Kevin Park
Artistic Director
DATE
Fri. January 17, 2025 - 7:30 PM
South Delta Baptist Church, Delta
SUBSCIRPTION
Sun. January 19, 2025 - 2:00 PM
Koerner Recital Hall,
Vancouver Academy of Music, Vancouver
Anvil Centre, New Westminster
Mon. January 20, 2025 - 1:00 PM
PROGRAM
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Johannes Brahms
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Andantino grazioso
IV. Allegro
Quartet for Piano, Violin, Clarinet, and Cello, Op.1
Walter Rabl
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio molto
III. Andantino un poco mosso
IV. Allegro con brio
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15
Bedřich Smetana
I. Moderato assai
II. Allegro, ma non agitato
III. Finale. Presto
VIDEO
STEFAN JACKIW
Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
Jackiw’s 2022-23 season includes his return to the Cleveland Orchestra performing Britten’s Violin Concerto with Thomas Søndergård, and to the Vancouver Symphony performing Brahms with Otto Tausk. He will also appear at the 92NY with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Daniil Trifonov, and embark on a multi-city Junction Trio tour that includes the group’s Celebrity Series of Boston debut, alongside performances in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, and more. Meanwhile, his European dates include performances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Thomas Sondergard performing Britten’s Violin Concerto, the Residentie Orkest and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia with Anja Bihlmaier performing Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, and the Gävle Symphony and Christian Rief performing Korngold’s Violin Concerto.
In Summer 2022, Jackiw returned to Carnegie Hall to perform Bach with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and appeared with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival leading a performance of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, and the Bellingham Festival performing Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy.” During the 2021-22 season, he premiered a new violin concerto by Conrad Tao with the Atlanta Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony; returned to the Indianapolis Symphony to perform Korngold Concerto, and to the Oregon Symphony with Schumann Concerto. In Europe, he performed with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert, and with Orchestre National de Lyon under Nikolaj Znaider. His Summer 2021 appearances included his return to the Cleveland Orchestra performing Prokofiev 2 with Rafael Payare, the Boston Symphony performing Mozart Concerto no. 5 with Alan Gilbert, and the Aspen Music Festival performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto, alongside Alisa Weilerstein, and Inon Barnatan.
Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has toured the complete Ives Violin Sonatas, which the pair recorded for future release on Nonesuch Records. He also recently recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields.
Highlights of recent seasons include his debut at the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival with Juraj Valcuha, with whom he also reunited for performances in Dallas, Detroit, and Luxembourg; performances of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Mikhail Pletnev, as part of a multi-city tour with the Russian National Orchestra; as well as performances with the St. Louis Symphony under Nicholas McGegan, the Minnesota Orchestra under Ilyich Rivas, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Indianapolis Symphony under Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Juraj Valčuha. He also gave the world premiere of American composer David Fulmer’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Jubilant Arcs”, written for him and commissioned by the Heidelberg Festival with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Matthias Pintscher. Further afield, Jackiw has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony at Suntory Hall under the direction of Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Seoul Philharmonic under Mario Venzago. He has also toured Korea, playing chamber music with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, and toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra play-directing Mendelssohn.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and Ukrainian descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made by Vincenzo Ruggieri in Cremona in 1704. He lives in New York City.
Hailed by The New York Times for her "inexhaustible virtuosity", clarinetist Yoonah Kim is an artist of uncommon musical depth and versatility. She enjoys a diverse career as solo clarinetist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and educator.
Yoonah launched her career when she won the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition – the first solo clarinetist to win CAG in nearly 30 years, she joined the ranks of prominent solo clarinetists discovered by CAG, including David Shifrin, Michael Collins, and David Krakauer. Yoonah is also the first woman to win first prize at the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition and she is a first prize winner of the George Gershwin International Competition and the Vienna International Competition.
Yoonah has given recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series, Washington Performing Arts’ Music in the Country series, Chamber Music Society of Little Rock and Union County Performing Arts Center. She has also appeared as concerto soloist with the Maui Chamber Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, New York Classical Players, DuPage Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Chesapeake Youth Symphony.
Beyond her performing solo clarinet repertoire in recitals and with orchestras, Yoonah is devoted to commissioning and premiering new works for the clarinet. She has commissioned and premiered new works including Eric Nathan’s Double Concerto for Violin and Clarinet (premiered alongside her husband violinist Stefan Jackiw), Texu Kim’s reimagining of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for solo clarinet and string orchestra, and Andrew Hsu’s Erebus for clarinet and piano and Three Pieces for solo clarinet.
Yoonah regularly performs as guest principal clarinet at Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, and Princeton Symphony, and has also appeared as guest principal clarinet with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Binghamton Philharmonic.
From 2016 to 2018, Yoonah was a member of Ensemble Connect, a highly selective two-year fellowship program under the joint auspices of Carnegie Hall, The Weill Institute, and The Juilliard School. With Ensemble Connect, she performed regularly at Carnegie Hall, often in collaboration with renowned conductors and guest artists. Highlights include performances with Sir Simon Rattle at Zankel Hall, and with soprano Natalie Dessay at the Philharmonie de Paris.
As a sought-after chamber musician, Yoonah tours regularly with the ensembles Founders and Frisson, and has appeared at numerous international chamber music festivals, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, Moab Music Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, Maui Classical Music Festival, Honolulu’s Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, California’s Festival Napa Valley, Maine’s Bay Chamber Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Sarasota Music Festival, The Banff Centre Music Festival, Thessaloniki Festival in Greece, and the GumNanse Music Center festival in Busan, Korea.
In addition to her thriving performance career, Yoonah is dedicated to teaching. She is on the clarinet faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School. Yoonah is also a co-founder of Chime for Children, an initiative aimed at bringing joy and inspiration through interactive performances to children with limited exposure and access to music.
Born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in Langley, British Columbia, Yoonah now calls New York her home. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at The Juilliard School as the C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow. She holds a Master of Music degree from Juilliard and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music at The New School, where she studied clarinet under Charles Neidich.
YOONAH KIM
ARNOLD CHOI
Described by The New York Times as having a "Rich tone, and muscular style", Canadian cellist Arnold Choi has performed to great acclaim throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He is a prize-winner of Korea's Gyeongnam (Isang Yun) International Cello Competition, and Mexico's Carlos Prieto International cello competition. Mr. Choi has also won the grand prize at numerous competitions throughout North America including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, the Kingsville International String Competition, the Canadian National Music Festival, the CMC Stepping Stone Competition, and the Shean Competition, among others.
Mr. Choi has performed as soloist with several orchestras around the world including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Civic Symphony, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, and the Banff Festival Orchestra. At the age of 14, he gave his first solo recital tour in Mexico. Since then, he has given several recital tours throughout North America as a soloist and chamber musician.
As a former member of the Janaki String Trio, Choi received the Grand Prize at the prestigious Coleman Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 2006. The trio has performed and toured extensively throughout the United States playing in major chamber music venues including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Centre, and the Kennedy Centre. They also toured Australia with celebrated Australian pianist Kathy Selby and played at the American Academy in Rome.
Choi's discography includes two Janaki Trio albums with Naxos and Yarlung Records, and most recently 6 volumes of cello repertoire with pianist Peter Longworth for the Royal Conservatory of Music books published by Frederick Harris Music. These recordings are used as pedagogical tools for young beginners to advanced cellists nationwide.
Arnold began his cello studies with John Kadz at the Mount Royal College Conservatory in Calgary for twelve years before receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles studying with Ronald Leonard in 2009. He received his Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music as a student of Aldo Parisot. In 2017 Arnold received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York where he was under the tutelage of Colin Carr. Arnold serves as the principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He currently performs on a cello made ca. 1880 from the School of Caussin in France.
HENRY KRAMER
Praised by The Cleveland Classical Review for his “astonishingly confident technique” and The New York Times for “thrilling [and] triumphant” performances, pianist Henry Kramer is developing a reputation as a musician of rare sensitivity who combines stylish programming with insightful and exuberant interpretations. In 2016, he garnered international recognition with a Second Prize win in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Most recently, he was awarded a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center – one of the most coveted honors bestowed on young American soloists.
Kramer began playing piano at the relatively late age of 11 in his hometown of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. One day, he found himself entranced by the sound of film melodies as a friend played them on the piano, inspiring him to teach himself on his family’s old upright. His parents enrolled him in lessons shortly thereafter, and within weeks, he was playing Chopin and Mozart.
Henry emerged as a winner in the National Chopin Competition in 2010, the Montreal International Competition in 2011 and the China Shanghai International Piano Competition in 2012. In 2014 he was added to the roster of Astral Artists, an organization that annually selects a handful of rising stars among strings, piano, woodwinds and voice candidates. The following year, he earned a top prize in the Honens International Piano Competition.
Kramer has performed “stunning” solo recital debuts, most notably at Alice Tully Hall as the recipient of the Juilliard School’s William Petschek Award, as well as at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. At his Philadelphia debut, Peter Dobrin of The Philadelphia Inquirer remarked, “the 31-year-old pianist personalized interpretations to such a degree that works emerged anew. He is a big personality.”
A versatile performer, Kramer has been featured as soloist with orchestras around the world, including the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, among many others, collaborating with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Gerard Schwarz, Stéphane Denève, Jan Pascal Tortelier and Hans Graf. He has also performed recitals in cities such as Washington (Phillips Collection), Durham (St. Stephens), Hilton Head (BravoPiano! festival), and Seattle (Emerald City Music and the Seattle Series) and made summer appearances at the Anchorage, Lakes Area, Rockport, and Vivo music festivals. Appearances in the 2022-23 season include a debut with New York's Salon Séance, recitals with Newport Classical, Ravinia, Toronto's Koerner Hall, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, and additional appearances in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Ithaca, and Montreal. Highlights of the current season include performances with the Adrian Symphony and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, a return to the Phillips Collection, further appearances with Salon Séance, and recital debuts with Cecilia Concerts in Halifax, Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montréal, Bargemusic, Northwestern University’s Winter Chamber Music Festival, and Music Mountain Summer Festival together with the Borromeo String Quartet.
His love for the chamber music repertoire began early in his studies while a young teenager. A sought-after collaborator, he has appeared in recitals at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest. His recording with violinist Jiyoon Lee on the Champs Hill label received four stars from BBC Music Magazine. This year, Gramophone UK praised Kramer’s performance on a recording collaboration (Cedille Records) with violist Matthew Lipman for “exemplary flexible partnership.” Henry has also performed alongside Emmanuel Pahud, the Calidore and Pacifica Quartets, Miriam Fried, as well as members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Teaching ranks among his greatest joys. In the fall of 2022, Kramer joined the music faculty of Université de Montréal. Previously, he served as the L. Rexford Whiddon Distinguished Chair in Piano at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. Throughout his multifaceted career, he also held positions at Smith College and the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Dance and Music.
Kramer graduated from the Juilliard School, where he worked with Julian Martin and Robert McDonald. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Boris Berman. His teachers trace a pedagogical lineage extending back to Beethoven, Chopin and Busoni. Kramer is a Steinway Artist.
