String Theory continues its fourth season by welcoming violinist Philip Setzer and duo David Finckel, cello, and Wu Han, piano, to the Hunter Museum of American Art for a romantic concert on Feb. 14.
Series organizers are billing the concert as an opportunity to “take your Valentine to Lincoln Center without leaving town.”
The program begins with a Musical Dialogue at 6 p.m. led by Artistic Director Gloria Chien who will interview the guest artists. The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio in d minor, Op.49” and Dvorák’s “Piano Trio No. 4 in e minor: The ‘Dumky’ Trio.”
String Theory at the Hunter is a chamber music series presented by Chien in partnership with the Hunter Museum of American Art and Lee University.
Mr. Setzer is a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet which has received eight Grammy Awards, three Gramophone Awards, and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. He has performed cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, and Shostakovich string quartets in the world’s musical capitals, from New York to Vienna.
As a soloist, he has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, and also with the National, Memphis, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Omaha and Anchorage Symphonies.
In 1976 Mr. Setzer won a bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels.
Mr. Setzer is a tenured professor of violin and chamber music at Stony Brook University in New York and has given master classes at schools around the world. He has also been a regular faculty member of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshops at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center.
Musical America’s 2012 Musicians of the Year Mr. Finckel and Ms. Han rank among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. The talent, energy, imagination, and dedication they bring to their multifaceted endeavors as concert performers, recording artists, educators, artistic administrators, and cultural entrepreneurs go unmatched. Their duo performances have garnered superlatives from the press, public, and presenters alike.
The duo has appeared each season at the most prestigious venues and concert series across the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Far East, and Europe to unanimous critical acclaim. Beyond the duo’s recital activities, Mr. Finckel also serves as cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet.
In 1997 Mr. Finckel and Ms. Han launched ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. All 13 ArtistLed recordings have met with critical acclaim and are available via the company’s website at www.artistled.com.
The duo has also overseen the establishment and design of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Studio Recordings label, as well as the Society’s recording partnership with Deutsche Grammophon and Music@Menlo LIVE, which has been praised as “the most ambitious recording project of any classical music festival in the world” (San Jose Mercury News).
Mr. Finckel and Ms. Han have served as artistic directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004 and were recently named artistic directors of Chamber Music Today, a festival held annually in Korea. They are also the founders and artistic directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley that has garnered international acclaim, now celebrating its tenth anniversary season.
Tickets are available by calling the Hunter at 267-0968. Individual concert tickets are: $25 for Hunter Museum members and String Theory donors; $10 for students with valid ID; Non-Member Price: $35. (A $5 fee is applied to all tickets sold at the door.)
For more information or to purchase tickets visit http://stringtheorymusic.org/.
Upcoming Concerts in the 2012-13 String Theory Season
Thursday, March 14: Shmuel Ashkenasi is hailed as a "genuine talent and profoundly gifted" violinst. As first violinist of the Vermeer Quartet, he received five Grammy nominations. Don't miss him in the March 14 concert.
Thursday, April 11: The season finale on April 11 will highlight 10 virtuoso musicians from The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the only full-time professional chamber orchestra in the U.S. This program will be tailored and curated by guest speaker, Patrick Castillo, senior director of Artistic Planning at The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.