Robert Blocker, Dean
faculty artist series
Wendy Sharp violin with
Melvin Chen piano Julie Kim violin Marka Gustavsson viola Mimi Hwang cello
Morse Recital Hall January 22, 2017 • Sunday at 3 pm
Faculty Artist Series
Wendy Sharp violin with
Melvin Chen piano Julie Kim violin Marka Gustavsson viola Mimi Hwang cello January 22, 2017 • Morse Recital Hall
Ernst Toch 1887–1964
Divertimento for violin and viola, Op. 37, No. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3 I. Allegro con spirito II. Adagio con espressione III. Scherzo. Allegro molto e vivace IV. Finale. Presto intermission
Ernő Dohnányi 1877–1960
Piano Quintet No. 1, Op. 1 I. Allegro II. Scherzo. Allegro III. Adagio, quasi andante IV. Finale. Allegro animato
As a courtesy to the performers and audience, silence electronic devices. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.
Artist Profiles
Wendy Sharp, violin
Melvin Chen, piano
Award-winning violinist Wendy Sharp performs frequently as a recitalist and a chamber musician. In demand as a teacher and chamber music coach, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and California Summer Music, and she maintains a private studio. For nearly a decade, Ms. Sharp was the first violinist and a founding member of the highly acclaimed Franciscan String Quartet. As a member of the quartet, she toured the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia and was honored with many awards including first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Press and City of Evian prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition.
A native of Tennessee, pianist Melvin Chen has received acclaim for performances throughout the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Chen has performed at major venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Boston’s Jordan Hall, in addition to other appearances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, she attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with distinction in music, and received her master of music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Sharp has served on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music, Dartmouth College, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Choate Rosemary Hall. She has also participated in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, Britten-Pears, and Music Academy of the West festivals. Ms. Sharp is currently the director of chamber music at the Yale School of Music, where she has served on the violin faculty since 1997. Ms. Sharp and her husband have two children who are members of the Yale College classes of 2014 and 2016, respectively.
Mr. Chen’s performances have been featured on radio and television stations around the globe, including KBS television and radio in Korea, NHK television in Japan, and NPR in the United States. Solo recordings include Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations on the Bridge label—a recording that was praised as “a classic” by the American Record Guide—and Joan Tower’s piano music on Naxos. Recordings of the Shostakovich piano sonatas and Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice were released in 2007. An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley, and with the Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Penderecki, and Miró quartets. He has performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bard Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, among others. Melvin Chen completed a doctorate in chemistry at Harvard University,
Artist Profiles
and also holds a double master’s degree from The Juilliard School in piano and violin. Previously, he attended Yale University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and physics, and also studied with Boris Berman, Paul Kantor, and Ida Kavafian. Mr. Chen was previously on the piano faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he was also associate director. In 2012, he rejoined the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he serves as associate professor (adjunct) of piano and Deputy Dean. Julie Kim, violin Julie Kim began playing the violin at the age of six in South Korea, where she studied with Yong Yun Kim and Jae Hyun Lee. After moving to California at age 11, she attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory Department, studying with Isadore Tinkleman. She received her bachelor of music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of David Abel. Ms. Kim began her string quartet career with the acclaimed Franciscan String Quartet. The quartet was awarded the Wardwell Fellowship at Yale University to study with the Tokyo String Quartet and won First Prize at the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition. Also awarded the Press Prize and the City of Evian Prize at the Evian International String Quartet Competition, the Franciscan Quartet went on to become the resident string quartet at Dartmouth College and toured
throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. Ms. Kim has participated in the Aspen, Norfolk, and Banff music festivals and pursued chamber music studies with the Tokyo, Julliard, Cleveland, Emerson, and Vermeer string quartets. She has attended the New York String Seminar under Alexander Schneider and performed with Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Kim performs extensively with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She has also performed with the San Jose Symphony (assistant concertmaster), New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Santa Rosa Symphony, Marin Symphony, Stockton Symphony, and Modesto Symphony. With the Skywalker Sound Orchestra, she has recorded music for motion pictures and video games. Ms. Kim has taught for several summers at the Cazadero Summer Music Camp. Marka Gustavsson, viola A dedicated chamber musician, Marka Gustavsson has performed in major halls across Europe, Canada, and the United States, as well as Japan and Israel. She has been invited to chamber music festivals including Bard, Mostly Mozart, Skaneateles, Newport, Bennington, and Portland. She has appeared as a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, on WQXR’s Showcase Concerts, on the Yale School of Music’s Faculty Artist Series, at Banff, and in Wall-to-Wall and Music of Our Time at Symphony Space. Marka has worked
Artist Profiles
closely with many composers including John Halle, Joan Tower, Kyle Gann, George Tsontakis, Yinam Leef, Katherine Hoover, Martin Bresnick, Richard Wernick, Harold Farberman, and Tan Dun, performing and recording contemporary solo and chamber musi repertoire. In 2000, Marka joined the Colorado Quartet, an active touring ensemble that performs traditional and new repertoire. The ensemble has released the complete Beethoven string quartets on Parnassus Records. Highlights of this season include premiering a viola concerto by Harold Farberman, teaching in the Young Artists Program at Yellow Barn, completing a Beethoven cycle at Virginia Tech, and collaborating with Tamar Muskal and Lucy Shelton on Music of Our Time at Symphony Space in New York City. Ms. Gustavsson holds a teaching position at Bard College and Conservatory, where she oversees the chamber music program. With the Colorado Quartet, she has served as faculty and co-artistic director at Soundfest Chamber Music Festival and Quartet Institute. Mimi Hwang, cello The daughter of Chinese immigrants, cellist Mimi Hwang was born and raised in Los Angeles. She was a founding member of the Franciscan String Quartet, which was a first prize winner of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and top prize winner of the Evian International String Quartet Competition. The quartet performed in concert halls
throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Casals Hall in Tokyo. The members of the quartet were Wardwell Fellows at the Yale School of Music and the group was the quartet-in-residence at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, where Ms. Hwang was on the faculty of the Department of Music. She has recorded for Verdi Records and has performed with the Tokyo, Ying, Colorado, and Ciompi quartets, as well as with Raphael Hillyer, Laurence Lesser, and Michael Tree. She was a member of the Peabody Trio, winner of the Naumberg Chamber Music Award. As a soloist, Ms. Hwang has performed with the Beijing Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She received her master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She was a founding member of the Cello Divas and Quartos and has appeared at the Aspen, Banff, Norfolk, Roycroft, Skaneateles, and Yellow Barn festivals. Ms. Hwang is currently assistant professor of chamber music at the Eastman School of Music, lecturer of music at Nazareth College, and a founding member of the Amenda Quartet. She is also co-artistic director of Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program and serves on the board of directors of Chamber Music America.
PETER OUNDJIAN
BRENTANO STRING QUARTET
YALE OPERA
Robert Blocker, Dean
We invite you into Yale’s celebrated concert halls to experience extraordinary solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral performances of repertoire ranging from early to new music. Come see and hear our distinguished faculty, gifted students and alumni, and acclaimed guest artists in more than 200 performances, many of which are free and streamed live online. Collection of Musical Instruments
Oneppo Chamber Music Series
Historically informed performances by early music specialists in an intimate setting
Concert programs featuring the Brentano, Miró, and Jerusalem string quartets and the School’s illustrious faculty
Ellington Jazz Series
Yale Opera
A series launched with a historic convocation in 1972 that brings such legendary performers as Savion Glover to Yale
Ascendant vocalists present fully staged performances and opera scenes
Faculty Artist Series
Yale Philharmonia
Members of the School’s faculty perform solo and chamber music programs
Horowitz Piano Series
Recitals by celebrated keyboard virtuosi including Yefim Bronfman, Olga Kern, and Yale’s remarkable faculty
New Music New Haven
Contemporary works by award-winning Yale faculty and students, and esteemed guest composers
Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
Principal Conductor Peter Oundjian and guest conductors Yongyan Hu and Giancarlo Guerrero lead the School’s magnificent student orchestra
Student Performances
Performances of a wide variety of repertoire by the next generation of musical luminaries and cultural leaders
Yale in New York
Dynamic collaborations between Yale’s remarkable faculty, students, and alumni at Carnegie Hall
A summerlong series at the picturesque Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, in Norfolk, Connecticut
music.yale.edu
Upcoming Events Brentano String Quartet january 24 Oneppo Chamber Music Series Pianist Jonathan Biss and violist Hsin-Yun Huang join the Brentano String Quartet for a program that includes selections from Bach’s The Art of the Fugue; Elgar’s Piano Quintet, Op. 84; a selection of Gesualdo’s madrigals; and Mozart’s String Quintet No. 6, K. 614 Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm Tickets start at $26 • Students $13 Giancarlo Guerrero, guest conductor january 27 Yale Philharmonia Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the Yale Philharmonia in performances of Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 Woolsey Hall | Friday | 7:30 pm Tickets start at $10 • Yale Faculty/Staff $8 • Students $5 • $3 surcharge for purchases at the door Ettore Causa, Frank Morelli, & Boris Berman january 29 Faculty Artist Series Violist Ettore Causa, bassoonist Frank Morelli, and pianist Boris Berman perform on a program that features a duo for bassoon and piano, a duo for viola and bassoon, and a trio Morse Recital Hall | Sunday| 3 pm free admission
Yale Brass Trio january 31 Faculty Artist Series Pianist Mihae Lee joins the Yale Brass Trio for a program that honors Robert E. Nagel Jr. with performances of Nagel’s Brass Trio, Paul Lansky’s Pieces of Advice, Pierre Gabaye’s Récréation, and more Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm free admission Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks february 3 Ellington Jazz Series Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, of whom The New York Times has said, “in their hands, jazz is young again, full of ginger and pep,” perform the timeless music of the 1920s and 1930s Morse Recital Hall | Friday | 7:30 pm Tickets start at $20 • Students $10 Joan Tower, guest composer february 9 New Music New Haven Featuring a program of works by Joan Tower—“a composer whose directness and eclecticism make her music instantly accessible,” according to The New York Times—including her String Quartet No. 5 (“White Water”) and Second String Force Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm free admission
concert programs & box office Krista Johnson, Kate Gonzales communications Donna Yoo, Katie Dune, David Brensilver operations Tara Deming, Chris Melillo piano curators Barbara Renner, Robert Crowson, Brian Daley, William Harold recording services Matthew LeFevre, Travis Wurges
wshu 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of the Yale School of Music connect with us
facebook.com/yalemusic
P.O. Box 208246, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158
@yalemusic on Twitter music.yale.edu
If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors. Robert Blocker, Dean