February 2022 ECMSA Concert Program

2021–2022

MUSIC@ EMORY

These concerts are presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.

404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu | boxoffice@emory.edu

Audience Information Please turn off all electronic devices.

Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result is required for all patrons attending this event. Full details are available at schwartz.emory.edu/FAQ Face masks covering the nose and mouth are required at all times in the Schwartz Center.

The concert hall capacity has been reduced in order to allow distance between seated parties. Please be mindful of distancing.

Photographs and Recordings

Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.

Ushers

The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of approximately 60 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.

Accessibility

The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu.

Design and Photography Credits

Cover and Program Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague

Acknowledgment

The Schwartz Center gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.

ECMSA EMERSON SERIES Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta William Ransom, artistic director

2021 2022

The Bach Bowl Sunday, February 13, 2022, 4:00 p.m.

Program begins on page 4.

The Three Artistic Directors Saturday, February 19, 2022, 8:00 p.m.

Program begins on page 13.

Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

The Bach Bowl Music of Johann Sebastion Bach (1685–1750) Sunday, February 13, 2022, 4:00 p.m.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049 Allegro Andante Presto Christina Smith and C. Todd Skitch, flute; Alice Hong, violin; the Vega String Quartet; Jonathan Colbert, bass; William Ransom, harpsichord Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 Prélude Allemande Courante Sarabande Menuetts I & II Gigue Yinzi Kong, viola Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540 Jens Korndoerfer, organ Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 Allegro Andante Allegro assai Stuart Stephenson, trumpet; Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, oboe; Christina Smith, flute; Alice Hong, violin; the Vega String Quartet; Jonathan Colbert, bass; William Ransom, harpsichord

The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta is supported by the Cherry L. Emerson Endowment, the Rebecca Katz-Doft Chamber Music Endowment, the Ethel Orentlicher Gershon Fund, a generous gift from Dr. John and Linda Cooke, and by music lovers like you.

To encourage physical distancing and avoid crowding in the lobbies and restrooms, you may exit the concert hall as needed between pieces. An usher will assist in returning you to your seat at an appropriate time.

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Performer Biographies Born in Atlanta, Jonathan Colbert has a successful international career, performing extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the United States. He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, received a diploma from the Juilliard School, and attended Interlochen Arts Camp as the Emerson Scholar for the state of Georgia. Colbert has performed/held positions with the Atlanta Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Chineke! Orchestra, and with the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra. He has also served as the principal bass of the Sphinx Virtuosi.

Colbert is an award-winner in numerous competitions, including the International Society of Bassists orchestral competition and the BASSEUROPE orchestral competition. He has been a member of the Verbier Festival in Switzerland since 2005. His teachers include the late Ralph Jones, Timothy Cobb, Leigh Mesh, and Al Lazslo.

Colbert is also in high demand as a teacher. He has a thriving private studio, is the double bass professor at Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, and is also the bass teacher at the Atlanta Music Project. In 2016, Colbert was an inaugural coach for Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 orchestra. In addition to significant accomplishments in his musical career, the 2009 American Council on Germany’s young leaders program selected him to attend their yearly gathering in Berlin with other distinguished professionals, including Angela Merkel. Most recently, Colbert and his wife started HavenHyggeHouse (a Scandinavian-inspired community space for children and caregivers to come together to create community and find friendship).

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Alice Hong is an international award-winner both as a violinist and composer. She was included on CBC’s 2018 edition of “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30” and has been featured as a composerperformer in the Atlanta Symphony’s Conversation of Note series with Robert Spano.

As a violinist, Hong is a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and has performed in the Toronto Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, and the Atlanta Opera, among others. She has also toured with Lincoln Center Stage to 28 different countries and has performed her own compositions at venues and events such as the Kennedy Center, Spoleto Festival USA, and Heifetz on Tour. As an avid chamber musician, Hong has performed alongside esteemed musicians including James Ehnes, Frans Helmerson, Mihaela Martin, Jonathan Crow, New Orford String Quartet, and Barry Shiffman.

Her performances have been featured on CBC Radio, WABE 90.1 Atlanta, and WSMR 89.9 Tampa.

As a composer, Hong’s pieces have been performed and read by the Toronto Symphony, Niagara Symphony, and Georgian Bay Symphony; principal members of the New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Canadian Opera Company; and members of the Rolston String Quartet and Cypress String Quartet. She has been commissioned by festivals such as the Lovstabruk Kammermusik Festival in Sweden and Toronto Summer Music, as well as principal members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her works have won multiple awards from the ASCAP Morton Gould Awards as well as first prize at the International Keuris Competition, Carl E. Baldassarre ComposerVirtuosi Competition, NorCal Viola Society Commission Contest, Pikes Peak Composition Competition, and third prize along with the audience prize for the 2018 Lands End Ensemble Composition Competition; they have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, and China.

Hong has a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Toronto where she enjoyed the private tutelage of Jonathan Crow. She also has master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Rice University as a Starling Foundation Scholar studying with Cho-Liang Lin and the Cleveland Institute of Music with David Updegraff.

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Violist Yinzi Kong, born and raised in Shanghai, China, is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Vega String Quartet. Kong began her musical training at age five and gave her first public performances at seven. After moving to the United States in 1995, she 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 United States with the Vega String Quartet, 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 on 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. Kong has also collaborated with some of the finest contemporary musicians including Elliot Fisk, William Preucil, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth, and Sarah Chang, among others.

In the past two decades, German organist Jens Korndörfer has established himself as a performer, educator, and church musician, both nationally and internationally. Praised as “a virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition” who creates “performances that are deeply musically satisfying as well as exciting” (American Organist), Korndörfer has performed to critical acclaim at prestigious venues such as Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco; Merrill Auditorium in Portland (Maine); 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.

Korndörfers’ 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.

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Passionate about forming the next generation of organists, Korndörfer taught at Agnes Scott College 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, Korndörfer oversees a thriving music and arts ministry. Thanks to collaborations with major cultural players, the introduction of programs that raise awareness for minorities in the classical arts, and presentations and lecture series on inter-disciplinary topics, Korndörfer significantly increased the reach of the church’s music and arts ministry.

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

Canadian born flutist C. Todd Skitch joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2013. He is also a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players and is artist in residence at Kennesaw State University.

Skitch started his orchestral career with the Memphis Symphony after completing degrees at the University of Toronto and McGill University where his principal teachers were Nora Shulman and Timothy Hutchins.

Skitch’s distinguished career as a teacher and symphony musician includes many credits: an original member of IRIS Orchestra with Michael Stern; Bellingham Festival of Music; Memphis Chamber Music Society; Tanglewood Music Center; Blossom Music Festival, where he received the Maurice Sharp Award for outstanding flute applicant; Spoleto Festival USA; and the National Repertory Orchestra. While in Memphis, Skitch served as chair of the Board of Directors and orchestra manager for the Memphis Youth Symphony. Skitch has been heard on WABE Atlanta, CBC Radio-Canada, WKNO-Memphis, and as a soloist with the Memphis Symphony and IRIS Orchestra. In 2003, Skitch joined the Canadian group Ensemble Noir on a historic, three-nation African tour to Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Skitch plays a handmade solid silver Jack Moore flute.

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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 United States, 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 Emerson, 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 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 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.”

Christina Smith is one of the most sought-after flutists in the country as an orchestral player, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. The 2015– 2016 season was Smith’s 25th anniversary season as principal flutist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO), where she holds the Jill Hertz Principal Flute chair, endowed in perpetuity. Smith’s flute solos can be heard on 37 ASO recordings. She has also appeared with the orchestra numerous times as a

concerto soloist.

She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and began her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music as a pupil of the legendary Julius Baker.

After just two years in Baker’s studio, she won the principal flute chair in the ASO at age 20. Smith has also studied with Jeffrey Khaner, Tim Day, and has collaborated extensively with master teacher and clinician Keith Underwood.

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Smith has recently appeared as guest principal flutist with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vancouver Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. She earned critical acclaim while performing on the latter ensemble’s 2010 European Tour. Equally passionate about teaching, Smith serves on the faculty at Kennesaw State University and maintains a busy private studio. She remains highly in demand to teach master classes across the country.

Stuart Stephenson joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as principal trumpet at the beginning of the 2013–2014 season. He has also been a guest musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, and the Kansas City Symphony. Stephenson 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.

Stephenson has 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.

Principal oboe Elizabeth Koch Tiscione joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2007–2008 season. She currently holds the George M. and Corrie Hoyt Brown Chair. Tiscione also plays principal oboe at the Grand Teton Music Festival and is a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players. She has performed as a guest musician with the orchestras of Philadelphia, St. Louis, St. Paul, Baltimore, Rochester, Buffalo, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Recent solo engagements include the World Youth Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and Dekalb Symphony Orchestra. She has been featured on NPR’s From the Top and has also performed at many chamber music festivals throughout the country, including Tannery Pond, Cape Cod, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

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Tiscione has a love for teaching and is currently a faculty member at Kennesaw State University. She also teaches internationally at Festicamara, in Medellin, Colombia, and has a studio in Atlanta. A native of Hamburg, New York, Tiscione began the oboe in the New York State public school systems at age nine and went on to study with Richard Woodhams at the Curtis Institute of Music. Other teachers include Mark DuBois, J. Bud Roach, Pierre Roy, Robert Walters, and Eugene Izatov.

The Vega String Quartet Emily Daggett Smith and Jessica Shuang Wu, violins; Yinzi Kong, viola; Guang Wang, cello

The Vega String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Emory, is cultivating a new generation of chamber music lovers through dynamic performances and innovative community engagement. The New York Times raved that “[the quartet’s] playing had a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along . . . the musicians took real risks in their music making,” and the Los Angeles Times praised its “triumphant L.A. debut.” The quartet concertizes both nationally and internationally, most recently in Baltimore, Chicago, Nashville, Sacramento, Berlin, San Miguel, and the Brahmssaal in Vienna’s Musikverein. The quartet’s major performing projects at Emory have included the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets, as well as pairing Bach’s complete works for solo violin, viola, and cello with the six Bartók quartets. The group has also developed a series of Jazz Meets Classics programs, bringing the two genres together.

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One of the unique aspects of the quartet’s residency at Emory is to bring performance into the classroom, collaborating with academic professors to create interdisciplinary parallels and conversations. It also enriches the cultural life of its community, having founded the Emory Youth Chamber Music Program, which gives intensive training in small ensemble playing to advanced pre-college students. The quartet was appointed to the roster of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Young Audiences program, engaging thousands of students throughout the greaterAtlanta school system. The quartet has also held residencies in Augusta, Jacksonville, and Juneau that combined traditional performances with educational outreach, performances in non-traditional venues, and master classes for area students.

The Vega String Quartet has won numerous international awards, including at the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, as well as top prizes from the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, the Carmel Chamber Music Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters String Quartet Competition. The quartet tours throughout Asia, Europe, and North America and has appeared at Weill Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, and Duke Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London. The members of the Vega String Quartet collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians including Andres Cardenes, Eliot Fisk, Christopher O’Riley, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Robert Spano, Charles Wadsworth, Peter Wiley, and the Eroica Trio.

The group also commissions, premiers, and records works by leading composers. The quartet is a frequent guest at numerous music festivals including Amelia Island, Aspen, Brevard, Highlands-Cashiers, Juneau Jazz & Classics, Kingston, Mostly Mozart, Rockport, San Miguel de Allende, and SummerFest La Jolla.

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The Three Artistic Directors Saturday, February 19, 2022, 8:00 p.m.

Sonata No. 3 in G Major, op. 30 Ludwig van Beethoven Allegro assai (1770–1827) Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso Allegro vivace Linda Rosenthal, violin; William Ransom, piano Sonata No. 3 in A Major, op. 69 Allegro, ma non tanto Scherzo: Allegro molto Adagio cantabile- Allegro vivace

Beethoven

Zuill Bailey, cello; William Ransom, piano

—Intermission— Trio No. 2 in E Minor, op. 67 Andante—Moderato Allegro con brio Largo Allegretto—Adagio

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

Linda Rosenthal, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; William Ransom, piano

The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta is supported by the Cherry L. Emerson Endowment, the Rebecca Katz-Doft Chamber Music Endowment, the Ethel Orentlicher Gershon Fund, a generous gift from Dr. John and Linda Cooke, and by music lovers like you.

To encourage physical distancing and avoid crowding in the lobbies and restrooms, you may exit the concert hall as needed between pieces. An usher will assist in returning you to your seat at an appropriate time.

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Performer Biographies Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award– winning soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, artistic director, and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry, and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought-after and active cellists today.

Recent highlights include appearances with the orchestras of Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Israel, San Francisco, Toronto, Nashville, North Carolina, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee, and the Philharmonia (UK); and with conductors including Itzhak Perlman, Carlos Kalmar, Neemi Jarvi, Jun Markl, Stanislav Skrowaczewski, Alan Gilbert, Andrey Borekyo, Krzysztof Urbanski, Giancarlo Guerrero, Andrew Litton, Grant Llewellyn, and James DePriest. Johns Hopkins University honored Bailey as its distinguished alumni for 2014.

An internationally renowned recording artist with more than 30 titles, Bailey’s extensive discography includes the Bach Cello Suites and the recently released Britten Cello Symphony/Sonata with pianist Natasha Paremski, both of which immediately soared to the number one spot on the Classical Billboard Charts. Other celebrated releases include the complete works for cello and piano of Brahms, Beethoven, and Barber, in addition to concertos of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Dvořák, Elgar, Haydn, Schumann, Korngold, Saint-Saën, Walton, Strauss, Bloch, Brahms, Beethoven, and the world premiere recordings of the Muhly and Daugherty Works for Cello and Orchestra.

Kalmus “Ludwig Masters” has released his musical editions of the core repertoire in celebration of his appearances and recordings.

Bailey performs on the “Rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. He is the artistic director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar (Alaska), the Juneau Jazz and Classics Festival (Alaska), and the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington); he is also guest artistic director of the Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and professor of cello and director of entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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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 United States, 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 Emerson, 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 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 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.”

Violinist Linda Rosenthal has performed worldwide and tours extensively throughout the United States, frequently under the auspices of the Piatigorsky Foundation. Based in Juneau, Alaska, Rosenthal served as a professor of music at the University of Alaska Southeast for 20 years. She loves performing in all the far-flung corners of her state, from fishing towns to villages above the Arctic Circle. Following a solo performance with the National Symphony, Rosenthal was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to create Strings & Stories, a show for young audiences. She and Los Angeles actor Bill Blush have gone on to perform Strings & Stories annually for thousands of children. Rosenthal founded the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and served as its artistic director for 30 years. She is on the faculty of Summertrios and is the founder and music director of the Lake Placid Chamber Music Seminar. Fun fact: When touring in Alaska’s Arctic, there were times when Rosenthal got to travel to her performances by dogsled.

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Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings.

As you explore Music at Emory, we hope you enjoy this variety by sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.

404.727.5050 music.emory.edu