衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, led by the artistic director couple WU Han and David FINCKEL, will be featuring a group of elite Asian musicians performing three master chamber works. BOCCHERINI, an Italian composer, was skillful in writing elegant courtly music. His most well-known work is the fourth movement of this Quintet in E Major, a cheerful minuet. The expressive Quartet in A minor, written by Czech composer and violinist SUK, was deeply influenced by and composed under the guidance of SUK's teacher, DVOŘÁK. Each of the three melodious movements carries different emotions. The second half of the program features the master work of CHAUSSON's Concerto in D Major, which not only emphasizes the tacit understanding between musicians, but also demands virtuosity of the solo piano and violin. Its hearty sound makes one marvel at the composer's superb writing skills and become captivated by its rich and delicate emotion.

  Pre-talk  

2022/12/3(Sat)13:50 Concert Hall 3F

  Program  

Luigi Rodolfo BOCCHERINI: Quintet in E Major for Two Violins, Viola, and Two Cellos, G. 275, Op. 11, No. 5

Josef SUK: Piano Quartet in a minor for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 1

Ernest CHAUSSON: Concerto in D Major for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21

  Creative and Production Team  

Piano｜WU Han

Violin｜Stella CHEN、Danbi UM、Sirena HUANG

Viola｜HUANG Hsin-yun

Cello｜David FINCKEL、QIN Li-Wei

  Artists Introduction  

Piano｜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.

Cello｜David FINCKEL

Co-artistic director of CMS since 2004, cellist David Finckel leads a dynamic musical career that has included performances on the world's most distinguished stages as well as ground- breaking entrepreneurial projects. As cellist of the Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons, he leaves a legacy of performed and recorded chamber music that includes virtually the complete string quartets of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvorák, Brahms, Bartók, and Shostakovich, as well as the additional collaborative masterpieces and discoveries that he performs annually. His solo and duo discography is equally comprehensive, including all the standard literature for cello and piano. Fascinated since student days by recording technology, he created ArtistLed with pianist Wu Han in 1997, the first internet-based classical label to allow artists complete control over repertoire, sound engineering, editing, packaging, and presentation. His discography includes works composed for him by George Tsontakis, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bruce Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, Augusta Read Thomas, and Pierre Jalbert, and his orchestral recordings include both the Dvorák and Harbison Concertos. His commitment to living luthiers is evidenced through his performances, since 1993, on a cello made for him by the Brooklyn maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz, a copy of the "Duport" Stradivari cello of 1711. At age ten, deeply inspired by the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, he committed himself to life as a cellist, and at age 16 became Rostropovich's first American student. After first playing with pianist Wu Han in 1981, he added to his already busy career the responsibilities and opportunities of a professional cello-and-piano duo, both in the recording studio and on the concert stage. Finckel co-directs CMS's Bowers Program, and as founder and artistic director of Music@Menlo, the festival's annual Chamber Music Institute. He teaches cello and chamber music at both the Juilliard School and Stony Brook University.

Violin｜Stella CHEN

Praised for her "phenomenal maturity" and "fresh and spontaneous, yet emotionally profound and intellectually well-structured performance” (Jerusalem Post), American violinist Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. After debuts with the Chicago Symphony and Chamber Orchestra of Europe in summer 2021, her auspicious 2021-22 season sees her recital debut at Carnegie Hall and recital, concerto, and chamber music appearances throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America, including debuts with Kremerata Baltica, German State Philharmonic, and New Japan Philharmonic. She also appears with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour as a member of CMS's Bowers Program. Her most recent engagements include appearances with the Belgian National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and the Luxembourg Philharmonic and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, Salzburg Mozarteum, Ravinia, and Kronberg Academy Festivals. She has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, the Sarasota Festival, and Yellow Barn. She is the first recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, the top prize winner of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, and youngest ever prize winner of the Menuhin Competition.

Violin｜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.

Violin｜Sirena HUANG

Praised by The Baltimore Sun for her "impeccable technique…deeply expressive phrasing…and poetic weight," Sirena Huang is one of her generation's most celebrated violinists. She brings not only technical brilliance and powerful artistry to the stage, but also a profound sense of connection to her audience.

Sirena has been the recipient of numerous accolades and awards. She is the 2022 Gold Medalist of the 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. In 2017, she was awarded First Prize at the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. In 2009, she won First Prize Gold Medalist of the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. She won First Prize and the Audience Award at the Cooper International Competition in 2011. In 2013, she was awarded the Hannloser Prize for Violin at the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland.
Sirena made her solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in 2004 at the age of nine and has performed in twenty countries across three continents. She has been featured as a soloist with more than fifty prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Shanghai, Russian, and Singapore symphony orchestras, and the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany. She has performed in leading venues including Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the Kravis Center, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Shanghai Concert Hall, and the Taiwan National Concert Hall, among many others. She has appeared as a guest artist at the Verbier Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Music in the Mountains Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series.

Viola｜HUANG Hsin-Yun

Violist HUANG Hsin-Yun has forged a career performing on international concert stages, commissioning and recording new works, and nurturing young musicians. She has been a soloist with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, China NCPA Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic, Russian State Symphony, Zagreb Soloists, Bogota Philharmonic, Brazil Youth Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, International Contemporary Ensemble, and the London Sinfonia. She performs regularly at Marlboro, Santa Fe, Music@Menlo, Seoul Spring, and Spoleto USA. She also tours extensively with the Brentano String Quartet. Recent highlights include concerto performances under the batons of Osmo Vänskä, David Robertson, Xian Zhang, and Max Valdés, and appearances with the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphonies. She has commissioned compositions from Steven Mackey, Shih-Hui Chen, and Poul Ruders. Her 2012 recording for Bridge Records, titled Viola Viola, won accolades from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Upcoming projects includes FantaC with the Ashkenazy Ballet as well as the world premiere of a duo with pipa virtuoso Wu Man written by Lei Liang. Gold medalist in the 1988 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the 1993 ARD International Competition in Munich, Huang was awarded the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. She has been a contributor to Strad magazine and was featured in one of its podcasts discussing time and space. A native of Taiwan and an alum of Young Concert Artists, she was inspired to play the viola by Haydn quartets. She currently serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Cello｜ QIN Li-Wei 

One of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, Chinese-Australian Li-Wei Qin has appeared all over the world as a soloist and chamber musician. After being awarded the Silver Medal at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition, he won First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York. Gramophone Magazine described him as "a superbly stylish, raptly intuitive performer" in his recording of Elgar and Walton concertos with the London Philharmonic. Two-time soloist at the BBC Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall, he has enjoyed successful collaborations with many of the world's great orchestras including all the BBC symphony orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NDR-Sinfonierorchester Hamburg, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, La Verdi Orchestra Milan, ORH Vienna Radio Orchestra , Finnish Radio Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, and Sydney and Melbourne symphonies. Leading conductors with whom he has worked include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Davis, Marek Janowski, Jaap van Zweden, Gianandrea Noseda, Hans Graf, Yu Long, Lü Jia, Tan Dun, Machello Viotti, Jirí Belohlávek, and Yehudi Menuhin.

Prior to teaching at the National University of Singapore, Mr. Qin taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. He is also a guest professor at Shanghai and Central Conservatory of Music in China. As artistic director, he founded the annual Qingdao International Cello festival in 2018. He plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr. and Mrs. Wilson Goh.

PHOTO© LisaMarieMazzucco