Chamber Music Showcase- November 8, 2020

Concerts @ First Presents

Chamber Music Showcase

Chamber Music Showcase A Thanksgiving Concert November 8th, 2020 2:00 P.M. Piano Quintet, Op. 44

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

IV. Allegro ma non troppo Julie Coucheron, piano David Coucheron, violin Helen Kim, violin Yinzi Kong, viola Charae Krueger, cello String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor Op. 95 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) IV. Larghetto espressivo; Allegretto agitato; Allegro Vega Quartet David Coucheron, violin Jessica Wu, violin Guang Wang, cello Yinzi Kong, viola Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen I. Aria

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Maria Valdes, soprano Stuart Stephenson, trumpet Strings, Continuo

Piano Trio no. 1 in D Minor

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) David Coucheron, violin Helen Kim, violin Yinzi Kong, viola Charae Krueger, cello

Concerto no. 21 arr. Piano and Strings II. Andante David Coucheron, violin Helen Kim, violin Yinzi Kong, viola Charae Krueger, cello Julie Coucheron, piano

W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Duo for two violins

Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880)

Helen Kim, violin David Coucheron, violin Oblivion

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) Julie Coucheron, piano Helen Kim, violin Charae Krueger, cello

Trumpet Concerto in D

Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709)

I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro Stuart Stephenson, trumpet Strings, Continuo Arpeggione Sonata

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

I. Allegro moderato William Ransom, piano Yinzi Kong, viola La Boheme

G. Puccini (1858-1924)

Donde lieta usci

Maria Valdes, soprano Jens Korndofer, organ Waltz of the Flowers

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Julie Coucheron and William Ransom, piano

Quintet no. 2 for piano and strings

Peter Schickele (b. 1935)

IV. Lively David Coucheron, violin Helen Kim, violin Yinzi Kong, viola Christopher Rex, cello Julie Coucheron, piano

To help support performances like this one, please contribute to the Concerts @ First fund via: firstpresatl.org/GIVE

About the Artists David Coucheron joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in September 2010. At the time, he was the youngest concertmaster among any major U.S. orchestra.

Throughout his career, Coucheron has worked with conductors Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich and Charles Dutoit, among others. He has performed as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

Coucheron has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Olympic Winter Games (Salt Lake City, Utah), as well as in Beograd, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Serbia, Singapore and Shanghai. His chamber music performances have included appearances at Suntory Hall as well as Wigmore Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Coucheron serves as the Artistic Director for the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival in his hometown of Oslo, Norway. He is also on the artist-faculty for the Aspen Music Festival and Brevard Music Festival.

An active recording artist, recordings with sister and pianist Julie Coucheron include “David and Julie” (Naxos/Mudi) and “Debut” (Naxos). He is also the featured soloist on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was released on ASO Media in Fall 2014.

Coucheron began playing the violin at age three. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music, his Master of Music from The Juilliard School and his Master of Musical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with teachers including Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan and David Takeno. Coucheron plays a 1725 Stradivarius.

Born in Oslo, Norway, Ms. Coucheron began playing the piano at age four. She earned her Bachelor and Master’s Degree with honors from the Royal Academy of Music in London. At the age of 30, Ms. Coucheron has established an international career, winning awards in Italy, Germany, UK and in the United States.

Ms. Coucheron has worked with musicians such as Claude Frank, Emanuel Ax, Chee-Yun Kim, Christopher O’Riley, Steve Miller Band, Yo-Yo Ma, and Elton John, and has toured Europe, America, South America and Asia, performing in halls like Verizon Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Coucheron has performed with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic; Jena Symphony Orchestra, and the Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra in Kiev. Ms. Coucheron regularly performs at festivals such as the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Bergen International Music Festival, Amelia Island Music Festival, Madison Chamber Music Festival, Juneau Jazz and Classics and at La Jolla Summer Fest. She is Artistic Director of the Fjord Cadenza festival in Norway and for the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival in Oslo, Norway. In addition, Ms. Coucheron also performed during the 2003 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Ms. Coucheron enjoys a close collaboration with her brother, the Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony, David Coucheron, and together they have released two recordings, ‘Debut’ and ‘David and Julie’ on the Naxos label.

In addition to her busy concert schedule, Ms. Coucheron is a sought after teacher and pedagogue. In August 2014, she was appointed Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the top 50 state schools in the United States. Ms. Coucheron has given masterclasses and taught at schools such as the New England Conservatory, Emory University and Mercer University.

Ms. Coucheron enjoys a various and wide range of styles and repertoire emerging from her highly trained classical background to the more contemporary and popular music. Recent collaborations include performances with the Steve Miller Band and Elton John.

About the Artists Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six.

She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston's Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor and Master's Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Hyo, Kang, Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay. While at Juilliard, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition at both the pre–college and college levels. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. She won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival. A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged as soloist by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared as soloist with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Highlands-Cashiers, Amelia Island, El Paso Pro Musica,Zenith and Sitka International Chamber Music Festivals. She recently made her debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the 2019 St Miguel de Allende International Chamber music festival.

Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as Assistant and Associate Concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and serves as Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Department at Kennesaw State University

Violist Yinzi Kong, born and raised in Shanghai China, is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Vega String Quartet. Miss Kong started her musical training at age five and gave her first public performances at seven. After moving to the United States in 1995, Miss Kong received a bachelor’s degree from the Harid Conservatory in Florida and a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Since winning several top prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, the Carmel String Quartet Competition and the Coleman Competition in the US with the Vega, Miss Kong has enjoyed a versatile career in both solo and chamber music performance and teaching. She has performed in major concert halls all over the world including the stages of Carnegie Hall, and her live performances have been heard on NPR's Performance Today (USA), the National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, France Musiques, and the National Radio of the Czech Republic. Miss Kong has also collaborated with some finest musicians of our time including Elliot Fisk, William Preucil, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth and Sarah Chang among others. Miss Kong currently resides in Atlanta, where the Vega Quartet are full-time Artists-in-Residence at Emory University.

About the Artists In the last two decades, German organist Dr. Jens Korndorfer has established himself internationally as performer, educator and church musician.

Praised as “a virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition” who creates “performances that are deeply musically satisfying as well as exciting” (The American Organist), Jens has performed to critical acclaim at prestigious venues such as Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Merrill Auditorium in Portland (ME), Duke University Chapel, the Montreal Bach Festival, the Cathedrals in Washington, Berlin, Paris, Salzburg, Oslo, and Moscow, Westminster Abbey in London, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Kyoto Concert Hall, and the Cultural Centre in Hong Kong.

Jens’ repertoire reaches from the Renaissance to the 21st century, including transcriptions, commissions and world premieres. He frequently collaborates with other musicians, has performed with orchestras, and recorded four CDs. He has given master classes and presentations at conventions, universities, and concert halls around the world, and his research has been published in dedicated music journals.

Passionate about forming the next generation of organists, Jens taught at Agnes Scott College (2014-19) and, since 2017, has been directing the successful rebuild of the organ program at Georgia State University. In combination with graduate assistantships at major churches in the Atlanta area, the comprehensive program is designed to prepare students for a successful career in church and concert.

As Director of Worship and the Arts, and Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, GA, Jens oversees a thriving music and arts ministry. Under his leadership, the sanctuary organ was completely rebuilt, enlarged, and re-voiced by organ builders Klais (Bonn, Germany) and Schlueter (Lithonia, GA), and a new Steinway Concert Grand Piano was purchased.

Thanks to collaborations with major cultural players (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, HIGH Museum of Art, Atlanta Opera), the introduction of programs that raise awareness for minorities in the classical arts, and presentations and lecture series on inter-disciplinary topics, Jens significantly increased the reach of the church’s music and arts ministry.

A top-honor graduate from the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Musikhochschule in Bayreuth and McGill University in Montreal, Jens’ teachers include Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, James David Christie, and Ludger Lohmann.

During Jens’ tenure as organist in residence at the Concert Hall Kitara in Sapporo, Japan, in the 2005/06 season, he was particularly inspired by the imaginative marketing and highly creative— and successful—outreach efforts of the hall’s administration. Ever since, in his positions he has striven to make the arts and especially the organ as successful as they were in Sapporo. www.jenskorndoerfer.com

About the Artists Charae Krueger received her training in cello studies at the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with Laurence Lesser and Colin Carr and received a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance.

She also holds an Artist Diploma from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Krueger received her chamber music training with Eugene Lehner of the Kolisch Quartet, as well as with Robert Mann and Samuel Rhodes of the Juilliard String Quartet. She has also coached with such artists as Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, Louis Krasner, Felix Galimir and Leon Kirchner. She has played in masterclasses with Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Banff School for the Arts.

Since moving to Atlanta five years ago, Ms. Krueger has been appointed principal cellist of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. She also performs frequently with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee, where she will be featured as soloist this season. She enjoys playing chamber music with various ensembles throughout the city, performing with the Amadeus String Ensemble, the Musica Da Camera, the Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the Lyra String Quartet. Ms. Krueger was recently appointed cello professor at Kennesaw State University and is a member of the faculty string quartet in residence there as well.

While living in Boston, Ms. Krueger was principal cellist for ten years with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and also performed with the Vermont Symphony, Nashua NH Symphony and the New England Chamber Orchestra. She was a founding member of the Arden String Quartet, a nationally managed group who, in 1996, succeeded the Borromeo and Ying Quartets by receiving the Arthur W. Foote Emerging Artist award. The Quartet was formed under the sponsorship of the Longy School of Music, where they were in residence from 1993-1996. As a member of the Arden Quartet, Ms. Krueger performed up and down the eastern U.S., playing in such venues as Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Rockefeller University, Brown University, the Seaside Institute, MIT, Harvard Musical Association, Tufts University and NEC's Jordan Hall. She has given U.S. premieres of works by Elliot Carter, Gunther Schuller, Herschel Garfein, Victor Ullman and Alexander Mnatsekanyan. She has also enjoyed playing chamber music in such groups as the Boccherini Ensemble, Trillium (a fluteoboe-cello trio) and the Speakeasy String Quartet (a jazz string quartet).

Ms. Krueger plays on a cello made by Abraham Prescott in Concord, N.H. in 1830

About the Artists Pianist, Artistic Director, master teacher, editor and judge for international competitions, William Ransom appears around the world as soloist with orchestras, recitalist and chamber musician. His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio and Television in the US, Argentina, Poland and Japan. He regularly collaborates with musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, William Preucil, Stephen Isserlis, Robert McDuffie, and members of the Tokyo, Cleveland, Juilliard, American, St. Petersburg, Borromeo, Parker, Ariel and Lark String Quartets; the Empire Brass Quintet, Eroica Trio, and the percussion group Nexus among others.

As a master teacher, he also performs and gives master classes at numerous schools of music and universities around the world. He has recorded for ACA Digital and Rising Star Records. Ransom is the Mary Emerson Professor of Piano at Emory University in Atlanta and founder and Artistic Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. A graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of Michigan, in the summers, Ransom is Artistic Director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and for a decade was an artist-faculty member at the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan. In 2016 he was named Artistic Director of the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and also one of Musical America Worldwide’s “30 Musical Innovators”.

Christopher Rex joined the Atlanta Symphony as Principal in 1979, the same year in which he became the first cellist ever to win the string prize in the biennial Young Artists Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Since then he has appeared as a recitalist and chamber musician across the nation.

Following his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Orlando Cole and at The Juilliard School with Leonard Rose, he was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy for seven seasons. He has taught at Gettysburg College, the New School of Music in Philadelphia, Georgia State University, and the Eastern Music Festival. He shared Acting Principal duties for the New York Philharmonic's European tour in 1988.

Mr. Rex's solo performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra include works by Brahms, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Bloch, Elgar, Schumann, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Haydn, Herbert, Hindemith, Prokofiev, Barber, Golijov, and Stephen Paulus.

Mr. Rex directs the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, which he founded, and the Madison Chamber Music Festival in Georgia. A regular performer at the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, he has been principal cellist of the orchestras at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has performed as a soloist at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Brevard and Eastern Music Festival and the Chautauqua Festival in New York. He served on the board of directors of Chamber Music America for six years, was head of the Cello Department of Georgia State University School of Music, and is on the chamber music faculty of the of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon.

About the Artists Stuart Stephenson joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet at the beginning of the 2013-14 season. He has also been a guest musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony.

Stuart is on faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and has performed at the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Grand Teton Music Festival and Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. He is also on faculty at Emory University and Georgia State University in addition to maintaining a private teaching studio.

Stuart holds a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School and a master’s degree from Northwestern University. Stephenson’s notable teachers include Barbara Butler, Charlie Geyer, Chris Martin, Tom Rolfs, Tom Cupples, Adel Sanchez, Raymond Mase and Mark Gould.

American soprano Maria Valdes was recently described as a “first-rate singing actress and a perfectly charming Gilda” (New York Times). During the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Valdes returned to Atlanta Opera as Cristina Kahlo in Frida and Younger Alyce in Glory Denied (COVID). During the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Valdes was slated to return to Houston Grand Opera to sing the role of Amy in the world premiere of The Snowy Day (COVID) and during the winter of 2021, Ms. Valdes will make her Hawaii Opera Theater debut as Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld.

During the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Valdes’ engagements included a debut with Atlanta Opera as Doris Parker in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, a company debut with Washington Concert Opera for their Opera Outside series and a return to Phoenix Symphony for performances of Handel’s Messiah. Ms. Valdes also recently made a company and role debut as Violetta in La traviata at Gulfshore Opera, her Rochester Philharmonic debut, reprising the role of Despina in Così fan tutte and debuted with West Edge Opera as Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice.

In the concert realm, Ms. Valdes recently debuted with Virginia Symphony as the soprano soloist in Messiah, the Brooklyn Art Song Society singing Chants d’Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra singing Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughn Williams and Bach Cantata No. 29. “Wir danken dir, Gott” and the Mobile Symphony as the soprano soloist in Ein deutsches Requiem.

In the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Valdes made her debut with New York City Opera, in cooperation with Houston Grand Opera as Diana in the mariachi opera, Cruzar la cara de la luna, and made a role and company debut with Opera San Jose as Despina in Così fan tutte. In the summer of 2018, Ms. Valdes made her company debuts with The Berkshire Opera Festival as Gilda in Rigoletto and with Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. On the concert stage, Ms. Valdes has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the California Symphony, in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Phoenix Symphony and Poulenc’s Gloria with the Bellingham Festival of Music.

During the 2016-2017 season, Ms. Valdes returned to San Francisco Opera to cover the role of Gilda and went on in-role during a performance after a colleague fell ill. A distinguished alumna of the SongFest program in Los Angeles, she was heard in a solo recital of Nordic, Spanish and Latin American music. Other season highlights included performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with both the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Chattanooga Symphony, and with Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the West Coast premiere of Scott Ordway’s “Tonight We Tell the Secrets of the World.” Ms. Valdes also joined the Concert Royal at St. Thomas Church in New York City for their Messiah, where The New York Times exclaimed that she performed “beautifully, growing stronger as the evening progressed.”

About the Artists In the 2015-2016 season, Ms. Valdes joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago debut covering Juliette in Romeo et Juliette. Ms. Valdes also completed her time as an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera. During her time as an Adler, Ms. Valdes performed the roles of Musetta in La bohe me, Papagena in Die Zauberflote, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro.

Covers included Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Magnolia in Showboat and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, which she also performed in 2013 as member of the Merola Opera Program.

Also an accomplished recitalist, Ms. Valdes has appeared in concert with Martin Katz, and made her New York recital debut with NYFOS performing with Steven Blier and Michael Barrett in Compositora, a recital of female Latin American composers. She also attended the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival which included several concert appearances and Ms. Valdes can be heard singing Mendelssohn’s “Hear my prayer” on the album Evening Hymn released by Gothic Records and acclaimed in the American Record Guide. An award-winner in the regional Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, Ms. Valdes is also the winner of the top prize at the Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is the recipient of a Shoshana Foundation Grant.

Guang Wang; Cellist of the award-winning Vega Quartet, recitalist, chamber musician, and educator. Mr. Wang has performed in concerts and festivals across North America, Europe and Asia, including the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen Summer Festival and many others. His performance has been heard on many of the nation's prominent classical radio broadcasts, including NPR’s Performance Today (USA), the National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, and France Musiques.

Chinese-born cellist Guang Wang began his cello studies at the age of eight. In 1994, he became the youngest Assistant Principal Cellist at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He worked with Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach and other world leading conductors and played over 200 concerts throughout Asia before he moved to United States. Mr. Wang holds a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music, Artist Diploma at Harid Conservatory and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Mr. Wang is a founding member of the Vega String Quartet, and the Artist-in-Residence at Emory University Atlanta since 2006. He and his quartet perform outreach at community primary schools and has given master classes at universities. Mr. Wang is proud to serve his community as an advocate for music education. He believes strongly in music education at all levels and he has brought in-depth coaching and musical training to adults for whom music is a passion and hobby. His students had won awards at the American Protege International Piano and Strings Competition 20132020, and many Young Artists Competitions around Georgia. They performed at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, New York City and many events around Metro Atlanta.

Jessica Shuang Wu, violin

As a founding member of the Vega String Quartet, quartet in residence at Emory University, Jessica Shuang Wu has performed extensively throughout North America, Asia, and Europe, and has been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today (USA), Radio France, the National Radio of China, the National Radio of the Czech Republic, and Shanghai TV. Her concert appearances include the Vega String Quartet’s critically acclaimed Lincoln Center debut and “a triumphant L.A. debut” (Los Angeles Times); performances at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Weill and Zankel recital halls, and Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall; Harvard Club in New York; Museum d’Orsay of Paris; Highlands-Cashiers Festival in North Carolina; Aspen Music Festival; and La Jolla Concert Series, among many others.

Born in Shanghai, China, Wu began her violin studies at age 5 and made her solo debut with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at age 12. At age 9, she joined the Shanghai Conservatory and started playing chamber music at age 13.

In 1998, Wu and the Vega String Quartet won the first prize at the Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition and first prize at the Carmel International Chamber Music Competition.

The following year, the quartet was awarded four out of the top six prizes at the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, including the International Music Critics’ prize. The quartet has released a CD under Naxos Records Inc., on Twentieth-Century American Music.

Wu appears regularly in chamber music concerts with many of today’s leading artists including Richard Stoltzman, David Coucheron, Sarah Chang, Zuill Bailey, Robert McDuffie, Charles Wadsworth, Andres Cardenes, Eliot Fisk, Christopher O’Riley, Sara Sant’Ambrogio, and William Ransom.

This concert was made possible thanks to the generous donations to the Concerts @ First season.

Concerts @ First Donors 2020/21 Season Orchestrator

Patron

Underwriter

Carillon Bell Choir in memory of Jack McGaughey

Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones in memory of Margaret Bates Block Angel

Elizabeth Fogartie A.M. Haltiwanger in honor of Dr. Jens Korndörfer

Anne C. Pritchett

Margaret Howell

Ann Voit

Linda and Mason Stephenson Gail and David Watson in memory of Cary and Brooks Lide; Bill Minnich Friend Benefactor

Carton and Cheryl Hughes

Arthur and Mamie Mendez

Drs. Joseph Bishop and Stuart Noel

Suzanne Shull

To make a contribution to Concerts @ First please click the link to visit firstpresatl.org/GIVE

Music and Arts Staff Dr. Jens Korndörfer—Director of Worship and the Arts, Organist Ms. Katie Patterson— Director of the School of Fine Arts, Assistant Director of the Arts Dr. Daniel Bara, Dr. Deanna Joseph—Co-Directors of the Choir and Orchestra Ms. Allegra Whitney— Program Coordinator for Music Mr. Brendan Callahan-Fitzgerald— Director of the Children’s choirs Dr. Ana Baida—Director of the Carillon choir

Concerts @ First presents 2020-2021 Dedication Concerts of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta’s PEYTON CATER ROBINSON MEMORIAL STEINWAY CONCERT GRAND PIANO Friday, October 23, 2020 8:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Players 45th Season Opener World Premiere– David Garner’s Crow and Melt

Friday, October 30, 2020 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Beethoven 2020 - Violin and Cello Sonatas #2 Christopher Rex, cello - Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin - William Ransom, piano

Sunday, November 8, 2020 2:00 P.M. Chamber Music Showcase Thanksgiving concert featuring David Coucheron, Stuart Stephenson, Maria Valdes

Sunday, December 13, 2020 10:00 A.M. Christmas Concert Program TBD Friday, January 22, 2021 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Vega String Quartet

Saturday, February 6, 2021 11:00 A.M. Atlanta Opera Studio Educational Tour Bi-lingual Barber of Seville Friday, February 19, 2021 8:00 P.M. Piano & Organ Concert Beethoven – Emperor Concerto; David Briggs - Poème Rhapsodique (World Premiere) Julie Coucheron, piano - Jens Korndörfer, organ

Friday, March 26, 2021 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta David Coucheron, violin; William Ransom, piano

Sunday, May 16, 2021 3:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Players Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue