String Theory Season 15 To Open Oct. 10

String Theory at the Hunter, in partnership with Lee University and the Hunter Museum of American Art, will open its 15th season with a night of Mozart & Shubert on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m.

The performance will welcome guest artists Edward Arron, cello; Nicholas Cords, viola; Helen Kim, violin; Arnaud Sussmann, violin; and Tom Van Dyck, bass; along with Dr. Gloria Chien, String Theory founder and artistic director, on piano.

“‘Making great music with great friends has always been the motto of String Theory,” said Dr. Chien. “Season 15 opens with a concert bound by a remarkable group of artists and friends coming together in two of the most beloved chamber music masterpieces.”

The group will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 and Schubert’s The Trout, a piano quintet.

“Pregame with Bob” will take place at 5:45 p.m., a discussion with Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Music Director Emeritus Bob Bernhardt. He will dive into the evening’s program for an in-depth look at the featured composers and works, featuring interviews with the evening’s artists.

Mr. Arron has appeared in recitals, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician, throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, Bargemusic, Caramoor, CityMusic Cleveland, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, as well as other festivals and events. In 2016, Arron joined the faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he currently serves as an associate professor of cello.

Dr. Chien is the co-artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, as well as the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont, along with her husband, Soovin Kim. For the last decade, she was the director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. She frequently appears with the Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center and is a Steinway Artist. Dr. Chien has had a 21-year relationship with Lee University, where she is currently an artist-in-residence.

Mr. Cords is a founding member of Brooklyn Rider, a group NPR credits with “recreating the 300-year-old form of the string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” As a soloist, he has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Bridgeport Symphony. Mr. Cords is currently the violist of the Silkroad Ensemble, a musical collective founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000, and he has been involved in creating more than 100 compositions and arrangements throughout the group’s history. He also serves on the viola and chamber music faculty of New England Conservatory.

Ms. Kim has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony orchestras. She is the recipient of more than 100 national and international awards, including winning the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York. A native of Canada, Kim has been engaged by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George symphonies. She has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe and La Jolla International Music Festivals. Ms. Kim is currently the assistant concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and recently joined the roster of the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Mr. Sussmann, winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006 and has regularly appeared with them in New York and on tours. Winner of several international competitions, including the Andrea Postacchini of Italy and Vatelot/Rampal of France, Mr. Sussmann was named a Starling Fellow in 2006. He currently teaches at Stony Brook University and was recently named co-artistic director of Music@Menlo’s International Music Program.

Mr. Van Dyck, recipient of the Maurice Schwarz Prize at Tanglewood and the Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Prize, has played at the Mostly Mozart Festival, New York City's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Boston Chamber Music Society, and Harvard University's Houghton Library chamber music series. He has been artist-teacher of double bass at the Longy School of Music and guest teacher at the New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, and the Hartt School of Music. Mr. Van Dyck currently plays in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's double bass section. He is also a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, which tours nationally.

Tickets for the Tuesday evening concert are on sale now through Oct. 10 and are $45 for general admission, $35 for Hunter members, and $10 for students and music teachers.

String Theory was founded in 2009 by Dr. Chien to expose new audiences to chamber music, invigorate the local classical music scene, and cultivate a future generation of music lovers.

To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit stringtheorymusic.org or call 423-414-2525.