Radio (Pittsburgh), RTBF and Canal La Deux (Belgium), and Kolhamusica (The Musical Voice) Israel.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Covenant Chapel), Kitchener 7:00 pm
Christus: The Dragon and the Phoenix (solo cello)
Rodrigo: Como Una Fantasia (solo cello)
Vivaldi: Sonata No. 5 in E Minor
Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Van Goens: Scherzo
Rachmaninoff: Sonata in G Minor Op. 19
PROGRAM
F. Danzi: Woodwind Quintet in B-flat Major Op. 56 No.1
P. Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik Op. 24 No. 2
A. Reicha: Woodwind Quintet in E-flat Major Op. 88 No. 2
ARTISTS
KW Woodwind Quintet
Wendy Wagler - Flute
Sarah Cardwell - Oboe
Barbara Hankins - Clarinet
Trevor Wagler - Horn
Gabrielle Eber- Bassoon
The KW Woodwind Quintet has delighted audiences in the Waterloo Region for 40 years. Their eclectic music for all ages has been heard in schools, seniors' homes, noon-hour series, and universities. Recent performances have included the Elora Festival, First United Church Noon hour series, St. Andrew's Church Noon hour series, Conrad Grebel University Noon hour series, and the Mississauga Chamber Music Society.
The Quintet has an extensive library, which over the years has been supplemented with special arrangements by the quintet's horn player, Trevor Wagler. The group's programs include classical favourites, popular tunes, and movie music.
Wendy Wagler, flute is an accomplished soloist and orchestral musician. She holds the principal flute chair in the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and freelances with many ensembles, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She has performed as soloist with the K-W Symphony Youth Orchestra, the K-W Chamber Orchestra and the Renaissance Singers and is a founding member of the Springdale Trio and flutist for the KW Woodwind Quintet. Wendy holds a Master’s Degree in Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario and an Honours Bachelor Degree in Flute Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, having studied with Bonita Boyd, Dr. Amy Hamilton, Thomas Kay, and Prof. Fiona Wilkinson. She has directed flute masterclasses throughout Southwestern Ontario, and maintains a full teaching schedule at Renaissance School of the Arts and Heritage College.
Sarah Cardwell, oboe, holds a MMus in Oboe Performance from the University of British Columbia, where she studied with Beth Orson of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She also studied with Roger Cole, Normand Forget, Richard Killmer, and Cheryl Bishkoff.
As an oboist, Sarah performs regularly as the Principal Oboist of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Woodwind Quintet, Spiritus Ensemble, and many other groups within Southwestern Ontario. Sarah was a member of the National Youth Orchestra and have participated in summer festivals at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Domaine Forget, Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Chautauqua Institute. Solo performances have included Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, Applebaum's Five Snapshots, Marcello’s Oboe Concerto, Copland’s Quiet City, Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto, and Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe.
Committed to music education, Sarah enjoys teaching all of my students at Laurier Academy of Music and Arts.
Barbara Hankins, clarinet has been a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony since 1980 and performs with the K-W Woodwind Quintet and as a freelance performer.
She has taught clarinet, recorder, theory, and chamber music privately, in the public school system, and at the University of Toronto, McMaster University, and Wilfrid Laurier University.
Ms. Hankins holds a Bachelor of Music degree (performance, with Distinction) and a Bachelor of Education degree from theUniversity of Calgary, a Master of Music degree (performance) from the University of Toronto, and an Associateship Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), Toronto. She is a member of the Board of Examiners of the RCM.
Barbara is married to retired WLU Press computer technician Steve Izma and they have two grown children, Amelia and Gabrielle. She sings with various local choirs, and enjoys gardening, cycling, pilates, hiking, and reading. She is involved in the KWS Players’ Association and actively supports local theatre and environmental sustainability.
Trevor Wagler, horn, has dedicated his life to the art of music. He is co-owner/Director of Renaissance School of the Arts, as well as a freelance French horn player (on both modern and historical instruments), conductor, organist, composer, arranger/orchestrator, music editor/copyist and clinician.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition, a Diploma in Performance, and a Diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a Masters of Music Degree in horn performance from Western University. He has performed with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Tafelmusik, Orchestra London / London Sinfonia, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Nota Bene Period Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, the Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment and more, sharing the stage with the likes of Dianna Krall, Anne Murray, Michael Burgess and Howard Cable.
Trevor has conducted the historic Waterloo Concert Band since 2006, and has spent nearly two decades conducting various ensembles for the KWS Youth Orchestra Programme. He is the regular guest conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for their acclaimed joint performances with KW GLEE. He founded the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Concert Band (KW YCB) in 2017.
Trevor is a member of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, the International Horn Society, the Historic Brass Society and the National Geographic Society.
Gabrielle Eber, bassoon Gabrielle is a Toronto-based freelance bassoonist from Kitchener, Ontario. Gabrielle holds both a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Eric Hall. Gabrielle has also studied with Ian Hopkin, of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in orchestras such as the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and the Milton Philharmonic Orchestra. While at the University of Toronto, she received multiple performance-based scholarships and awards. Gabrielle enjoys playing different styles of classical music and is an avid chamber musician as well. Outside of performing she enjoys teaching students of all levels.
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
F. Danzi: Woodwind Quintet in B-flat Major Op. 56 No.1
P. Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik Op. 24 No. 2
A. Reicha: Woodwind Quintet in E-flat Major Op. 88 No. 2
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach: Fugue in G Minor, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (both arranged by R. Wilkins)
C. M. Widor: Ciel D'Orage
R. Whitemen: Making art Not War
C. Guastavino: Tonada
E. Nazareth: Odeon
A. Romero: Fuga Con Pajarillo (arranged by J. Labro)
A. Vivaldi: iFugue (arranged by J. Burke)
J. Kern: Kern Fantasy (arranged by R. Wilkins)
A. Piazzolla: Undertango (arranged by J. Labro), Milong for Three (arranged by R. Wilkins), Fugata (arranged by J. Labro)
D. Milhaud: Braziliera (arranged by C. Vena)
Ensemble Vivant’s stunningly beautiful program FROM BACH to PIAZZOLLA enchants, transports and mesmerizes, deeply touching the hearts and souls of listeners of all ages. “It’s rare to hear music played with such depth and sincerity, and yet with a sparkle that moved its audience to new heights.” Alvin Spaxman Brantford Music Club/Expositor. Included will be composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Jerome Kern, Joaquin Turina, Richard Whiteman, John Burke, Ernesto Nazareth, Aldemaro Romero, and Astor Piazzolla.
ARTISTS
Sarah Boyer, violin; George Koller, bass; Catherine Wilson, piano/artistic director; Norman Hathaway, viola; Lydia Munchinsky, cello
Pioneering tour-de-force Ensemble Vivant’s innovative genre-diverse classical and jazz programming is rich with passionate, deeply communicative playing that touches the hearts and souls of listeners of all ages. Ensemble Vivant has 15 internationally acclaimed albums heard on radio world-wide.
Of Ensemble Vivant’s latest album iFUGUE - A World of Fugues, U.S.A. magazines Fanfare, and American Record Guide respectively wrote: “Smokin…Fugues shouldn’t be this much fun!”; “Lively readings of fugues by all sorts of composers. A few are presented in original form, such as Bach’s Prelude & Fugue 9 (WTC I), played beautifully by pianist Catherine Wilson.”
More Praise:
“…highest-level chamber music-making. No matter the genre, there is magic in Ensemble Vivant's music-making.” - Jazz Icon Rick Wilkins, C.M.
“Chamber music at its evocative best!” – The WholeNote
“…beautiful, poised performances...capture the passion and verve…Wilson’s piano gives this music unerring drive and plenty of sparkle.” - Toronto Star
Ensemble Vivant’s invaluable live and video programs for underserved schools and for seniors are endorsed by leading neuroscientists on music and the mind, and are conducted through Euterpe: Music Is The Key (musicisthekey.org). Funding support has been awarded by Ontario Trillium Foundation; Canada Council for the Arts; Levante Foundation; Ross Mitchell Foundation and more.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
J.S. Bach: Fugue in G Minor, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (both arranged by R. Wilkins)
C. M. Widor: Ciel D'Orage
R. Whitemen: Making art Not War
C. Guastavino: Tonada
E. Nazareth: Odeon
A. Romero: Fuga Con Pajarillo (arranged by J. Labro)
A. Vivaldi: iFugue (arranged by J. Burke)
J. Kern: Kern Fantasy (arranged by R. Wilkins)
A. Piazzolla: Undertango (arranged by J. Labro), Milong for Three (arranged by R. Wilkins), Fugata (arranged by J. Labro)
D. Milhaud: Braziliera (arranged by C. Vena)
PROGRAM
Friday, April 4
Part 3 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 2, 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)
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle
Friday, April 4, 2025 Part 3 Postponed to Thursday April 10
Conrad Grebel College Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student; Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Sunday, April 6, 2025 Part 4 including Hammerklavier
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student; Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 Part 5 including Moonlight
Conrad Grebel College Chapel, 7:00 pm
Tickets: this concert $30/$10 student; Ticket Bundle for entire series, $150
Ticket Bundle for complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, all 8 concerts, $150
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)
Thursday, April 10 (originally scheduled on April 4)
Part 3 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 2, 16, 25, 18
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
PROGRAM
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Emilie Mayer - String Quartet in A Major
Alexander Glazunov - Five Novelettes Op.15
Giacomo Puccini - Crisantemi
Sergei Prokofiev - String Quartet No.2 in F Major Op. 92
Monday, March 31, 2025
Joseph Haydn - String Quartet Opus 33 No. 3 “The Bird”
Laura Kaminsky - Vanishing Point
Emilie Mayer - String Quartet in E minor
Korine Fujiwara - Fiddle Suite Montana
The piece by Laura Kaminsky is a work we commissioned to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We will be giving it’s world premiere a month earlier in Carnegie Hall. The performance in Kitchener-Waterloo will be the Canadian premiere. It’s maybe 10 minutes long, tonal. We are thrilled to be working with such a famous living composer! Here is more about the work:
Vanishing Point was commissioned by The Carpe Diem String Quartet for the ensemble’s 15th anniversary project, 15 for 15. The one movement work of approximately 10 minutes duration is dedicated to the memory of Chas Wetherbee. My connection to the Carpe Diem Quartet goes back over a decade when they were presented in concert on the Composers Now Festival at Symphony Space in New York, where I served as artistic director. I was mightily impressed and moved by their performance and hoped one day to have an opportunity to work with them as a composer myself. Years passed, and I was delighted, in 2019, to be reunited with them when they were featured in Opera Columbus’s excellent production of my opera, As One (co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed). It was that unexpected reunion that led to this commission. Tragically, violinist Chas Wetherbee passed away at the young age of 56 after a struggle with cancer, and the quartet (and everyone in his circle) had much to grieve and to process; the pandemic put yet another pause on everything. Out of darkness,
finally, came Vanishing Point, reflecting the swirling emotions of loss, persistence and hope. The piece begins with an extended trio, minus the first violin, with the strings starting from nothing and increasing in intensity, until, finally, they “find” and “invite” the first violin to join them, a quartet at last. There is some unity and strength, but again, reticent and searching music, followed by a bit of sweetness and forward-energy and a moment of grandeur, but then all ultimately drifts away, the first violin floating upwards to nothingness—the vanishing point.
—LAURA KAMINSKY
From the New York Concert Review of Carpe Diem's Feb 2025 performance at Carnegie Hall: As much as one expected that Ms. Kaminsky’s gift for the vocal and dramatic would shine through in her instrumental writing (and it did), nothing prepared one for the emotional impact of this quartet. Part of it was the dramatic structure.... The absence of the first violin was enough to crack one’s heart in two, but the plaintive solo cello followed by soulful viola utterances in the first minutes finished the job. One almost couldn’t recover to fully experience the “swirling emotions” that followed, but the fade to the end was perfect as a “vanishing point.” https://nyconcertreview.com/reviews/the-carpe-diem-string-quartet-presents-interconnected-in-review/
ARTISTS
“…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.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets: $40/$10 student for this concert; $65/$15 student for both concerts
Monday, March 31, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets: $40/$10 student for this concert; $65/$15 student for both concerts
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Emilie Mayer: String Quartet in A Major
Alexander Glazunov: Five Novelettes Op.15
Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi
Sergei Prokofiev: String Quartet No.2 in F Major Op. 92
Monday, March 31, 2025
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Opus 33 No. 3 “The Bird”
Laura Kaminsky: Vanishing Point
Emilie Mayer: String Quartet in E minor
Korine Fujiwara: Fiddle Suite Montana
PROGRAM
Adelmo Prandi: Pavana, Ritratto di Donna
Cinzia Milani: Quattro Mi
Fernando Sor: Introduzione e Variazioni op.9
Oscar Casares: Canciones Sefaradies y Danza
Maria Luisa Anido: Variaciones Camperas, Aire Norteño
Astor Piazzolla: Lo que vendra, Chiquilin de Bachim, la Muerte del Angel
Violeta Parra: Gracias a la Vida
Maximo Diego Pujol: Tres Piezas Rioplatenses (Don Julian, Septiembre, Rojo y Negro)
ARTIST
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!
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Trillium Lutheran Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm NEW VENUE!
Works by Prandi, Milani, Sor, Casares, Anido, Piazzolla, Parra and Pujol
PROGRAM
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
Grieg: Three Lyric Pieces
- Once upon a time
- At your feet
- Butterfly
Schumann: Fantasiestücke Opus 12
Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Chopin: Berceuse
Chopin: Scherzo #1 in B Minor
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.
Friday, March 14, 2025
First United Church 7:00 pm
Weber: Invitation to the Dance
Grieg: Three Lyric Pieces
- Once upon a time
- At your feet
- Butterfly
Schumann: Fantasiestücke Opus 12
Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Chopin: Berceuse
Chopin: Scherzo #1 in B Minor
PROGRAM
Mozart: String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, "Death and the Maiden"
3 Brand new short quartets inspired by the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western. Canadian composers Carmen Braden (Yellowknife), Vincent Ho (Calgary) and Cecilia Livingston (Toronto) are each writing a short movement that New Orford quartet is premiering the day before this concert. Scroll to the bottom of this window for program notes about these works.
ARTISTS
Jonathan Crow and Andrew Wan, violins (concertmasters of the TSO and OSM respectively)
Sharon Wei, viola (concert soloist and chamber musician, Associate Professor at Western University)
Brian Manker, (principal cello, OSM).
Jonathan Crow, violin has been Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2011. A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Jonathan earned his Bachelor of Music in Honours Performance from McGill University in 1998, at which time he joined the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Second Violin. Between 2002 and 2006 Jonathan was the Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; during this time he was the youngest concertmaster of any major North American orchestra. Jonathan continues to perform as guest concertmaster with orchestras around the world, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Filarmonia de Lanaudiere and Pernambuco Festival Orchestra (Brazil). Jonathan has also performed as a soloist with most major Canadian orchestras including the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, the Victoria, Nova Scotia and Kingston Symphonies, and Orchestra London, under the baton of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Kent Nagano, Mario Bernardi and João Carlos Martins.
Jonathan joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as an Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. Current and former students of Mr. Crow have received prizes at competitions around the world, including the Menuhin International Violin Competition, Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, Shean Competition, CBC Radio's NEXT competition, Eckhardt-Grammatte Competition, Canadian Music Competition, and Stulberg International String Competition, and work regularly with orchestras such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Verbier Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Kammerphilharmonie and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.
In 2016 Jonathan was named Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music, which recently announced record attendance in his first full season. An avid chamber musician, he has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America and Europe including the Banff, Ravinia, Orford, Domaine Forget, Seattle, Montreal, Ottawa, Incontri in Terra di Sienna, Alpenglow, Festival Vancouver, Pernambuco (Brazil), Giverny (France) and Strings in the Mountains festivals. He is a founding member of the Juno Award-winning New Orford String Quartet, a project-based new ensemble dedicated to the promotion of standard and Canadian string quartet repertoire throughout North America. As an advocate of contemporary music he has premiered works by Canadian composers Michael Conway Baker, Eldon Rathburn, Barrie Cabena, Gary Kulesha, Tim Brady, Francois Dompierre, Ana Sokolovic, Marjan Mozetich, Christos Hatzis, Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan. He also includes in his repertoire major concerti by such modern composers as Ligeti, Schnittke, Bernstein, Brian Cherney, Rodney Sharman, Vivian Fung and Cameron Wilson.
Jonathan has recorded for ATMA, Bridge, CBC, Oxingale, Skylark, and XXI-21 labels and is heard frequently on Chaîne Culturelle of Radio-Canada, CBC Radio Two, and National Public Radio, along with Radio France, Deutsche Welle, Hessischer Rundfunk and the RAI in Europe.
Andrew Wan, violin was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in 2008. As soloist, he has performed worldwide under conductors such as Rafael Payare, Maxim Vengerov, Vasily Petrenko, Bernard Labadie, Carlo Rizzi, Peter Oundjian, Xian Zhang, Michael Stern and James DePreist, and has appeared in recitals with artists such as the Juilliard Quartet, Vadim Repin, Marc-André Hamelin, Daniil Trifonov, Menahem Pressler, Jörg Widmann, Emanuel Ax, James Ehnes, and Gil Shaham. His discography includes Grammy-nominated and Juno, Felix and Opus award-winning releases on the Onyx, Bridge, and Naxos labels with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, New York’s Metropolis Ensemble, and the New Orford String Quartet. In the fall of 2015, he released a live recording of all three Saint-Saëns violin concerti with the OSM and Kent Nagano under the Analekta label to wide critical acclaim. His recent live album of works for violin and orchestra by Bernstein, Moussa and Ginastera with Nagano and the OSM won a 2021 Juno award for Classical Album of the Year – Large Ensemble. He enjoys a close collaborative relationship with Charles Richard-Hamelin, with whom he has recorded the entire Beethoven piano and violin sonata cycle. Mr. Wan graduated from The Juilliard School with a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees, is currently Artistic Director of the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival and for the 2017-18 season was Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Associate Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, he was the recipient of the Part-Time Teaching Award at the Schulich School in 2019.He has sat as guest concertmaster for the Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis, National Arts Centre, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony orchestras.
Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel'Angelo Bergonzi violin, and gratefully acknowledges its loan from the David Sela Collection. He also enjoys the use of an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow from Canimex.
Sharon Wei, viola is a dynamic and multi-faceted musician, establishing herself as one of the most respected violists on the scene today. She has appeared as concerto soloist with orchestras such as Symphony of the Redwoods, Kingston Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, Orchestra of Southern Utah, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra and in 2022 premieres Richard Mascall’s “Ziigwan” viola concerto with the London Symphonia. She has performed recital tours with pianist Angela Park under the auspices of Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut.
As a chamber musician, she regularly takes part at international festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Prussia Cove, Banff, Seattle and Ravinia. Sharon has performed with renowned musicians including James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Peter Wiley, Gary Hoffman, Claude Frank, Joseph Silverstein, James Campbell, and the Amernet, New Orford and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Sharon co-founded Ensemble Made in Canada in 2006. Their Mosaïque Project won a 2021 JUNO for Classical Album of the Year and toured to every province and territory in Canada in both traditional venues and eclectic ones such as the seabed of Hopewell Rocks at low tide.
Sharon has been guest principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, and Ensemble Matheus in Paris. Recently she was a guest violist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on their 2021 Grammy recording of Ives Symphonies.
Sharon was on faculty at Yale and Stanford University and is currently Associate Professor of viola at Western University. She has given masterclasses at the American Viola Society Festival, Beijing Conservatory and universities across Canada. In summers she is a regular faculty violist at Curtis Summerfest, Scotia Festival, Tuckamore Festival, and Orford Academy. At Western Sharon has created a course for performance majors in which students learn off-stage initiatives such as networking, grant writing, website design, and managing finances. Sharon won the viola prize at Yale University and has been the recipient of grants through the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, FACTOR and Western University.
Brian Manker, cello is Principal Cellist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) since 1999, Brian Manker enjoys a diverse and varied musical career as a performer and teacher. In addition to being a frequent concerto soloist with the OSM, and his work with the New Orford String Quartet, Mr. Manker is a member of the Adorno Quartet.
Mr. Manker has performed throughout North America as a member of the Harrington String Quartet, the Cassatt Quartet, and the Atlanta Chamber Players, and performed chamber music with many distinguished artists including Walter Trampler, Laurence Lesser, Gary Graffman, Lee Luvisi and Jean- Philippe Collard. A Grand Prize winner as a member of the Harrington Quartet at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Mr. Manker also received a special commendation from Sir Yehudi Menuhin at the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition.
Formerly the co-director of Festival Alexandria (Ontario), Mr. Manker has participated in many music festivals, including Norfolk, Blossom, Chamber Music East, Roundtop, Swannanoa, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, masterclasses at Orford, Domaine Forget, and at the Canton International Summer Music Academy in China. He has performed for radio, television, and internet broadcasts on the CBC, WFMT Chicago, and WQXR New York, and can be heard on his 2010 recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites on STORKCLASSICS, as well as numerous recordings of chamber music and of course with the OSM. Mr. Manker served on the jury of the prestigious and historic Prague Spring International Cello Competition in 2006.
Currently on the faculty of the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, Mr. Manker has also taught at West Texas State and Emory Universities. In 2007, Mr. Manker launched the Beethoven Project, which aims to perform all the quartets of Beethoven in their proper context, the private salon. As a companion to this project, Mr. Manker maintains a blog at http://bquartets.blogspot.com/. He also enjoys a critically acclaimed sonata recital partnership with the pianist André Laplante. Brian Manker plays on a cello made by Pietro Guarneri of Venice in 1729, and a bow by François Pecatte loaned by Canimex.
_____________________________
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.
*New Works - Program Notes
Cecilia Livingston (b. 1984): After the Wind
Images of treefall – paths of destruction left by tornadoes in Canada’s remote forests – were the starting point for this piece. I kept wondering what those stretches of ruined forest might sound like in music, and what they might feel like, in the heart. On my way, I’ve tried to capture something of the wind’s all-devouring power: here, this “twister” jumbles up music from Beethoven, Schubert, Dvorak, and Schoenberg and leaves a very different music behind: after the wind (to misquote Ruskin), what stillness? what silence? what remains?
Carmen Braden (b. 1985): Bridge between the Earth and Sky
you are a bridge between the earth and sky
you don’t exist until we touch and fly
for a moment take me with you
After fascinating discussions with researchers from the Northern Tornados Project (thanks Areez and co!), and a mulling on my own personal connections to tornados (probably less-than-average considering I live in a place far enough north that it’s unlikely to have seen a tornado in a long time, but who knows in the fast-changing future how long that might last…)… I landed on these ideas to bring into my words above, which became the source of the music of Bridge Between the Earth and Sky:
A tornado isn’t a tornado until it touches the ground - it needs that connection to the earth for it to be scientifically called a tornado. (Before that it’s just a funnel cloud, for all my fellow word-nerds).
Tornados come from thunderstorms, and thunderstorms are stronger than anything around them.
If you look at a tornado from far away, or slow it down with your imagination, or use technology to slow down video footage, there’s a grace to it within its huge power (kind of like watching really heavy-duty construction vehicles)
Tornados are not evil, they’re just a part of weather. And habitat that’s destroyed by tornados in places where there are no humans is still habitat for some living creature.
Vincent Ho (b. 1975): Twin Tornadoes
The work Twin Tornadoes was commissioned by the New Orford String Quartet in collaboration with Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project. The research in this area inspired me to create a musical representation of the topic within the parameters of a string quartet. I have always loved composing music inspired by current scientific research, thereby reflecting the world we live in in artistic form. As I learned more about their research, I came across the phenomenon of twin tornadoes – two tornadoes occurring simultaneously. My friend and colleague, Walt DeBoni, had even sent me several images of such occurrences when I expressed to him my interest in this topic. The concept struck a chord in me (pun intended) and I immediately began developing musical ideas. For me, there was something about having two tornadoes move in counterpoint with one another, in near-balletic form, that I felt could serve as a inspirational starting point for my composition.
The work begins with overlapping swirling motifs, representing the emergence of turbulent weather. As this texture builds in intensity, two tornadoes begin to form (as represented by the viola and cello) within the chaos surrounding them (as represented by the two violins). The twin tornadoes unfold as a musical duet while creating the imagery of their balletic motions. Every so often, all four instruments merge as one tornado while causing destruction in its path. By the end, the quartet unleash their full kinetic energy to channel the power of a Category 5 tornado in musical form.
Thursday, March 6, 2025
First United Church, 7:00 pm
Mozart: String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, "Death and the Maiden"
And more....
PROGRAM
An all-Ravel program!
“Mother Goose” Suite for piano four hands (Alexander, Daniel)
Pavane for a Dead Princess for piano solo (Alexander)
“Gaspard de la Nuit” Suite for piano solo (Alexander)
Suite from the ballet “Daphnis & Chloe” (second and third movements) for piano solo (Daniel)
Trio for piano, violin, and cello (Alexander, Jerzy, Kathie)
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.
Sunday, February 23, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
An all-Ravel program!
“Mother Goose” Suite for piano four hands
Pavane for a Dead Princess for piano solo
“Gaspard de la Nuit” Suite for piano solo
Suite from the ballet “Daphnis & Chloe” (mvmts 1 & 2) for piano solo
Trio for piano, violin, and cello
PROGRAM
Calima (Nunez)
Gitana (Serranito)
El Shtuken (Smirnov)
Freylech Zain (trad. Klezmer, arr. Smirnov)
ALmoraima (Paco de Lucia)
Fox Prelude (Smirnov)
Fox and Gardener (Smirnov)
Kuwaka (Smirnov)
Thinking of You (Smirnov)
Amarilli Mia Bella (Caccini, arr. Smirnov)
Preludio (Smirnov)
La Forqueray (Dulphy, arr. Smirnov)
Rappel des Oiseaux (Rameau, arr. Smirnov)
Canteloupe (Hancock, arr. Smirnov)
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.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Calima (Nunez)
Gitana (Serranito)
El Shtuken (Smirnov)
Freylech Zain (trad. Klezmer, arr. Smirnov)
ALmoraima (Paco de Lucia)
Fox Prelude (Smirnov)
Fox and Gardener (Smirnov)
Kuwaka (Smirnov)
Thinking of You (Smirnov)
Amarilli Mia Bella (Caccini, arr. Smirnov)
Preludio (Smirnov)
La Forqueray (Dulphy, arr. Smirnov)
Rappel des Oiseaux (Rameau, arr. Smirnov)
Canteloupe (Hancock, arr. Smirnov)
PROGRAM
W. A. Mozart: Sonata in C Major K303
A. Beach: Sonata Op. 34
R. Strauss: Sonata Op. 18
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.
Sunday, February 16 August 3, 2025
Location TBA 7:00 pm
W. A. Mozart: Sonata in C Major K303
A. Beach: Sonata Op. 34
R. Strauss: Sonata Op. 18
PROGRAM
Jaeyoung Chong - Folk Suite for Solo Cello
I. Regal
II. Jig
III. Vast
IV. Briskly
V. Fugue - Regal
Anita Pari - Escape
I. Lento, rubato - Moderato - Lento, grave
II. Lento
III. Moderato, pesante
IV. Allegro - Adagio
Sergei Prokofiev - Cello Sonata, Op. 119
I. Andante grave
II. Moderato
III. Allegro, ma non troppo
ARTISTS
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
Sunday, February 2, 2025
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Jaeyoung Chong: Folk Suite for Solo Cello
Anita Pari: Escape
Sergei Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, Op. 119
PROGRAM
Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
Peter Hatch: Tidal Changes (2025 Premiere)
R. Murray Schafer: Piano Quintet (2010)
Notes on "Tidal Changes" by Peter Hatch
“Tidal Changes” evokes the continual rising and falling of ocean tides characterized by three main stages: flow, slack and ebb. Tidal currents constantly move and change direction while smooth surface textures can accompany strong turbulent underwater currents. The piece conveys this kind of watery activity: the two outer movements, “Flow” and “Ebb,” follow swirling eddies of sound, speeding up and slowing down, imitating the circular motion of a tidal “gyre,” while the middle “Slack” movement is both more static and playful. Moving the violist and cellist closer to the audience and tuning the cello’s lowest string down from C to G audience emphasizes the darker colours of the quartet while placing the violist in the leadership position usually occupied by the first violinist changes the group’s power dynamics. The title “Tidal changes” also carries existential and political resonances. The Buddhist concept of impermanence teaches that the only constant is change, while the saying “the tide will change” suggests future possibilities of powerful deep levels of change not necessarily evident in the present, and is also a reminder of the inevitable cyclic nature of the ebb and flow of life.
ARTISTS
Simon Docking, piano
Australian-born pianist Simon Docking has appeared as a soloist for Toronto’s Soundstreams, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music, Symphony Nova Scotia, Acadia University’s Shattering the Silence, Australia’s Aurora Festival, the new music group Stroma in New Zealand, and MATA Festival in New York.
Simon has often been heard on CBC Radio Two’s Two New Hours, The Signal, and Concerts on Demand. Internationally his performances have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM (Australia), Swedish Radio, and Radio New Zealand.
Active as a chamber musician, Simon has been a founding member of several ensembles, including the Toronto-based group Toca Loca, which has been presented by nearly every new music series in Canada from St John’s to Vancouver, as well as appearances in New York, California and at the C3 Festival at Berlin’s legendary Berghain. Toca Loca have released two CDs: P*P (2009) and SHED (2010).
Simon studied piano in Australia with Ransford Elsley, and holds a doctorate in piano performance from SUNY Stony Brook, where he worked with Gilbert Kalish, and upon graduation was awarded New York State’s Thayer Fellowship for the Arts. In October 2011 Simon received an Established Artist Recognition Award from the province of Nova Scotia.
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.
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.
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel, WLU 7:00 pm
Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, Op.10
Peter Hatch: Tidal Changes (2025 Premiere)
R. Murray Schafer: Piano Quintet (2010)
PROGRAM
Mel Bonis: Soir! Matin! Op. 76
Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio
Frank Martin: Trio on Irish Folk Tunes
Antonin Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor Op. 90 "Dumky"
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.
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
First United Church, Waterloo, 7:00 pm
Mel Bonis: Soir! Matin! Op. 76
Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio
Frank Martin: Trio on Irish Folk Tunes
Antonin Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor Op. 90 "Dumky"
PROGRAM
Chaconne in D minor BWV 1004 Bach/Busoni
Sonata No. 3 Paul Hindemith
INTERMISSION
Sonata No. 5 Opus 53 Alexander Scriabin
Nocturne Opus 27 #2 Frederic Chopin
Scherzo No 2 Opus 31 Frederic Chopin
ARTIST
Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed across Canada and abroad. Described as an “authentic musician with a sparkling technique” (Le Droit) and full of fire and warmth” (the New York Times), Shoshana has a passion for engaging audiences with exciting performances. She made her solo orchestral début with the National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16 and has since performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra.
Shoshana received a Bachelor’s degree on full scholarship from Boston University, a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University. She has taught piano and coached ensembles at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, Wilfrid LaurierUniversity, and currently teaches piano at McMaster University. She frequently gives masterclasses, adjudicates competitions, and examines for the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Shoshana has performed at numerous summer festivals including the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Elora Festival, the Kincardine Summer Music Festival, the Brott Music Festival, and the Blueridge Chamber Music Festival. She has been awarded honors at the International Stepping Stone Competition, the Esther Honens International Piano Competition and the Canadian Concerto Competition. Shoshana’s recordings include solo works of Canadian composer Colin Mack (CanSona), the Grieg violin/piano sonatas with Jeremy Bell (Chestnut Hall Music), Mozart Sonatas and Sonatinas (The Mozart Effect) and the six Bach Keyboard Partitas (Centaur Records).
Friday, January 17, 2025
Keffer Memorial Chapel WLU, 7:00 pm
Bach/Busoni: Chaconne in D minor BWV 1004
Hindemith: Sonata No. 3
Scriabin: Sonata No. 5 Opus 53
Chopin: Nocturne Opus 27 No. 2
Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 Opus 31
PROGRAM
Part 2 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 5, 9, 27 and 32 (the final sonata)
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, Part 2
Beethoven's Birthday! 🎈
Monday, December 16, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Ticket Bundle for complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, all 8 concerts, $150
Part 2 of Ms. Taves' Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle: No.s 5, 9, 27 and 32 (the final sonata)
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
PROGRAM
Part 1 of Ms. Taves' complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas: No.s 17 ("Tempest"), 15 ("Pastorale"), 23 ("Appassionata")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
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.
Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, Part 1, including Appassionata
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Registry Theatre, 3:00 pm
Ticket Bundle for complete Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle, all 8 concerts, $150
Part 1 of Ms. Taves' complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas: No.s 17 ("Tempest"), 15 ("Pastorale"), 23 ("Appassionata")
Read all about Heather Taves' Beethoven Sonata project here
PROGRAM
Dvorak: String Quintet, Op. 77
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 ("The Trout")
ARTISTS
Allene Chomyn, Violin A native of Western Canada, Allene Chomyn holds a Bachelor of Music Performance with Distinction from the University of Victoria (2005) and a Master of Music Performance from the University of Toronto (2007). She was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 2007-2023 and was featured as Concertmaster and soloist multiple times.
Allene can be seen performing regularly as Concertmaster of the Spiritus Ensemble and the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, and joining many other ensembles throughout Southern Ontario. One of Allene’s career highlights was being selected from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra (2011) which included a trip to Australia to perform in the Sydney Opera House, and whose performance became the largest live-streaming concert event in YouTube history, with over 30 million streams. Allene lives in Kitchener with her husband, bassist Ian Whitman, their two children, and their cute dog, Spike.
Nora Pellerin, Violin Nora Pellerin completed her Masters in Violin Performance at the University of Ottawa, under the tutelage of David Stewart, and received the Bessie Ewen Scholarship in Orchestral Studies. She got her undergraduate degree at McGill University, studying with Ellen Jewett and Andrew Dawes.
Nora has considerable experience playing with orchestras, including acting as concertmaster for the McGill Symphony Orchestra, University of Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and University of Ottawa Opera Orchestra. She was an apprentice with the Boris Brott National Academy Orchestra for many summers. Today, Nora performs with orchestras throughout Ontario, including those of London, Niagara, Windsor, Kingston and the (now former) Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. She was principal second in the Georgian Bay Symphony for many years, and more recently holds that position with the Peterborough Symphony. In addition, she has participated in several summer music programs, including Domaine Forget in Quebec and the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival.
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.
Cathy Anderson, Cello A native of Guelph, Ontario, Cathy Anderson holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studied cello with Paul Pulford and members of the Penderecki String Quartet. She earned a Master of Music degree at Yale University under the tutelage of Aldo Parisot, where she received regular coachings from members of the Tokyo String Quartet. Cathy has had the opportunity to perform in concert with the St. Lawrence, Penderecki and Borealis String Quartets, and has been heard as a soloist and chamber musician on CBC Radio. Cathy, along with three other members of the KWS, now plays in the Bremen String Quartet which performs frequently in the area and runs the KWS Youth Chamber Program. Before joining the KWS in 2007, Cathy played in the Thunder Bay Symphony and taught the cello studio at Lakehead University. She recently taught a semester at Wilfrid Laurier University, and played for the Drayton Entertainment productions of Evita and Annie.
Beth Ann de Sousa, Piano Pianist Beth Ann de Sousa holds an AMus from Western Ontario Conservatory, BMus from Wilfrid Laurier University and a MMUS from Western University with all degrees in Piano Performance. She is a founding member of the New Art Quartet and has performed frequently with the K-W Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble. An experienced choral accompanist, Beth Ann has worked with numerous conductors including Mario Bernardi, Bernard Labadie, and Robert Shaw. Beth Ann is the accompanist in residence at Laurier, She teaches collaborative piano courses as well as co-ordinating the chamber music program. In addition, Beth Ann maintains a busy performance schedule as an accompanist and chamber musician.
Ian Whitman, Double Bass A native of Edmonton, Ian Whitman was introduced to the bass at age 17 and spent two years studying jazz at Grant MacEwan College. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Music degree at McGill University, where he studied with members of l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Ian completed his Master of Music from Yale University under the tutelage of Donald Palma, founding member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and during this time, made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and Symphony Hall in Boston. After a year at the New England Conservatory, Ian joined the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony as principal bass in 2008.
During his student years, Ian was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, the Banff Festival Orchestra and L'orchestre de la francophonie canadienne.. In 2009 Ian was one of only 5 Canadians chosen to be part of the very first “YouTube Symphony Orchestra,” for which 90 musicians from 27 countries were selected from thousands of entries to perform a concert at Carnegie Hall, under music director Michael Tilson Thomas.
He has performed with multiple Canadian orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. Locally, Ian has appeared as soloist with the KW Symphony and the KW Chamber Orchestra, performed with the Penderecki String Quartet and works regularly with the KW Chamber Music Society in Waterloo and the Inner Chamber Series in Stratford. Since 2012, he has taught at Wilfrid Laurier and is delighted to be on faculty at Conrad Grebel University College.
Rescheduled from Sept 22, 2024.
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Dvorak: String Quintet, Op. 77
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 ("The Trout")
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.
KWCMS 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert & Reception!
Sunday, December 1, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
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
PROGRAM
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3, “Emperor”
Henriette Bosmans (1895-1952): String Quartet (1927)
Soo Yeon Lyuh (b. 1980): Yessori (Sound from the Past)
Robert Schumann: String Quartet Op. 41 No. 1 in A Minor
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.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3, “Emperor”
Henriette Bosmans (1895-1952): String Quartet (1927)
Soo Yeon Lyuh (b. 1980): Yessori (Sound from the Past)
Robert Schumann: String Quartet Op. 41 No. 1 in A Minor
PROGRAM
Exploring the historical ties between France and North America through music, and the mutual influence between 20th century French and North American composers.
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche, Op. 165 (arranged for piano 4-hands by Magdalena Galka)
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Piano Four Hands, FP 8
Germaine Tailleferre: Impromptu
Francis Poulenc: Improvisation No. 7 in C Major, FP 63/7
Claude Debussy: L’isle joyeuse, L. 106
INTERMISSION
Alexina Louie: “Memories from an Ancient Garden”, No. 2 from Scenes from a Jade Terrace
Frederic Rzewski: “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues”, Four North American Ballads No. 4
Samuel Barber: Souvenirs for Four Hands, Op. 28
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.
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche, Op. 165 (arranged for piano 4-hands by Magdalena Galka)
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Piano Four Hands, FP 8
Germaine Tailleferre: Impromptu
Francis Poulenc: Improvisation No. 7 in C Major, FP 63/7
Claude Debussy: L’isle joyeuse, L. 106
Alexina Louie: “Memories from an Ancient Garden”, No. 2 from Scenes from a Jade Terrace
Frederic Rzewski: “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues”, Four North American Ballads No. 4
Samuel Barber: Souvenirs for Four Hands, Op. 28
PROGRAM
Reena Esmail - Varsha (2019),
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite
Fuguing Tune: resolute
Song Form: plaintive
Calvary Ostinato
Perpetual Motion
Benjamin Britten - Suite for Solo Cello No. 1, Op. 72
Canto primo: Sostenuto e largamente
Fuga: Andante moderato
Lamento: Lento rubato
Canto secondo: Sostenuto
Serenata: Allegretto pizzicato
Marcia: Alla marcia moderato
Canto terzo: Sostenuto
Bordone: Moderato quasi recitativo Moto perpetuo e Canto quarto: Presto
---intermission---
Andrea Casarrubios - SEVEN (2020) for solo cello
J.S. Bach - Suite for Solo Cello No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrée I
Bourrée II
Gigue
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.
Sunday, November 17, 2024 This is a new date!
Keffer Memorial Chapel , 7:00 pm
Reena Esmail: Varsha (2019),
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite
Benjamin Britten: Suite for Solo Cello No. 1, Op. 72
Andrea Casarrubios: SEVEN (2020) for solo cello
J.S. Bach: Suite for Solo Cello No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010
PROGRAM
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) - Piano Trio in E-flat Major
Kevin Lau - A Simple Secret
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
Nov 6 - Concert 1
Brahms: Sonata for clarinet and piano Op. 120 No. 1 in F minor
Brahms: Three Intermezzi Op. 117 (piano)
Brahms: Trio for clarinet, cello and piano Op. 114
Nov 7 - Concert 2
Brahms: Sonata for clarinet and piano Op. 120 No. 2 in Eb major
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet Op. 115 (clarinet, string quartet)
Watch James Campbell talk about the Brahms Clarinet Quintet here: https://vimeo.com/769299298
ARTISTS
James Campbell, clarinet A Juno award winner and Order of Canada recipient, James Campbell has been called ‘Canada’s pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist’ by the Toronto Star, ‘a national treasure’ by the CBC, and ‘one of the top half dozen clarinetists in the world today’ by Fanfare Magazine.
James has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in more than 35 countries with over 65 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, London Symphony and Philharmonic, and every major orchestra in Canada. He has collaborated with Glenn Gould and Aaron Copland and toured with over 35 string quartets, including the Guarneri, Amadeus (when he replaced Benny Goodman on a tour of California) and Vermeer. Of his more than 50 recordings, the BBC and The Times UK rated his recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet as the best available. He was named Canada’s Artist of the Year, awarded the Queen’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medal, an Honorary Doctor of Laws, and was recently inducted into the CBC’s Classical Music Hall of Fame.
James has been the Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound, the annual summer Canadian chamber music festival, since 1985 and has programmed over 1500 concerts for the festival. Under his direction, the festival has travelled to England, Japan and the Netherlands, and been the subject of documentaries by BBC Television, CBC Television and TV Ontario.
From 1988-2019, James was a Professor of Music at the famed Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. His former students now occupy positions in orchestras such including Boston Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, and St Louis Symphony, professorships in numerous conservatories worldwide, and Grammy-nominated performers.
James is the subject of numerous features and cover stories in Clarinet Magazine (USA), Clarinet and Sax (UK), Piper Magazine (Japan), and Gramophone, and is featured in the book ‘Clarinet Virtuosi of Today’ by British author and clarinet authority Pamela Weston. James lives in Canada and continues to give concerts and masterclasses worldwide.
Leopoldo Erice, piano Leopoldo Erice is a Spanish pianist born in Madrid who enjoys a performing and teaching career, which has brought him to Europe, the two Americas, Asia, and Africa. He is a faculty member at the University of Ottawa, 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). In 2006, Leopoldo founded the Festival Internacional de Música Clásica de Ribadeo (Spain). Erice has won several prestigious national and international awards, and has made recordings for television and radio programs in Spain, Argentina, Syria, and the USA. Leopoldo studied in his home country at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, in Holland at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, and, as a Fellow of the prestigious “la Caixa” Foundation Fellowship Program (Spain), at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (Bloomington, USA). He holds the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (USA). For more information, please visit www.LeopoldoErice.com.
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.
Presented in collaboration with the WLU Faculty of Music
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, WLU 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student for each of these two concerts; $70 for both concerts
PROGRAM
Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 4
Webern: Langsammer Satz
Beethoven: Op. 59 No. 2
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
Amanda Maier (1853-1894): Sonata in B Minor
Allegro
Andantino
Allegro molto vivace
Luis Ramirez: Iridescence (2024)
Alice Ho: Dark Tales (2023)
César Franck (1822-1890): Sonata for Violin and Piano
Allegretto moderato
Allegro
Recitativo-Fantasia
Allegretto poco mosso
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.
Thursday, October 24, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
Amanda Maier (1853-1894): Sonata in B Minor
Luis Ramirez: Iridescence (2024)
Alice Ho: Dark Tales (2023)
César Franck (1822-1890): Sonata for Violin and Piano
PROGRAM
Mozart: Divertimento K. 563
Janacek: String Quartet No. 1
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
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
The English Folk Song
Music from:
Five Bagatelles Gerald Finzi
Six Studies in English Folk Song Ralph Vaughan Williams
1.Prelude Gerald Finzi
II. Andante sostenuto Ralph Vaughn Williams
III. Forlana Gerald Finzi
IV Lento Ralph Vaughan Williams
V. Allegro Vivace Gerald Finzi
clarinet and piano
L'Isle Joyeuse Claude Debussy
piano solo
Shepherd on the Rock Franz Schubert
soprano, clarinet and piano
Program Notes for Shepherd on the Rock
intermission
Images at Nightfall: Georgian Bay Srul irving Glick
soprano, clarinet and piano
Seven Spanish Popular Songs Manuel fe Falla
1. El paño moruno (The Moorish Cloth)
2. Seguidilla murciana
3. Asturiana
4. Jota
5. Nana
6. Canción
7. Polo
soprano and piano
Pièce en forme de Habanera Maurice Ravel
clarinet and piano
Popular opera arias to be announced from the stage
soprano and piano
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.
Presented in collaboration with the WLU Faculty of Music
PROGRAM
W. A. Mozart: Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola G Major, K. 423
F. Kreisler: Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice for Solo Violin, Op. 6
B. Martinů: Three Madrigals (Duo No. 1) for Violin and Viola, H. 313
F. Schubert: Erlkönig for Violin und Viola
J. Sibelius: Duo for Violin and Viola C Major
P. Hindemith: Sonate for Solo Viola Op. 25 No. 1
J. Halvorsen: Passacaglia for Violin and Viola
ARTISTS
Marie Hasoňová, violin Marie Hasoňová is one of the remarkable young talents of the Czech music scene. She is a successful interpreter of mainly classical music, but she is also educated in the historical interpretation of baroque music, and thanks to her Moravian roots she also has a warm relationship to Czech and Moravian folk music. During her studies at the Prague Con-servatory, the Academy of Performing Arts Prague and at the HSLU Lucerne, she has won prizes in numerous international competitions. She also graduated from the Orchestral Academy of the Czech Philharmony. As a soloist, Marie collabo-rated with many renowned orchestras. She has also performed at prestigious Czech festivals. In 2018-21 she was also a member of Quasi Trio, with which she won prizes in chamber music competitions.
Petr Holman, viola Petr Holman is a founding member of the Zemlinsky Quartet, which has been active on the Czech and international music scene since 1994. The quartet won numerous awards in the inter-national competitions and it released more than 30 CDs. It is also only the fourth ensemble in history to record the complete string quartets by A. Dvořák. In 1998, Petr completed his studies at the department of mathematics in the Charles University. In 2000 he became the winner of the Beethoven's Hradec International Viola Competition, and one year later he graduated from the Prague Conservatory. For seven years, he was a member of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he also appeared as a soloist. At present, in addition to the work with the Zemlinsky Quartet, Petr Holman is also a professor of viola and chamber music at the Prague Conservatory.
PROGRAM
Mozart: Trio in E Major, K.542
Shostakovich: Trio No.1 in C Minor, Op.8
Tchaikovsky: Trio in A Minor, Op.50
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
Benjamin 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.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
Marin Marais: Five Old French Dances
Brahms: Sonata in E-flat, Op. 120, No. 2
Shostakovich: Sonata Op. 147
ARTISTS
Amadi Azikiwe, violist, violinist and conductor, has been heard in recital in major cities throughout the United States, such as New York, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., including an appearance at the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Azikiwe has also been a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center. Abroad, he has performed throughout Israel, Canada, South America, Central America, Nigeria, India, Japan, and Hong Kong.
As a soloist, Mr. Azikiwe has appeared with the Prince George’s Philharmonic, Delaware Symphony, Virginia Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Virginia Beach Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, the City Island Baroque Ensemble of New York, the National Symphony of Ecuador, and at the Costa Rica International Music Festival.
Currently, Mr. Azikiwe is Music Director of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. He is also Community Engagement Director of the Harlem Chamber Players, and a member of the Pressenda Chamber Players.
As an orchestral musician, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and guest principal violist of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Angela Park, piano, needs no introduction to our regular audience. She 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 was a board member of the Stratford Summer Music Festival from 2019-2023, and is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
FEAR AND BEAUTY
Lera Auerbach: Postlude for Violin and Piano
W.A. Mozart: Sonata for Piano and Violin in E-flat, K. 302
Allegro
Rondeau (Andante grazioso)
Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 1
Andante assai
Allegro brusco
Andante
Allegrissimo-Andante assai, come prima
Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon: Ocaso (world premiere)
Camille Saint-Saens: Violin Sonata No. 1
Allegro agitato
Adagio
Allegretto moderato
Allegro molto
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.
Sunday, September 15, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
Pianist Michael Arnowitt, who recently moved to Ontario from Vermont in the United States, will present an engaging program of colourful, diverse, and emotionally moving personal favourites. The feature piece on the program is the last piano sonata Beethoven ever composed, his Sonata no. 32, opus 111, universally considered one of the greatest and most spiritual pieces of piano music ever written, but one you rarely get a chance to hear live. This visionary music leaves the physical world of the piano’s hammers and strings, taking us on inner journeys to sounds Beethoven could not hear in the external world due to his deafness, but could in his own imagination.
Another highlight of the program is two excerpts from Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka, bright and lively music about three puppets coming to life at a country fair. Michael Arnowitt will also perform three of Brahms’ beautiful and bittersweet intermezzos, along with shorter works by Ravel, Bach, Ligeti, a work by the Ontario composer John Kameel Farah that creatively blends the musical style of the Renaissance composer William Byrd with Middle Eastern sounds, and the Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva’s soulful 2019 “Ischia Island.”
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach: Prelude in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2
Johannes Brahms: Intermezzos in B minor Op. 119 no. 1, B-flat minor Op. 117 No. 2, and A major Op. 118 No. 2
Maurice Ravel: Noctuelles, from Miroirs (Night Moths, from Mirrors)
Gyorgy Ligeti: Etude No. 2 “Open Strings” and No. 10 “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
Victoria Poleva: Ischia Island
Igor Stravinsky: Russian Dance and In Petrushka’s Room, scenes from the ballet Petrushka
John Kameel Farah: Kleiner Anfang (Little Beginning)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
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.”
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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 Diderrich, 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
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
M. Ponce: Sonata No. 3
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.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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).
Thursday, July 25, 2024
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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.
Saturday, July 13, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for Strings in A Major, RV.156
Allegro vivo – Andante – Allegro
QuartetFest Secondary School Chamber Orchestra
W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, K.478
Andante
Peppler Quartet
Kaitlynn Cook, violin
Nathan Hilton, viola
Mattthew Bukowski, cello
Madeleine Lambert, piano
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op.105
Lebhaft
Isaac Muth, violin
Beth Ann de Sousa, piano
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
String Quartet No.12 in F Major, Op.96 “American”
Allegro ma non troppo
New World String Quartet
Emily Rak, violin
Antonio Utrera-Paciulan, violin
Myles Schajnoha, viola
Elliot Harvey, cello
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet in C minor, Op.18, No.4
Menuetto: Allegretto
Carruthers String Quartet
Rachel Rotella, violin
Sarah Younussi, violin
Marlon Tong, viola
Thomas Lepage, cello
~INTERMISSION~
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String Quartet in E flat Major, Op.12
Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante
Eulenberg String Quartet
Justin Bian, violin
Brynn Roderick, violin
Jeremy Bell, viola
Maggie Marshman, cello
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Quartet in C minor, Op.51, No.1
Allegro
Tasero String Quartet
Sierra Olsthoorn, violin
Kai Schulz Rousseau, violin
Janine Noorloos, viola
Yvon Arseneault, cello
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Serenade for Strings, Op.22
I – Moderato
IV – Larghetto
V – Finale: Allegro vivace
QuartetFest Academy Chamber Orchestra
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.
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $25/$10 student; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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.
Friday, July 5, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $15/students free; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
Friday, June 28, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $15/students free; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $40/$10 student; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
Maddalena Lombardini - String Quartet No. 2
Andantino
Allegro
Maddalena Lombardini - String Quartet No. 5
Larghetto - Allegro
Minuetto
William Grant Still - Danzas de Panama
Tamborito
Mejorana y Socavon
Punto
Cumbia y Congo
Pēteris Vasks - Fruit of Silence
Elfrida Andrée - String Quartet in D Minor
Allegro
Andante
Allegro grazioso pastorale
Allegro
ARTISTS
Tim Pizzichemi (cello) replaces Justin Kuryes who is on leave, 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.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$10 student; or get a Quartetfest Pass for all 6 concerts for only $90.
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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!
Friday, June 14, 2024
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
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.
Mendelssohn Octet, Schoenberg Sextet, Debussy Danses for harp & strings
KWS Musicians incl Bénédicte Lauzière
Saturday, June 8, 2024
First United Church (Sanctuary), 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
Bach - Goldberg Variations
Intermission
Michael Matthews - Image Fragments (2024)
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 2
ARTIST An outstanding interpreter of J.S. Bach and contemporary composers, pianist Peter Vinograde regularly tours the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Recent seasons featured performances in Nanjing, Rome, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Singapore, Taipei, and Xiamen. More recently, he recorded Arnold Rosner’s Piano Concerto #2 with the London Philharmonic, and gave two recitals at the new Usina Art Center in Buenos Aires. A recent National Gallery recital featured all seven Bach Toccatas.
As a chamber musician, Peter Vinograde has appeared at the Bard, Bargemusic, Caramoor, and Wolftrap Festivals. As a collaborative artist, he toured throughout Asia with violinist Midori, including her Singapore debut, also performing with her at the Cape Cod and Mostly Mozart Festivals.
His numerous distinctions began with first prize in the 1971 J.S. Bach International Competition, followed by a New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall and an N.E.A.-sponsored Lincoln Center recital at Alice Tully Hall. He has been featured on NPR's Performance Today and CBC-TV's the Journal. CDs include releases on the Albany, CBC, Decca and Phoenix labels. His primary teacher was Zenon Fishbein.
In conjunction with his Bach for Pianists class at the Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Vinograde annually presents Bach recital/lectures at conservatories and universities, most recently at C.S.U. Northridge, Juilliard, Oberlin, and Northwestern.
Peter has been a member of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 1982.
"Instantly impressed as a pianist with a big technique, a lively mind, and a passionate commitment to the music." The New York Times (N.Y. Debut) peter vinograde from www.msmnyc.edu
Peter Vinograde, piano
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
You can purchase your SUPERTICKET Pass for the entire 2024-25 season at this concert.
PROGRAM
Franz Schubert - Sonata in A Major, Op. 120 (1825)
I. Allegro Moderato
II. Andante
III. Allegro
Bela Bartok - Out of Doors (1926)
With Drums and Pipes. Pesante
Barcarolla: Andante
Musettes: Moderato
The Night's Music: Lento
The Chase: Presto
Intermission
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Four Preludes (1903-10)
Andante, Op. 23 No. 6 in E-flat Major
Allegretto, Op. 32 No. 2 in B-flat Minor
Allegro Vivace, Op. 23 No. 8 in A flat Major
Allegro Vivace, Op. 23 No. 7 in C Minor
Claude Debussy - Images, Book II (1907)
Cloches à travers les feuilles (Bells heard through the leaves)
Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (And the moon descends on the temple that once was)
Poissons d'or (Goldfish)
ARTIST
Pianist Mark Valenti received his Master of Music from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music from the Philadelphia Musical Academy. He has studied with such notable teachers as Benjamin Whitten, Zoltan Kocsis, and Mary Sauer. In addition to giving solo recitals in cities throughout the U.S., Mr. Valenti has performed in France, Belgium, Hungary, and Luxembourg as well as for former First Lady Barbara Bush in Washington, D.C.
Mark Valenti has performed in recital live on WFMT classical radio. He has also done extensive work in the Jazz field including performances with Gregory Hines, Frank Foster, and Al Grey and has appeared on television with Joe Sudler’s Swing Machine and singer/actor Christopher Durham.
Formerly a Professor of Music at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Xavier University in Chicago, and the Loire Valley Music Institute in France, Mr. Valenti currently teaches at his studio in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago and is available for lessons for all levels and all styles.
Here are two appreciations of Mark’s playing:
Thursday, May 30, 2024
PROGRAM
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 1 No. 1
Charlotte Bray - That Crazed Smile (for piano trio, 2014)
Schubert - Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99
ARTISTS
Ken Gee is a Classical pianist born in Hamilton but now a longtime resident of Guelph. He studied music at McMaster University, where he was awarded the McMaster Medal for the Creative and Performing Arts, and piano in Toronto with Boris Berlin. Ken was a music critic for the Hamilton Spectator, manager for chamber music series and Ensemble Sir Ernest MacMillan, co-director of the Hamilton Kiwanis Music Festival, and a teacher at McMaster University, Sheridan College and Mohawk College. He developed classical piano music software for PG Music Inc., Victoria, and engraves music for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Ken has performed an impressive amount of string and piano chamber music, especially repertoire for violin & piano, cello & piano, and piano trio, quartet and quintet. He has also given many concerto performances with various orchestras (including Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bloch, and the Canadian premiere of the Yellow River Concerto), as well as solo piano recitals.
He is the pianist for Suzuki String School of Guelph, and Suzuki summer Institutes in Waterloo and Montreal. Ken has also been a piano adjudicator, private teacher and chamber music coach. He is on the board of the Guelph Youth Music Centre (former chair) and the Kiwanis Music Festival of Guelph. In 2008, he was the recipient of a City of Guelph Mayor’s Award. Ken is married to violinist wife, Paule Barsalou (teacher and teacher trainer at the Suzuki String School of Guelph and Laurier).
Ken created and continues to be the sole organizer of Guelph Musicfest, a chamber music festival at the GYMC, celebrating its 18th season in 2024. Select Guelph Musicfest concerts are now repeated in Waterloo, Hamilton, Owen Sound and Blue Mountain.
Sadie Fields This Canadian/British (and Brussels-based) violinist enjoys a diverse career as soloist, chamber musician, collaborator, and researcher. Sadie discovered the violin at the age of seven when her primary school went to see the famous Axelrod collection of Stradivarius violins. After she heard these Strads being played, she was hooked, and persuaded her mother to let her start lessons. She started performing at a young age. Sadie performs regularly throughout Europe and North America, and her concerts also bring her further afield, including to the Middle East, Asia, and New Zealand. Sadie has long been passionate about chamber music, and was the founding leader of the Castalian Quartet and violinist of Trio Khnopff. She is also the founding violinist of the Festival Trio (Canada) and the Belgium-based Flash Ensemble, a flexible chamber ensemble with a string trio as its core. Sadie plays in recital with a number of fine pianists, and has recently formed a duo with Italian accordionist Luca Piovesan. Sadie was a member of the Swedish ensemble Camerata Nordica for ten years, and she currently performs regularly with the New European Ensemble (Netherlands) and many other ensembles in Europe.
As a recording artist, Sadie’s most recent disc was released in June 2023—Flash Ensemble’s pioneering recording of the complete string trios by Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha (Pavane Records). Her recording, Weinberg – 1945, by Trio Khnopff (Pavane Records), has met with great critical acclaim in Europe and North America, and was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Chamber Disc of the Month’ for January 2020. Sadie has recorded extensively for BIS Records with Camerata Nordica, and has released two discs with Champs Hill Records. The first, a disc of Mendelssohn chamber music, was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s Editor’s Choice and Chamber Disc of the Month, and was also Chamber Music Disc of the Quarter by the German Record Critics’ Award Association. Sadie’s second disc for Champs Hill is the complete Brahms Sonatas with pianist Jeremy Young, released to widespread critical acclaim. Sadie also broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio New Zealand, NDR (Germany), Swedish radio, Klara (Belgium), Musiq’3 (Belgium), and NPO Radio 4 (Netherlands), and many others.
Sadie holds a PhD from the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her practice-led doctoral research addresses practical and philosophical ideas associated with the concepts of learning and ‘tradition’, focusing on her own engagement with Bartók’s violin works. Sadie has won awards from over twenty UK and international associations and competitions, and was a Leverhulme Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music and the Edison Visiting Fellow at the British Library.
Principal teachers include György Pauk, Yair Kless, and Atis Bankas, and Sadie has also been guided and mentored by Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, and Ferenc Rados. As a teacher herself, Sadie teaches violin and chamber music, she taught at King's College London, and she gives masterclasses at conservatoires and universities in China, Canada, and the UK. Sadie plays on a very fine violin by Gioffredo Cappa, made in Italy in 1687.
Paul Pulford studied with American cellist George Neikrug and with Scottish cellists Peggie Sampson and Joan Dickson. He has played in the BBC Scottish Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Austin (Texas) Symphony, and was principal cellist of the Toronto Chamber Players and Irish Pro Musica Ensemble. As a soloist he has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Banff Festival Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, RTE (Ireland) Symphony, and the Irish Pro Musica Ensemble. He has performed extensively as a recitalist and has recorded the complete Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with fortepianist Boyd McDonald.
Paul Pulford has spent the majority of his years as a cellist in chamber ensembles that include: Penderecki, Orford, Brunswick and University of Alberta String Quartets; the Galliard Ensemble; new music groups Blue Rider Ensemble, ARRAY New Music and NUMUS Ensemble.
As a conductor Paul Pulford co-ordinates the orchestral program at Wilfrid Laurier and has appeared as a guest conductor with Symphony New Brunswick, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Mississauga and Georgian Symphonies and is Resident Conductor of the NUMUS Ensemble. He has also been conductor of the New Brunswick and KW Symphony Youth Orchestras and conducted the premiere of Tim Brady's opera, The Salome Dancer.
Paul retired from the music faculty of Wilfrid Laurier University, moving from Waterloo to his former "summer home" in Long Reach, NB. Sadie & Ken are thrilled that he is able to return for our Festival Trio.
NOTES
The program pairs two of the greatest trios every written—the invigorating Beethoven Trio no. 1 in E-flat and the sublime Schubert Trio no. 1 in B flat, paired with mesmerizing and magical trios by British composer Charlotte Bray.
Charlotte Bray is one of the most esteemed and in-demand composers of her generation. Exhibiting uninhibited ambition and desire to communicate, her music is exhilarating, inherently vivid, and richly expressive with lyrical intensity. Championed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Aurora Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, her music has been performed at festivals in Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Tanglewood, Aix-en-Provence and Verbier and with renowned conductors including Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Sakari Oramo, Oliver Knussen, Jessica Cottis, Daniel Harding, Duncan Ward, and Karina Canellakis.
Guelph Festival Trio
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University (corner of Albert St and Bricker Ave), 7:00 pm
PROGRAM
Schubert: Fantasie in F minor for piano four hands
Clara Schumann: March in E flat
Intermission
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
(Four-hands version. All of Brahms’ symphonies were composed originally for four-hands piano, then orchestrated. They make a fascinating comparison!)
ARTISTS
KWCMS regulars know ( and love!) pianist Angela Park, who is our “workhorse”, playing usually several times a year in various of our concerts. But you may not know her partner Stephane Sylvestre, who is “One of Canada's most praised and sought-after chamber musician, Mr. Sylvestre has collaborated with world renowned musicians and ensembles such as James Campbell, James Sommerville, Ransom Wilson, Martin Beaver, Rivka Golani, Alain Trudel, Andrew Dawes, Corey Cerovsek, Susan Hoeppner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Penderecki String Quartet, the New Zealand Quartet, the Alcan Quartet, Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc, the New Orford String Quartet and first chairs of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra....” You get the idea! He has been Associate Professor of Music at Western University since 2005.
Notes: Eduard Hanslick, acting as one of the page-turners, exclaimed on hearing the first movement at this performance: "For this whole movement I had the feeling that I was being given a beating by two incredibly intelligent people.” I’m sure that many in this audience will sympathize with Hanslick’s reaction! It’s a powerhouse structure, requiring (and rewarding) the most careful listening. Its first movement is famous for its structure of falling thirds and ascending fourths - and then vice versa! You will surely be as fascinated by this structure was was the first audience.
Next comes its not-very-slow slow movement. Its slow movement, Andante Moderato - which I can’t help comparing to the slow movement of Beethoven’s Seventh - is written in the Phrygian mode in E Major [think E-F-G-A-B-C-D] - all that counts here for those who don’t know is that this is the darkest of the seven “modes” - like the whole of this very dark symphony.
We then have the only true scherzo in all of Brahms’ symphonies. It is a positively riveting movement. The movement is in 2/4 instead of 3/4 and has no Trio section in the middle, and yet it is for sure a Scherzo! The orchestral version, of coourse, has the advantage of contrasting instrumental forces, and it will be interesting to see whether the piano version predicts those....!
Finally the colossal finale of this amazing work, a passacaglia. based on a theme of Bach (from the closing movement of Cantata no. 150) - thirty variations (like the Goldberg Variations or the Chaconne of Bach) but followed by a huge coda, in which we have “material from the variations with intermittent quasi-variations.” This rather trechnical description gives little idea of the power of this movement.
Interestingly, some authorities [sorry, I forget just who] have suggested that Brahms’ Fourth was written as a sort of epitaph to The Symphony, which he thought a doomed species. In that, fortunately, he was wrong as the form has continued to flourish. But - what a statement if that was the idea!
Angela Park and Stéphan Sylvestre, Brahms 4th Symphony for piano 4-hands
ARTISTS - Merkwürdig Trio
David Vanbiesbrouck, oboe David Vanbiesbrouck is an active orchestral free-lancer and lover of all things oboe. He lives in Guelph where he plays principal oboe with the Guelph Symphony, and owns and operates Oboerific Reeds. David is an alumnus of Wilfrid Laurier University where he studied with Jim Mason and Graham Mackenzie. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, foraging wild edibles and fungi, and curating his large collection of orchids.
Judith Souman, viola Judith Souman holds a MMus in viola performance from Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam and a BMus in viola performance and music history from WLU. Judith has been active as a solo, chamber and orchestral performer in Canada and the Netherlands; currently based in Kitchener, she played frequently with the KW Symphony. She has taught master classes at Laurier and maintains a busy teaching schedule at the Laurier Academy of Music and Art.
Beth Ann de Sousa, piano Based at Wilfrid Laurier University for more than 45 years, Beth Ann de Sousa has coached and accompanied countless instrumentalists, singers, chamber groups and choirs. She has taught courses in Musical Skills and Accompanying, was a founding member of the New Art Quartet and performed frequently with the KW Symphony. She holds Associate, Bachelor and Masters degrees in piano performance.
PROGRAM
Trio in Bb Major, op. 11 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro con Brio
II. Adagio
III. Theme and Variations
Schilflieder (Reed Songs), op. 27 by August Klughardt (1847-1902)
I. Langsam, träumerisch (slow, dreamlike)
II. Leidenschaftlich erregt (with passion, excitement)
III. Zart, in ruhiger Bewegung (delicate, quietly moving)
IV. Feurig (fiery)
V. Sehr ruhig (very calm)
-----INTERMISSION-----
Romances op. 22, III: Leidenschaftlich schnell (passionately fast) by Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
from Märchenbilder op. 113. , I: Nicht Schnell (not fast) by Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Two Rhapsodies for viola, oboe and piano, by Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935)
I. L'Etang (the pond)
II. La Cornemuse (the bagpipe)
The Klughardt and Loeffler works are based on the following poems:
Schilflieder (Songs of the Reeds)
Poems by Nikolaus Lenau
1 Over there the sun is setting,
weary day sinks into sleep
and the willows hang down low
to the pond, so calm so deep.
And my love is lost forever,
flow, oh tears, which no one heeds,
sad the wind through willows rustles,
weaving through the shivering reeds.
In the depth of desolation
you shine brightly from afar,
while through reeds and rushes brightly
shines the gentle evening star.
2 Waning light, the clouds are scurrying
and the rain falls like a stone,
and the noisy winds cry sadly:
“Pond, where has your starlight flown?”
Seeking the light, extinguished
in the depths, whipped by the storm.
Never more your love will smile
on my heart’s profoundest gloom!
3 Oft on secret forest paths
I creep in the evening glow
to the lonely banks of rushes,
darling girl, and think of you.
When the shrubs begin to darken
the reeds tell of mysteries deep,
and a plaintive, whispering voice
tells me I must weep, must weep.
And I fancy I can hear
the gentle music of your voice
while your charming song is sinking
into the pond without a trace.
4 The sun has gone down;
black clouds are drifting,
sultry and anxious
all the winds are fleeing!
Furiously across the sky
pallid lightning sears
and her transient image
in the pond appears.
In the stormy light
I seem to see your form
and your loosened hair
blowing in the storm!
5 Motionless upon the pond
lies the moonlight’s gentle glow,
weaving her pallid roses
into the reed’s green wreath below.
Stags, roving on the hills,
look up into the night,
sometimes the dreaming birds
stir in the depths of the reeds.
I drop my tearful gaze;
my soul is pierced to the core
by sweet memories of you,
like a quiet evening prayer.
Translation by Gery Bramall
Two rhapsodies:
poems by Maurice Rollinat
THE POND
Full of old fish, blind-stricken long ago, the pond, under a near sky rumbling dull
thunder, bares between centuries-old rushes the splashing horror of its gloom.
Over yonder, goblins light up more than one marsh that is black, sinister,
unbearable; but the pond is revealed in this lonely place only by the croakings of
consumptive frogs.
Now the moon, piercing at this very moment, seems to look here at herself
fantastically; as though, one might say, to see her spectral face, her flat nose,
the strange vacuity of teeth — a death’s-head lighted from within, about to peer
into a dull mirror.
THE BAGPIPE
His bagpipe groaned in the woods as the wind that belleth; and never has stag at
bay, nor willow, nor oar, wept as that voice wept.
Those sounds of flute and hautboy seemed like the death-rattle of a woman.
Oh! his bagpipe, near the cross-roads of the crucifix!
He is dead. But under cold skies, as soon as night weaves her mesh, down deep
in my soul, there in the nook of old fears, I always hear his bagpipe groaning as
of yore.
Translation by Philip Hale
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 pm
$20/$10 student
PROGRAM
J. C. Bach: Sonata in F major
Debussy: Prelude à l’après-midi d’un faune (arr. Ravel)
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances op. 72 No. 6, op 46 No. 8
Intermission
Brahms: Symphony No. 3
(Four-hands version. All of Brahms’ symphonies were composed originally for four-hands piano, then orchestrated. They make a fascinating comparison!)
Note: The duo presents the final symphony, Symphony No. 4, on May 15
ARTISTS
KWCMS regulars know ( and love!) pianist Angela Park, who is our “workhorse”, playing usually several times a year in various of our concerts. But you may not know her partner Stephane Sylvestre, who is “One of Canada's most praised and sought-after chamber musician, Mr. Sylvestre has collaborated with world renowned musicians and ensembles such as James Campbell, James Sommerville, Ransom Wilson, Martin Beaver, Rivka Golani, Alain Trudel, Andrew Dawes, Corey Cerovsek, Susan Hoeppner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Penderecki String Quartet, the New Zealand Quartet, the Alcan Quartet, Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc, the New Orford String Quartet and first chairs of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra....” You get the idea! He has been Associate Professor of Music at Western University since 2005.
More about Brahms' Symphony No. 3 As befits a composer of Brahms’ stature, he wrote just one in each of four distinct styles and subject matters. We might loosely identify each with a season: No. 1 for perhaps winter; no. 2 with spring; no. 3 with (late) summer or early autumn; and no. 4 with late autumn, which in this part of Canada means drear and cold with perhaps a bit of snow. But no. 3? Ah, surely those late-summer days with a suggestion of autumn, or early autumn days with their strong tincture of a disappearing summer!
No. 3’s famous opening movement is introduced with a powerful theme, suggestive of a strong autumn wind. The development and commentary on this theme makes for wonderful music! “In addition to the passionate turbulence so common in Brahms’ works, there is a gentle intimacy to this symphony, whose four movements all end softly. The most striking unifying aspect is the three note “motto” F, A-flat, F, which opens the work and reappears throughout. This motive was something of an inside joke for Brahms, a response to his friend violinist Joseph Joachim’s musical motto FAE standing for “Frei aber einsam.”
The tension between the major and minor modes is one of the primary drivers of the symphony, with A natural and A-flat juxtaposed constantly, as they are in the first three chords.
The second movement has the character of a wind serenade with an austere second theme that returns again in the last movement. Clara Schumann described the delicately melancholy third movement as “a pearl, but it is a grey one dipped in a tear of woe.”
The unsettled turbulence of the last movement is resolved in the coda, with the return to F major and the gentle echo of the end of the first movement.(free but lonely)” [from a Princeton Symphony note, author Nell Flanders, assistant conductor.]
Angela Park and Stéphan Sylvestre, Brahms 3rd Symphony for piano 4-hands
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
$30/$10 student
PROGRAM
A Mystical Evening: Music for violin and harp
Saint Saens' Fantaisie for violin and harp
Canadian composer Caroline Lizotte: New Piece: Partita, Opus 52
Arvo Pärt -Spiegel im Spiegel
Astor Piazzola: Café 1930
R. Murray Schafer: Wild Bird
ARTISTS
Lori Gemmell, Harp
Lori Gemmell was the principalharpist with the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 1999-2020.Before joining the KWS she played with Orchestra London and with the Calgary Phillharmonic Orchestra. She received her Masters degree from the University of Toronto where she studied with eminent harpist, Judy Loman. Lori also studied with Catherine Michel in Paris, France and Alice Chalifoux in Camden, Maine.Lori has been a regular at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. She has also been featured at Les Concerts aux Iles du Bic near Rimouski, The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit, The Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario, The Indian River Festival in P.E.I and the Festival International du Domaine Forget. Lori performed with LeNEM, a contemporary chamber group in Montreal with whom she toured through Europe and Japan. She has given solo concerto performances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Orchestra London, among others.Canadian Composers have long valued her passion and dedication to their music. Over the years she has worked closely with Srul Irving Glick, John Weinzweig, Alexina Louie, Glenn Buhr, Marjan Mozetich, Jeff Ryan, Andy Creeggan,Kevin Foxand now Caroline Lizotte. Her long association with R. Murray Schafer resulted in her recording of The Crown of Ariadnein 2010, after which Schafer wrote Four Songs for Harp and Mezzo-Sopranofor Lori and his wife, Eleanor James. In April2023, Lori premiereda new work by RihoMaimets, Ecdysis, for harp, piccolo and orchestra with Kaili Maimets and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.With her husband, Tom Allen, Lori enjoys creating musicand storytelling shows. They have co-produced programs based on music by R. Murray Schafer, Marjan Mozetich, Alexina Louie, as well asBohemians in Brooklyn, The Judgment of Paris, andFrom Weimar to Vaudevilleall surprise hits at the Global Cabaret Festival at the Young Centre in Toronto. Their have toured all over Canada with theirshowcalled The Missing Pages-The Canadian Who Met Beethoven.Their latest show, J.S. Bach’sLong Walk in the Snow, is touring through Canada this year.Their Covid project was a feature film called The Last Curlew, which is showing in theatres in Ontario and Quebec as well as online on Vimeo.Lori teaches harp and chamber music at Wilfred Laurier University,where she enjoysexploring improvisationwith her harp class, and in the summers at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.In 2002, Lori released her first solo recording, Prelude,in 2009, a harp duo recording with Jennifer Swartz, The Garden of Peacocks,on the Atma label, in 2010, Divertissement, with trumpeter Larry Larson, and in 2011 a solo recording, Canadian Music for Harp. Shealso played on the Grammy-nominated recording The Reminderby Feist and in 2013 on Bohemiansin Brooklynwith Patricia O'Callaghan and Bryce Kulak.
Sheila Jaffé was born into a family of musicians and was fascinated by classical music from a young age. Born in Montreal and raised in South Florida, she returned to her native Quebec at the age of thirteen to live and study with her second cousin Catherine Dallaire, concertmaster of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and professor of violin at the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec. After completing high school as part of the arts intensive program at l'École Secondaire Pierre-Laporte in Montreal, Sheila completed her Bachelor's degree in violin performance at the Université de Montréal. Over the course of her years in Montreal, it became clear that chamber music and orchestral playing were at the core of her musical passions. She co-founded the Alaya String Quartet, performed in numerous chamber music concerts in the city, and kept herself impossibly busy with every kind of ensemble she could put together. In the summers, she participated in orchestral, chamber music and masterclass festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein Orchester, Domaine Forget, International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Orford Arts Centre, Aurora Music in Sweden, and several others. Sheila continued her studies in Berlin, Germany with a Master's program at the Hanns Eisler Hochschüle für Musik, during which she also was accepted into the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Akademie for a one-year position. During this time she also co-founded the Alondra String Quartet, who were invited to the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove as well as the Toronto Summer Music festival. The members of this quartet are now in leading orchestras around the world. In 2013, at the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Alberta, Canada, she co-founded the Rosebud String Quartet (RSQ), with whom she currently performs regularly. In 2015, Sheila joined the Canadian Opera Company as a violist while continuing to nurture her love of chamber music on the violin by performing with various ensembles in Toronto, as well as her quartet and the occasional recital with her husband, pianist Peter Longworth. She has also recently been appointed as principal viola of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. Sheila Jaffé plays on a Francesco Gobetti (1710-15) violin and Raymond Schryer (2001) viola on generous loan from Canimex.
Lori Gemmel (harp), Sheila Jaffe (violin/viola)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
$30/$10 student
PROGRAM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Pavane pour une infante défunte
Nicolai Medtner (1880-1951): 6 Skazki, Op. 51
Intermission
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1878-1943): Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
George Gershwin (1898-1937)/Earl Wild (1915-2010): “Somebody Loves Me”, “The Man I Love”, “Embraceable You”, “I Got Rhythm”
Nicolai Medtner was a younger contemporary of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, and it is only in the last several decades that his music has emerged from their shadow. His compositions include 14 piano sonatas, 3 piano concertos, 3 violin-piano sonatas, a piano quintet, and more than 100 songs. Some of his most appealing compositions are the dozens of piano pieces called Forgotten Melodies (1919-22) and Skazki (literally tales or legends, but usually called Fairy Tales in English, apparently at the suggestion of Medtner's wife, Anna.) The Six Skazki on this program are representative.
A charming biography of Nikolai Medtner appears in a website with the irresistible name Dr. Estrella’s Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
https://stevenestrella.com/composers/composerfiles/medtner1951.html
Rachmaninoff: the theme is La Folia, not by Corelli although he is one of the more than 150 composers who have made use of it over the years. The first publication of La Folia dates from the mid-1500s, but it is likely much older. Rachmaninoff dashed off these variations at his holiday home in Switzerland in 1931. He tells a hilarious story about his own performances of the work in the Wikipedia article Rachmaninoff.
In 1931 President Herbert Hoover invited the 16-year-old pianist Earl Wild to play at the White House, and the next five presidents (FDR, HST, DDE, JFK, and LBJ) all renewed the invitation. He created numerous virtuoso piano transcriptions, including 14 songs by Rachmaninoff (1981). His best-known works are the Gershwin transcriptions, culminating in two sets of Virtuoso Etudes after Gershwin (1954, 1973) and a set of variations on Someone to Watch Over Me (1989). YouTube has some videos with Earl Wild playing Gershwin/Wild.
ARTIST
Jui-Sheng has completed his Doctorate at McGill (but his home country is Taiwan) and his career has already begun.
“The young pianist Jui-Sheng Li is a mature, thoughtful,and intelligent musician, with a powerful technique, and amazing skill at learning scores very quickly! He is more than ready to perform solo or chamber repertoire on any professional concert series.” Jane Coop, C.M., O.B.C.
“Jui-Sheng plays with a sincerity and thoughtfulness that leads to an uncomplicated but passionate performance.”Burt Wathen, Artistic Director of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance
“[A] musician of integrity and depth...One looks forward to hearing more from this young artist.” Rorianne Schrade, The New York Concert Review
Saturday, April 20, 2024
First United Church, Waterloo, 7:00 pm (NOT Keffer Hall)
$20/$10 student
PROGRAM
Schubert, Rondo in A Major, D. 951
Bizet, Jeux d’Enfants, Op. 22
I. L’Escarpolette : Rêverie
II. La Toupie : Impromptu
III. La Poupèe : Berceuse
IV. Les Chevaux de bois : Scherzo
V. La Volant : Fantaisie
VI. Trompette et Tambour : Marche
VII. Les Bulles de Savon : Rondino
VIII. Les quatre coins: Esquisse
IX. Colin-Maillard : Nocturne
X. Saute-Mouton : Caprice
XI. Petite mari, petite femme . . .Duo
XII. Le Bal : Galop
Debussy, Petite Suite
I. En Bateau
II. Cortège
III. Menuet
IV. Ballet
Vincent Ho, Dr. Octopus
Schubert, F Minor Fantasy
ARTISTS
“The powerhouse piano duo of Elaine Lau and Joseph Ferretti (performed) Lucien Garban’s transcription of Ravel’s La valse . . . brilliantly and dramatically played . . .” (Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association)
“Your performance was both poetic and scintillating” (Jack Behrens, composer)
Pianists Elaine Lau and Joseph Ferretti have performed as a duo across North America. Their interest spans well beyond the standard canon, resulting in their continual participation in a wide variety of projects and performances. They have held an artist residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, premièred Linda Catlin Smith’s “Velvet” for two pianos, as well as collaborated with Canada’s electronics and voice duo, Sbot n Wo; their recording of music by Jack Behrens is featured on an album recently released by Capstone Records.
They have performed together on such series as the Glenn Gould School, the Banff Centre for the Arts, McMaster University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Festival, Mercyhurst College, Mount Allison University and Wilfrid Laurier University, where they have both served on the piano faculty since 2003. In 2009, the duo was invited to perform in a tribute concert to the late Canadian composer Mary Gardiner, as well as to collaborate with video artist Kenny Doren in an installation at the YYZ Gallery. During the 2011-2012 season, they were featured soloists in the NUMUS Contemporary Concerti concert. For more, see https://www.elainelau.ca/ferretti-lau-piano-duo/
Sunday, April 7, 2024
CHANGED! Now at First United Church, Waterloo, 3:00 pm
$30/$10 student
PROGRAM
Brahms: String Sextet No.1 in B-flat major, arranged for piano trio by Theodore Kirchner.
I: Allegro ma non troppo
II: Andante, ma moderato
III: Scherzo: Allegro molto
IV: Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
intermission
Hisato Ohzawa: Piano Trio (1932), unpublished
I: Largo: Adagio grave
II: Adagio non tanto
III: Rondo: Allegro agitato
ARTISTS
Eri Hattori-Kosaka, Principal second violin, Toronto Symphony
Rachel Mercer, principal cellist, NACO Leana Rutt, Associate Principal cellist of the Canadian Opera Company and Principal cellist of the Hamilton Philharmonic.
Tomoko Inui, piano - Professor of the Pre-Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal
This project originated in Japan. The originally scheduled musicians are all related to Japan (Leana Rutt is substituting for Rachel Mercer, who is ill) and were able to acquire the original partitions of Hisato Ohzawa from Kobe University. The composer Hisato Ohzawa was called the next Ravel while in Boston and he moved to Paris to continue his career. Unfortunately the war stopped him from staying abroad therefore the piano trio was never published.
Eri Hattori Kosaka joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and became Principal Second Violin in 2022. Prior to her current position, Ms. Kosaka was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for two seasons and a violin fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, where she was a rotating Concertmaster.
Growing up in Tokyo, Japan, Ms. Kosaka started playing the violin at age six and took lessons with Akiko Tatsumi, with whom she studied with for more than 10 years. While she lived in San Diego, she studied with Michael Tseitlin. After graduating from Toho High School of Music and Toho Gakuen College of Music in Japan, she was awarded a scholarship from the Yamaha Foundation to study abroad. Ms. Kosaka graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. She has participated in festivals and music academies across the U.S., Japan, and Europe, including the Aspen Music Festival and Sarasota Music Festival in the U.S., Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, Salzburg Music Academy in Austria, and Courchevel International Music Academy in France. As a soloist, she has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, and Central Aichi Orchestra, and has won awards at the Japan Mozart Competition, New Classic Audition in Japan, and the All Japan Student Music Competition.
Rachel Mercer, cello
COVID has hit Team Japan! But fear not! Rachel has handpicked a sensational substitute - cellist Leana Rutt. Get well soon, Rachel, and welcome, Leana!
Leana Rutt, cello
Born and raised in London, Ontario, Leana Rutt was appointed assistant principal cellist of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 2013. A graduate of the Juilliard School and of McGill University, Leana has performed in halls across North America and Europe from Carnegie to the Concertgebouw.
Leana has devoted much of her musical career to chamber music. She has made appearances with the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, the St. Boniface Cathedral Grand Concert Series, Virtuosi Concerts, and Stereo Live Toronto. As a member of the Uccello ensemble she gave performances on NPR’s From the Top and at the 2011 South by Southwest festival, and their Grammy-nominated album Meeting of the Spirits was heard on over 100 radio stations across North America.
With a particular interest in new music Leana has given numerous premieres in concert with Groundswell, in Lucerne alongside members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and with the contemporary music ensembles of Juilliard and McGill.
Leana has been a participant in the festivals of Lucerne, Aldeburgh, Sarasota, Banff, and le Domaine Forget, as well as the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival. She has performed in masterclasses for cellists including Frans Helmerson, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Raphael Wallfisch, and has received instruction from members of the Alban Berg, Guarneri, and London Haydn quartets.
Leana started on cello at the age of six with Terry Sefton. She continued her studies with Paul Pulford, Matt Haimovitz and Timothy Eddy.
Tomoko Inui, piano
After having lived in many cities around the world, she came to Montreal in 2003 from Alaska to study with Prof. Kyoko Hashimoto at McGill University. In 2004, she was given the Bruneau Prize from McGill for her exceptional solo recital. She has been actively playing solo and chamber music concerts regularly in the Montreal area, including through the Access Montreal City Culture Program since 2006. She is an affiliated professor at conservatoire de musique de montreal and has worked as an official accompanist at Queens University, an organist at Eglise Saint Arsene, and a pianist for the Montreal West Operatic Society.
Tomoko is an avid chamber musician, having performed with the Alexander String Quartet in Florence, Italy (2008), cellists Laurentieu Sbarcea and Valentin Scharff, and violist Marcus Thompson. Her concert appearances include the International Music Festival and Workshop in both the Czech Republic (2003) and Germany (2010, 2011, and 2012). Summer in 2014&2015, she worked for the FriedensKonzert in Liesing, Austria. She has done the recording projects of music by Mozart, Chopin, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff with the recording engineer Meining Cheung (2008 and 2013). She does not hesitate to propose unconventional projects, for example playing in free-improvisation concerts in Montreal, and as part of the Journées de la culture – the concert in which the audience produced sketches during the performance.
She has a Licentiate and Master's degree in piano solo performance from McGill University, and also holds a PhD and previously worked in the field of physical oceanography for many years.
Composer: Hisato Ohzawa (大澤壽人)
One of the foremost Japanese composers of the first half of the twentieth century, he grew up in Kobe, studying piano, organ and choral singing. He moved to the United States in 1930 to study composition with Frederick Converse and Carl McKinley at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music, also taking some lessons with Arnold Schoenberg. It was in America that his early works were composed: The Little Symphony, his First Piano Concerto, his First Symphony, and a Double Bass Concerto (dedicated to Koussevitzky). He was the first Japanese musician who conducted Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1934 he moved to Paris and continued his studies, composing his Second Symphony and his Second Piano Concerto.
He returned to Japan in 1936, where his works were met with mixed reactions, being technically too difficult for Japanese orchestras of the time, and being in a fairly modern style. Due to the increasing international tension of the time, he was less and less able to travel, struggling to make a living as a composer. The Third Symphony (named "The Symphony of the Founding of Japan" and dedicated to the then-current Emperor, Hirohito) was composed in 1936, with the Third Piano Concerto following in 1938 (named "Kamikaze," after the popular civil aircraft, sponsored by the Asahi Newspaper). In 1940 he wrote two cantatas to celebrate the 2600th year of the Emperor. He also wrote musicals and film music.
After the Second World War, Ohzawa taught at the Kobe College (Kobe Jogakuin Daigaku 神戸女学院大学). He composed light music, jazzy concertos for saxophone and trumpet, created an orchestra, and hosted his own radio show featuring the orchestra, which featured popular classics, as well as more modern works by such composers as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. He aimed to write a Fourth Symphony, but was stopped by his death, leaving only the title page.
(see Program and Artist Info above for cellist change)
Thursday, March 28, 2024
First United Church, 7:00 p.m.
$35/$20
PROGRAM
Haydn: Sonata, TBA
Constantine Caravassilis (Canadian composer): TBA
Ravel: Suite from ballet “Daphnis and Chloe”
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in c minor
ARTISTS
Alexander Tselyakov, piano
Daniel Tselyakov, piano
Jerzy Kaplanek, violin
Katie Schlakjer, cello
Alexander Tselyakov 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).
Active as a chamber musician, Tselyakov collaborates with many leading Canadian musicians and is Artistic Director of the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival, BC and of the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival, MB, Canada.
Alexander Tselyakov lives in Brandon, Manitoba where he has held a full-time position as Professor of Piano at Brandon University since 2003.
Daniel Tselyakov Daniel Tselyakov has garnered acclaim for the sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, as well as the rare emotional intensity, bold energy, and virtuosity that he brings to his performances. His musical journey began within a family deeply rooted in music, as he started his piano studies at the age of five under the guidance of his father, the renowned Canadian pianist Alexander Tselyakov. Additionally, he received instruction from Aster Lai and his mother, Alla Turbanova.
His prodigious talent became evident when he completed his Royal Conservatory of Music First Exam for Grade 8 with exceptional results at the tender age of eight.
Continuing his musical journey at Brandon University’s School of Music, Daniel’s dedication and talent flourished under the guidance of Dr. Michael Kim. His pursuit of musical excellence led him to complete a Bachelor of Music degree at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Angela Cheng. Subsequently, he achieved a Master of Music degree at the Université de Montréal under the tutelage of Jimmy Brière. Daniel’s unwavering commitment to music and his exceptional talent propelled him to earn a Doctoral degree in Piano and Musicology under the mentorship of Dr. Ning Lu at the University of Utah, USA, where he also imparted his expertise by teaching piano keyboard courses.
Daniel’s journey has been adorned with numerous high-profile scholarships, trophies, awards, and competition wins. Noteworthy among these are the MRMTA National Competition, Winnipeg Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Award, McLellan Orchestra Competition with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Award, Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Best Performance Competition, National Canadian Music Competition, Livorno International Piano Competition (Italy), MTNA National (USA) Piano Competition, Utah Music Teachers Association Piano Concerto/Orchestra Competition, Utah MTNA Competition Artist Performance, and the San Jose International Piano Competition (USA), among others. His exceptional talent earned him full scholarships to esteemed music academies, including Pinchas Zukerman’s Young Artist Program, Art of the Piano Festival, Toronto Summer Music, and PianoTexas International Academy & Festival.
Throughout his musical education, Daniel studied under legendary mentors such as Sergei Babayan, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Olga Kern, Marc-André Hamelin, André Laplante, Marc Durand, and John Perry. His remarkable accomplishments include being the youngest musician ever invited as a guest artist with the prestigious Virtuosi Concert Series. He has also performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras, including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Sinfonietta, the Winnipeg Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and the San Luis Potosi Symphony Orchestra in Mexico. Notably, at the age of 12, he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as a soloist with the Penderecki String Quartet. His performances have graced prominent festivals worldwide, such as Music and Beyond, Ottawa ChamberFest, Perry Sound Festival (where he was twice honored as Young Artist of the Year at the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts), Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival (where he also serves as artistic director), Agassiz Chamber Music Festival, Texas International Festival, and the Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain. Daniel’s acclaimed performances have adorned prestigious music stages including Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Markham Performing Arts Centre, Gallivan Performing Arts Center, and many more. He has also presented captivating solo recitals across Canada, the USA, and Europe in countries like Italy, France, and Spain.
Presently, Daniel proudly serves as the co-Artistic Director of the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival in Canada. Through his dedication, he aims to nurture a rich musical experience and share his immense talent with audiences around the world.
Jerzy Kaplanek 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 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.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
(doors open at 6:30)
$40/$25
PROGRAM
Beethoven, Sonata in Bb, op. 22
Robert Starer, Sonata no. 1
Intermission
Chopin, Sonata No. 3 in b minor
ARTIST
Pianist Kevin Ayesh has presented concerts and master classes throughout the United States (he has performed in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia), as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Kevin has taught piano for over 40 years to hundreds and hundreds of students of all ages. As the Lead Music Instructor at Blue Ridge Community College for 28 years, he has taught courses in applied and class piano, as well as music theory, history, and appreciation. As a North Carolina Visiting Artist for four years, he appeared before thousands across that state, performing as many as 50 recitals in a season.
Kevin was recently a guest artist and clinician at the Lindlar International Piano Festival in Germany, the Star Valley Junior Music Festival in Wyoming, the Gene Marcus Piano Festival at Purdue University-Fort Wayne, and the USA Piano Camp at the University of South Alabama. He has performed as concerto soloist with a number of orchestras in western North Carolina, and is the recipient of many competition prizes and awards. Kevin has adjudicated Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) auditions for the state conventions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and has been a featured clinician at both the Georgia and South Carolina Music Educators Association state conventions.
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Kevin received his Bachelor of Music degree with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin; his master’s and doctorate degrees are from the University of Maryland. His teachers were Elinor Aiken, William Race, and Nelita True.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
(doors open at 6:30)
$20/$10
PROGRAM
J.S.Bach: Violin Sonata, BWV 1001 (arr. M. Grgic)
Adagio
Fugue
Siciliana
Presto
W. Walton: Five Bagatelles
Allegro
Lento, Tempo di Valse
Alla Cubana
Sempre espressivo
Con Stancio
A. Ginastera: Sonata for Guitar, Op. 47
Esordio
Scherzo
Canto
Final
INTERMISSION
Slovenian Traditional Songs:
Zrejlo je zito (arr. L. First)
Kje so tiste stezice (arr. L. First)
Ob bistrem potoku je mlin (arr. L. First)
D. Bogdanovic: Levantine Suite
Miroslav Tadic: 5 Balkan Pieces
Rustemul
Macedonian Girl
Walk Dance
ARTIST
Touted as a “gifted guitarist” by the New York Times, 2-time Grammy-nominated artist Mak Grgic [GER-gich] is a star on the worldwide stage. An expansive and adventurous repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests. From the ethnic music of his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal music, his roles as soloist, collaborator, and Grammy-nominated recording artist are fueled by curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy. As a testament to his versatility and wide-ranging appeal, in 2018 Mak was invited by legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to perform as the opening act for the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour.
An avid new music proponent, Mak has commissioned a multitude of new works for solo guitar and guitar with ensemble. Some of these include works by Michael Gordon, Julia Adolphe, Nina Senk, Leon First and Cengiz Eren, to name a few. In the Fall of 2022 he premiered and toured a newly commissioned guitar concerto by Michael Abels, Pulitzer Prize winner and composer for the Oscar-winning motion picture Get Out.
As both soloist and collaborator, Mak averages eighty-five performances a year — nearly two bookings per week. Recent engagements include performances and residencies at the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna; the Konzerthuset in Stockholm several venues in Portugal; Teatro Cervantes de Bejar in Castilla-Leon/Spain; the Sarajevo Music Academy; several venues in Slovenia; the Paris Guitar Foundation; Zurich University of the Arts; Taipei National Theater; Shanghai Grand Theater; and the Hong Kong International Guitar Festival.
In North America, he has performed at Austin Classical Guitar; Beyond Microtonal Music Festival/Pittsburgh; the Dallas Opera for performances of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse; Dumbarton Concerts/Washington, D.C.; The Kennedy Center/Washington, D.C.; Mainly Mozart/San Diego; the National Gallery of Art; NAMM Show/California; Strathmore Hall/Maryland; the New York Classical Guitar Society; the Pacific Symphony; Triangle Guitar Society/North Carolina; Walt Disney Hall/Los Angeles; and numerous other venues and guitar societies across the globe.
An enthusiastic recording artist, Mak’s latest recordings, “Balkanisms" for Naxos Music plus “MAKrotonal” and Grammy®- nominated “Mak|Bach” for MicroFest Records, explore a vast repertoire spanning ethnic music, microtonal, new music and early music on re-fretted instruments, such as a “zig-zag fretted Bach prototype guitar” that allows him to create a “well- tempered guitar” for “Mak|Bach.” Mak is also featured on another Naxos release, “La Buena Vida” with flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte. Other albums in progress include an homage to Ligeti, spotlighting gamelan-inspired guitar arrangements; “Peaceful Guitar” on Symphonic, Mak’s first recording of his own compositions; and on the Avie label, an all-concerto recording including Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" and "Balkan Suite of Dances," a new concerto based on music from "Balkanisms."
Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1987, Mak studied guitar in Zagreb with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Music Academy. By the age of 14, he was balancing his world champion status in karate with his love for the guitar. Following an injury to his left thumb, he made the decision to focus solely on a career in music, going on to complete a bachelor’s degree with Alvaro Pierri at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In the fall of 2017, he began the Artist Diploma program at USC, the first guitarist in the university’s history to be admitted to this elite program. Mak currently holds a full time teaching position at University of South Carolina, and is a founder and CEO of Notey, a startup building a mobile music education game.
Mak Grgic is also proud to be involved with the Bosana Foundation, an organization that raises money for Bosnian youth. He regularly awards education-furthering scholarships to select students across South America.
Notey
Mak and Team Notey are building a mobile music education game to make early strides in guitar practice more fun. Look for the app Notey's World.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Keffer Memorial Chapel, Wilfrid Laurier University, 7:00 pm
(doors open at 6:30)
$30/$20
PROGRAM
Fernando Sor - Menuets op.11 (selection)
1778-1839
Andante Largo
Andante
Andante espressivo
Andante maestoso
Andante
J.K.Mertz – Liebeslied,Romanze
1806-1856
Ferdinando Carulli - Sei Andanti op.320(selection)
1770-1841
Niccolo Paganini - 37 Sonate per chitarra (MS 84)selection
1782-1840
Interval
Phillip Houghton - OPHELIA... a haunted sonata
1954 -2017
I FEAR…AND THE ANGEL
II SUFFERING AND MADNESS .....
AM I BUT A DREAM OF A SHADOW?
III CHANT…of the flower - moon
IV Water.. memories - halls of ghosts -wash away
V DEATH…with moons in your hair
Carlo Domeniconi- Steidleriana
b.1947
Pavel Steidl- And You Go To Ithaca Too
b.1961
ARTIST
Pavel Steidl „Here was a guitarist who knew how to laugh with the music and share the joke with his audience. But behind the entertainer lies a serious artist, whose extended composition in memory of Jana Obrovska proved fully capable of stirring emotions at the other end of the scale. Never was a standing ovation more richly deserved. Pavel Steidl had won the hearts and minds of a capacity crowd.“
(Classical guitar magazine)
The magic world of Pavel Steidl charmed us in a delightful program, where classic welcomes varieties of incredible new ideas of how a guitar can create precious effects thanks to his ability to awaken what is normally quite inactive in our imagination and hands!
(Oscar Ghiglia)
Pavel Steidl was born in Rakovnik (Czech Republic). Since he won first prize at the Radio France International Competition in Paris in 1982, he has become one of the most widely celebrated soloists of his generation. Between the membres of the jury were names of such artist like Alexander Tansman, Antonio Lauro , Maria Luisa
Thursday, February 22, 2024
First United Church (Chapel), 7:00 pm
Tickets $35/$20
