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2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 4pm
Old First Church
Van Ness Avenue and Sacrament Street, San Francisco
Tao Lin, pianist
Program:
Mozart Fantasy in C minor, K. 475
Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Schubert Fantasy in C Major, Op. 15, D. 760 "Wanderer"
Intermission
Chopin Four Mazurkas, Op. 68
Chopin Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Bio:
Born into a musical family in Shanghai, China, Tao Lin entered the Shanghai Conservatory at the age of eight. His rapid progress resulted
in numerous competition prizes, including the Alexander Tcherepnin Award.
Mr. Lin made his European début in 1995 with a concert tour of Norway. Enthusiastically received by critics and audiences, he was invited back
for another tour in 1997. He has been soloist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony, Miami Chamber Orchestra and Knoxville Civic Orchestra, among others.
He moved to Florida in 1990 to pursue undergraduate studies under Roberta Rust at the Harid Conservatory (where he received the Award for
Outstanding Performance) and graduate studies under Ivan Davis at the University of Miami. As winner of each school's concerto competition,
he performed Mozart's Concerto No. 24 and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and was a prize winner in the competitions of the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Music Teachers National Association and Florida Symphonic Pops and in the Eighth Annual Palm
Beach International Invitational Piano Competition. Mr. Lin has also studied with Leon Fleisher, Joseph Kalichstein, Stephen Hough, John
Perry, Rita Sloan and David Northington.
A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Lin has appeared with the Miami, Bergonzi, Alcon, and Rosalyra String Quartets as well as with
distinguished musicians such as Eugenia Zukerman, Ida Haendel, Charles Castleman, Roberta Peters, and Philip Quint. He has performed in the
Aspen, Round Top, Sanibel and Highlands Music Festivals, and four times in the Mainly Mozart Festival in Miami, where he now makes his home. He spends the summer months at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine.
Mr. Lin was awarded top prizes in the competitions of the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Music Teacher’s National Association,
Palm Beach International Invitational amongst others. He was also a finalist in the 1st International Piano-e-Competition and the 1st Osaka
International Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Shanghai Trio.
www.taolin.net
2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 2pm
Old First Church
Van Ness Avenue and Sacrament Street, San Francisco
Program:
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Variations on a national theme by Moore, for piano 4 hands
Hilda Huang, Hugo Kitano
Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 29
Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3
Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4
Robert Schwartz
Etude in A-flat major, Op. 25, No. 1 ‘Aeolian Harp’
Etude in E-flat minor, Op. 10, No. 6 (arr. by Godowsky for the left hand)
Etude in G-flat major, Op. 10, No. 5 ‘Black Key’
Daniel Glover
Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2
Polonaise in E-flat minor, Op. 26, No. 2
William Wellborn
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
Robyn Carmichael
From Op. 74
°yczenie (The Maiden’s Wish)
PierÊcieƒ (The Ring)
Moja pieszczotka (My Darling)
Melodia (Melody)
Wojak (The Warrior)
Donna Bruno, mezzo soprano; Mack McCray, piano
Prelude in D-flat major, Op. 28, No. 15 ‘Raindrop’
Fantasy-Impromptu, Op. 66
John Boyajy
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31
Sujeeva Hapugalle
Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49
Jaejin Lee
Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
Jean Alexis Smith
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Thomas Schultz
Barcarolle, Op. 60
Mack McCray
2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 4pm
Old First Church
Van Ness Avenue and Sacrament Street, San Francisco
Soyeon Lee, pianist
Program:
Bach Prelude and Fugue in C sharp Major from WTC Book II
Chopin Barcarolle, Op.60
Mozart Sonata K.330
Chopin Waltz in F Major Op.34 No.3
Waltz in A Minor, Op.34 No.2
Waltz in A Flat Major, Op.42
intermission
Chopin Two Noctournes Op.55
Scriabin Fantasy in B minor, Op.28
Chopin Ballade in F minor, Op.52
Bio:
Lauded by The Washington Post for her "stunning command of the keyboard," pianist Soyeon Lee is a winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Her rapturous playing has brought numerous other successes including top prizes at the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition. At 26, having already worked with conductors such as Jahja Ling, Otto-Werner Mueller and Rafael Frabeck de Burgos and orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra and London Symphony, Ms. Lee continues to bring her unique power and sensitivity to audiences around the world.
Recently described by The New York Times as a pianist with "a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style," highlights of Ms. Lee's 2007-08 season include her recital debut at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on the CAG series and the opening recital of Merkin Concert Hall's Tuesday matinee series, as well as performances with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Scottsdale Symphony and with the Napa Valley Symphony.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Lee collaborates with the Parker String Quartet in fall 2007, with concerts for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, CA, and Music in the Park in St. Paul, MN. Last season she participated in a residency at the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival, featuring concerts with bassist Edgar Meyer and a critically acclaimed Mozart concerto for piano and strings. She has also performed at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival and the Taos Chamber Music Festival. Among Ms. Lee's most recent collaborative projects are joint performances in Seoul with her pop-star sister, Soeun Lee.
Soyeon Lee's past concert appearances include her Lincoln Center recital debut at Alice Tully Hall as the recipient of The Juilliard School's prestigious William Petschek Piano Debut Award, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the CAG/Winners Series, the Kennedy Center, Ravinia's Bennett Gordon Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Auditorio de Musica de Nacional in Madrid and Baek-Am Art Hall in Seoul. As a concerto soloist, she has been heard with the San Diego Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (Dominican Republic), Shreveport Symphony, Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.
Ms. Lee was featured on the January 2006 cover of SYMPHONY Magazine's annual Emerging Artists issue and her debut CD for Naxos, featuring sonatas of Scarlatti, was released in February 2007. Ms. Lee has been heard live on WQXR New York's McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase and WNYC's Soundbytes with John Schaefer, as well as recorded performances on NPR and WGMS in Washington DC and WCLV in Cleveland. A classical music documentary featuring Ms. Lee, called "Classic Club," has been aired nationally in Japan on NHK.
Soyeon Lee began studying piano at age five in Korea. She moved to the US at age nine and attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, graduating with highest honors in music. Her early teachers included Victoria Mushkatkol and Marina di Pretoro. Ms. Lee earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. While at Juilliard she earned the distinguished Artist Diploma, won the Rachmaninoff Concerto Competition, two consecutive Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competitions and was awarded the Helen Fay Prize, Arthur Rubinstein Prize and the Susan Rose Career Grant.
www.soyeonlee.com
2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006 at 3pm
Old First Church
Van Ness Avenue and Sacrament Street
IN HONOR OF CHOPIN'S BIRTHDAY
BALAZS SZOKOLAY, PIANO
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHOPIN COUNCIL PRESENTS THIS CONCERT IN COOPERATION WITH HONORARY CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF HUNGARY
Program:
Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Fourteen waltzes:
E-flat major, Op. 18
A-flat major, Op. 64, No. 3
A-flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1
D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1
F minor, Op. 70, No. 2
A-flat Major, Op. 42
D-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 3
A-flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1
C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2
G-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1
B minor, Op. 69, No. 2
E Major (Opus posthumous)
A minor, Op. 34, No. 2
E minor (Opus posthumous)
Variations Brillantes
Intermission
Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, No. 3
Allegro maestoso
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Largo
Finale: Presto, non tanto
Bio:
Balazs Szokolay, Pianist
Hungarian pianist Balazs (Ba-lahge) Szokolay (So-ko-la-i) was born in Budapest in 1961, began his formal piano studies at the age of five, and later enrolled in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where his teachers included Zoltan Kocsis and composers Pal Kadosa and Gyorgy Kurtag.
Following his graduation in 1983, Szokolay was awarded scholarships for two additional years of studies in Munich and Moscow. He went on to win prizes at international competitions, including Leeds, Brussels, Montreal, Munich, Glasgow, Zwikau, and Budapest. Since 1987, he has been professor of piano at the Liszt Academy (now University).
Szokolay has given recitals, appeared with orchestras, and conducted master classes in more than thirty countries on four continents. His repertoire covers a wide range of styles and eras. Also, he frequently judges competitions, most recently in Holland, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Dubai. In 1997-98, he was guest professor at Yeungnam University in South Korea.
He has made radio and television recordings for, among others, BBC, London; RIAS, Berlin; TROS, Holland; RAI, Turin; CBS, Canada; and Hungarian Radio and Television. He has also recorded for Hungaraton and Naxos. One of his Grieg CDs was named "Record of the Year" in London. In 2001, Szokolay was awarded the Liszt Prize by the Hungarian Government.
In Spring, 2006, Balazs Szokolay will be a guest professor at Montclair University in New Jersey.
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