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“Tonal richness and precision of expression, with a gripping sweep full of force and energy”

—Süddeutsche Zeitung

The Aris Quartet is unquestionably one of the young shooting stars of the concert world. They play the central repertoire with great naturalness, as if born to play it, but beyond this the Quartet captivates audiences through its passionate interpretations and ability to communicate easily with listeners. Described by the press as “thrilling” (FONO FORUM) and “finely nuanced and exciting” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), this group is really something special.

In 2016, the group received not merely one, but five prizes at the prestigious ARD Music Competition in Munich. and two years later they were named a BBC New Generation Artist, which comes with recording contracts and concerts throughout the UK with engagements in prominent venues and festivals, such as the BBC Proms in August 2019.  The group was also named an ECHO Rising Star by the European Concert Hall Organisation.

Founded in Frankfurt in 2009, the Quartet has already performed over 500 concerts in Europe alone, appearing in the major concert halls and leading music festivals.

Their international breakthrough came shortly after the quartet’s formation, earning first prizes at leading music competitions, including at the International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition in Weimar, Germany in 2016 and at the Juergen Ponto Foundation prize for chamber music.

In upcoming seasons the Quartet will make its debut in the Vienna Konzerthaus, returning to that city soon thereafter as part of the Beethoven Anniversary Year in the prestigious Vienna Konzertverein. Further notable engagements are at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Lieder Halle Stuttgart and a re-invitation to the Schleswig Holstein Festival.  They have previously performed at such venues as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, Musikverein Wien and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

They have since released four highly-acclaimed CD productions, most recently Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in cooperation with Deutschlandfunk in 2018 — a recording that has been hailed by critics.

“Kern’s musicality radiates off the stage and saturates the hall.  Call it star power.”

—Washington Post

With her vivid stage presence, musicianship and formidable technique, Russian-American pianist Olga Kern continues to captivate fans and critics alike.  Born to a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff,  she jumpstarted her U.S. career by winning the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Ms. Kern tours regularly throughout Russia, Europe, the United States, Japan, South Africa and South Korea. She has performed with such orchestras as Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre National De Lyon, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Detroit Symphony and the Moscow, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies.  She gives solo recitals in Chicago, Zurich, Milan and Seattle, and alongside Renée Fleming and Kathleen Battle.  She has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Lincoln Center, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Salzburger Festspielhaus, La Scala in Milan, Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Châtelet in Paris.

Ms. Kern has many recordings.  Her 2004 CD of Rachmaninoff works was nominated for a Grammy award, and her most recent release is the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata with cellist Sol Gabetta.

In 2016, she was Jury Chairman of both the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition and the first Olga Kern International Piano Competition, where she also holds the title of Artistic Director. Ms. Kern frequently gives masterclasses and since 2017 has taught at the Manhattan School of Music. She served as Artist in Residence for the San Antonio Symphony’s 2017-18 season, and has been designated the Virginia Arts Festival’s Director of Chamber Music.

In 2017, Ms. Kern was gratified to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining other honorees including Rosa Parks, Buzz Aldrin, Coretta Scott King, and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. This commendation recognizes Americans who “embody the spirit of America in their salute to tolerance, brotherhood, diversity, and patriotism.”

Olga Kern is a Steinway Artist.

“Paul Huang possesses a big, luscious tone, spot-on intonation and a technique that makes the most punishing string phrases feel as natural as breathing.”

— Washington Post

“Danbi Um’s playing is utterly dazzling…a marvelous show of superb technique”

— The Strad

Paul Huang was a recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. Huang makes recent and forthcoming appearances with the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, Detroit Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, Houston Symphony with Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Lahav Shani, Seoul Philharmonic with Markus Stenz, and return to the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan as its artist-in-residence. A frequent guest artist at music festivals worldwide, he recently stepped in for Anne-Sophie Mutter at Bravo! Vail Music Festival playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 with Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin as well as recital debuts at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and Aspen Music Festival, both to critical acclaim. He is an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and plays on the legendary 1742 ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesù on loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, Danbi Um’s recent performance highlights include solo appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), a national tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and debut performances at premier national series including Wolf Trap, Cincinnati’s Linton Chamber Series, and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concerts. An avid chamber musician, she is an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her festival appearances have included those at Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Moab, Seattle, Caramoor, Moritzburg, and North Shore. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. She plays on a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolò Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.

PAUL HUANG’S WEBSITE

DANBI UM’S WEBSITE

“Gidon Kremer, originally scheduled for this date, has cancelled his US tour.”

Violinist Stella Chen is the Gold Medalist of the prestigious 2019 Queen Elisabeth competition, and also received a Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the 2021–22 season she made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, appearing throughout Europe, Asia, and North America in such venues as Vienna’s Musikverein and Berlin’s Philharmonie. She also made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall. In addition, she has performed with Kremerata Baltica, German State Philharmonic, and New Japan Philharmonic, and appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.Chen’s most recent engagements include appearances with the Belgian National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and the Luxembourg Philharmonic, and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, and at festivals such as the Salzburg Mozarteum, Ravinia, Music@Menlo and Kronberg Academy. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, and Robert Levin.
Pianist Henry Kramer has received top awards in international competitions including Second Prize in the 2015 Honens Competition in Calgary and 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He is a recipient of a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Highlights of the past two seasons include his new commission by Han Lash, concerts with the Hartford Symphony, and features on Seattle’s Emerald City Music, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Washington’s Phillips Collection, and on tour with Camerata Pacifica. Kramer has performed with orchestras such as the Belgian National Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, and Indianapolis Symphony, and he has appeared at the Anchorage, La Jolla Summerfest, Mainly Mozart, Mostly Mozart, Rockport music festivals. Kramer collaborated recently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Emmanuel Pahud, the Calidore and Pacifica Quartets, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Kramer is a Steinway Artist.

“A reliably mesmerising musician, Angela Hewitt has the ability to convey a spiritual seriousness that nonetheless does not exclude an utter charm.”

—The Sunday Times (London)

One of the world’s leading pianists, Angela Hewitt is well established as one of today’s foremost interpreters of Bach, and recently she was inducted into Gramophone Magazine’s “Hall of Fame” thanks to her popularity with music lovers around the world.

Her award-winning cycle for Hyperion Records of all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as “one of the record glories of our age” (The Sunday Times) and her large discography also includes albums of Couperin, Rameau, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel, and Granados. Recent releases include her first disc of Scarlatti Sonatas, her sixth volume of Beethoven Sonatas, and her second recording of the Goldberg Variations.

Ms. Hewitt appears all over the world in the most prestigious concert halls from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. Her festival appearances include Lucerne, Verbier, Osaka, Prague, the Lincoln Center and the BBC Proms, to name but a few. Her own annual Trasimeno Music Festival takes place each summer in Umbria, Italy, and features international artists as well as recitals, chamber music, and concertos from Hewitt herself. Communication with her audience is important to her, and has resulted in a huge fan base throughout the world. Her masterclasses, writings on music and booklet notes for her recordings are all hugely popular.

In 2003 Angela was awarded the first ever BBC Radio 3 Listeners’ Award in the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, and in 2006 she was voted Gramophone’s ‘Artist of the Year’. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2006, and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2015. In 2018 Canada honoured her with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.

From 2016 until 2020, Ms Hewitt has presented The Bach Odyssey, an ambitious journey traversing the complete keyboard works of J S Bach in twelve recitals, in venues around the world including London’s Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s Kioi Hall and New York’s 92nd Street Y.

Christian Tetzlaff is acclaimed for his performances of a broad spectrum of repertoire, from Bach’s unaccompanied masterpieces to world premieres of contemporary works. Born in Hamburg in 1966, Tetzlaff made  his concert debut playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto when he was 14. He is sought after as a soloist by most of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including the Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, National, Toronto, and London, symphony orchestras; the Berlin, Los Angeles, Rotterdam, and Vienna philharmonics; and the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw, among many others. He is compelling as a recitalist in all the world’s most prestigious halls, from Berlin to New York, Amsterdam to London.  He has been the Artist-in-Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Tanja Tetzlaff has been one of the most influential musicians of her generation for decades, both as a soloist and as well as a chamber musician. Her playing is characterised by a sound uniquely fine yet powerful, a sound always imbued with a deep musicality. Tanja Tetzlaff’s calling card is her breadth of repertoire and her passion for innovative concert formats; she goes beyond the presentation of purely classical music, incorporating other art forms, and is a sought-after interpreter of 20th and 21st century compositions. In 2021, she premiered the Double Concerto for Cello & Percussion by Rolf Wallin, followed by the world premiere of the Double Concerto for Cello & Percussion by Olga Neuwirth in 2022.

Kiveli Dörken, who studied in her early years with Lars Vogt, has performed for the Dalai Lama as well as German chancellor Angela Merkel. She has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Hamburg Camerata, the Camerata Bern and the Athens state orchestra.  Ms. Dörken has performed in some of the world’s most famous venues, including the Elbphilarmonie in Hamburg, the Mariinsky-Theater in St. Petersburg, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, and is a regular guest at many prestigious festivals, including the Kissinger Sommer, the Spannungen Festival in Heimbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Ms. Dörken is the founder and Artistic Director of the Molyvos International Music Festival on the Greek Island Lesbos.

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF’S WEBSITE
TANJA TETZLAFF’S WEBSITE
KIVELI DOERKEN’S WEBSITE

“A graceful, singing quality and assertive muscularity, delivered as fully in the virtuosic passages as in the lyrical ones.”

—The New York Times

American pianist Jon Nakamatsu is a true aristocrat of the keyboard, whose playing combines elegance, clarity, and electrifying power. He burst upon the scene as Gold Medalist of the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition.  Nakamatsu was immediately in hot demand, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Paris, London and Milan, as well as a performance at the White House.  He has collaborated the Brentano, Tokyo, Kuss, Jupiter and Prazak String Quartets, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. He also tours regularly with clarinetist Jon Manasse as the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo, and the pair are also the Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.

Mr. Nakamatsu records exclusively for harmonia mundi usa, which has released thirteen of his CDs to date. His all-Gershwin recording with the Rochester Philharmonic rose to number three on Billboard’s classical music charts and earned extraordinary critical praise. Other acclaimed releases include an all-Liszt disc and a Rachmaninoff CD, including the 3^rd Piano Concerto and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Mr. Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse’s 2008 recording of Brahms Clarinet Sonatas was chosen by the New York Times as one of its top releases for the year, and a disc released in August 2012 features the Tokyo Quartet playing two Brahms quintets: the Clarinet Quintet (with Mr. Manasse) and the Piano Quintet. Of his 2014 solo disc of Schumann works, BBC Music Magazine states that “Nakamatsu clarifies Schumann’s textures to a remarkable degree, reveling in its fantastic imaginings with rapier-like precision and effortless command.”

Jon Nakamatsu has adjudicated several international piano competitions and has been guest speaker at such institutions as the Van Cliburn Foundation, Stanford University and the Juilliard School.  He currently teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

“The most dynamic duo of this generation”

—San Francisco Classical Voice

Known for their adrenalized performances, original compositions, and notorious music videos, Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe are revolutionizing the piano duo experience for the 21st century. Described as “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald), and “the very model of complete 21st-century musicians” (The Washington Post), the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo aims to make classical music a relevant and powerful force around the world. Their albums on the Steinway Label (When Words Fade, An Amadeus Affair, and The Art of Bach) were all released to critical acclaim and have spent dozens of weeks at the top of the Billboard  Classical Charts, while their Emmy-nominated, self-produced music videos have been viewed by millions on YouTube and at international film festivals. Highlights of the 2017/18 season include recital and concerto appearances throughout North America (including their Kennedy Center debut), Europe, Asia, and New Zealand; the release of their latest album, Mother Muse; webcast hosting for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; and the introduction of a new music competition which will award the winning composer an Anderson & Roe-produced music video.

Since forming their dynamic musical partnership in 2002 as students at The Juilliard School, the Anderson &  Roe Piano Duo has appeared on NPR and MTV, toured extensively worldwide as recitalists and orchestral  soloists, and presented at numerous international leader symposiums. A performance by the Duo was handpicked to appear on the Sounds of Juilliard CD celebrating the school’s centenary. Highlights of the  2016/17 season include tours throughout North America, Asia, and Europe; appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and more; and the DVD release of their ambitious—and literally  explosive—music film, The Rite of Spring.

“Mercurial, nerve-end playing which combines a surging impetus with expressive flexibility.”

—Gramophone (review of Mendelssohn CD)

Established in 2013, the Arod Quartet is known for its laser-focused sound and thrilling interpretations. This young French group came to the attention on the international stage when they won First Prize at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich, having already taken First Prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in 2015 and at the European Competition in 2014.

Recent seasons have seen the Quartet perform at the Auditorium of the Louvre, the Philharmonie de Paris and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (Paris), the Arsenal concert halls in Metz, Bordeaux and Montpellier in their native France, London’s Wigmore Hall, Salzburg’s Mozarteum and the Schloss Elmau in Germany, the Bozar (Brussels), the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Tonhalle Zurich, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisboa and in Italy, Tokyo, Denmark, Serbia, etc.

They have performed such festivals as Verbier, Montreux, Aix-en-Provence, Menton, Salon-de-Provence, Folle Journée de Nantes, The Pablo Casals Festival of Prades (France), Heidelberg, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bremen Musikfest, Mozartfest Würzburg, Prague Spring Music Festival among others.

The group is currently artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels with the Artemis Quartet. They also work with the Ebène Quartet and Diotima Quartet.

The Arod Quartet takes its name from Legolas’ horse in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy — in Tolkien’s mythical Rohirric language, Arod means ‘swift’.

“Weilerstein is a consummate performer, combining technical precision with impassioned musicianship”

—The MacArthur Foundation,
awarding Alisa Weilerstein a MacArthur Fellowship (the “Genius Grant”)

American-born cellist Alisa Weilerstein is known worldwide for her natural virtuosity, the intensity of her playing and the spontaneity and sensitivity of her interpretations. In 2010, she was invited by Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic to play the Elgar concerto. She has appeared with all of the major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe with such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi, Zubin Mehta, Yuri Temirkanov, Osmo Vänskä, Semyon Bychkov and Jaap van Zweden. She also appears at major music festivals throughout the world as a soloist, recitalist and as a chamber musician.

In the 2018-19 season, Weilerstein released Transfigured Night on the Pentatone label, including Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, from which the album takes its title. She subsequently toured Verklärte Nacht in two configurations: one with a string ensemble, and the other with pianist Inon Barnatan, violinist Sergey Khachatryan and percussionist Colin Currie. Also in 2018-19 she performed Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Valencia Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony, and toured the U.S. playing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic led by Semyon Bychkov. She also performed the Schumann Concerto, Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Concerto, Britten’s Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, and Bloch’s Schelomo in cities from San Diego to Vienna. Finally, she gave two performances, with the composer leading both Copenhagen’s Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony, of Matthias Pintscher’s new cello concerto Un despertar (An Awakening), which was written for her.

Between orchestral engagements she performed Bach’s complete cello suites in Boston (Celebrity Series), in Paris (the Saint-Denis Festival), the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and for Cal Performances in Berkeley.

MS WEILERSTEIN’S WEBSITE

“One of the most admired pianists of his generation” (New York Times), Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan is celebrated for his poetic sensibility, musical intelligence and consummate artistry. He was recently named Music Director of the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, beginning in 2019, and just completed three seasons as the inaugural Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic. After recent debuts with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Chicago, Baltimore, and Seattle Symphonies, he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and made debuts with both the London and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras.

In recital this season, Barnatan returns to venues including Wigmore Hall, the 92nd Street Y and Southbank Centre, besides making Carnegie Hall appearances with soprano Renée Fleming and regular duo partner Alisa Weilerstein. A sought-after chamber musician, he appears regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His commissions and performs works by many living composers, including Thomas Adès, Sebastian Currier, Avner Dorman, Alan Fletcher, Joseph Hallman, Alasdair Nicolson, Andrew Norman, and Matthias Pintscher.

“A born Schubertian” (Gramophone), Barnatan’s critically acclaimed discography includes Avie and Bridge recordings of the composer’s works, as well as Darknesse Visible, which earned a coveted place on the New York Times’ “Best of 2012” list. His most recent CD is a live recording of Messiaen’s 90-minute masterpiece Des canyons aux étoiles (“From the Canyons to the Stars”). His 2015 Decca Classics release, Rachmaninov & Chopin: Cello Sonatas with Alisa Weilerstein, earned rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

MR. BARNATAN’S WEBSITE