9th

INTERNATIONALCHAMBER MUSIC

competitionfor Young Professionals

SATURDAY | APRIL 10 | 2021

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Welcome

Welcome to Chesapeake Music’s 9th International Chamber Music Competition and while the world-wide health crisis makes it necessary to hold this event virtually, I am confident you will be rewarded with a day of outstanding performances highlighted by musical skill and youthful enthusiasm.

This biennial event began nineteen years ago when a group of local music lovers resolved to create a way to encourage and support young musicians in their efforts to build careers. This vision has been fulfilled as many of the ensembles have become well known in the concert world and all of the participants gain valuable insights from our judges.

I am amazed and enormously grateful for the effort put forth by our Competition Committee. Every other year these volunteers take on the challenge of producing this major musical competition and then last year the event was cancelled just days before it was to go on. Starting from scratch, the Committee created the virtual format you will see today. It was an enormously complex task to arrange for performances in four different locations and to have the judges located remotely from one another.

On behalf of the Board of Directors I thank each and every one of our Committee and our judges for their dedication that sustains the Competition. You are in for a wonderful treat today. I know you will enjoy it.

Barry KohPresident Chesapeake Music

PROGRAM

Dior QuartetJoseph Haydn—Quartet Op. 76 No. 3 “Emperor” IV. Finale: PrestoCaroline Shaw—BlueprintChristos Hatzis—Quartet No. 2 “The Gathering” III. NadirAnton Dvorak—Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106 II. Adagio ma non troppoDmitri Shostakovich—Quartet No. 9, Op. 117 V. Allegro

AYA Piano TrioWolfgang Amadeus Mozart—Piano Trio in C Major K. 54 I. AllegroFelix Mendelssohn—Piano Trio in C Major, Op. 66 I. Allegro energico e con fuacoMaurice Ravel—Piano Trio in A minor I. Modéré II. Pantoum, Assez vifDimitri Shostakovich—Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor IV. Allegretto

Soma QuartetFelix Mendelssohn—String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 Arranged: Ting-Hua (Arthur) Liang I. Allegro vivace assai II. Allegro assai III. Adagio IV. Finale: Allegro molto In Memoriam (2014) – Joel Love (b. 1982)

Zelter String QuartetFranz Joseph Haydn—String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2 I. Moderato II. Capriccio – AdagioLudwig van Beethoven—String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 I. Allegro II. Molto Adagio, “Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento”Maurice Ravel—String Quartet in F Major I. Allegro moderato, très doux

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SOMA QUARTET ZELTER STRING QUARTETAYA PIANO TRIO

Based in Bloomington, Soma was formed at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the guidance of Otis Murphy.

In addition to being the grand prize winners at the 2019 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, they were first runner-up in the 2018 Classic Alive Young Artist Competition, first prize winners in the 2017 Chicago Woodwind Ensemble Competition, and finalists in the 2018 North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition.

Since their formation in 2016, they have performed at a wide variety of venues, including the International Navy Band Symposium, the inaugural American Single Reed Summit, and the North American Saxophone Alliance region five conference. The ensemble is committed to performing new works to expand quartet repertoire and has collaborated with several composers from Indiana University.

Soma also has a passion for traditional repertoire and transcriptions and has performed numerous outreach concerts in venues ranging from retirement centers to coffee shops to the Bloomington Transit Center, all in hopes of bringing saxophone to a wider audience.

Praised by LA Opus for their “seemingly effortless precision and blend”, the Zelter String Quartet formed in Los Angeles in 2018.

The quartet is comprised of violinists Kyle Gilner and Gallia Kastner, violist Nao Kubota, and cellist Allan Hon. In 2019 they were awarded a full scholarship to participate in the St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar, where they worked with members of the St. Lawrence and Danish String Quartets, culminating in a performance at the Campbell Recital Hall at Stanford University.

The quartet has collaborated with the Verona String Quartet, Mixtape Series, tenor Drake Dantzler, and has future collaborations set with pianist Lucinda Carver.

In addition, they were recently invited to participate in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and in August 2021, the quartet is scheduled to participate in the Rencontres Franco-Américaines de Musique de Chambre, as winners of the USC Ofiesh Chamber Music Competition.Finalists

DIOR QUARTET

Hailing from Israel, Canada, Brazil, and the U.S., the members of Dior formed their ensemble at Indiana University in fall 2018.

Within eight months of their formation, they won the Bronze Medal at the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Competition (Senior Division). They have also won first prize at the 9th Plowman Chamber Music Competition (Senior Strings), first prize at the 2019 Kuttner Quartet Competition, and runner-up at the Beethoven-Haus Competition at the Jacobs School of Music. Last summer, they attended the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford University and were selected to perform in the International Showcase at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall.

They held the 2019 Fellowship String Quartet at Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in Virginia and participated in the McGill International String Quartet Academy. They are currently the new Kuttner Quartet, the student string quartet-in-residence at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Based in Philadelphia, AYA was formed in 2013 by three students at the Curtis Institute of Music. The trio has performed extensively across the United States, and in 2018 they were semifinalists in both the M Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the Fischoff Competition.

They were winners of the 2018 Young Chamber Musicians Competition in North Carolina, where they were invited for a residency of recordings and concerts. They have performed at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and they made their New York City debut in 2019 at the Mannes New School Concert Series.

Performances in 2020 include a Concerts International Series appearance in Memphis and a Beethoven Triple concerto with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut. AYA Piano Trio is represented by Jean Schreiber Management.

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Beautiful music brightens our lives,and you make it happen!

Thank You!

Anna

Office: 410-770-9255 alarkin@bensonandmangold.com Cell: 410-829-3549Benson and Mangold • 24 N. Washington St. • Easton, MD

Anna C Larkin

At Chesapeake Music we have always believed that our biennial Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition is like no other. But in this year of the Global Pandemic, our experience has been like no other we have had.

After postponing the Competition in April, 2020, we looked forward to hosting it in April 2021. As you all know well, we cannot yet hold live performances and so we have gone virtual. Thankfully we have had some experience with this new concert mode. The annual Chamber Music Festival was one of the earliest in the country to be entirely virtual and we hosted two additional virtual concerts during the year. So here we are trying to put on an entire day of music for all of you.

There have been challenges for the musicians, judges and our hard-working committee. Our young musicians were challenged. Many found themselves in distant places for much of the year and struggled to gather to record their performance. Sadly, one group, the Colores Trio of Zurich, Switzerland, was not able to compete due to travel restrictions within the European Union. We will hope they can join us next year. The judges were equally challenged. They will view the day’s performances from their home bases which stretch from Baltimore to Bend, Oregon. And then, the deliberations will take place on the ever-present Zoom!

The committee of volunteers was challenged to think of each element of the program in a new way. I believe we are all proudest of being able to devise a way to hold the Audience Choice Award at the end of the day. Our designer and our webmaster have pushed themselves to new heights with a virtual stage employed for all our virtual events. It does indeed take a village to make this work and we have been fortunate to have a wonderful group of willing explorers to join in the effort.

Please see the list of all those people in this program book. We hope you enjoy these wonderful young ensembles and we look forward to returning to a live Competition in 2022 at our new home in the Ebenezer Theater in Easton.

Anne MoranCompetition Chair

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CHESAPEAKE MUSIC AND ITS COMPETITION FIND NEW HOME AT THE EBENEZER THEATER

This past winter, Chesapeake Music took up long-term residency at the newly renovated and elegant Ebenezer Theater in historic downtown Easton. Formerly known as the Prager Family Auditorium and a familiar concert home for years, the modernized venue has chosen to return to the roots of the building in naming its new facility for the original building owner, the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church constructed in 1856.

This relationship guarantees a state-of-the-art concert facility for Chesapeake Music, enabling the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition to hold its day long Competition presentations with the most up-to-date acoustical enhancements and recording and streaming capacity. Additionally, Chesapeake Music purchased a 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano to be permanently installed in the theater. For those devotees of the Competition, we know we now have the perfect venue for our award winning ensembles. Be assured, however, that we will take these young musicians throughout the community for the very popular Sunday concerts.

The residency allows us to create strong links to a first rate concert venue for our prestigious Competition while growing our international audience through the streaming capabilities. It also expands our programming ability by developing new and interesting programs for an expanding audience. It also demonstrates Chesapeake Music’s commitment to Talbot County and historic Easton, an area whose art scene has grown both because of and alongside Chesapeake Music to become one of the premier arts destinations in the Mid-Atlantic.

We look forward to hosting our 2021 winners in our new venue and hosting the 2022 Competition and those in the foreseeable future at this newly emerging hub of cultural activity in Easton. Look for more good news as we move past the Covid era and explore new ways to enrich the cultural life of Easton and beyond.

Celebrating30 Years

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COMPETITION JUDGES

A versatile player, J. LAWRIE BLOOM has been heard in chamber, orchestral and concerto appearances on soprano clarinet, basset clarinet and bass clarinet. He began studying piano at four and switched to the clarinet at nine. He continued studies at the Columbus Boychoir School, with whom he toured the U.S., Canada and Japan, singing and playing the clarinet. At that same time on clarinet he came under the guidance of Roger W. McKinney, later

studying with Anthony M. Gigliotti.

Lawrie is a founding member of the Civitas Ensemble in Chicago, with whom he plays clarinet, and acts as an Artistic Co-Director. He founded the Chesapeake Music Festival, and served as clarinetist and Artistic Co-Director for 34 years. He has performed at the Ambler, Grand Teton, Ravinia, Skaneateles and Spoleto festivals, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. Lawrie toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has collaborated with the Chester, Chicago Symphony, and Mendelssohn String Quartets, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and members of the Ridge, Orion and Vermeer string quartets. He has been heard many times in live concerts over the airwaves of WFMT in Chicago, and in live recital for the Australian Broadcast Company.

In September of 1980 Sir Georg Solti invited Lawrie to join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in the position of Clarinet and Solo Bass Clarinet. In that position he has toured the world, with some 2 dozen trips to Europe, 5 times to Asia, and appearances in Australia, and India. He can be heard on CSO recordings of a vast repertoire. Previous to joining the CSO Lawrie held similar appointments with the Phoenix Symphony, the orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Vancouver Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony. He stepped down from his CSO appointment in June of 2020.

Lawrie was a Senior Lecturer in Clarinet at Northwestern University for 28 years. He has presented master classes all over the world, and is an Artist Performer for Buffet Crampon USA and D’Addario Musical Instruments, as a Reed Design Consultant.

Judge: J. Lawrie Bloom

Lithuanian pianist IEVA JOKUBAVICIUTE's performances have earned her critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and Europe. Her ability to communicate the essential substance of a work has led critics to describe her as possessing “razor-sharp intelligence and wit” (The Washington Post) and as “an artist of commanding technique, refined temperament and persuasive insight” (The New York Times). In 2006, she was honored as a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

Ieva’s Alban Berg Tribute CD was released to critical acclaim in 2010. The New York Times described her as “an authoritative and compelling guide throughout this fascinating disc." Her piano trio, Trio Cavatina, won the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010. A much sought-after chamber musician and collaborator, notably with violinist Midori, Ieva has appeared on major stages, such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Wigmore Hall. She regularly appears at music festivals, including Marlboro, Ravinia, Bard, Caramoor, Chesapeake Music, and Prussia Cove (England). A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music, she is currently Assistant Professor, Piano at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.

Judge: Ieva Jokubaviciute

Cellist MICHAEL KANNEN has distinguished himself as a musician and educator of uncommon accomplishment who is comfortable in widely diverse musical situations and venues. He was a founding member of the Brentano String Quartet and for seven years performed with that group on concert stages around the world, on radio and television, and on recordings.

During those years, the Brentano Quartet was awarded the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the

Naumburg Chamber Music Award, a Royal Philharmonic Award and was the first participant in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center II program.

Mr. Kannen continues to perform chamber music around the country as a member of the Apollo Trio, on period instruments with the Houston-based group Context, and at major music festivals such as Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Portland Chamber Music Festival and the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England. Mr. Kannen has served on the faculties of Dartmouth College and the Purchase College Conservatory and he is currently the Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he holds the Sidney Friedberg Chair in Chamber Music.

Judge: Michael Kannen

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We wish to honor our preliminary judges: extraordinary artists who have performed as soloists and key members of outstanding chamber music ensembles all over the world. They have been artistic directors of Festivals, have served as educators at our leading institutions and all are known as chamber musicians of excellence.

Catherine Cho, violin, violaAdrian Morejon, bassoon

Tara Helen O’Connor, fluteTodd Phillips, violinDiane Walsh, piano

Each has a stunning musical biography to which one could not give justice here. We are fortunate to have had them as preliminary jurors in the first two rounds of the Competition under the leadership of Co-Artistic Director Marcy Rosen, cello.

PRELIMINARY ROUND JUDGES

Competition CommitteeAnne Moran, ChairAnna Larkin, Chair EmeritusDonald Buxton, Executive Director

Ross BenincasaScott ClausenWilliam GeogheganCourtney KaneElizabeth KoprowskiNancy LarsonPenny ProserpiCarolyn Thornton

Special ThanksFinalists Coordinator: Anne MoranProgram Editors: Debra Crouch and Carolyn ThorntonPrint Ads: Debra CrouchOn-line Voting: Ross Benincasa and Courtney KaneOn-line Publicity: The Violin ChannelAudience Analytics: Scott Clausen and Ross Benincasa

Audio: Skillman Music, Wei Wang, and Mid South AudioPrint Publicity: Amy StewardData Base: Nancy LarsonGraphics: Joanne ShipleyWebmaster: Kyle Spear

Technical Support to our FinalistsAYA Piano Trio: Wei WangDior Quartet: Konrad StraussSoma Quartet: First United Church, Bloomington, Indiana, and Matthew ChampagneZelter String Quartet: Louis Ng and Stuart Denenberg

AdvertisersEastern Shore Lending/Tracy Cohee HodgesParker Counts LLCBenson & Mangold/Anna LarkinBenson & Mangold/Chuck Mangold, Jr.

Chesapeake Music Board of DirectorsCo-Artistic Directors, Marcy Rosen and Catherine ChoExecutive Director, Donald Buxton Barry Koh, PresidentRobert AmdurRoss BenincasaJames CarderCourtney KaneSusan KohElizabeth KoprowskiMariana LesherTrish MalinAnne MoranEdgar SmithAnna SnowJohn Waterston

Competition Advisory PanelSteve Balderston J. Lawrie BloomNatasha BrofskyCatherine ChoGlenn DicterowKaren DreyfusMiriam FriedAra GregorianMichael KannenMaria LambrosMichael MaccaferriKatherine MurdochTara Helen O’ConnorPeggy PearsonDanny PhillipsTodd PhillipsMarcy RosenDavid ShifrinScott St. JohnRoger TappingDiane WalshRobert Yekovitch

Founding SponsorsA.T. and Mary Blades Foundation Ella and Michael Bracy Mary and James Campbell Sonia and Joseph Herson Zena and Arnold Lerman Jean and Michael McHale Isabel and David Mahalick FoundationCarolyn and Robert Miller Ann and Rush Moody, Jr Penelope and Sergio Proserpi, M.D.Phoebe and Robert Reynolds Audrey and James Rooney Alice Ryan Lori and Jonathan Sallet Barbara and Michael Smilow Carolyn and Charles Thornton Irmy and Philip Webster Margaret and Richard Welch

PatronsNorma and Don Berlin Michael and Ella Bracy Bob and Karen BurgerLin and Steve Clineburg Tom and Debra Crouch George and Jocelyn Eysymontt MaryAnn Schindler and M. HughesSusan and Barry KohElizabeth Koprowski Anna and Tim Larkin Arnold Lerman Marion LewinAnne Moran Chloe and David Pitard Penelope Proserpi Charles and Carolyn Thornton Lily and John Waterston Phil and Irmy Webster Kathy Wise and Doug RidleyHanna and Peter Woicke Isabel/David Mahalick FoundationSt. John Foundation

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Chesapeake Music presents

CHAMBER MUSICF E S T I VA L 2021at the Ebenezer Theaternew home of Chesapeake Music

JUNE 4–12

EExperience the xperience the EExtraordinaryxtraordinary

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