Stella Chen,
violinist
First Prize, 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition
https://stellachen.com

2021/2022
authorized by artist management. |
"Her
performance sounded fresh and spontaneous, yet emotionally
profound and intellectually well-structured."
-The
Jerusalem Post
"Stella
Chen looks to tell a story and does it with beautiful
nuances and beautiful intentions."
-Le
Soir(translated
from French)
Praised
for her "phenomenal maturity" and "fresh and spontaneous,
yet emotionally profound and intellectually well-structured
performance" (Jerusalem Post), American violinist
Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with
her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International
Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher
Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist
Award.
Following
debuts with the Chicago Symphony and Chamber Orchestra
of Europe in summer 2021, her auspicious 2021-22 season
sees her recital debut at Carnegie Hall and recital,
concerto, and chamber music appearances throughout Europe,
Asia, and North America, including debuts with Kremerata
Baltica, German State Philharmonic, and New Japan Philharmonic,
as well as appearances with Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour.
Stella’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, Salzburg Mozarteum, Ravinia, and
Kronberg Academy Festivals. Stella has appeared as a
chamber musician in festivals including the Perlman
Music Program, Music@Menlo, the Sarasota Festival, and
YellowBarn.
She is the
first recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard
University, the top prize winner of the Tibor Varga
International Violin Competition and youngest ever prize
winner of the Menuhin Competition. Stella plays on the
1700 ex-Petri Stradivarius, on generous loan from Dr.
Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and
Benefactors Collaborative.
Matthew Lipman,
viola
American
violist Matthew Lipman has been praised by the New York
Times for his “rich tone and elegant phrasing,” and
by the Chicago Tribune for a “splendid technique and
musical sensitivity.” Lipman has come to be relied on
as one of the leading players of his generation, frequently
appearing as both a soloist and chamber music performer.
Lipman will debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
at the Ravinia Festival and with the Chamber Orchestra
of Europe at the Rheingau Music Festival in the summer
of 2021. Highlights of recent seasons include appearances
with the Minnesota Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Academy
of St Martin in the Fields, and the Juilliard Orchestra.
Lipman has worked with conductors including Edward Gardner,
the late Sir Neville Marriner, Osmo Vänskä, and Nicholas
McGegan. Lipman was a featured performer with fellow
violist Tabea Zimmermann at Michael Tilson Thomas’s
2019 Viola Visions Festival of the New World Symphony
in Miami. His recent debuts include at the Aspen Music
Festival, Seoul’s Kumho Art Hall, Wigmore Hall, Chicago’s
Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, the Walt Disney Concert
Hall and in recital at Carnegie Hall.
Ascent, his 2019 release by Cedille Records, was celebrated
by The Strad as a “most impressive” debut album while
Lipman is praised for his “authoritative phrasing and
attractive sound.” The album marks the first ever recording
of the recently discovered work by Shostakovich, Impromptu
for viola and piano and of Clarice Assad’s Metamorfose
for viola and piano, which Lipman commissioned for the
recording. He has also been featured on the recording
of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Rachel
Barton Pine and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields
conducted by the late Sir Neville Marriner. The album
topped Billboard’s Classical Chart and has received
praise by both the press and public.
Named the 2019 Artist-in-Residence for the American
Viola Society, Lipman has additionally been featured
on WFMT Chicago’s list “30 Under 30” of the world’s
top classical musicians, and is a published contributor
to The Strad, Strings and BBC Music magazines. He was
featured on the second season of PBS’s ‘Now Hear This’
performing Schubert’s ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata with pianist
Mishka Rushdie Momen. He performs regularly on tour
and at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center and at music festivals
including the Morizburg Festival, St. Petersburg’s White
Nights, Music@Menlo, Marlboro, Ravinia, Bridgehampton,
Seattle, Saratoga, and Kissinger Sommer festivals. His
regular chamber music partners include Tabea Zimmermann,
Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, Sir András Schiff, Jeremy
Denk, Stella Chen, and Pinchas Zukerman. Dedicated to
expanding the repertoire for the viola, Lipman has also
performed the premieres of works for viola by composers
Helen Grime, Clarice Assad, David Ludwig and the American
premiere of Monochromer GartenVI by Malika Kishino.
Lipman is the recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career
Grant, a Kovner Fellowship, and the Jack Kent Cooke
Award, and is also a major prize winner in the Primrose,
Tertis, Washington, Johansen, and Stulberg International
Viola Competitions. He studied at The Juilliard School
with Heidi Castleman, and was further mentored by Tabea
Zimmermann at the Kronberg Academy. As an alum of the
Bowers Program, Lipman occupies the Wallach Chair at
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He performs
on a 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola loaned through the
generous efforts of the Pine Foundation.
Brannon Cho,
cellist
https://brannoncho.com
Described
by Arto Noras as “a finished artist, ready to play in
any hall in the world,” cellist Brannon Cho has emerged
as an outstanding musician of his generation. He is
the First Prize winner of the prestigious 6th International
Paulo Cello Competition, and is also a prize winner
of the Queen Elisabeth, Naumburg, and Cassadó International
Cello Competitions.
Brannon Cho has appeared as a soloist with many of the
top orchestras around the world, including the Helsinki
Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic
Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and Orchestre Philharmonique
Royale Liège, under world-renowned conductors such as
Susanna Mälkki, Stéphane Denève, and Christian Arming.
As a lover of chamber music, Brannon Cho has shared
the stage with artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Christian
Tetzlaff, Gidon Kremer, and Joshua Bell. His recent
festival appearances include Marlboro, Kronberg Academy,
Music@Menlo, and Verbier. In addition, Brannon Cho is
a scholarship holder in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation,
and the recipient of the 2019 Ivan Galamian Award, which
was previously held by James Ehnes.
Brannon Cho’s recent and upcoming solo performance highlights
include debuts in Wigmore Hall, Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall, the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, Kumho Art
Hall in Seoul, Konzerthaus Berlin, Seoul Arts Center,
the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and New England
Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.
Born in New Jersey, Brannon Cho received his Bachelor’s
degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School
of Music under Hans Jørgen Jensen. He was awarded the
prestigious Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory,
where he studied with Laurence Lesser. Today, he is
in the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg
Academy, under the tutelage of Frans Helmerson. Brannon
Cho is sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, and performs on
a rare cello made by Antonio Casini in 1668 in Modena,
Italy.
|