St. Cecilia Music Center brings world-class Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (SCMC) to Grand Rapids for their second concert of the season on January 27, entitled Romantic Perspectives featuring music by Brahms, Mahler, Dvorak, and Franck. Six Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center musicians will perform – Co-Artistic Director/Pianist Wu Han, Violinist Aaron Boyd, Violinist Danbi Um, Violist Paul Neubauer, Violist Timothy Riout, and Cellist Sihao He.
Executive & Artistic Director of SCMC Cathy Holbrook says, “We are thrilled and thankful to be celebrating our 10thAnniversary with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and are delighted that our second concert of the season brings back our favorite CMS musicians to perform. To hear the exquisite blend of six outstanding Chamber Music musicians performing the works of Brahms, Mahler, Dvorak and Franck will be a captivating highlight of this monumental season.”
The final concert of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Series will be held on March 31 featuring George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as well as music by Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, and Wynton Marsalis.
Tickets for CMS of Lincoln Center concerts are $40 and $45 and can be purchased online at www.scmc-online.org or by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224.
NOTE: SCMC currently requires proof of fully vaccinated status, or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours, to attend a concert at the SCMC venue. Attendees need to bring photo ID and proof of vaccination, or a negative test, the night of a concert. Home tests are not accepted. All patrons will be required to wear a mask while in the building for the duration of the concert.
If you have tickets to an upcoming performance and are unwilling or unable to abide by this policy, please contact the SCMC box office for a refund at [email protected] a minimum of 48 hours prior to the concert date.
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center “Romantic Perspectives” Highlights:
The Romantic movement in music blossomed across Europe during the nineteenth century. Fueled by the vision of Beethoven, the poetry of Schubert, and the hyper-emotionalism of Schumann, composers tapped their inner selves, often deeply inspired by their native cultures. Johannes Brahms, declared to be the heir to the mantle of Beethoven, adhered to the discipline of the classical age, yet, who has ever composed more romantically and with such passion? Gustav Mahler, whose symphonies expanded music’s horizon by leaps and bounds, penned his only work of chamber music, this achingly beautiful movement, as an idealistic student. And César Franck, the lion of French romantic composers, brought all his sensuousness and seriousness to this epic quintet, one of the literature’s most cherished masterpieces.
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)
Scherzo, WoO 2, from “F-A-E” Sonata for Violin and Piano (1853)
Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911)
Quartet in A minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1876)
Antonin Dvorak (1841 – 1904)
Quintet in A minor for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 1 (1861)
~ Intermission ~
Cesar Franck (1822 – 1890)
Quintet in F minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (1879)
CMS of Lincoln Center Artist Bios – “Romantic Perspectives”
Pianist Wu Han:
Pianist Wu Han, recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award, the highest honor bestowed by the organization, enjoys a multi-faceted musical life that encompasses performing, recording, and artistic direction at the highest levels. Currently co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society and Music@Menlo, Silicon Valley’s innovative chamber music festival, she also serves as artistic advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music in the Barns series and for Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts. Her recent concert activities have taken her from New York’s Lincoln Center stages to the most important concert halls in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to countless performances of virtually the entire chamber repertoire, her recent concerto performances include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She is the founder and artistic director of ArtistLed, classical music’s first artist-directed, internet-based recording label (1997) which has released her performances of the staples of the cello-piano duo repertoire with cellist David Finckel. Her more than 80 releases on ArtistLed, CMS Live and Music@Menlo Live include masterworks of the chamber repertoire with numerous distinguished musicians, the latest being Schubert’s Winterreise with baritone Nikolay Borchev. During the past season, Wu Han designed and produced more than 200 digital media projects, including concerts and innovative educational programs, which have sustained the art of chamber music in dozens of communities across the United States. At CMS, she was instrumental in transforming the CMS Two Program into today’s Bowers Program, which admits, through rigorous and highly competitive auditions, stellar young musicians to the CMS roster for a term of three seasons. Passionately dedicated to education for musicians of all ages and experience, she directs the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, which immerses some 40 young musicians every summer in the multi-faceted fabric of the festival. Wu Han was privileged to serve on multiple occasions as a faculty member of Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Encounters in Israel, New York, and Japan. A recipient of the prestigious Andrew Wolf Award, she was mentored by an elite selection of some of the greatest pianists of our time, including Lilian Kallir, Rudolf Serkin, and Menahem Pressler. Married to cellist David Finckel since 1985, Wu Han divides her time between concert touring and residences in New York City and Westchester County.
Violinist Aaron Boyd:
Violinist Aaron Boyd enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist, lecturer, and teacher. Since making his New York recital debut in 1998, he has concertized throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly a member of the Escher String Quartet, he was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin E. Segal prize from Lincoln Center and was also awarded a Proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh for his musical accomplishments. A passionate advocate for new music, he has been involved in numerous commissions and premieres, and has worked directly with such legendary composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, and Charles Wuorinen. He is also founder of the Zukofsky Quartet (quartet-in-residence at Bargemusic); the only ensemble to have played all of Milton Babbitt's notoriously difficult string quartets. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the BIS, Music@Menlo Live, Naxos, Tzadik, North/South and Innova labels. He has been broadcast in concert by NPR, WQXR, and WQED, and was profiled by Arizona Public Television. Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Boyd began his studies with Samuel LaRocca and Eugene Phillips and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Sally Thomas and coached extensively with Paul Zukofsky and cellist Harvey Shapiro. He now serves as Director of Chamber Music and Professor of Practice in Violin at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and lives in Dallas with his wife Yuko, daughter Ayu, and son Yuki.
Violinist Danbi Um:
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. She is a Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, winner of the prestigious Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition. This season she joins guitarist Jiji for a duo program at the Scottsdale Performing Arts Center and Cooperstown Music Festival, and travels to The Cliburn in Fort Worth for a program with pianist Juho Pohjonen and tenor Karim Sulayman. Other recent and upcoming engagements include solo appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, a national tour with the Chamber Music Society, and performances at premier national series including Wolf Trap, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Parlance Chamber Series, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concerts. Notable recent recitals include an appearance on Music@Menlo’s “Carte Blanche” series and her New York recital debut at the Chamber Music Society, where she is a former member of The Bowers Program. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Um moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
Violist Paul Neubauer:
Violist Paul Neubauer's exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him “a master musician.” In 2018, he made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti and his Mariinsky Orchestra debut with conductor Valery Gergiev. He also gave the US premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, was released on Signum Records and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower and has been featured on CBS's Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. Mr. Neubauer is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College as well as a visiting professor at DePaul University.
Violist Timothy Riout:
Timothy Ridout, a BBC New Generation Artist and Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellow, is a sought-after violist in the UK and internationally. This season he appears as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at BBC Proms, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Hallé Orchestra, and makes his Viennese solo debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Graz Philharmonic. Other highlights this season include recitals and chamber concerts at Wigmore Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid. Further afield, he embarks on a California tour with Camerata Pacifica, and returns to Japan to perform Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre. Sought after as a chamber musician, he has taken part in numerous festivals across Europe, including Rheingau, Bergen, Rosendal, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sion, and Lockenhaus. He records for the Harmonia Mundi label. His latest album—A Poet’s Love—was recorded with pianist Frank Dupree and features selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and their own transcription of Schumann’s Dichterliebe. Born in London, Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He completed his master’s at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai in 2019 and is a member of CMS’s Bowers Program. He plays on a viola by Peregrino di Zanetto c.1565–75 on loan from a generous patron of Beare’s International Violin Society.
Cellist Sihao He:
Sihao He first came into international prominence in 2008 as a 14-year-old cellist winning first prize at the International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Croatia. Later that same year, he won the National Cello Competition in his native China. He is also the Grand Prize winner of the prestigious 3rd Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Japan and third prize recipient at the 2019 ARD International Competition in Munich, Germany. As a soloist, he has performed with many leading orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Münchener Kammer orchester, Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, and Orquestra the Sinfônica de Piracicaba in Brazil. In the US, important performances took place before audiences at the Metropolitan Museum, the U.S Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC, and a recital at the Myra Hess Concert series in Chicago. As a chamber musician, he appeared at the Shanghai Electronic Music Week, in the US at Music@Menlo, and in Europe at the Rome Festival. He has performed with the Joseph Silverstein, Pinchas Zukerman, Donald Weilerstein, and the Calidore Quartet. Before coming to the US his string Quartet, Simply Quartet, won first prize at the Haydn Invitational Chamber Music Competition in Shanghai, and was awarded “The Most Promising Young String Quartet” at the 4th Beijing International Chamber Music Competition. He is a member of CMS’s Bowers Program.
SINGLE TICKETS
Single tickets** for Chamber, Jazz, WinterFest, and Folk series concerts can be purchased by phone at 616-459-2224 or online at www.scmc-online.org.
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Single Tickets – Upcoming Concerts
Romantic Perspectives
Thursday, January 27, 2022
A section $45
B section $40
The Jazz Effect
Thursday, March 31, 2022
A section $45
B section $40
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