Incarnation Episcopal Church · 2018. 9. 29. · We are continuing our partnership with the Bay Shore Lyric Opera company to bring a staged performance of Bellini’s tragic opera,

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Incarnation Episcopal Church

1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco

sunsetarts.wordpress.com | 415-564-2324

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Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Sunset Music & Arts 2019 season. We are very excited to announce our fifth season

with many new and returning artists. The season continues out tradition of strong offerings in solo

instrumental performances, vocal recitals, choral music, opera, and jazz/world music concerts.

Our season opener will feature a chamber concert on Friday January 11, 2019 with New York based

cellist, Ben Capps, and Russian pianist, Vassily Primakov. The Holland Times hailed Ben Capps as

a “young cello phenomenon from New York.” Ben Capps is the recipient of many awards, including the the Lillian Fuchs Award, the Francis Goelet Scholarship (Juilliard 2008-2009), the Irving Mulde

Scholarship (Juilliard, 2009-10), and the Piatigorsky Scholarship (New England Conservatory 2012-

13). Gramophone wrote that “Primakov’s empathy with Chopin’s spirit could hardly be more complete.”

Vassily Primakov is a prize winner at the Cleveland Piano Competition and was a semi-finalist at the

Van Cliburn Competition.

Solo piano artists include Laura Klein, Clare Longendyke, Robyn Carmichael, Amy Stephens,

Mark Valenti, and Susan Ellinger, as well as concerts for piano 4-hands with the Duo Papillion

and A&R Duo. Also featured are organ recitals with Angela Kraft Cross and David Jaronowski

and a Grammy award guitarist Cristobal Selamé.

Our chamber music concerts features return engagements with the Circadian String Quartet,

Trio 180, as well as new artists, such as the Ensemble Illume, Trio Terme, Trio Foss, and

Curium Piano Trio. Our choral music concerts features our artists-in-residence, the San

Francisco Renaissance Voices, the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and the San Francisco Girls

Chorus. We are continuing our partnership with the Bay Shore Lyric Opera company to bring a

staged performance of Bellini’s tragic opera, Norma.

To round of the season, we feature vocal recitals with baritone John Smalley, mezzo-soprano

Nicole Takesono, and a recital with Ramana Vieira—introducing us to the world of Fado.

Please join us and we look forward to sharing the joy of these unique performances with you.

With best wishes,

Mathew Chacko and Sally Porter Munro

Directors, Sunset Music & Arts

An initiative of Incarnation Episcopal Church, San Francisco

Sunset Music & Arts

1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122

415.564.2324 http://sunsetarts.wordpress.com [email protected]

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SUNSET MUSIC & ARTS — 2019 Season

Table of Contents

Special Events

Opening Night—Ben Capps & Vassily Primakov…………. Page 5

Anniversary Gala & Reception …………………….……. Page 35

Sunset Music & Arts is dedicated to

providing high-quality, affordable music

and arts programs to people of all ages, in

the Sunset district of San Francisco and

beyond. In addition, we occasionally

conduct a variety of workshops focusing

on the arts.

The initiative is a community offering

generously provided by the Episcopal

Church of the Incarnation, San

Francisco, where we have the use of the

beautiful space, wonderful acoustics, and

the use of a grand piano and pipe organ.

We also sponsor our, “Sunset

Community Music & Arts,” where

you can enjoy mostly free (occasionally,

donations or a small fee may be

requested) concerts and

programs, produced and performed by

members of the local community. If you

are interested in performing as part of

this program, please contact us at

415.564.2324 or e-mail us at

[email protected].

Support Us!

Please consider supporting us financially

to help continue to bring quality music to

the Sunset District of San Francisco.

You can write a check made payable to

“Incarnation Episcopal Church”. We are a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization and

your donations are 100% deductible. You

can also donate online via PayPal. Check

our website for details.

Thank you for your consideration and

support.

Please mail your check to:

Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

1750 29th Avenue

San Francisco CA 94122

Monthly Calendar……………………………………..

Recital Instrumental Series…………………….……...

Recital—Vocal Series…………………………………

Chamber Music/Ensemble…………………………….

Jazz/World Series……………………………………..

Choral Series………………………………………….

Opera ………… ……………………………………..

Opera/Broadway Gala ………………………………..

Community Events/Workshops………………………

Calendar by Series ……….…………….….……….…

Page 4

Page 14—22

Page 27—28

Page 5—13

Page 23—26

Page 29—33

Page 34

Page 35

Page 36—38

Page 39—40

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JANUARY

Fri. Jan 11—Capps & Primakov (Page 5)

Sat. Jan 19—Liaison Ensemble (Page 6)

Sat. Jan 26—John Smalley (Page 27)

FEBRUARY

Sat. Feb 9—Ramana Vieira (Page 26)

Sat. Feb 16—Nicole Takesono (Page 28)

Sat. Feb 23—SF-Munich Trio (Page 7)

MARCH

Sat. March 2—Angela Cross (Page 14)

Sun. March 3—Trio 180 (Page 8)

Sat. March 16—Duo Papillon (Page 21)

Sat. March 23—Laura Klein (Page 23)

Sat. March 30—Clare Longendyke (Page 15)

APRIL

Sat. April 6—Circadian String Quartet

(Page 9)

Sat. April 13—Ensemble Illume (Page 10)

Fri. April 26—SF Girls Chorus (Page 29)

Sat. April 27—Cristobal Selamé (Page 16)

Sun. April 28—SF Renaissance Voices

(Page 30)

MAY

Sat. May 4—Cuarteto Puentes (Page 25)

Sat. May 11—Trio Terme (Page 11)

Sat. May 18—Robyn Carmichael (Page 17)

JUNE

Sat. June 8—Trio Foss (Page 12)

Fri. June 14—David Jaronowski (Page 18)

Sat. June 15—Ajay Mallya (Page 38)

JULY

Sat. July 13—Amy Stephens (Page 25)

AUGUST Sat. Aug 10 —SF Renaissance Voices

(Page 31)

Sat. Aug 17—Bellini’s Norma (Page 34)

Sat. Aug 24—A&R Duo (Page 22)

SEPTEMBER

TBD—Annual Gala & Reception (Page 35)

Sat. Sept. 28—Mark Valenti (Page 19)

OCTOBER

Sat. Oct 5—Curium Trio (Page 13)

Sat. Oct 19—Susan Ellinger (Page 20)

NOVEMBER To be announced

DECEMBER TBD —SF Boys Chorus (Page 32)

TBD —Lessons and Carols (Page 33)

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Ben Capps and Vassily Primakov

Date & Time: Friday January 11, 7:30 pm

Venue: 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco

Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students

Chamber Music

Exciting young American cellist

Ben Capps enjoys a versatile

performing career as a soloist and

chamber musician. His artistry has

been praised as “most appealing”

by the New York Times, “virtuosic

and impassioned” by the Barre

Montpelier Times, the Holland

Times hailed Capps as a “young cello phenomenon from New

York” with “dazzling technique and a fearsomely meaty tone”, and

the Epoch Times proclaimed that “Capps has it all . . . cello

playing of the very highest standard.” He has performed in

varying capacities at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill and

Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall,

the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.,

Mann Hall in Tel Aviv, Meyerson Hall in Dallas, and the Auditorio

Nacional, the Palace of Fine Arts and Sala Nezahualcoytl in

Mexico City. Capps has appeared as soloist with the

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the New York Concerti

Sinfonietta, the Manchester Music Festival Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-

College Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music

Composer’s Orchestra. Recent performance highlights include an

unaccompanied recital tour in the Midwest , a recital tour of

China (Xiamin, Fouzhou and Gulangyu), and recital appearances in

New York, Greece and Spain as well as a performance of all five

Beethoven sonatas and more in Vermont.

In September 2014 LP Classics released Ben Capps’ newest disc:

Ossia, music of Bach, Schumann & Fitzenhagen for solo cello &

company. Ben Capps can also be heard on Innova Records with

two discs of music for solo cello by contemporary composer

Andrew Violette & on Tzadik Records with a collaborative cello &

electronics piece by Anna Clyne called Fits & Starts which was

featured for a week on WQXR in New York.

At age 21, Capps was appointed principal cellist of Philharmonic

Orchestra of the Americas, a dynamic New York based

symphony orchestra founded by conductor Alondra de la Parra,

whose highly regarded premier Sony Classics recording Mi Alma

Mexicana attained high international status.

A native of New York City, Ben Capps began playing the cello at

age four with Nellis DeLay at New York’s School for Strings. He

is the recipient of many awards, including the New York State

Association of Music Teachers Scholarship Competition 1999;

Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, Concerto Competition, 2001, the

Lillian Fuchs Award, 2004, the Francis Goelet Scholarship (Juilliard

2008-2009), the Irving Mulde Scholarship (Juilliard, 2009-10), and

the Piatigorsky Scholarship (New England Conservatory 2012-

13). He has coached with numerous cellists, including Bernard

Greenhouse, Ko Iwasaki, Paul Katz, and Nathanial Rosen, and has

performed in master class for Steven Isserlis, Alexander Rudin,

Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Peter Wylie, and Timothy Eddy.

Ben Capps plays a William Forester cello built in 1782 in England.

In recent years, Vassily

Primakov has been hailed as a

pianist of world class importance.

Gramophone wrote that

“Primakov’s empathy with

Chopin’s spirit could hardly be

more complete,” and the

American Record Guide stated:

“Since Gilels, how many pianists

have the right touch? In Chopin,

no one currently playing sounds as good as this! This is a great

Chopin pianist.” Music Web-International called Primakov’s

Chopin concertos CD “one of the great Chopin recordings of

recent times. These are performances of extraordinary power

and beauty.” In 1999, as a teen-aged prizewinner of the Cleveland

International Piano Competition, Primakov was praised by Donald

Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “How many pianists can

make a line sing as the Moscow native did on this occasion? Every

poignant phrase took ethereal wing. Elsewhere the music soared

with all of the turbulence and poetic vibrancy it possesses. We

will be hearing much from this remarkable musician.”

His first piano studies were with his mother, Marina Primakova.

He entered Moscow’s Central Special Music School at the age of

eleven as a pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, and at 17 came to New

York to pursue studies at the Juilliard School with the noted

pianist, Jerome Lowenthal. At Juilliard Mr. Primakov won the

William Petschek Piano Recital Award, which presented his debut

recital at Alice Tully Hall, and while at Juilliard, aided by a Susan

W. Rose Career Grant, he won both the Silver Medal and the

Audience Prize in the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists

Piano Competition. Later that year Primakov won First Prize in

the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. In

2007 he was named the Classical Recording Foundation’s “Young

Artist of the Year.” In 2009, Primakov’s Chopin Mazurkas

recording was named “Best of the Year” by National Public Radio

and that same year he began recording the 27 Mozart piano

concertos in Denmark. BBC Music Magazine (November, 2010)

praised the first volume of Primakov’s Mozart concertos: “The

piano playing is of exceptional quality: refined, multi-coloured,

elegant of phrase and immaculately balanced, both in itself and in

relation to the effortlessly stylish orchestra. The rhythm is both

shapely and dynamic, the articulation a model of subtlety. By

almost every objective criterion, Vassily Primakov is a Mozartian

to the manner born, fit to stand as a role model to a new

generation.”

In 1999 Primakov won second prize at the Cleveland International

Piano Competition, and in 2001 he was a semi-finalist in the Van

Cliburn Competition.

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Liaison Ensemble + Helia Collective

Date & Time: Saturday January 19 , 7:30 pm



Liaison Ensemble Melinda Becker, mezzo-soprano

Susie Fong, harpsichord

Hallie Pridham, baroque cello

Tatiana Senderowicz, theorbo

Liaison is a dynamic and vibrant early-music ensemble based in San

Francisco, California. In addition to playing in concert halls, Liaison

hopes to bring historically-informed performances to a wider range

of audiences in non-traditional venues while maintaining the highest

musical standards. Liaison’s group name was inspired by the

members’ pursuit of a collaborative, cooperative approach to

ensemble music-making as well the importance of the relationship

between performer and audience.

Co-founded by musician/composers, Emma Logan and Julie Barwick,

Helia Music Collective supports the creative endeavors of women in

music throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Helia Music seeks to

enrich the community and expand the engagement of women artists

through educational outreach and collaborations, with performances

and workshops taking place in unique and diverse spaces.

Through charitable activities and events, Helia supports the education and development of women in the Bay Area and beyond.

Program

Barbara Strozzi – L’Eraclito amoroso

Francesca Caccini – Chi Desia Di Saper

Francesca Caccini – Ch’amor sio nudo

Emily Koh – am burning, have burned, will burn

Lily Chen – Fragmented Lament

Julie Barwick – Songs of Ice and Fire

Emma Logan – In the Evening

Chamber Music

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San Francisco-Munich Trio

Date & Time: Sunday February 23, 7:30 pm



Friedrich Edelmann grew up in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He studied with Alfred

Rinderspacher (Prof. in Mannheim), Klaus Thunemann (Prof. in Hamburg-Hannover

-Berlin), and Milan Turkovic (Prof. in Salzburg-Vienna). After his diploma in

mathematics in Heidelberg, he joined the orchestra of the Pfalztheater in

Kaiserslautern for three years. In 1977 he became the Principal Bassoonist of the

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestro Sergiu Celibidache from 1979 until

1996, and under Maestro James Levine from 1999 until 2004. During that time he

also played under Karl Böhm, Günther Wand, Kurt Masur, Carlo Maria Giulini,

Karl Richter, Carlos Kleiber, Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, Herbert Blomstedt,

Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lorin Maazel, Rafael Kubelik, Zubin Mehta among others. He

has won several first prizes in German national competitions and was a member of

the World-Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales under Karel Ancerl, when he met the

American cellist Rebecca Rust.

In February 1998 he was a member of the “Nagano Winter Orchestra” under Seiji Ozawa with opening concerts of the

Winter-Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In July-August 1998 he was the coach of the woodwinds of the World-Orchestra of

Jeunesses Musicales in Taipei.

Praised by Carlo Maria Giulini for her “exceptional musicality”, the American cellist Rebecca Rust, a native of California,

U.S.A. received her first piano lessons with her mother at the age of five and began cello lessons with Margaret Rowell, Cello

Professor at the San Francisco Conservatory and the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, at the age of nine. At

age thirteen she was a prizewinner of the Mendelssohn Competition; at fourteen a prizewinner in the California Cello Club

Competition; first prize in the “Mu Phi Epsilon” Competition and the Berkeley Piano Club made it possible for her to begin

studies in New York with Bernard Greenhouse (Casals’ pupil and cellist of the Beaux-Arts-Trio).

She became a member of the Christmas String Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Schneider, and received a

scholarship to study with the Lenox Quartet. After graduating “cum laude” in New York, she continued her studies with Paul

Szabo (Casals’ pupil and cellist of the Vegh Quartet) at the Cologne College of Music, earning there a soloist diploma “with

honors”. During this time she was also solo cellist of the “Orchestre Mondiale des Jeunesses Musicales” under Karel Ancerl.

Master classes with Mstislav Rostropovich followed in the USA (as one of five participants from over one hundred applicants)

and in Basel, Switzerland, where in the final concerts she appeared as soloist, playing the Lalo Concerto, with the Basel

Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mstislav Rostropovich. This was followed by solo concerts and radio productions

in Europe, the USA, Israel, China and in Japan with concerts in Tokyo, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Sendai, Mito, Hiroshima among

others, and in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, including appearances as soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (Sergiu

Celibidache was the patron of her debut in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall in October 1992).

Rebecca Rust plays a Master-Cello by William Forster (1791), formerly owned by Prince Charles.

Chamber Music

8

Trio 180

Date & Time: Sunday March 3, 7 pm


Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students Trio 180, the faculty piano trio-in-residence at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music,

is dedicated to its roles as performer, proponent of new music, and educator. In addition to giving

concerts and master classes throughout the United States, the trio has been featured on concert

series in Mexico and Canada. This talented ensemble includes celebrated concert violinist Ann Miller,

renowned cellist Vicky Wang, and award-winning pianist Sonia Leong. Trio 180 performs a wide

range of music from the Classical era to the present and is an active advocate of new music. The trio

was awarded a Barlow Grant in 2006 to commission eminent composer Chen Yi’s first piano trio,

Tibetan Tunes (Theodore Presser). Continuing its tradition of commissioning new works, the trio

premiered composer Robert Greenberg’s 180 Shift in 2013 and Reinaldo Moya’s Gothic Sea in 2011

in honor of Trio 180’s tenth anniversary. The trio has premiered works by Allan Crossman (Icarus),

Jorge Liderman (Suite del Sur; Sidewalk recorded on Albany Records), Derek Jacoby (Trio No. 2),

Francois Rose (Gently, Wild Rose Petals) and Cindy Cox (Wave, recorded in summer, 2010 and

winter of 2014). The trio mentors young musicians and chamber music groups at the University of

the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, where all three members are on faculty. In addition, Trio 180 frequently performs at elementary and high schools

throughout California, presenting varied and interactive programs designed to challenge and engage young students.

The trio’s current season features appearances in North Carolina and California, including performances and master classes at the Music Teachers’ Associa-

tion of California’s annual conference. In past seasons, the trio has presented numerous performances for Composers Inc., in San Francisco and Berkeley, a

concert tour to Vancouver, Canada, and performances across California, including concerts at the Crocker Museum in Sacramento and the Sundays Live

series at the Los Angeles County Museum. The trio has performed numerous times on the Old First Concert series in San Francisco, including a year-long

residency featuring the works of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Robert Schumann. The trio is thrilled to have completed its first CD of works by Dvorak,

Suk, and Schumann.

Ann Miller, violin

Celebrated violinist Ann Miller has appeared in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. At home performing music spanning the Ba-

roque era to the present day, Ms. Miller enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator.

A proponent of new music, Ms. Miller made her New York debut as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble in Alice Tully Hall in the North American

premiere of David Matthews’ Concerto No. 2. She has performed with the ensemble Continuum in venues in Mongolia and Ukraine as well as New York

City. In addition, Ms. Miller participated in an exchange program between the Juilliard School and the Lucerne Festival Academy that culminated in perfor-

mances in Switzerland and New York under the direction of Pierre Boulez.

Recent solo appearances include performances of Tartini’s Devil’s Trill with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, the Brahms Violin Concerto with the University

of the Pacific’s Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the St. John’s Chamber Orchestra, and Brahms’s Double Concerto with cellist Ira Lehn

and the Mariposa Symphony in Yosemite National Park. As a recitalist, Ms. Miller frequently collaborates with pianist Sonia Leong and has appeared on Old

First Concerts in San Francisco and the University of the Pacific’s Resident Artist Series. Their debut album of music by Beaser, Ysaÿe, and Bartók will be

released in the fall of 2015.

Vicky Wang, cello

Winner of the Young Artist International Competition, cellist Vicky Wang made her New York debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2001. As an avid

chamber musician, Ms. Wang was a member of the award-winning ensemble Aristos String Quartet. This ensemble has been invited to participate in the

focus! New Music Festival in New York, Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival in Virginia as well as frequent collaborations with the Chamber Music

Society of Lincoln Center in its lecture-concert series. Ms. Wang’s concert highlights also include collaborations with legendary performers Ray Charles at

the Belleayer Music Festival and Liza Minelli at Avery Fisher Hall.

Prior to relocating to California, Ms. Wang served on the faculty of Mannes College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.

She currently maintains an active private studio in Palo Alto. Her students have been featured as concerto soloists with the El Camino Youth Symphony,

California Youth Symphony, and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.

Sonia Leong, piano

Pianist Sonia Leong has performed in Canada, the United States, England, Romania, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. She has appeared with the Filarmonica de

Stat Dinu Lipatti in Satu Mare, Romania, the Banff Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Stockton Symphony, the St. John Chamber Orchestra, and has performed

live on Radio Suisse Romande in Geneva. She was a prizewinner at the Concours Piano 80, in Switzerland, and a finalist at the Concorso Pianistico Nazionale

“Città de Cesenatico” in Italy. From 2001–03, she played with Music Now, a new music ensemble based in Sacramento. She appears regularly on the Sierra

Chamber Society concert series, both with her trio and in other chamber music combinations.Ms. Leong studied at the University of British Columbia, the

Peabody Conservatory, and the Université de Montréal, as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) on a Commonwealth Scholarship.

Her principal teachers include Robert Silverman, Julian Martin, and Marc Durand. She has participated in festivals at the Banff Centre; Orford, Quebec; Scotia

Festival; Ladevie, France; and Ernen, Switzerland (with György Sebök).

Chamber Music

9

Circadian String Quartet

Date & Time: Saturday August 18, 7:30 pm



Chamber Music

David Ryther (violin) has brought his interpretive powers as a

soloist to such festivals as the Darmstadt Summer Festival of

New Music, the Banff center, and the Green Umbrella Series at

the Bing theater in Los Angeles. He has been featured playing

new music with adventurous ensembles sfSoundGroup,

Earplay, San Francisco Contemporary Players, the Berkeley

New Music Ensemble, Sonor, and Octagon. He is a founding

member of the Presidio String Quartet, a group that specializes

in contemporary music. David graduated with highest honors in

music from UC Santa Cruz and recently received his doctorate

in contemporary violin performance from UC San Diego. David

can also be found playing in the Berkeley Symphony, the San

Francisco Ballet orchestra and teaching violin at the Crowden

School for Music.

Sarah Wood (violin) leads a versatile career as a soloist, chamber

and orchestral musician. She has soloed with the Music in the

Mountains Summer Festival Orchestra and the Panache, Villa

Sinfonia, and Icicle Creek Chamber Orchestras. She has performed

chamber music concerts across the Northwestern and Western

United States. Sarah is currently a member of the California

Symphony and the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival

Orchestras. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in violin

performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and also

holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in violin performance from the

Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Paul Kantor and William

Preucil.

Native of Iran, Omid Assadi (viola) holds a B.M. and M.M.

from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied

with Jodie Levitz and Bettina Mussumeli. Mr. Assadi is an active

ensemble player and soloist; he has concertized with many of

the Bay Area’s orchestras and has appeared numerous times as

soloist with Golden Gate Philharmonic, City College of San

Francisco String Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra,

and Villa Sinfonia. Omid’s love for chamber music has led him to

study chamber music with the members of the Kronos String

Quartet as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

faculty members. In addition, he has collaborated with Jennifer

Culp, Jodi Levitz, Jorja Fleezanis, and with the Shams Ensemble.

David Wishnia (cello) performs regularly with many orchestras and

chamber ensembles throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a

member of the Villa Piano Trio and the Circadian String Quartet. He

holds a Masters of Music in cello from the Yale School of Music.

Bay Area based Circadian String Quartet was founded in 2013 to

promote the classical and contemporary string quartet repertoire, in

particular music of cultural and folkloric significance. Since then, the group has

been featured through Mt. Shasta’s Music By the Mountain, Sunset Music and

Arts Chamber Music Series in San Francisco, and the Merced Symphony

Association. In 2014, the CSQ were invited to collaborate with the St.

Petersburg-based Rimsky Korsakov String Quartet during their North

American tour. They have also given U.S. premieres of pieces by world-

renowned British composer Ian Venables in collaboration with mezzo-

soprano Sally Munro of the San Francisco Opera and Natalie Parker, Principal

Clarinetist of the San Francisco Ballet.

10

Ensemble Illume

Date & Time: Saturday April 13, 7:30 pm



Chamber Music

Known for their powerful sound and profound unity of

ensemble, Ensemble Illume is dedicated to sharing the rich

character of the viola, cello, and piano trio with audiences of all

ages. With its unconventional instrumentation, Illume’s mission

is to nurture and expand the repertoire for the ensemble by

identifying rarely-heard work and working with contemporary

composers, while also pursuing collaborations with fellow

musicians to perform quartets, quintets, and larger chamber

ensembles. The ensemble was formed with an inaugural concert

in San Francisco in 2018, which featured works by Kaija

Saariaho and Johannes Brahms.

Program

Johannes Brahms: Trio Op. 114 in A minor, for viola, cello

and piano (originally for clarinet, cello, piano)

Kaija Saariaho: Je sens un deuxième coeur

Taiwanese-American violist Jessica

Chang is dedicated to sharing her

love for music through presenting

chamber music in accessible ways. As

the founder and director of

Chamber Music by the Bay, Jessica

brings interactive concerts and

programs to over 2,000 youth

throughout the San Francisco Bay

Area annually. She has also served as

violist of the Afiara Quartet, with

whom she toured North America, including a visiting faculty

residency at The Banff Centre in Alberta and residency as the

Glenn Gould School Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence at the

Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. She has

been broadcast on NPR’s “Performance Today”; performed

at festivals including Festival Mozaic, Juneau Jazz & Classics,

Bard Music West, Perlman Chamber Music Workshop,

Aspen, Tanglewood, Verbier, and Taos. Jessica is a graduate

of Yale, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with

honors and distinction, holds an Artist Diploma from the

Curtis Institute of Music, and a Master of Music degree from

The Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Misha

Amory, Michael Tree, Roberto Díaz, Steven Tenenbom, Heidi

Castleman, Daniel Panner, Jenny Rudin, Jesse Levine, and Jodi

Levitz.

As a frequent performer,

educator, and presenter of cello

and chamber music, cellist Laura

Gaynon has performed in

concert halls across the United

States, Europe, Canada, and

China. Currently based in the Bay

Area, Laura performs with the

American Bach Soloists, the

Pacific Crest Chamber Players,

the Magik*Magik Orchestra, and

the baroque chamber ensemble Musa. As a chamber

musician, she has collaborated with luminaries including

Kim Kashkashian, Geoff Nuttall, Bonnie Hampton, Paul

Hersh, and Ian Swensen. Laura is cofounder and coartistic

director of Bard Music West in San Francisco. She is

dedicated to promoting the music of today, and

spearheaded Musa’s “Art Inspiring Art” commissioning

project, now in its third year. Laura holds degrees from

Yale University and the San Francisco Conservatory of

Music, where she graduated with a master of music in

cello performance, an artist certificate in chamber music,

and an emphasis in historical performance practice as a

student of Jennifer Culp and Elisabeth Reed.

Described as “brilliant” by the San

Francisco Classical Voice, San

Francisco-based pianist Allegra

Chapman is dedicated to engaging

with new audiences as performer,

presenter, and educator. Allegra

has performed at prestigious

venues throughout the United

States, Europe, and China, including

Alice Tully Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert

Series, the Bard Music Festival, the Liszt Ferenc Memorial

Museum in Budapest, and Xi’an Concert Hall in Xi’an, China.

An avid chamber musician and passionate advocate for

contemporary music, Allegra performs regularly with San

Francisco Contemporary Music Players and UC Berkeley’s

Eco Ensemble, and has collaborated with members of

International Contemporary Ensemble and the Eusebius,

Orion, and Telegraph String Quartets. Allegra has also

worked with many renowned living composers, including Joan

Tower and Charles Wuorinen, and regularly premiers works

of young composers. Allegra studied with Jeremy Denk and

Peter Serkin at the Bard College Conservatory of Music,

graduating in the inaugural class with degrees in piano

performance and history.

11

Trio Terme

Date & Time: Saturday May 11, 7:30 pm



Chamber Music

Equally active as a recitalist,

concerto soloist, chamber musician,

and jazz performer, Geoffrey

Burleson, pianist, has performed to

wide acclaim throughout Europe

and North America. Current

recording projects include Camille

Saint-Saëns: Complete Piano

Works, on 5 CDs, for the new

Naxos Grand Piano label. Volumes

1 (Complete Piano Études), 2, 3 and

4 have been released to high acclaim

from Gramophone, International

Record Review, Diapason (France)

and elsewhere. Other noteworthy

recordings by Burleson include Vincent Persichetti: Complete

Piano Sonatas (New World Records), which received a BBC

Music Choice award from the BBC Music Magazine, and

AKOKA (Oxingale Records), featuring Messiaen’s Quartet for

the End of Time, as well as companion works, for which

Burleson was nominated for a 2015 JUNO Award for Classical

Album of the Year. Mr. Burleson’s concerto appearances

include the Buffalo Philharmonic, New England Philharmonic,

Boston Musica Viva, and the Holland Symfonia in the

Netherlands. He has also appeared as featured soloist at the

Bard Music Festival, International Keyboard Institute and

Festival (New York), Monadnock Music Festival, Santander

Festival (Spain) and the Talloires International Festival (France).

He is a core member of the American Modern Ensemble and

Boston Musica Viva. Mr. Burleson teaches piano at Princeton

University and is Professor of Music and Director of Piano

Studies at Hunter College-City University of New York. He is

also on the piano faculties of the CUNY Graduate Center, the

International Keyboard Institute & Festival (New York), and the

Interharmony International Music Festival (Italy).

Stacey McColley is instructor of

clarinet at Florida Southern College

and Southeastern University. She is a

frequent faculty member at the

InterHarmony International Music

Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. Stacey

serves as Principal Clarinet with the

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra,

Clarinet, Eb clarinet and Bass clarinet

with the Southwest Florida Symphony

Orchestra, Bass Clarinet with the

Sarasota Opera, Principal Clarinet with

Opera Naples, is the Solo Clarinetist

with the Reflections Chamber

Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of

contemporary chamber music, and served as Principal Clarinet for

many years with the Opera Tampa Orchestra under Maestro Anton

Coppola. In recent years Stacey has been guest soloist with

ensembles in Florida and California, including an appearance as a

soloist at the FMEA convention in Tampa, Florida performing Scott

Mcnllister’s Concerto X She appeared as a guest artist at the

International Clarinet Association’s Clarinet- Fest in Austin, Tx., and

was a featured performer at the ICA Festival in Madrid, Spain this

summer. Stacey has her Master’s Degree in Clarinet Performance

from the University of California.

Nina Flyer has toured,

recorded and taught

throughout Europe,

Scandinavia and America.

She has been Principal

Cellist with the

symphonies of Jerusalem,

Bergen (Norway) and

Iceland, the Women’s

Philharmonic, and the

Bear Valley Orchestra

and has held the post of acting Principal Cellist with the San Diego

Symphony. She records frequently for the TV and Motion Picture

Industry and is presently Principal Cellist of the Pacific Chamber

Symphony. Nina was the cello and chamber music professor and

founding member of the acclaimed in-residence piano trio, Trio

180, at the University of the Pacific, Conservatory of Music, for 20

years. Ms. Flyer has now started another trio, Trio Foss, and noted

composer Robert Greenberg has written them a new piece.

As a proponent of contemporary music, Ms. Flyer plays regularly

with Composers Inc. and with other new music groups and has had

many pieces written for her. Ms. Flyer is a featured soloist on two

CDs; a concerto by Shulamit Ran, performed with the English

Chamber Orchestra and solo and chamber works by Lou Harrison,

both out on KOCH International. These two CDs have met with

great critical acclaim and have both been nominated for Grammys.

The following quote is from Strings Magazine in 2001:...hauntingly

beautiful performance............ (Lou Harrison CD review)

Trio Terme was formed last summer at the Interharmony In-

ternational Music Festival in Italy. The three performers, all with

extensive solo and ensemble experience, were so delighted play-

ing together at Interharmony, that they decided to continue to

explore the rich clarinet, cello, piano repertoire.

12

Trio Foss

Date & Time: Saturday June 8, 7:30 pm



Chamber Music

Cited by the Rochester Democrat

and Chronicle as a “local prodigy,”

American born pianist Joseph

Irrera has concertized across the

globe with appearances at Carnegie

Hall, The Kennedy Center, Spivey

Hall, and Eastman’s Kodak and

Kilbourn Halls. At the age of 18 he

made his debut with the Rochester

Philharmonic Orchestra performing

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano

Concerto. Additional concerto

performances include appearances

with the Rochester Philharmonic

Youth Orchestra, the Penfield Symphony, the Genesee

Symphony Orchestra, and the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.

He has collaborated with conductors Christopher Seaman,

Leonard Slatkin, Delta David Gier, and Raffaele Ponti.

Internationally he has performed throughout Germany, Bulgaria,

Italy, France, and Costa Rica.

In addition to his solo piano concert engagements, Joseph is

also very active as a chamber musician appearing with his

brother, violinist John. The internationally acclaimed Irrera

Brothers Piano & Violin Duo has appeared throughout the

United States, Europe, and Central America. They made their

Carnegie Hall Debut in 2009, and were invited back in 2012 and

again in 2013. As a recording artist Joseph can be heard on two

albums with the Irrera Brothers Duo including “Beethoven &

Prokofiev” (2012), and “Vitali” (2014) and has also recorded

solo piano works of Scarlatti, Schumann, and Chopin with

Steinway & Sons (2015). Joseph’s third album with the Irrera

Brothers, currently in production, will feature the complete

works for violin and piano by composer Robert Morris,

Professor at the Eastman School of Music.

Joseph is laureate of many national and international piano

competitions including the Guthman International Piano

Competition in Atlanta, Georgia, the Young Artists

International Piano Competition in Washington, D.C., the

Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition, and the

American Protégé International Piano Competition in New

York City. His principal teachers include Alla Kuznetsov,

Alexander Shtarkman, and Barry Snyder. Joseph has also

received additional training from renowned pedagogues Natalya

Antonova, Martin Canin, Philip Kawin, Lev Natochenny, Marina

Lomazov, Irina Edelstein, Victor Rosenbaum, and concert

pianist Jon Nakamatsu.

Joseph received his Bachelor’s Degree in Performance with

Distinction in 2005 from the Eastman School of Music. After

oseph was accepted to the Peabody Conservatory where he

earned his Masters Degree in Piano Performance in 2007. He

went on to complete the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in

2014, at the Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance and

Literature, with a minor in Pedagogy.

Icelandic violinist Hrabba Atladottir

studied in Berlin, Germany with professor

Axel Gerhardt and professor Tomasz

Tomaszewski. After finishing her studies,

Hrabba worked as a freelancing violinist in

Berlin for five years, regularly playing with

the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,

Deutsche Oper, and Deutsche

Symphonieorchester. Hrabba also

participated in a world tour with the

Icelandic pop artist Björk, and a Germany

tour with violinist Nigel Kennedy. Joshua

Kosman, music critic of San Francisco

Chronicle, praised her performance of

Vivaldi’s “Spring”, and called her violin playing “delicate but fervent”.

In 2004, Hrabba moved to New York, playing on a regular basis

with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Orchestra of

St. Luke’s and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra among other

orchestras. She also played with the Either/Or ensemble in NY in

close collaboration with Helmut Lachenmann. Since August 2008,

Hrabba is based in Berkeley, California, where she has been

performing as a soloist and with various ensembles such as The Left

Coast Chamber Ensemble, Since 2009, Hrabba is a lecturer in Violin

at UC Berkeley.

Nina Flyer has toured,

recorded and taught

throughout Europe,

Scandinavia and America.

She has been Principal

Cellist with the

symphonies of Jerusalem,

Bergen (Norway) and

Iceland, the Women’s

Philharmonic, and the

Bear Valley Orchestra and has held the post of acting Principal

Cellist with the San Diego Symphony. She records frequently for

the TV and Motion Picture Industry and is presently Principal Cellist

of the Pacific Chamber Symphony. Nina was the cello and chamber

music professor and founding member of the acclaimed in-

residence piano trio, Trio 180, at the University of the Pacific,

Conservatory of Music, for 20 years. Ms. Flyer has now started

another trio, Trio Foss, and noted composer Robert Greenberg has

written them a new piece.

As a proponent of contemporary music, Ms. Flyer plays regularly

with Composers Inc. and with other new music groups and has had

many pieces written for her. Ms. Flyer is a featured soloist on two

CDs; a concerto by Shulamit Ran, performed with the English

Chamber Orchestra and solo and chamber works by Lou Harrison,

both out on KOCH International. These two CDs have met with

great critical acclaim and have both been nominated for Grammys.

The following quote is from Strings Magazine in 2001:...hauntingly

beautiful performance............ (Lou Harrison CD review)

13

Curium Piano Trio

Date & Time: Saturday October 5, 7:30 pm



Chamber Music

Curium: the 96th element in the periodic table. Discovered in the

Bay Area in 1944 and named after the pioneering female scientist,

Marie Curie, the element is a symbol of the innovations of female

minds, past and present.

Founded in the summer of 2017, the women of Curium piano

trio have gained reputations as performers that radiate

dynamism and presence. Specializing in performing the music of

female composers, they are committed to bringing creative and

diverse musical programming to their audiences. The Curium

trio highlights the works of women composers and performers

alongside traditional piano trio repertoire, and have brought

together a community of people with their representation of

diversity and women.

Curium was chosen as the 2017 winners of the Barbara Fritz

Chamber Music Award.

Rachel Kim enjoys a prolific career as a

concert pianist, educator, and mentor in the

Bay Area. She was born in Seoul, South

Korea and began learning music theory and

improvisation with her mother, a jazz and

rock pianist based in Seoul. She began

studying piano in the United States with

Helen Smith Tarchalski at the age of 11.

During this time, she gained a reputation as

a standout performer and consistently won

first and second prizes in the annual solo

and piano ensemble competitions held by

Maryland State Music Teachers Association.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the

Catholic University of America, where she studied with Marilyn

Neeley and Jose Ramos Santana, and a Master of Music degree

from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she continues

her studies with Paul Hersh. She has performed in various summer

festivals around the US and in Europe, including Aspen, Brevard, and

the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, and has performed in the

master classes of world-class musicians including Leon Fleisher, Jean-

Yves Thibaudet, Bonnie Hampton, and Abby Simon. During her

studies at SF Conservatory, she had the opportunity to collaborate

and be coached by musicians such as Bonnie Hampton, Ian Swenson,

Mack McCray, and Jennifer Culp. serves as Music Director for the

annual musical productions and directs the Honors Chamber Singers

and Chamber Music classes.

Polish-born violinist Agnieszka

Peszko has been praised for her

“warm and glowing tone,” and

“logical yet captivating

phrasing.” (Weigang Li, Shanghai

Quartet). She is the founding

violinist of the San Francisco –

based piano trio

Curium, dedicated to performing

works of women composers A

prizewinner of national and

regional string competitions, she

has given many solo recitals

throughout Europe and the United

States. She has also served as a

leading violinist of chamber

ensembles and orchestras, performing in some of the most

renowned concert halls in the USA, Europe and China.

As a laureate of various awards and competitions, she has won

2nd prizes at the Concerto Competition at Montclair State

University in New Jersey and the J. Garscia National

Competition in Stalowa Wola, 4th prize at the G. Ph. Telemann

Competition in Poznan, 1st distinction at the G. Bacewicz

Competition in Wroclaw and at the National Irena Dubiska

Competition of Violin Music Interpretations in Lodz. Some of

her other notable achievements include joining the Shanghai

International Youth Orchestra for the concert tour in China in

2016, and being appointed concertmaster of the Cali Camerata,

a conductor-less string chamber orchestra, to lead the

ensemble in performance at the prestigious Weil Recital Hall in

Carnegie Hall in 2013. She received her Master of Music degree

in Violin Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of

Music, an Artist Diploma and Performance Certificate at John J.

Cali School of Music at Montclair State University as well as a

Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and a Bachelor of Arts

Natalie Raney fell in love with the cello

when she was nine years old after her

coolest, childhood role model began

playing it in the house next door. She has

had the opportunity to perform chamber

music with such musicians as Kim

Kashkashian, Menahem Pressler, Norman

Fischer, Geoff Nuttall, Bonnie Hampton,

Roberto Diaz, Ian Swensen, Jodi Levitz,

Paul Hersh, and the Arianna String

Quartet. While in her graduate studies,

her quartet was invited by the Muir String

Quartet to participate in the Emerging Quartets and Composers

Program, where she worked closely with composer Joan

Tower. After moving to San Francisco, while in school her quartet

was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center, and later that year

was a finalist for the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. She

has studied chamber music under members of the Tokyo, Pacifica,

Brentano, Vermeer, Muir, Arianna, and Alexander String Quartets.

Natalie recently graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory

receiving an Artist Certificate in Chamber Music studying with Jean-

Michel Fonteneau. She received her Master of Music degree at

Boston University under Marc Johnson, former cellist of the

Vermeer Quartet and received a Bachelor of Music under Kurt

Baldwin and the Arianna Quartet at the University of Missouri-St.

Louis.

14

Reci tal : Solo

Inst rumental Series

Angela Kraft Cross, organ Date & Time: Saturday March 2, 7:30 pm



Angela Kraft Cross, San Francisco Bay Area organist, pianist and composer,

graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music in 1980 with bachelor’s

degrees in Physics and Organ Performance. She then earned her Doctor of Medicine

degree at Loma Linda University, where she subsequently completed her residency in

ophthalmology. In 1993, she completed her Master of Music degree in Piano

Performance at the College of Notre Dame with Thomas LaRatta. Her organ

teachers have included Louis Robilliard, Marie-Louise Langlais, Sandra Soderlund, S.

Leslie Grow, William Porter and Garth Peacock. In 2001, she was awarded the

Associateship credential of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) after passing

rigorous playing and written examinations. She has studied composition with Pamela

Decker.

Dr. Kraft Cross has performed extensively on both organ and piano, having given

over five hundred concerts across the United States, in Canada, England, Holland,

France, Hungary, Korea, Lesotho and Guam, including such venues as Notre Dame

Cathedral, St. Sulpice and the Madeleine in Paris, Washington National Cathedral in

Washington, D.C., St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Thomas Church in New York City,

Methuen Memorial Music Hall and Trinity Church in Boston, E. Power Biggs’ organ at

Harvard, and Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral in

London.She has been featured soloist with local Bay Area ensembles; Master Sinfonia

Orchestra, Soli Deo Gloria, Sine Nomine, Masterworks Chorale, Viva la Musica, The Choral Project, and the San Jose

Symphonic Choir as well as Seattle’s Philharmonia Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Skagit Symphony in northern

Washington.

In October 2017, Viva la Musica performed her composition Exsultate Deo on their international tour to Lithuania, Latvia,

Estonia, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. In July 2011, she was a featured recitalist at the San Francisco AGO Region IX

Convention. She has released eight solo CD albums, recorded locally in California as well as in Paris, Lyon and London. Three

of her organ albums have received critical acclaim in The American Organist magazine. Her most recent releases include a

2013 CD of her organ compositions entitled Sharing the Journey, recorded at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los

Angeles and in December 2016, her new WIDOR chez Widor album, featuring Symphonies 4,5,6 and 7 on Widor’s hometown

Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. François-de-Sales in Lyon, France.

Her organ recordings can be heard on Pipedreams with Michael Barone on American Public Media. She has served as the

organist of the Congregational Church of San Mateo since 1993, and is currently the Artist in Residence. She is also a regular

organ recitalist at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

In addition to her musical career, Dr. Kraft Cross retired in 2011 having worked for 22 years as an ophthalmic surgeon at the

Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Redwood City, and now volunteers as an ophthalmologist at Samaritan House in Redwood

City. She is committed to the musical education of young people, and since 1997 has been instrumental in organizing an annual

Organ Camp for young pianists headquartered at her church. Her student, Dominic Pang, won the western regional AGO/

Quimby competition and will perform at the national convention in Kansas City.

Dr. Kraft Cross is the founding director of the San Francisco Peninsula Organ Academy, a nonprofit organization formed in

2014 to support young concert organists with scholarships on short intensive overseas study trips. She also served as faculty

and/or performed in Pipe Organ Encounters in San Francisco 2005, San Diego 2012, and Stanford 2013 and 2016. She is the

Regional Coordinator for Education for the Western Region AGO and the President of the Junior Bach Festival in Berkeley.

She is also a member of the Concert Artist Cooperative.

15

Reci tal : Solo


Clare Longendyke, piano

Date & Time: Saturday March 30, 7:30 pm



Clare Longendyke is a passionate soloist and chamber musician recognized for

her colorful musicality, technical fluency, and ability to interpret repertoires

across the musical spectrum. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals

across Europe and North America and has won 1st place prizes in the

Philharmonic Society of Arlington’s Young Artist Competition, the Schubert Club

of Minnesota’s Scholarship Competition, the National Society of Arts & Letters

Instrumental Competition, and 2nd place in the SIYAO Instrumental

Competition. She made her orchestral debut in 2012 performing Bartók’s 3rd

Piano Concerto as the winner of the Indiana University Piano Concerto

Competition and in 2017, she performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E minor

with the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra (Massachusetts) and Orlando Cela,

conductor.

Clare has been a featured soloist in the Fazioli Piano Series (Los Angeles) and the Silvermine Artist Series (Connecticut), as

well as in performances on American Public Media’s Performance Today. An active performer of new music, she has

premiered over 50 new works since 2012. Clare is a founding member of the CT:2 Clarinet and Piano Duo, the Uproar Duo,

the Longendyke/Wollman Viola and Piano Duo, and she is the pianist and Administrative Director of Calliope’s Call, a Boston-

based art song performance group. Through her solo and ensemble work, she has worked with and performed the music of

living composers Joan Tower, Frederic Rzewski, Tom Cipullo, and Joseph Schwantner, among others.

Clare has degrees from the Boston University College of Fine Arts, the École Normale de Musique (Paris, France), and the

Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She teaches as a Lecturer of Music in Piano at Franklin College.

16

Reci tal : Inst rumental

Piano Series

Cristobal Selamé, guitar

Date & Time: Saturday April 27, 7:30 pm



Described as “inspired… every note comes straight from his heart” by Grammy-Award

winning artist Sérgio Assad, Chilean guitarist Cristobal Selamé is the only undergraduate to

ever win the prestigious Guitar Concerto Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory

of Music. Since then, Selamé has been invited to perform in prestigious guitar festivals,

including the Mauro Biasini International Festival and Competition, where he performed

the Giuliani Concerto op.30.

Of this performance, Classical Guitar Magazine said: “…Selamé appeared to have no

trouble negotiating the speedy passages in the first and third movements, and handled the

middle Andantino with great feeling and delicacy…”

A native of Santiago, Chile, Selamé first came to United States in 2012 on a short summer

trip. During this trip he met Dr. Corey Whitehead, the guitar teacher at Cal Fresno, who

described Salamé as “… the most talented 17-year-old classical guitarist I have met in 20

years.” He returned to the United States to pursue studies with legendary guitarist Sérgio

Assad at the San Fransisco Conservatory of Music, where earned his Bachelor of Music

Degree.

Selamé has participated in masterclasses with world-renowned guitarists such as David Russell, Marcin Dylla, Alvaro Pierri,

Richard Savino, and Manuel Barrueco. Selamé has previously studied in his hometown, Santiago Chile, with Jaime Calisto at the

Modern Music Institute, and with Luis Orlandini at the University of Chile. Selamé was recently accepted into the master’s

program at the prestigious Academy of Music in Darmstadt, Germany under the instruction of the world-renowned musician

and pedagogue Tilman Hoppstock.

When not playing guitar, Selamé enjoys backpacking through his native Chilé with friends, and exploring new places.

17

Reci tal : Solo


Robyn Carmichael, piano

Date & Time: Saturday May 18, 7:30 pm


Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students Carmichael’s distinctive style has defined her concerts in the U.S. and Europe. Her past season included

West Coast concerts in Seattle, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, a radio interview on Berkeley’s

KPFA-FM “Piano” program, and a CD release with music of Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann,

de Falla, Tchaikovsky, Bach-Alkan, and Rachmaninoff.

Her new 2018 season features East Coast and West Coast tours with all-Russian and all-Romantic

recitals, including the virtuosic Tchaikovsky-Pletnev Nutcracker Suite, educational concerts with

commentary for libraries and grassroots organizations, a unique Chopin project and a program honoring

the 200th anniversary of the legendary choreographer Marius Petipa.

The life and works of the great Polish composer Chopin have always had a special significance for

Carmichael because of her Polish/Scottish ancestry. She had a remarkable opportunity to connect more

closely to Chopin and his historical impact on three tours of Poland and one of Scotland. One particular

day of those tours stands out: Warsaw, October 17, 2005. Carmichael describes it as “one of the greatest

events of my life.” She organized an historic pilgrimage to bring her friend Matthew B. Sydow back to

Warsaw. Exactly 60 years earlier, at the end of WWII on October 17, 1945, the great Chopin historian

Bronislaw Edward Sydow and his son Matthew Bogdan Sydow helped to return the urn containing Chopin’s heart back to its rightful place

in the pillar of the Church of the Holy Cross where it remains today. On October 17, 2005, the church was packed with devotees,

simultaneously honoring the anniversary of the death of Chopin, the 60th anniversary of the return of Chopin’s heart, and the mid-point

proceedings of the renowned XV International Chopin Piano Competition. Matthew stood once again in front of the cherished pillar,

completing the circle. “I will never forget this extraordinary moment that honored Matthew, his father, Poland and Chopin’s memory,” said

Carmichael.

In the fall of 2006, Carmichael began a collaboration with Polish narrator and nephew of Bronislaw E. Sydow, Witold Kolankowski,

presenting the life and music of Fryderyk Chopin in recital with readings in Polish/English from Chopin’s correspondence. In 2008-09, they

took their Chopin presentation, “In Search of Chopin,” across the U.S. and to Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow performance at the Grand

Concert Hall at City Halls commemorated 160 years since Chopin’s visit to Scotland in 1848.

In 2003, The International Fryderyk Chopin Society invited Carmichael to play at Ostrogski Palace in Warsaw and Chopin’s birthplace

home, Zelazowa Wola. Upon entering that home, she said “I immediately sensed the incredibly unmistakable presence of Chopin’s

welcoming spirit, throughout my visit and while I played my concert. It was an affirming and extraordinary feeling.” Carmichael also played

premieres of a rare Liszt work entitled “Salve Polonia,” in Poland and the U.S. under the auspices of the Liszt Society of Poland and the

Polish Arts and Culture Foundation.

Carmichael was born in Los Angeles to a musical family where music was a natural part of everyday life. Recordings of symphonic

repertoire emanated from her sister’s small record player, and the sounds of piano, ballet music, opera, and choral singing wafted through

the home of her childhood. Her piano studies began at age 6, guided by the steady and caring hand of her Mother. Carmichael made her

solo recital debut at age 14, and developed a keen interest in all the arts – especially in ballet. Then, in the midst of her piano studies, she

left to pursue a career in ballet for the next ten years. The rich influence of her teachers, many of whom were great Russian émigré artists

from the Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg, has stayed with her to this day. As her dance career came to a close, Carmichael returned

again to the piano and began working with renowned Polish pianist and pedagogue Adolph Baller, ultimately graduating from the San

Francisco Conservatory of Music. She later added independent studies with acclaimed teachers John Perry and Igor Schochetman.

In the intervening years, Carmichael’s own survival from cancer, and the years of 2011-2014, when she cared for her dear Mother with the

same disease, significantly altered her life’s direction. Now she says, “through those experiences, my understanding of music has deepened,

and I am grateful for the opportunity to share great music once again with my audiences.”

Carmichael has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, the Grand Concert Hall at City Halls (Glasgow, Scotland), Ostrogski Palace Concert

Hall (Warsaw, Poland), CAMI Hall in New York City, Denver Municipal Auditorium, the Salk Institute, Portland’s “Art for the Ears,”

Chicago’s PianoForte Series, New York’s Ridotto Series, the Idyllwild Summer Music Festival, Radziejowice Palace (Poland), and many well-

known Bay Area music series such as San Francisco’s Old First Church, Berkeley’s Trinity Chamber Concerts, Stanford University, San

Francisco State University, the University of California at San Diego, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, the Flood Mansion in

San Francisco, Foster City’s Winter Classical Concert Series the “Arts in the City” series and Pacifica Performances’ “Concerts by the Sea”.

Past collaborations include lecture/recitals with renowned Polish musicologist, music critic and journalist Stanislaw Dybowski, a piano-duo

ensemble with Mark Holland, a flute-piano ensemble called Duo Bravo with David Jackson, and pianist for operatic tenor Monti Sauermann

(Salzburg Landestheater.) Carmichael was honored to have a composition, entitled “Summer Idyll” written for her by the late New York

composer Meyer Kupferman.

18

David Jaronowski, organ

Date & Time: Friday June 14, 7 pm



David Jaronowski, M.M., CAGO, has served as director of music at the parish of Mary

Queen of Peace for six years and as director of music and liturgy for the Congregation of St.

Joseph for five years. Prior to that time, he was the director of music and organist at several

area churches; He also spent two years in Kansas City, MO as the director of music at St.

Peter’s Parish in Kansas City and as staff organist at the Cathedral of the Immaculate

Conception.

Mr. Jaronowski holds the Bachelor of Arts degree from Cleveland State University, where he

studied organ with Nicole Keller and Dr. Margaret Scharf, voice with William Dempsey, and

voice and choral conducting with Dr. Brian Bailey. Further studies were undertaken at the

Oberlin Conservatory, studying organ with James David Christie and Mme. Marie-Louise

Langlais, and studying harpsichord with Webb Wiggins. Mr. Jaronowski holds the Master of Music degree from the Cleveland

Institute of Music, where he was a student of Todd Wilson. While at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he also studied early

music at Case Western Reserve University, studying harpsichord with Dr. Peter Bennett, singing in the Early Music Singers

choral ensemble, and receiving a certificate in Early Music from the university.

In addition to his responsibilities at Mary Queen of Peace and the Congregation of St. Joseph, Mr. Jaronowski also teaches at

Notre Dame College, South Euclid, OH, as an instructor of choral studies. There he directs the Notre Dame Concert Choir

and serves as organist during performing arts concerts.

Mr. Jaronowski is a member of the American Guild of Organists, from which he holds the Colleague certificate. He is also a

member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, from which he was awarded the association’s Nancy Bannister

Academic Scholarship in 2013 and the LeMoyne College Scholarship in 2014. Mr. Jaronowski will begin pursuing his Doctor of

Theology degree in Catholic Studies, with an emphasis on liturgical studies and liturgical music this summer at La Salle

University in Philadelphia., Parry, Wood, and Young .

Reci tal : Solo


19

Mark Valenti, piano

Date & Time: Saturday September 28, 7:30 pm



Mark Valenti received his Master of Music from Northwestern University,

Bachelor of Music from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and 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 recitals 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 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.

Reci tal : Solo Inst rumental Series

20

Susan Ellinger, piano

Date & Time: Saturday October 19, 7:30 pm



Having learned to read music and the alphabet at about the same time,

playing classical music was as natural for her as reading a book, riding a

bike or swimming in a creek. As a native growing up in Vermont, she

balanced her time outside the house playing in the woods and inside the

house practicing her Steinway piano.

Praised for her “refined, poised and singular” vision, pianist Susan Ellinger

has performed extensively as both a soloist and chamber musician,

presenting recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter

Auditorium, Caramoor Music Center, Harvard University, Oberlin

Conservatory, Tanglewood Music Festival, the Taos School of Music and

many more. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Peabody

Conservatory Orchestra, in regular concerts with The Chelsea Chamber

Players in New York City, and as a featured soloist in a series of concerts with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra with

conductor Marin Alsop. Susan Ellinger has won top prizes both as a soloist and chamber musician at the Oberlin Conservatory

of Music and Manhattan School of Music and at age 13 was awarded the National Baldwin Junior Keyboard Achievement

Award presenting solo recitals in Washington DC for the Music Teachers Association of America.

During the 2016-17 season Susan will present concerts surveying the keyboard repertoire of classicism and romanticism

presenting the late sonatas of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as well as works by Schubert, Chopin and Brahms. This series of

concerts will illustrate the evolution of pianistic and compositional style in the 19th century, the golden age of modern

keyboard composition and performance. A series of recordings based on the programs are planned for 2017 & 2018.

Ellinger officially joined the Blue Sage Center for the Arts located in Paonia, Colorado as Artistic Director in 2012 to create

and direct a comprehensive concert series program. Since its inception, Ellinger has collaborated with visiting artists such as

Darrett Adkins (cello), Bill Kalinkos (clarinet), Rachel Priday (violin) and Christina Jennings (flute), who have noted the

‘remarkable community’, ‘incredible quality of life’ and ‘sheer beauty’ of the region where the center is located. The Blue Sage

Concert Series runs year-round and consistently performs to sold-out audiences. Over the years it has grown to encompass

both classical and world music concerts as well as outreach activities into local public schools and master class workshops

provided by visiting artists. Ellinger is committed to making music accessible to all and bringing music performance and

education to young audiences.

A protégé of Julian Martin at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Ellinger went on to study with Leon Fleisher at Peabody

Institute and Veda Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School. Susan is an alumnus of the Taos Festival School of Music where she studied

with Robert McDonald.

Reci tal : Solo Inst rumental Series

21

Duo Papillon Barbara Ruzicka and Kumi Uyeda



Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students Barbara Ruzicka and Kumi Uyeda are in love with four-hand music–the communication,

conversation, and bringing the entire keyboard to life in all its sonority—they have found

much comradery–sometimes it can be lonely just being a solo pianist! Their collaboration

began in 2000 with concerts at such venues as UCSC, Ohlone College, Berkeley Piano Club,

All Saints’ Carmel, Monterey Center for Spiritual Living, Carmel Presbyterian and soirees for

the Carmel Music Society. They enjoy playing a range of styles and repertoire- from the

profundity of the Schubert Fantasie to the emotional heart-on-the sleeve Brahms’ dances,

discovering new gems and transcriptions and are in the process of having an original four-

hand piece written for them.

Barbara Ruzicka

Barbara Ruzicka, a Toronto, Canada native studied in the bay area with Francisco de Hoyos,

Pablo Iturrioz, and most extensively and significantly with the esteemed Hungarian pianist,

Sari Biro. As well as her solo performances in various venues, she joined forces with Kumiko

Uyeda in their collaborative and joyful experiences with four-hand music and are known for

their vivid and spirited performances. Barbara has maintained a private teaching studio in

Carmel with a coterie of award winning students. She is very involved in Carmel’s vibrant

music community, the Carmel Music Society, and the Young Artists Showcase of the Carmel

Bach Festival.

Kumiko Uyeda

Kumiko enjoys performing in various genres, including western art music, jazz-fusion, and

collaborating with poets and musicians performing traditional world instruments. Kumiko is

an adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco, where she teaches world music courses and piano. She received her Ph.D.

in cultural musicology from UCSC, and her M.M. degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New

York City where she actively pursued contemporary music, and studied piano with Zenon Fishbein and Edna Golandsky.

Kumiko performs with Duo Papillon (four-hand piano duo) and the Bridge Piano Quartet.

Piano Duo

22

A & R Duo Arianna Körting and Robin Giesbrecht

Date & Time: Saturday August 24, 7:30 pm



Arianna Körting, has performed throughout the world in solo recital

and with orchestra, in radio and television. She was one of eighteen

recipients nationwide under the age of 18 to have been selected as a

2011 Davidson Fellow by the Davidson Institute for Talent

Development. Recognized by the United States Senate, her

achievements were entered into the Congressional Record on October

6, 2011. Premier awards include: First Prizes in the Fifth Julia Crane

International Piano Competition, the 2007 Bradshaw & Buono

International Piano Competition, the CIPC Young Artists Competition,

the David D. Dubois Piano Competition and in the Duquesne Young

Artists National Piano Competition. Arianna’s numerous performances

include: The National Anthem for the Cleveland Indians Home Opener

at Progressive Field, The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra under the

baton of Maestro Christopher Wilkins, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall,

Steinway Hall in NYC, broadcasts of NPR’s From the Top in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory in Boston and the

National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, King’s

College School in Cambridge, England, the Canadian Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic, St. Cecilia’s Hall in Manila, Philippines

the Beijing Music Festival and Academy in Beijing, China and the Fontainebleau Schools in Fontainebleau, France.

Ms. Körting, a Young Steinway Artist, is currently in the highly selective Accelerated B.M./M.M. Program at The Juilliard School

under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal and Hung-Kuan Chen. Arianna began piano studies at the age of three with Tanya

Groys-Kapinos and was the Valedictorian for the 2012 graduating class of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Preparatory

Division, where she studied with Gerardo Teissonniere. She has performed in master class for Imogen Cooper, Pavlina

Dokovska, Richard Goode, Bao Huiqiao, Joela Jones, David Owen-Norris, Roberto Plano, Peter Takacs, Paul Wirth, and in

Paul Schenly’s Pianofest, as one of the youngest pianists to appear in the series’ history. She was a member of the Junior Jury in

the 2009 and 2011 editions of The Cleveland International Piano Competition. An award-winning and avid chamber musician,

she was named one of the 2009-2010 Rembrandt Young Artists at the Rembrandt Chamber Players High School Chamber

Music Competition in Chicago, semi-finalist at the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Competition and received the Live From

Lincoln Center “Outstanding Student Performance Award”.

Praised for his “stunning bravura and seemingly unlimited virtuosity” (Epoch Times) and “nimbleness at the keys” (Cologne-

City News), pianist Robin Giesbrecht has been celebrated internationally with a career reaching mature artistry. Since

winning the International Grotrian-Steinweg Competition at age seven and the NDR Arts Prize subsequently, Mr. Giesbrecht

has enjoyed performances with in recitals and as a soloist with orchestras throughout Europe, North America and Asia,

including debuts with the NDR Radio Philharmonic and the Southwest German Philharmonic.

Robin Giesbrecht’s recital performances include critically-acclaimed debuts at the Hamburg Philharmonic Hall, Carnegie Hall’s

Weil Recital Hall, and in 2015, he gave a performance of his own piano concerto at Lincoln Center. His chamber music

collaborations include performances with the famed Szymanowski Quartet. He has performed at music festivals such as the

Music Academy of the West, Oxford Philharmonic Piano Festival, Piano Texas, Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and

Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg.

An internationally renowned pianist from a young age as a prizewinner at the Rotary International Competition in Essen and

National Junior Competition of Germany, Mr. Giesbrecht became a student of famed pedagogue Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the

age of 8. In 2006, the Austrian TV channel ORF filmed in honor of Mozart’s anniversary a movie in which Mr. Giesbrecht,

dressed as Mozart, performed on Mozart’s original pianoforte in Salzburg, an event that was broadcasted worldwide. In 2008,

the German TV channel WDR made a documentary about the life of the young pianist. Robin Giesbrecht was awarded the

Vladimir Horowitz scholarship at the Juilliard School as a student of Jerome Lowenthal and Joseph Kalichstein, where he

received his undergraduate degree. He is currently a student at the Yale School of Music, where he studies with Peter Frankl.

Piano Duo

23

Reci tal : Jazz Solo


Laura Klein, jazz pianist & composer




Laura Klein was born in New York City and started attending the

Manhattan School of Music’s preparatory school at age seven. She majored

in music at SUNY Buffalo, studying with master pianists Ruslana

Antonowicz, Leo Smit, and Yvar Mikashoff. After receiving her degree, she

attended Berklee School of Music where she studied jazz performance,

composition and arranging with Mick Goodrick, John La Porta, Phil Wilson,

and others. She was hired by the great drummer Joe Hunt to be in his trio,

and while living in Boston, played with Bob Mover, Ron Horton, Jamie

Baum, Frank London, George Schuller, Ken Filliano, Ira Cole-man, and many

of the other musicians on the Boston scene at that time. While at Berklee

she met her future husband and musical partner, guitarist/composer/

arranger Tony Corman, and two other musicians that she would perform

and record with over the next three decades: reeds player Dave Tidball, and drummer Alan Hall. She also began a long

musical collaboration with vibra-phonist Ted Wolff, whose mentor, the great Gary Burton, brought him onto the Berklee

faculty.

Upon relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1984, Laura performed with John Dankworth and the SF Symphony, with

the Rudi Salvini Big Band (with luminaries Allen Smith and Johnny Coles), and in the Benny Barth trio. She and her husband

formed the group Tricer-atops, which appeared at Yoshi’s, Kimball’s, Jazz on the Hill, SF Performances, and numer-ous

festivals. Band members included Jim Zimmerman, Dean Reilly, Jeff Cressman, Dave Eshelman, Clark Gayton, Jules Rowell,

and other top Bay Area musicians.

Since then, Laura has led a busy free-lance performing life, sharing the stage with many Bay Area musicians including

Clairdee, Jason Lewis, Jackie Ryan, Nicolas Bearde, Ed Reed, Noel Jewkes, Alan Hall, Bob Kenmotsu, Leon Joyce, Jr., John

Santos, Mary Fettig, Marcus Shelby, and countless others. She has performed with big bands including the Morchestra, the

CSM Band, and the Montclair Women’s Big Band. She has appeared at SF Jazz with her own trio, as well as with Steve

McQuarry’s Tribute to Carla Bley, and the Destiny Muhammad Project.

She and Tony Corman are co-leaders of FivePlay Jazz Quintet, for which they compose original music. FivePlay’s members

include Dave Tidball and bassist Paul Smith. FivePlay has three CDs, all of which have received national and international

airplay. Guest artists with FivePlay include the late Eddie Marshall, Ron Horton, and Celia Malheiros. The group has

performed widely in the Bay Area, including Yoshi’s, the California Jazz Conservatory, Vallejo Jazz, Piedmont Piano, Red

Poppy Art House, and the Sound Room, done two live concert broad-casts on KPFA-FM, and been featured twice on Jim

Bennett’s “In The Moment” on KCSM-FM. FivePlay’s performance of Laura’s composition, “Glow In the Dark”, was

featured on the soundtrack of the documentary, “The Grant Green Story”.

Laura’s recordings include: FivePlay Jazz Quintet, Five of Hearts, Five and More, Cerulean Blue (with Ted Wolff),

Triceratops, and Jenny Ferris’ Day In, Day Out.

Jim Bennett produced and recorded a concert of Laura’s compositions, performed by Laura Klein, Jason Lewis and Jeff

Neighbor, which was broadcast on KCSM-FM’s “In the Moment” series. Laura is an Associate Professor of the Alexander

Technique at the California Jazz Conservatory.

24

Cuarteto Puentes

Date & Time: Saturday May 4, 7:30 p.m.



Formed in 2015 by four Bay Area dancers/musicians, Cuarteto Puentes is dedicated to performing Argentine Tango music for

dancers and audiences of all kinds. They have studied at Reed Tango Music Institute, Stowe Tango Music Festival, and with top

tango musicians including Ignacio Varchausky, Ramiro Gallo, Hernan Posetti, Hector del Curto, Pablo Estigarribia, Emilio Solla,

Adam Tully, and Ville Hiltula. The quartet appreciates the opportunities they have had for outstanding collaborations with

exceptional artists at a number of unique venues. Their enthusiasm for playing danceable tango standards as well as more

modern arrangements keeps them inspired with practicing, studying, and arranging. Cuarteto Puentes has appeared at many

milongas (Argentine Tango dance parties) throughout the Bay Area and were featured in “live music only” tango festivals in

Albuquerque, NM, and Green Valley, AZ.

Jazz / Tagno

25

Amy Stephens, piano

Date & Time: Saturday July 13, 7:30 pm



Pianist, composer and bandleader Amy Stephens loves jazz and classical piano and

is well- versed in both realms, performing and recording extensively for the past 18

years. She is particularly fond of Third Stream music, the fusion of classical form with

jazz style and sensibilities. Her newest album, Becoming (2018), showcases Amy

performing new Third Stream works for solo piano written by herself and others.

Amy has fronted her own jazz quartet, the Amy Stephens Group (ASG), since 1998.

The three quartet’s albums of Amy’s original jazz compositions—My Many Moods

(2005), Gold Through Fire (2001), and Amy Stephens Group (1998)–have earned

acclaim and steady airplay on jazz radio around the U.S. and internet jazz radio

around the world.

Amy has been privileged to study under renowned jazz educator and composer

David N. Baker and pianists Lynne Arriale, Marius ‘Butch’ Nordal, Luke Gillespie and

Evelyne Brancart. A graduate of Indiana University’s world-renowned School of

Music, Amy earned two Bachelor degrees and a Master degree in classical and jazz

piano, as well as the coveted Performer’s Certificate.

She enjoys playing contemporary worship music and has served as music director

and pianist for many churches in the Midwest, Northwest, and the Bay Area. She

currently lives in coastal California with her husband and three sons, writing music,

performing, and teaching in her piano studio. She is also an avid swimmer and has fun growing and photographing orchids.

Reci tal : Jazz Solo Inst rumental Series

26

Ramana Vieira A Journey to the World of Portuguese Fado

Date & Time: Saturday February 9, 7:30 pm



Journey to the world of Portuguese Fado as interpreted by Ramana Vieira,

Documents

Incarnation Episcopal Church · 2018. 9. 29. · We are continuing our partnership with the Bay Shore Lyric Opera company to bring a staged performance of Bellini’s tragic opera,