THE 2023 SEASON IN WALNUT CREEK

“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.

“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

“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’.