AROUND THE WORLD MAY 12-21, 2024
ELEVEN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED GUEST ARTISTS.
SIX INCREDIBLE CONCERTS. FIVE AMAZING ATHENS VENUES.
EXPERIENCE AT MUSIC UGA music.uga.edu | 706-542-3737 @ugamusic
The Chamber Music Athens “Gala Finale” performing in May, 2022.
ONE UNFORGETTABLE FESTIVAL.
Festival Opening Concert: History of Tango Page 5
Sunday May 12, 2024 • 3PM
Ramsey Concert Hall • UGA Performing Arts Center
230 River Rd., Athens, GA
From Opera to Hip-Hop: A Celebration of American Voices Page 6
Tuesday May 14, 2024 • 7:30PM Morton Theatre
195 Washington St., Athens, GA
“Dispersions in Watercolor” - New Music at the Georgia Museum of Art Page 7
Thursday May 16, 2024 • 7:30PM
Georgia Museum of Art
90 Carlton St., Athens, GA
An Evening in Paris
Friday May 17, 2024 • 7:30PM
Day Chapel • State Botanical Garden of Georgia
2450 S. Millidge Ave., Athens, GA
Post-Concert Reception: Lower Level
8
The Art of The String Quartet Page 9
Sunday, May 19, 2024 • 3PM
First Baptist Church
255 Pulaski St., Athens, GA
CMA 2024: Gala Finale Page 10
Tuesday May 21, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
Ramsey Hall • UGA Performing Arts Center
230 River Rd., Athens, GA
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
Welcome Page 3 Festival Artists Page 4
Page
Masterclasses and Student Performances Page 11 Academy Participants Page 12 Artists in Residence and Special Guests Photos and Biographies Pages 13-25 Acnowledgements and Special Thanks Page 26 Support CMA Page 27
Dear Friends,
It is with great joy that we welcome you to the 2024 Chamber Music Athens Festival! In just a few short years, Chamber Music Athens has already grown into a major festival featuring the finest musicians in the world while offering unique, hands-on learning experiences for student participants.
Chamber music is the epitome of collaborative musicmaking — an intimate musical conversation. This year emphasizes collaboration in all of its forms. We are grateful to return to six vital Athens venues: the Performing Arts Center, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, The Georgia Museum of Art, First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, and The Lyndon House Arts Center. Additionally, we are thrilled to be collaborating for the first time with the Morton Theatre in a concert cosponsored by the non-profit Morton Theatre Corporation.
The theme of this year’s concert is Around The World, and we are indeed featuring guest artists from around the globe: Juan Pablo Jofre joins us from Argentina, New Orleans-native, Joshua Stewart is flying in from London. We are also deeply grateful for world-class musical and artistic excellence right here in Athens. Faculty from multiple UGA departments are collaborating in interdisciplinary and innovative ways on new works to be presented at the Georgia Museum of Art, alongside artwork on view from the Museum’s collection. UGA composers and extraordinary downtown Athens poets and Hip-Hop artists are joining forces to produce new genre-bending works in a return of the Athens Hip-Hop Harmonic project.
As faculty at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, we are particularly proud of our phenomenal students who are performing, conducting, and composing in featured roles on seven of the festival’s eight concerts. On the eighth concert, we are celebrating the artistry of David Starkweather, Profesor of Cello who is retiring this year after 41 years of contributing immensely to the School including our chamber music programs.
As the festival unfolds, we invite you to immerse yourself in its rich musical tapestry, savoring the variety of music and performances along the way. Your support is integral to our success, and we thank you for your loyalty and dedication to promoting live music. We are honored to share this festival with you, with the Athens community, and with the world!
Pete Jutras Liza Stepanova Michael Heald
Pete Jutras, director
Shaun Baer, director of public relations
Rye Harrison, public relations assistant
Scott Higgins, lead piano technician
James Sewell, production & events manager
AND STAFF
Eric Dluzniewski, recording
Melissa Roberts , development
Levi Hopkins Dean, development
Daniel Phipps, scheduler
WELCOME
HUGH HODGSON SCHOOL OF MUSIC ADMINISTRATION
CMA 2024 Artists in Residence
Borromeo String Quartet
Juan Pablo Jofre, bandoneon
Lemuel LaRoche, poet
Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp
Squallé, Hip-Hop artist
Joshua Stewart, tenor
Amy Yang, piano
Itamar Zorman, violin
Special Guests
George Contini, actor
Montu Miller, master-of-ceremonies
David Tilson, presenter
Ngoc My (Michelle) Tran, presenter
Hugh Hodgson School of Music Faculty
Mark Cedel, conductor
Michael Heald, violin
Grace Huang, piano
Angela Jones-Reus, flute
D. Ray McClellan, clarinet
Amy Petrongelli, soprano
Maggie Snyder, viola
David Starkweather, cello
Liza Stepanova, piano
James Weidman, piano
Alan Woo, piano
Hugh Hodgson School of Music Students
see Page 12 for a list of CMA Academy participants
The Chamber Music Athens Organizing Committee
Michael Heald
Liza Stepanova (2024 Festival Lead Faculty)
Jesse Hu, graduate assistant
FESTIVAL ARTISTS
CHAMBER MUSIC ATHENS GALA FINALE
PROGRAM
Overture to Midsummer Night’s Dream for two pianos, eight hands, Op. 21
Ramsey Concert Hall
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
Haoying Wu*, Alan Woo, Jesse Hu*, Grace Huang, piano
CMA Academy Student Ensemble(s)
TBD (to be selected by guest artists following masterclasses)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
I. [no tempo indication]
II. Adagio
III. Allegro
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Violin: Nicholas Kitchen, André Araújo de Souza*, Brian Roach*
Viola: Melissa Reardon, Joy Hsieh*, Bryan Johnson*
Cello: Yeesun Kim, Thomas LaMon*, Zachary Helms*
Daniel Pina, bass* Daijing Ren, harpsichord*
INTERMISSION
Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Adagio cantabile e con moto
III. Allegretto moderato
IV. Allegro con brio e vivace
The Borromeo String Quartet: Nicholas Kitchen, violin
Kristopher Tong, violin
Melissa Reardon, viola
Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Yeesun Kim, cello with Maggie Snyder, viola and David Starkweather, cello
* denotes CMA Academy Participant
p.m.
MAY 21, 2024 at 7:30
CMA 2024 Masterclass Series
Underwritten by Neil Hughes’ colleagues in SEMLA (Southeast Chapter of the Music Library Association), MLA (Music Library Association), and MOUG (Music OCLC Users Group).
All of the following masterclasses will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at: Edge Recital Hall, Hugh Hodgson School of Music 250 River Rd., Athens, GA
Monday, May 13: Juan Pablo (JP) Jofre, bandoneon and composer
Tuesday, May 14: Joshua Stewart, tenor
Wednesday, May 15: Itamar Zorman, violin
Thursday, May 16: Melissa Reardon, viola (Borromeo String Quartet)
Friday, May 17: Nicholas Kitchen and Kristopher Tong, violin (Borromeo Quartet)
Saturday, May 18: Amy Yang, piano
Monday, May 20: Yeesun Kim, cello (Borromeo String Quartet)
Student Concerts
These concerts feature CMA Academy participants.
Monday, May 20, 2024 • 4 p.m.
Atrium • Lyndon House Arts Center 211 Hoyt St, Athens, GA
Tuesday, May 2 1, 2024 • 11 a.m.
First Presbyterian Church • Downtown Athens 185 E Hancock Ave, Athens, GA 30601
The festival faculty will choose programs following a week of master classes and private coaching. Both concerts are free and open to the public.
STUDENT PERFORMANCES
MASTERCLASSES AND
Conductor
Nicholas Han
Composers
William May
Nkululeko Zungu
Voice
Lauren LaBarre, soprano
Theodora Anne Schramm, tenor
Violin
Andreea Barca
Alexis Boylan
Jhonni Campos
Jenny Edwards
Neha Gregory
Ori Kang
Ellis Kim
Rachel McClellan (alumna)
Simms Murray
Brian Roach
Molly Schneider
Sean Smith
André Araújo de Souza
Clarissa Tamara
Viola
Rogelio Bonilla
Daniel Boscan
Joy Hsieh (alumna)
Bryan Johnson
Anna Murphy
Nina Nagarajan
Jensi Perng
Cello
Tristan Dempsey
Zachary Helms
Ian Koontz
Thomas LaMon
Gabriella McClellan
William Slater
Double-Bass
Michael Farrick
Iris Marcipar
Daniel Pina
Flute
Emily Elmore
Clarinet
Bailey Hume
Saxophone
Daniel Phipps
Horn
Jordan Chase
Piano
Jesse Hu
Min-Chen Lee
Mengyuan Li
Elena Minko
Jakob Skiles
Aly Soriano
Haoying Wu
Percussion
Camden Briggs
Patrick Sorah
2024 CMA Academy Participants
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
Borromeo String Quartet
Juan Pablo Jofre Romariona
Elisabeth Remy Johnson
George Contini
Lemuel LaRoche
Squallé
Joshua Stewart
Amy Yang
Itamar Zorman
Montu Miller
BORROMEO STRING QUARTET
Ensemble-in-Residence at the New England Conservatory of Music
Ensemble-in-Residence at the Taos School of Music summer program
Ensemble-in-Residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute
Winner of the 2007 Avery Fisher Career Grant
Winner of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award (2001)
Winner of the Cleveland Quartet Award (1998)
Ensemble-in-Residence for National Public Radio’s Performance Today (1998-99)
Prize-winner at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France (1990)
Each visionary performance of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet strengthens and deepens its reputation as one of the most important ensembles of our time. Admired and sought after for both its fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and its championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the ensemble has been hailed for its “edge-of-the- seat performances,” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.”
The BSQ has been ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory and Taos School of Music, both for 25 years, and has, for over two decades, enjoyed a long-term relationship with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where it continues to regularly appear. It is quartet-in-residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where first violinist Nicholas Kitchen is Artistic Director. The quartet was also in residence at, and has worked extensively as performers and educators with the Library of Congress (highlighting both its manuscripts and instrument collections) and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The ensemble joined the Emerson Quartet as the Hittman Ensembles in Residence at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was recently was in residence at Kansas University, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Colorado State University, where it regularly appears.
The Quartet has collaborated with some of this generation’s most important composers, including Gunther Schuller, John Cage, György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Aaron Jay Kernis, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Steve Mackey, John Harbison, Sebastian Currier, and Leon Kirchner, among many others; and has performed on major concert stages across the globe, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall (Tokyo), the Concertgebouw, Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Incontri in Terra di Siena Chamber Music Festival in Tuscany, Kammermusik Basel (Switzerland), the Prague Spring Festival, and the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt.
The group recently premiered new works written for it by Sebastian Currier and Aaron Jay Kernis at recitals at Carnegie Hall, Shriver Concerts, and the Tippet Rise Art Center. The ensemble continues to perform violinist Nicholas Kitchen’s transcriptions of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and the Well-Tempered Clavier Bk. I, the latter of which the BSQ recently released an acclaimed premiere recording which hit the billboard charts.
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
“Nothing less than masterful” (Cleveland.com), the Borromeo Quartet has received numerous awards throughout its illustrious career, including Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant and Martin E. Segal Award, and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. It was also a recipient of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and a prize-winner at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France.
GEORGE CONTINI is a Professor in the University of Georgia’s Theatre and Film Studies Department where he specializes in Characterization, Acting on Camera, Queer Theatre and Film, Broadway Musical Theatre, and Solo Performance. George serves as the Head of Performance. In addition to teaching, George maintains a career as an actor, director, and playwright. Most recently he appeared in the final two seasons of “Legacies” as Mr. Springthorpe, the drama teacher; and in the final episodes of “Black Lightning”. In the Atlanta area he appeared in “The Explorer’s Club” at Aurora Theatre (Nominated for Suzi Bass Award , Best Ensemble, 2015) Prior to that he directed “Don’t Dress for Dinner” at the Aurora Theatre. His original solo show “Put It In the Scrapbook” has toured to the Chicago Fringe Festival and the New Orleans Fringe Festival. Professor Contini is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor at UGA. He values his time with his students and hopes that after engaging with him they are able to identify art and beauty in unexpected places or they will make art where it never was.
Professor Contini is Director of the London Study Abroad program through the Theatre and Film Dept. This is a six week residential program in London in which students experience London theatre, history, and have internships with professional companies in the industry.
Other directing credits include the South Regional Premiere of “Assistance” at Pinch N Ouch Theatre in ATL, and the ATL One Minute Play Festival. He was seen as “Reverend Howard Finster” in the world premiere of Hidden Man at Atlanta’s 7Stages. Prior to that he was seen in Shear Madness at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre and The Big Bang at the Horizon Theatre . Among the diverse shows George has directed are A Lesson Before Dying, Pride and Prejudice, The 39 Steps, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grapes of Wrath, Dangerous Liaisons, Iphigenia at Aulis/ Trojan Women, Children of an Idol Moon, Pippin, Laramie Project, Lion in Winter, Fifth of July, Psycho Beach Party, Company, Raft of the Medusa, and the original opera A Good Man is Hard to Find. TV/Film credits include featured roles in Lifetime’s Shame II, Pointman, and commercials for “White Castle”, “Motorola”, “LaBatt’s”, and “Toyota”. George provided the voice and motion capture for 19th century vaudevillian Frank Bush in the innovative Virtual Vaudeville Project (www.virtualvaudeville.com). Mr. Contini received his MFA from the University of Miami, Florida in Film Production. and received his B.A. from Baldwin-Wallace College with a double major in Theatre and English. George is a proud union member of both Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA. Please visit George’s website www.georgecontini.com.
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
JUAN PABLO JOFRE ROMARION
2022 GRAMMY-Nominated “Best Classical Compendium”
2023 Latin GRAMMY-Nominated “Best Classical Contemporary Composition”
Born in San Juan, Argentina, Juan Pablo Jofre Romarion, aka JP Jofre, is a GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY-nominated composer and bandoneon player. Having written several double concertos with chamber and symphony orchestras, and more than 40 chamber music works, Mr. Jofre has been repeatedly highlighted by the New York Times and praised as one of today’s leading artists by Great Performers at Lincoln Center. His music has been recorded by the legendary London Symphony Orchestra, multiGrammy award winner Paquito D’ Rivera, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra among others. He has performed and given lectures at Google Talks, TED Talks, The Juilliard School of Music, The New School, and other venues. A recipient of the National Prize of the Arts grant in Argentina, Mr. Jofre has been part of many prestigious festivals, including the Celebrity Series of Boston, Umbria Jazz Festival, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Seattle Town Hall, Hatfield and Sheffield Chamber Music Festival (U.K) and Kasposfest (Hungary) to name a few. For the world premiere of his Bandoneon Concerto, the Mercury News wrote: “…he is an electrifying composer-bandoneon player.” In 2012, Jofre was invited by the Free University of Bolzano and SudTirol Festival (Italy) to perform for the homage to Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel. For the release of his Double Concerto for Violin and Bandoneon with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Michale Guttman, the BBC Magazine wrote: “His concerto is arresting and -through the gorgeous Adagio-rather beguiling”
He currently leads the JP Jofre Quintet, the ensemble has been touring internationally since the release of their last album “Manifiesto” among others. Mr. Jofre’s music has been performed at the most prestigious concert halls around the world such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Music Center, Morlacchi Theater (Italy) Mariinsky Theater, Mikhailovsky Theater, Stanislavsky Theater (Russia), Beijing National Concert Hall, Seoul Art Center, and Taiwan National Theater. Mr. Jofre started making music for pleasure at the early age of 5, and academically studying at age 15, double bass with Nestor Castillo, harmony with Horacio Lavaise, composition, and orchestration with Ezequiel Viñao and Adrian Rusovich. He took masterclasses given by Ingrid Zur and George Heyer (Germany) and studied bandoneon with Julio Pane, former bandoneonist of the legendary Astor Piazzolla Sextet. Mr. Jofre has received numerous commissions for composing music from producer Ted Viviani, violin virtuosos Francisco Fullana, Kyung Sun Lee, Rachel Lee, Eric Silberger, Lucia Lin, Michael Guttman, Yih Shuin Huang, MUPA Budapest, pianists David Fung, Min Kwon, clarinetist Seunghee Lee and cellist István Várdai, Metropolis Ensemble, Belares Symphony Orchestra, and San Antonio Music Institute.
For LEMUEL “LIFE” LAROCHE, there’s only one path. We can rebuild ourselves and our communities, he believes. The strength to do so, LaRoche says, is already inside us. Empowerment from within is the core principle of LaRoche’s community work and therapy. In 20 years of professional experience as a community organizer, educator, public speaker, and adolescent counselor, LaRoche challenges the people he works
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
with to discover that they already possess the tools required to improve themselves and their neighborhoods.
LaRoche helps youth learn positive behaviors by playing chess. He teaches teens and young adults to work through the problems they will face in life with reason instead of reaction. A chess player must plan and envision possible outcomes. Move quickly without thinking, and losing is inevitable. Using chess as an empowerment tool began when LaRoche counseled youth cycling through the juvenile correction system. Think before you move! Learn a way of thinking that creates progress, not retreat, and not surrender. Seeing the potential chess unlocked in youth, he decided to bring the strategic game’s lessons to a broader audience. He founded the Chess and Community, a nonprofit that brought together young people to compete and learn leadership skills. The conference’s goals, though, reach farther than a game board. By empowering the next generation, LaRoche says, the community can begin to address social and economic problems. The conference works as a table at which disparate parties can gather and plan change, to build partnerships rather than furthering divides.
A native of New York, LaRoche found entrenched poverty and inequality when he began making connections in his adopted home of Athens, Ga. He read about the millions of dollars earmarked to build a bigger jail and he saw mass incarceration wrecking families. He felt the tension between the city’s economic engine (the University of Georgia) and the local community, sensed how prosperity never trickled down. LaRoche chose to become an agent of healing in this environment. Inspired by lessons from his childhood — to be a force for good, to improve instead of destroy — he goes into communities to help foster reconstruction and rejuvenation. To this end, he assisted in developing a series of dialogues called “Intergenerational Healing Circle,” during which African American males discuss the pressures they face and how, together, they, too, can be agents for good in their community. The Athens-Clarke County government selected LaRoche to co-facilitate a Youth Task Force that aims to address deficiencies in outcomes for young people growing up in Athens. LaRoche has also returned to the University of Georgia, where he earned a Master’s in Social Work, to teach a graduate-level course, Cultural Diversity, that prepares future social workers to recognize bias and succeed across differences with open hearts and minds. In response to his many forward-thinking efforts in the Athens community, LaRoche received the Fulfilling the Dream Award, given by UGA President Jere Morehead to deserving Athens residents who live out the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King.
LaRoche, also known as Life the Griot, is an accomplished poet. He is the author of two books: “Hidden Ripples: Life’s Unspoken Language” and “Tree of Life: The Human Ascension.” He continues to write and perform regularly. All the work LaRoche accomplishes today is the product of a lifetime of inspiration and an education that placed equal emphasis on good words and good works. A love of poetry emerged during his youth in Brooklyn, NY. A poet father — a real altruist, LaRoche recalls — raised him in a community that followed the lesson, “It takes a village to raise a child,”
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
like a heartbeat. LaRoche flipped through Kahlil Gibran books in his home, found Nikki Giovanni poems held aloft by the subway rush, and felt slammed by powerful lines delivered by Saul Williams. The path LaRoche chose in life is not an easy one, but he asks only that he not walk it alone. Together, with friendship and kindness and honesty, we can empower each other to build the communities of our dreams.
WILLIAM “MONTU” MILLER is the Ambassador of the Athens Hip Hop community, co-founder/chief operating officer for ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment (ALE), Chess and Community board member, East Athens Media Company Board Director, Athens Cultural Affairs Commission (ACAC) member, Wild Rumpus Board of Directors, Historic Athens Board, a dedicated member of Cedar Shoals High School teaching staff, and father of five. He embraces his role as an educator, writer, poet, mentor, and community activist. Montu is a University of Georgia alumni (BA Black Studies) that has always built bridges from the local community to UGA. His company ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment (ALE) has produced countless projects and helped organize many HipHop events in Athens for 15 years. He spearheaded “Classic City Wax” volumes 1 (2020) and volume 2 (2021), a vinyl compilation project with many noteworthy members of the Athens Hip-Hop community. Montu’s outlook and philosophies about his “boots on the ground” approach to community issues have appeared in several publications.
ELISABETH REMY JOHNSON was appointed principal harpist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1995. She holds the endowed Carl and Sally Gable Chair, and also held the honorary UPS Community Service Chair for 2006-07. With the Atlanta Symphony, Elisabeth has performed concertos by Debussy, Handel, Mozart and Ginastera. Winner of first-place awards in competitions of the American Harp Society and the American String Teachers Association, she is also a NFAA/ARTS awardee. She graduated from Harvard University Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Music and French. Her harp studies were with Ann Hobson Pilot in Boston and Alice Chalifoux at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine. With the ASO, Elisabeth has been privileged to work with a diverse range of the world’s greatest artists, from Yo-Yo Ma to Stevie Wonder, Julie Andrews to Jessye Norman. She has also performed as Principal Harpist with the Boston, Houston, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras.
Elisabeth has performed on numerous recordings with the ASO, including a feature performance of Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” with Robert Shaw and his Chamber Singers for the Telarc recording “A Robert Shaw Christmas: Angels on High”. Elisabeth’s first solo album “Whirlwind”, was released in fall 2000 (ACA Digital Recording). A flute and harp recording with ASO principal flutist Christina Smith, “Encantamiento”, was released in fall 2008. The American Record Guide writes: “This collection is aptly named, for we have enchantment here long before we reach the composition with that title, and the sound of Elisabeth Remy Johnson’s harp is captured with exceptional brilliance, her artistry a constant joy.” On another recording with the ASO’s former Principal English Horn, Pat McFarland, the Journal of the International Double Reed Society comments: “Here and throughout, her work on the harp is meticulous, full of variety, and gorgeously vibrant.” “A Christmas
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
Collection”, for solo harp, was released in December 2015. A new solo album, “Quest” features works by women composers, and was released in June 2021.
In addition to frequent solo and chamber music recitals in the Atlanta area, Elisabeth has performed with the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Carolina Chamber Music Festival, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Emory Chamber Music Society, and is a frequent guest at the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival on Cape Cod, MA. Elisabeth has performed at the American Harp Society National Conventions numerous times, recently giving the world premiere of Son Risa by Robert Xavier Rodriguez in San Francisco and performing in a reunion quartet of the 1988 “The Tonight Show” performance at the Alice Chalifoux Tribute Concert in Detroit. Elisabeth was a featured performer at the International Harp Festival in Rio de Janeiro in 2010, 2016, 2017, and 2019, and was the featured artist of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Harp Festival.
Elisabeth teaches harp privately, through the ASO Talent Development Program, and at several universities in the Atlanta area. She coaches the harpists of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, and is an artist affiliate at Emory University, Artist in Residence at Kennesaw State University, and Adjunct Instructor at Georgia State University. Elisabeth was co-founder of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, a program serving 55 students from 7 schools in the Atlanta Public School system, and was artistic director from 2000 to 2010. For this work she received Atlanta’s Channel Eleven Community Service Award and the TBS Pathfinder’s Award. In fall of 2009, Elisabeth was awarded the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Up & Comers Award”, also known as “40 under 40”, showcasing young community leaders in Atlanta.
Born and raised in the city of Athens, Georgia, SQUALLÉ has worked to establish himself to be amongst the Top Tier of artist in the Classic City. His sound is unique and he is a very versatile artist who can adapt to any vibe or mood. The Athens native is also Ceo and founder of Black Liaison, which he calls, ‘A clique of dope individuals’. It is a label and an organization focused on music, songwriting, community service, education, and creating expressive outlets for the youth in the Athens community. Lastly, Squallé is President and Cofounder of The League of Step, an org that mentors youth using the art form of Step as a way to teach self, love, self expression, and discipline.
Squallé is an artist that loves to give back to his community through music , sports, dance, and other outlets. He is the Diamond discovered from the rough.
American tenor JOSHUA STEWART’s recent appearances include his debut as Rodolfo La Boheme with Columbus Symphony, his debut as Son in the highly acclaimed new work Blue at Seattle Opera, and his celebrated debut in the title role Albert Herring at Princeton Festival in the US. Current season engagements include his participation in Sanctuary Road with Chautauqua Symphony during the summer festival, the role of Valcour (Joseph) L’amant Anonyme, the rarely heard work by Joseph Bologne at Theater St Gallen, an appearance at Oxford Lieder Festival, George Walker’s Mass and
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
A Child of our Time, both with BBC Symphony Orchestra, and his return to Theater St Gallen for the role of Jonah The Time of Our Singing.
In recent appearances, the artist joined conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on tour in the UK, to Paris and to Germany as tenor soloist in Tippett’s A Child of our Time. He traveled to the US to appear with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Das Paradies und die Peri under the baton of Paolo Bortolameolli and remained to revive the title role Charlie Parker’s Yardbird at Seattle Opera, a role he previously sang at Madison Opera, Atlanta Opera and Arizona Opera. Previous season’s highlights include the roles of Zinovy Lady Macbeth of Mstensk and Lazarus in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s Wake, both at Birmingham Opera Company directed by Graham Vick; Antenore Zelmira and Giove Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo at Rossini in Wildbad. Concert appearances include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with CBSO under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. He sang Trin La Fanciulla del West at Hamburg State Opera; Belmonte Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera de Lausanne and Opera de Fribourg; Don Ottavio Don Giovanni at Toledo Opera; Arturo Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Carolina and at Toledo Opera; Abdallo Nabucco at Oberammergau Passionstheater. Concert appearances include Carmina Burana with Toledo Symphony, and Erzengel Das Spiel von der Auferstehung des Herrn by Walter Braunfels with the Muenchner Rundfunkorchester.
Collaborating with Peter Sellars, the artist sang the role of The Shepherd Oedipus Rex in performances staged by the director under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, at Festival Aix en Provence, and in London at the Royal Festival Hall. He made his debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic as Narrator in Sellars’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Gustavo Dudamel on the podium.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Joshua attended the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) joining their list of distinguished alumni: Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Terence Blanchard, to name a few. His first recording came at the age of 12 when he released a solo album entitled ‘New Orleans Jazz Prodigy’ which was produced by legendary trumpeter Milton Batiste.
Mr. Stewart is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and a former member of Munich’s Bavarian State Opera Studio, where he appeared in the productions of Christoph Loy, Richard Jones, Constantine Trinks, Kent Nagano, Dan Ettinger and Maurizio Benini. He has performed for several world leaders, including King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Presidents George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and Barack Obama.
A “jaw-dropping pianist who steals the show…with effortless finesse” (Washington Post), pianist AMY YANG aspires to affirm connections between the arts and our inner humanity through her committed expressions of music and leadership on and off stage.
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
In Spring of 2023, she joined forces with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto at Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center. Additionally, she gave the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “Four Portraits” for solo piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she is the Associate Dean of Piano Studies and Artistic Initiatives.
2023 summer brings her to Chamberfest Cleveland, Texas Music Festival, Curtis on Tour, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and Perelman Music Festival. Her recent appearances include solo and chamber recitals for Hawaii Concert Society, Coastal Concerts (DE), Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Music Festival, Wigmore Hall, Gardner Museum, Cal Performances, Rockport Music Festival, and to the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Series.
In the height of the pandemic in 2020, she was invited by Anne-Marie McDermott to share a unique summer of 41 concerts with Yefim Bronfman, Paul Neubauer, and the Dover Quartet in a myriad of performances at Bravo! Vail. Additionally, she gave her debut solo recital as well as joined forces with the Jasper String Quartet in piano quintets by Tania Léon and Joan Tower for Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s 35th season. She was also featured in a full episode with Emmy® Award-winning producer Jim Cotter of Articulate, aired on PBS in 2021.
Collaborating with trailblazing musicians, Ms. Yang toured with Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Tito Muñoz and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and premiered a large chamber work by Michael Hersch at Cal Performances, Ojai Music Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. Further exhilarating collaborations include those with Richard Goode, Anne-Marie McDermott, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Paul Huang, Alexi Kenney, Bomsori Kim, Tessa Lark, Roberto Díaz, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Neubauer, Tara Helen O’Conor, David Shifrin, Joseph Silverstein, Philippe Tondre, Danbi Um, members of Guarneri String Quartet, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Dover Quartet, Aizuri String Quartet, Jasper String Quartet and A Far Cry. In addition to working with Dame Mitsuko Uchida at Marlboro School of Music, she was chosen to participate in her Carnegie Hall Workshop on Mozart’s Piano Concerti.
Ms. Yang’s energetic exploration of contemporary voices has brought forth giving world premieres of music by Caroline Shaw, Richard Danielpour, Avner Dorman, Michael Hersch, Ezra Laderman, Paul Wianko, and commissions from Edward Babcock, Alistair Coleman and Hua Yang. Festival experiences include Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Prussia Cove, Verbier Academy, Bravo! Vail, Chamber Music Northwest, Chelsea Music Festival, Caramoor, Olympic Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Twickenham Fest, and Saltbay Chamberfest. She has loved soloing alongside the collective voices of Houston Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony and Orquesta Juvenil Universitaria Eduardo Mata at UNAM.
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Her discography includes her solo album Resonance (MSR Classics), a world premiere recording of piano music by Ezra Laderman (Albany Records), a world premiere recording of Michael Hersch’s I hope we get a chance to visit soon (Live from Aldeburgh Festival, New Focus Records), and albums with violinists Itamar Zorman (BIS Records), Tessa Lark (First Hand Records), Danbi Um (Avie Records), Carol Jantsch, and José Franch-Ballester (iTinerant Records).
Ms. Yang is an alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Yale School of Music, where she received the Parisot Award for Outstanding Pianist and the Alumni Association Prize. Her past teachers include Li Qing, Timothy Hester, Claude Frank, Robert McDonald, and Peter Frankl. Ardent to champion young voices on this pedagogical legacy, her own students have soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and entered Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Bard Conservatory, Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Institute, and Indiana University. She has given masterclasses at UCLA, Mannes College of Music, University of Oklahoma, The Suzuki School, and for New York Youth Symphony. She won the 2018 Musical Fund Society prize and the Kosciuszko National Chopin Piano Competition. At Curtis Institute of Music, she previously held the roles of program director and faculty of Curtis Summerfest’s Young Artist Summer Program for nine summers.
When not serving the various keyboards related to her roles, her intentionally incognito presence may be revealed by a quivering Micron pen as she sketches from the back of concert halls. The work of a lifetime is where she hopes to question, explore, and linger.
ITAMAR ZORMAN is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has wowed audiences all over the world with breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a “young badass who’s not afraid of anything.” His “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions.
Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia.
Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Kremerata Baltica, RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin) and American Symphony. He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Robertson, Valery Gergiev, James DePreist, Karina Canellakis, Yuri Bashmet, and Nathalie Stuztmann.
Mr. Zorman has performed around the world in halls such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and Teatro Massimo Palermo.
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debut series, Wigmore Hall, People’s Symphony Concerts, Merkin Hall, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall Laeiszhalle Hamburg and HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt.
Mr. Zorman was invited to the Verbier, Marlboro, Rheingau, MecklenburgVorpommern, Brevard, Classical Tahoe, MITO SettembreMusica, and Radio France Festivals. He has also collaborated with a number of legendary artists such as Richard Goode (including performances at Carnegie Hall and Library of Congress), Mitsuko Uchida, Steven Isserlis and Jörg Widmann.
Mr. Zorman’s latest CD, “Violin Odyssey”, a collection of works for violin from five continents, was released in 2022 by First Hand Records to critical acclaim. As part of an ongoing exploration of the music of Paul Ben-Haim, Mr. Zorman released a CD of the works for violin and orchestra with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Philippe Bach for BIS Records, in April 2019, entitled “Evocation”. His first solo CD recording, entitled “Portrait”, features works by Messiaen, Schubert, Chausson, Hindemith, and Brahms and was released by Profil - Editions Günther Hänssler.
Described as a “poet of the violin”, Itamar Zorman is also a committed chamber player. He is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project and a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prize in the 2011 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, 1st prize in the 2011 Arriaga Competition, and a bronze medal in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar Zorman began his violin studies at the age of six with Saly Bockel at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in TelAviv. He graduated in 2003 and continued his studies with Professor David Chen and Nava Milo. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a student of Hagai Shaham, and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg. He then went on to receive an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010 and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012 under the tutelage of Sylvia Rosenberg, and he is an alumnus of the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Christian Tetzlaff and Mauricio Fuks. He is also the recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and has taken part in numerous master classes around the world, working with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, and Ivry Gitlis.
Mr. Zorman is currently on faculty at the Eastman School of Music. He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.
2024 CMA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
LISTEN & LEARN. LISTEN GOOD. LISTEN LOCAL. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART. LISTEN WITH CONFIDENCE. LISTEN THE EARTH. LISTEN STORY. LISTEN & LAUGH. LISTEN FOR PERSPECTIVE. LISTEN LISTEN & LOVE. LISTEN & LEARN. LISTEN FOR GOOD. LISTEN LOCAL. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART. LISTEN WITH CONFIDENCE. LISTEN TO THE EARTH. LISTEN TO A STORY. LISTEN & LAUGH. LISTEN FOR PERSPECTIVE. LISTEN UP. LISTEN & LOVE.
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