String Theory To Begin Sixth Season

Lee University, in partnership with The Hunter Museum of American Art, has announced the celebration of its sixth season of String Theory, featuring six world class concerts, beginning this October.

String Theory, founded in 2009 by pianist and Artistic Director Gloria Chien, brings acclaimed chamber musicians from around the world to perform in the intimate setting of the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga. 

“With 18 phenomenal musicians, 15 of whom will be making their Chattanooga debut, season six promises to be the most dynamic season yet for String Theory,” said Dr. Chien. 

Review for the performers:

The first concert will take place on Oct. 16 featuring The Fleisher Duo, composed of husband and wife Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson. Legendary pianist Mr. Fleisher thrives, at 86 years of age, in a sustained career as conductor, soloist, chamber musician, and revered teacher. Pianist Jacobson’s performing career as soloist, duo pianist and chamber musician has received international acclaim, and her work has been praised for its “abundant musicality and refined technique.” 

The Fleisher Duo will perform works by Bach, Kirchner, Scriabin, Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel. 

Fleisher’s masterclass, which will be held at Squires Recital Hall on Lee’s campus on Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 4-6 p.m., will feature young pianists from Lee University and University of Tennessee Knoxville from the studios of Ning An and David Northington. This event is hosted by Lee and is free and open to the public.  

On Dec. 18, the Pacifica Quartet, along with Dr. Chien, will perform works by Mendelssohn and Brahms. 

Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring repertory choices over the past two decades, the Pacifica Quartet has gained international stature as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The quartet is composed of Simin Ganatra, first violin; Sibbi Bernhardsson, second violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello. 

The Pacifica Quartet has received the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Naumberg Chamber Music Award, and has been named Musical America Ensemble of the Year. 

Dr. Chien is a prize winner of the World Piano Competition, and the San Antonio International Piano Competition, She has been praised by the Strad for “super performances…accompanied with great character.” 

Dr. Chien was appointed the director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2012, and now frequently plays at Alice Tully Hall in New York as well as other venues around the country with CMS on Tour.  

On Jan. 22, 2015, String Theory will welcome Tara O’Connor, flute; Peter Kolkay, bassoon; James Austin Smith, oboe. The group, accompanied by Chien, will perform works by Haydn, Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, Jolivet, Ginestera, Poulenc, and Britten. 

Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, Ms. O’Connor was the first wind player to participate in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Two program and is now an Artist of the CMS. Last season she premiered a new chamber work by John Zorn, made appearances at the Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curaçao and the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival, and performed concerts in Hawaii and Georgia with CMS. 

Called “stunningly virtuosic” by The New York Times and “superb” by the The Washington Post, Mr. Kolkay claimed First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.  He is an Artist of the CMS and a member of the IRIS Orchestra in Germantown, Tenn., and currently serves as associate professor of bassoon at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. 

Praised for his “virtuosic” and “brilliant” performances by The New York Times, Mr. Smith performs new and old music across the United States and around the world.  Along with festival appearances at venues such as Marlboro, Lucerne, Chamber Music Northwest, Stellenbosch, and OK Mozart, Mr. Smith has also performed with the St. Lawrence and Orion string quartets and recorded for the Nonesuch, Bridge, Mode and Kairos labels.  He is an artist of CMS Two, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Talea Ensemble and Decoda. 

Clarinetist Anthony McGill will join Dr. Chien on Feb. 12, 2015, to perform works by Debussy, Scriabin, Schumann, and Weber. Just named Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, Mr. McGill served as Principal Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for the past decade and has been recognized as one of the classical music world’s finest solo, chamber and orchestral musicians. 

Mr. McGill is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the first Sphinx Medal of Excellence. McGill serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Bard College Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music, and has given masterclasses throughout the United States, Europe and South Africa. 

A percussion trio composed of Ayano Kataoka, Ian Rosenbaum, and Christopher Froh will continue the season on March 19, 2015, performing works by Cage, Lansky, De Mey, Nancarrow, Reich, Takemitsu, and Zivkovic. Their program has been described as “exhilarating…both sonically and visually captivating.” This is the first percussion trio to be featured in String Theory.  

Ms. Kataoka was the first percussionist to be chosen for CMS Two and has collaborated with many of the world’s most respected artists, including Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Jeremy Denk, and Yo-Yo Ma. She is known for her brilliant and dynamic technique, as well as the unique elegance and artistry she brings to her performances.

Mr. Rosenbaum, praised for his “excellent” and “precisely attuned” performances by the New York Times, recently joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two program as only the second percussionist they have selected in their history. He made his Kennedy Center debut in 2009 and later that year garnered a special prize created for him at the Salzburg International Marimba Competition. 

Mr. Froh is a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Empyrean Ensemble, Rootstock Percussion, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and has premiered over 100 chamber and solo works by composers from 15 countries. He has recorded with the San Francisco Symphony on SFS Media; as a soloist on Albany, Innova, and Equilibrium labels; and as a chamber musician on Bridge Records and Music@Menlo LIVE. 

The season finale on May 7, 2015, will highlight Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A major, featuring Soovin Kim, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Paul Watkins, cello; and Chien, piano. Kim, Huang, and Watkins are the Artistic Directors of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, the Sejong International Music Festival, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival respectively. 

Mr. Kim performs as both a concert soloist and chamber musician and as first violinist with the Johannes String Quartet. In 2009 he founded the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vt., which has quickly gained national attention for its innovative programming, educational outreach, and work with young composers. He joins the faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music this fall. 

Ms. Huang was the gold medalist at the 1988 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the top prize winner at the 1993 ARD Competition in Munich, winning at the same time Japan’s prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. She has appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony, the City of London Sinfonia, the Russian State Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Zagreb Soloists, the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony of Taiwan, among others. 

Mr. Watkins, succeeding David Finckel as the newest member of the Emerson String Quartet, enjoys a distinguished career both as concerto soloist and chamber musician. He studied with William Pleeth, Melissa Phelps and Johannes Goritzki, and by the age of 20 was appointed Principal Cellist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He performs regularly with all the major British orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia and City of Birmingham Symphony. 

In addition to music, this season’s String Theory series also offers Art Connections and Musical Dialogues. Art Connections will give String Theory attendees the opportunity to visit the Hunter galleries at 5:30 p.m. prior to the concerts to hear former Hunter Chief Curator Ellen Simak and Maestro Robert Bernhardt discussing works from the Hunter collection that relate to the music featured in the evening's concert. Art Connections are scheduled for the Jan. 22, Feb. 12 and May 7 concerts. 

Musical Dialogues, scheduled for the Oct. 16, Dec. 18 and March 19 concerts, takes place at 6 p.m. from the concert stage and feature an in-depth conversation with the evening’s performers on their lives, inspirations, and the masterpieces being performed at the String Theory concerts. 

String Theory’s sixth season will also include a family concert in January 2015 hosted by Rami Vamos and featuring O’Connor, Kolkay, Smith, and Chien; later that month Lee University will host O’Connor, Smith, and Chien for a concert. 

Individual concert tickets are $25 for Hunter members, $35 for non-members, $10 for students with a valid student ID and $25 for groups of 20 or more people. Season subscriptions are available for $130 for Hunter members and $180 for non-members. 

For more information on String Theory at the Hunter or to purchase tickets, call 267-0968 or visit www.stringtheorymusic.org.