Events & Tickets

Orchestra Concert
Absolute Jest
New World Center, Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall
Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:30 PM
- Nicholas Collon, conductor
- Randall Goosby, violin
- Chad Goodman, conductor
- New York Philharmonic String Principals
Program
Violin phenom Randall Goosby is following in his teacher Itzhak Perlman’s footsteps to worldwide fame. He makes his NWS subscription debut performing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Concerto. Deemed unplayable before its premiere, the masterpiece is full of virtuosic fireworks with its unwavering passion, flowing lyricism and folkloric dance rhythms. In Absolute Jest, legendary American composer John Adams plays with musical fragments from Ludwig van Beethoven. This inspiring work for solo string quartet and orchestra features the principal strings of the New York Philharmonic. The timpani steals the spotlight in Gabriela Oritz’s Antrópolis and Maurice Ravel’s grand waltz forms a “fantastic whirl of destiny” as he reflects on post-WWI Europe.
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This concert is part of the Friday Evening and Saturday Evening Two series. With either of these series, you’ll enjoy phenomenal artists like Randall Goosby, Jeannette Sorrell, Carlos Miguel Prieto and orchestral master works like Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, two works by Gabriela Ortiz and selections from Handel’s Water Music. Subscriptions for the Friday Series (3 concerts) begin at $90 ($30/concert). Subscriptions to the Saturday Evening Two Series (4 concerts) begin at $132 ($33/concert). Click to explore the full subscriptions!
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Program
Gabriela Ortiz
(b. 1964)
Approx. Duration: 10 minutes
Antrópolis
(2018)
Mr. Goodman
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)
Approx. Duration: 34 minutes
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35
(1878)
Allegro moderato – Moderato assai
Cazonetta: Andante
Finale: Allegro vivacissimo
Mr. Goosby
Intermission
John Adams
(b. 1947)
Approx. Duration: 25 minutes
Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra
(2011)
New York Philharmonic String Quartet
Maurice Ravel
(1875-1937)
Approx. Duration: 13 minutes
La valse
(1919-20)
Gabriela Ortiz
Antrópolis
(2018)
Approximate duration: 10 minutes
Gabriela Ortiz was born into music; her parents were members of an ensemble committed to preserving Mexico’s folk traditions. After studying with the composers Mario Lavista and Federico Ibarra and earning a Ph.D. in electroacoustic composition from the City University in London, she returned to Mexico City, where she has taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México since 2000. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes, in 2019 was inducted into the Academía de Artes and in 2022 became the first woman composer inducted into the Colegio Nacional.
A number of her works grapple with Mexico’s social issues. This is the case with her three operas: drug wars in Únicamente la verdad (Only the Truth), immigration between Mexico and the United States in Ana y su sombra (Ana and her Shadow) and the student unrest of 1968 in Luciérnaga (Firefly). In an interview with Tom Moore of Opera Today, she explained: “When I compose, I am not trying to sound Mexican... It is like an inner force that is just there, and I have to express that in sound. It probably has a Mexican identity, because it’s me, I live in Mexico, and I like my country.”
This is often reflected in her vibrant treatment of rhythm, and there’s no mistaking it in Antrópolis, a piece that keeps constantly on the move. She writes: “In Mexico, until the ‘90s, the term [antro] referred to bars or entertainment places of dubious reputation. But nowadays, and especially among younger people, this word refers to any bar or nightclub. Antrópolis is the sonorous reflection of a city through its antros, including the accumulation of experiences that we bring, and that form an essential part of our history in this very complex but fascinating Mexico City.”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35
(1878)
Approximate duration: 34 minutes
It’s anyone’s guess why Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky got married in 1877, but he fled in panic two weeks after the wedding and soon headed off to Switzerland with the young violinist Iosif Iosifovich Kotek, his former pupil and sometime lover. There he composed his Violin Concerto in a flash of inspiration, with Kotek offering technical advice on the solo part. When Tchaikovsky sent the score to his patron Nadezhda von Meck, she wrote back that she didn’t like it. To his credit, the composer (who was often given to self-doubt) defended his piece, although he did decide to replace his original slow movement. (The earlier one lives on as a standalone Méditation for violin and orchestra or piano, and also as the opening movement of his suite Souvenir d’un lieu cher.) Further objections came from the violinist Leopold Auer, to whom Tchaikovsky wanted to entrust the premiere: he declared it unplayable. Too bad for Auer; the honor of the premiere instead went to Adolf Brodsky, who worked on the Concerto for more than two years before he dared to perform it. Auer eventually changed his mind. He not only came around to playing this Concerto but also taught it to his students, many of whom became leading interpreters of this work, including the legendary virtuosos Elman, Heifetz, Milstein, Shumsky and Zimbalist.
This is an overwhelmingly lyrical work that rarely ventures into the stormy outbursts that can characterize Tchaikovsky’s symphonic pieces. The first movement, by turns balletically graceful and comparatively urgent, makes difficult technical demands, but the fireworks generally sparkle as counterpoint to the overall gentility. The slow movement is elegiac but not depressive, while the Finale emerges from it without a break, serving up a dazzling array of pyrotechnics.
John Adams
Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra
(2011)
Approximate duration: 25 minutes
A New Englander by birth, John Adams moved in 1971 to the California Bay Area, where after a decade he described himself as “a minimalist who is bored with minimalism.” Through the years his language has become too varied to pigeonhole, including widely acclaimed works that confront social issues and international affairs, pieces that conflate popular and classical styles, and compositions that intermix “high” and “low” esthetics.
His Absolute Jest, for string quartet and orchestra, takes as its point of departure certain works by Beethoven. The idea came from experiencing a performance of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. “I was suddenly stimulated by the way Stravinsky had absorbed musical artifacts from the past and worked them into his own highly personal language,” he wrote. “I… had loved the Beethoven string quartets since I was a teenager, and crafting something out of fragments of Op. 131, Op. 135 and the Grosse Fuge (plus a few more familiar ‘tattoos’ from his symphonic scherzos) was a totally spontaneous act for me… The ‘jest’ of the title should be understood in terms of its Latin meaning, gesta: doings, deeds, exploits. I like to think of ‘jest’ as indicating an exercising of one’s wit by means of imagination and invention.”
Maurice Ravel
La valse
(1919-20)
Approximate duration: 13 minutes
As early as 1906 Maurice Ravel started thinking about creating a musical tribute to the “Waltz King” Johann Strauss II, but he didn’t get much farther than deciding on its title: Wien (Vienna). Years passed and then Europe crumbled under the calamity of World War I. When the war ended, Ravel retained his admiration for the waltz as a genre, but its sociological implications had changed. By the time he got around to composing La valse, in 1919-20, the gaiety of the Viennese ballroom could no longer be presented without knowing comment. Instead, Ravel’s 12-minute tone poem reveals itself, ever so gradually, to be a sort of danse macabre. The interval of the tritone (the augmented fourth or diminished fifth), historically conveying some diabolical connotation, is shot through the melodies of La valse, yielding a bitonal sense that the ballroom the piece depicts is oddly out of focus. Nonetheless, a listener encountering La valse for the first time will find it easy to make excuses for the disturbing undertones and the general wooziness: the surface is undeniably festive, after all. Not until the final minutes of the piece are we forced to accept that the waltz has run irretrievably amok. Even understanding that, we are likely to be shocked by the brutality of the piece’s conclusion, which is nothing short of violent, terrifying and bitterly final.
“I conceived of this work as a sort of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz,” Ravel wrote, “mingled with, in my mind, the impression of a fantastic, fatal whirling.” Hoping to see it staged, he and his pianist-colleague Marcelle Meyer played a two-piano arrangement for the impresario Serge Diaghilev, who responded (according to Francis Poulenc), “Ravel, it’s a masterpiece, but it’s not a ballet… It’s the portrait of a ballet, a painting of a ballet.”
– © James M. Keller
James M. Keller is the longtime Program Annotator of the San Francisco Symphony and was formerly Program Annotator of the New York Philharmonic and a staff writer-editor at The New Yorker. The author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press), he is writing a sequel volume about piano music for the same publisher.
Program
Gabriela Ortiz
(b. 1964)
Antrópolis (2018)
Mr. Goodman
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)
Concierto para Violín y Orquesta, Op. 35 (1878)
Allegro moderato – Moderato assai
Cazonetta: Andante
Finale: Allegro vivacissimo
Mr. Goosby
Intermission
John Adams
(b. 1947)
Absolute Jest para Cuarteto de Cuerdas y Orquesta (2011)
New York Philharmonic String Quartet
Maurice Ravel
(1875-1937)
La valse (1919-20)
Gabriela Ortiz
Antrópolis (2018)
Duración aproximada: 10 minutos
Gabriela Ortiz nació dentro de la música; sus padres eran miembros de un conjunto dedicado a preservar las tradiciones populares de México. Después de estudiar con los compositores Mario Lavista y Federico Ibarra y de obtener un Doctorado en Composición Electroacústica de la City University en Londres, Gabriela regresó a la Ciudad de México, donde es profesora de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México desde el año 2000. En 2016 le fue otorgado el prestigioso Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes, en 2019 fue incluida en la Academia de Artes y en 2022 se convirtió en la primera mujer compositora en formar parte del Colegio Nacional.
Varias de sus obras se adentran en los problemas sociales de México. Es el caso de sus tres óperas: la guerra de las drogas en Únicamente la verdad, la inmigración entre México y Estados Unidos en Ana y su sombra, y el movimiento estudiantil de 1968 en Luciérnaga. En una entrevista con Tom Moore de Opera Today, explicó: “Cuando compongo, no trato de tener una sonoridad mexicana…es como una fuerza interior que está ahí, y tengo que expresarla a través de sonidos. Probablemente tiene una identidad mexicana, porque soy yo. Vivo en México y me gusta mi país.”
Esto se refleja a menudo en un vibrante tratamiento del ritmo, como lo escuchamos sin dudas en Antrópolis, una obra que está en constante movimiento. Ella escribe: “En México, hasta los años ‘90s, el término ‘antro’ se refería a los bares o lugares de entretenimiento público de dudosa reputación. Pero actualmente, y especialmente entre los jóvenes, esta palabra se refiere a cualquier bar o club nocturno. Antrópolis es la reflexión sonora de una ciudad a través de sus antros, incluyendo la acumulación de nuestras experiencias, las cuales forman una parte esencial de nuestra historia en la muy compleja pero fascinante Ciudad de México.”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Concierto para Violín y Orquesta, Op. 35 (1878)
Duración aproximada: 34 minutos
Todos se preguntan por qué Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky se casó en 1877, solo para escapar en pánico dos semanas después de la boda y pronto dirigirse a Suiza con el joven violinista Iosif Iosifovich Kotek, su antiguo alumno y a veces amante. Allí compuso su Concierto para Violín en un destello de inspiración, mientras Kotek le ofrecía sugerencias técnicas en la parte del solista. Cuando Tchaikovsky le envió la partitura a su patrocinadora Nadezhda von Meck, ella contestó que no le gustaba. El compositor, que a menudo dudaba de sí mismo, defendió su obra, aunque decidió reemplazar el movimiento lento. (El original se convirtió en la obra individual Méditation para violín y orquesta o piano, y también existe como el movimiento inicial de su suite Souvenir d’un lieu cher.) Otras objeciones surgieron del violinista Leopold Auer, a quien Tchaikovsky quería confiar el estreno: la declaró intocable. Desafortunadamente para Auer, el honor del estreno le fue entregado a Adolf Brodsky, el cual trabajó en el Concierto por más de dos años antes de atreverse a interpretarlo. Auer eventualmente cambió de idea. No solo llegó a tocar este Concierto sino que se lo enseñó a sus alumnos, muchos de los cuales se convirtieron en los principales intérpretes de su obra, incluyendo los legendarios virtuosos Elman, Heifetz, Milstein, Shumsky y Zimbalist.
Esta es una obra abrumadoramente lírica que rara vez se aventura a los tormentosos arrebatos que suelen caracterizar las obras sinfónicas de Tchaikovsky. El primer movimiento, por momentos elegante como un ballet y comparativamente urgente, contiene difíciles exigencias técnicas, pero los fuegos artificiales generalmente brillan como contrapunto a la calma general. El movimiento lento es elegíaco sin ser deprimente, mientras el Finale emerge de este sin pausa, regalándonos un deslumbrante despliegue de pirotecnia.
John Adams
Absolute Jest para Cuarteto de Cuerdas y Orquesta (2011)
Duración aproximada: 25 minutos
Nacido en Nueva Inglaterra, John Adams se mudó al área de la Bahía de California en 1971, donde después de una década se describió a sí mismo como “un minimalista aburrido del minimalismo”. A través de los años su lenguaje se ha vuelto muy variado para encasillarlo, incluyendo aclamadas obras que confrontan problemas sociales y asuntos internacionales, piezas que fusionan estilos clásicos y populares, y composiciones que entremezclan estéticas “altas’ y “bajas”.
Su Absolute Jest (Gesta absoluta), para cuarteto de cuerdas y orquesta, toma como punto de partida ciertas obras de Beethoven. La idea surgió después de experimentar una interpretación de Pulcinella de Stravinsky. “Me sentí repentinamente inspirado por la manera en que Stravinsky había absorbido artefactos musicales del pasado y los había hecho parte de su propio lenguaje altamente personal”, escribió. “Me habían encantado los cuartetos de cuerda de Beethoven desde que era un adolescente, y elaborar algo de fragmentos del Op. 131, Op. 135 y la Grosse Fuge (además de otros “tatuajes” más conocidos de sus scherzos sinfónicos), fue un acto totalmente espontáneo para mí…El “jest” del título debe entenderse en términos de su significado en latín, gesta: hechos, acciones, hazañas. Me gusta pensar en “gesta” como una indicación para ejercitar nuestro intelecto a través de la invención y la imaginación.”
Maurice Ravel
La valse (1919-20)
Duración aproximada: 13 minutos
Desde 1906, Maurice Ravel comenzó a pensar en hacerle un homenaje musical al “Rey del Vals” Johann Strauss II, pero no llegó mucho más allá de decidir el título: Wien (Viena). Pasaron los años y Europa colapsó debido a las calamidades de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Al terminar la guerra, Ravel mantenía su admiración por el vals como género, pero sus implicaciones sociológicas habían cambiado. Para el momento en que compuso La valse, en 1919-20, la alegría del salón de baile vienés ya no podía ser presentada sin comentarios. En cambio, el poema sinfónico de 12 minutos de Ravel se reveló a sí mismo, gradualmente, como una especie de danse macabre. El intervalo del tritono (la cuarta aumentada o quinta disminuida), que históricamente posee una connotación diabólica, es lanzado a través de las melodías de La valse, dando una sensación bitonal de que el salón de baile que la pieza describe está extrañamente fuera de foco. No obstante, el oyente que escucha La valse por primera vez encontrará excusas fácilmente para el trasfondo perturbador y el vaivén general: después de todo, la superficie es innegablemente festiva. No es hasta los minutos finales de la pieza que nos vemos obligados a aceptar que el vals está irremediablemente fuera de control. Incluso comprendiendo esto, aún es posible que nos sorprenda la brutalidad de la conclusión de la obra, que es nada menos que violenta, aterradora y amargamente final.
“Concebí esta obra como una especie de apoteosis del vals vienés”, escribió Ravel, “mezclado, en mi mente, con la impresión de un torbellino fantástico y fatal”. Con la esperanza de verla escenificada, él y su pianista-colega Marcelle Meyer tocaron un arreglo para dos pianos para el empresario Serge Diaghilev, quien respondió (según Francis Poulenc), “Ravel, es una obra maestra, pero no es un ballet… Es el retrato de un ballet, la pintura de un ballet.”
– © James M. Keller
James M. Keller ha sido escritor de programas de la Sinfónica de San Francisco por largo tiempo y anteriormente realizó el mismo trabajo para la Filarmónica de Nueva York, donde también fue miembro y editor del staff de redacción de la revista The New Yorker. El autor del libro: Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Música de Cámara: Guía para un oyente) publicado por la Editorial Oxford University Press, actualmente está escribiendo un segundo volumen sobre música para piano para la misma editorial.
Translated by Maria Paulina García
Nicholas Collon, conductor

British conductor Nicholas Collon is Founder and Principal Conductor of Aurora Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony (the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Guerzenich Orchester in Cologne.
Mr. Collon is recognized as a born communicator, innovative programmer and high-caliber interpreter of a wide repertoire. Under his direction, the Aurora Orchestra has become known for its eclectic programming and for performing complete symphonies from memory, become the Associate Orchestra (and, from the 2022-23 season, Resident Orchestra) at the Southbank Centre and appearing every year at the BBC Proms.
Mr. Collon’s elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making have prompted guest invitations from orchestras such as the Residentie Orkest, where he was Chief Conductor 2016-21 (latterly also Artistic Advisor), Minnesota Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Danish National Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony and many of the leading British orchestras including the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony.
In Summer 2022 he conducted both the Finnish Radio Symphony and Aurora Orchestra at the BBC Proms. In the 2022-23 season he tours Germany with both orchestras, and Switzerland with the Guerzenich-Orchester.
Mr. Collon’s first commercial recording with the Finnish Radio Symphony was released in May 2022 on Ondine – Sibelius Symphony No. 7 and suites from King Christian and Pelleas and Melisande. Their next disc will feature works by Thomas Adés. Together with Aurora he has released cutting-edge concept recordings for Deutsche Grammophon (September 2020) and Warner Classics.
Mr. Collon has conducted over 200 new works, and has conducted opera at English National, Welsh National, Oper Koeln and Glyndebourne on Tour. A violist by training, he was subsequently Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge.
Randall Goosby, violin

“For me, personally, music has been a way to inspire others” – Randall Goosby’s own words sum up perfectly his commitment to being an artist who makes a difference. Signed exclusively to Decca Classics in 2020 at the age of 24, American violinist Randall Goosby is acclaimed for the sensitivity and intensity of his musicianship alongside his determination to make music more inclusive and accessible, as well as bringing the music of under-represented composers to light.
Highlights of Mr. Goosby’s 2021-22 season included debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl, Baltimore Symphony under Dalia Stasevska, Detroit Symphony under Jader Bignamini, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. He made recital appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, San Francisco Symphony’s Davies Symphony Hall and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
June 2021 marked the release of Mr. Goosby’s debut album for Decca entitled Roots, a celebration of African American music, which explores its evolution from the spiritual through to present-day compositions. Collaborating with pianist Zhu Wang, Mr. Goosby has curated an album paying homage to the pioneering artists that paved the way for him and other artists of color. It features three world-premiere recordings of music written by African American composer Florence Price and includes works by composers William Grant Still and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, plus a newly commissioned piece by acclaimed double bassist Xavier Foley, a fellow Sphinx and Young Concert Artists alumnus.
Mr. Goosby is deeply passionate about inspiring and serving others through education, social engagement and outreach activities. He has enjoyed working with non-profit organizations such as the Opportunity Music Project and Concerts in Motion in New York City, as well as participating in community engagement programs for schools, hospitals and assisted living facilities across the United States.
Mr. Goosby was First Prize Winner in the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2019 he was named the inaugural Robey Artist by Young Classical Artists Trust in partnership with Music Masters in London; and in 2020 he became an Ambassador for Music Masters, a role that sees him mentoring and inspiring students in schools around the United Kingdom. He is the youngest musician to have won the Sphinx Concerto Competition, is a recipient of Sphinx’s Isaac Stern Award and of a career advancement grant from the Bagby Foundation and of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant. An active chamber musician, he has spent his summers studying at the Perlman Music Program, Verbier Festival Academy and Mozarteum Summer Academy among others.
Mr. Goosby made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony at age nine and with the New York Philharmonic on a Young People’s Concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall at age 13. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he continues his studies there, pursuing an Artist Diploma under Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho. He plays a 1735 Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, on generous loan from the Stradivari Society.
Chad Goodman, conductor

With a flair for inventive programming and a bold presence on stage and in the community, Chad Goodman has been praised for "bringing innovation to classical music" (Forbes).
As the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony, Mr. Goodman conducts on subscription, education, family and holiday programs. His program, “SPARK: How Composers Find Inspiration,” blended captivating light design and videography with engaging audience participation to explore how a composition is created and brought to life by an orchestra.
Since 2018 Mr. Goodman has served as an Assistant Conductor to the San Francisco Symphony, assisting Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Simone Young and James Gaffigan among others.
Mr. Goodman's 2022-23 Season will include debut appearances with the Elgin Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, Greensboro Symphony and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.
As Founder and Artistic Director of Elevate Ensemble, Mr. Goodman’s ambitious vision for concert programming resulted in the pairing of music from Bay Area composers with underappreciated gems of the 20th and 21st centuries. Under his leadership, Elevate Ensemble established a Composer-in-Residence program and commissioned fifteen works from Bay Area composers. Elevate collaborated with photographers, videographers, poets and culinary artists, bringing new music and vibrant multi-genre experiences to unique venues such as yoga studios, historic Victorian homes and art studio warehouses.
Mr. Goodman has previously served as Conducting Fellow of Festival Napa Valley, Music Director of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, Conducting Fellow of the Atlantic Music Festival, and a rehearsal and cover conductor for the San Francisco Ballet.
In addition to his performing career, he teaches young musicians the business and entrepreneurial skills needed to successfully navigate the world as a working musician in his workshop “You Earned a Music Degree. Now What?”
Mr. Goodman holds a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a master of music degree from San Francisco State University. His mentors include Michael Tilson Thomas, Alasdair Neale, Cyrus Ginwala and Martin Seggelke.
New York Philharmonic String Principals

The New York Philharmonic String Quartet comprises four Principal musicians from the Orchestra: Concertmaster Frank Huang (The Charles E. Culpeper Chair); Principal Second Violin Group Qianqian Li; Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps (The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair) and Principal Cello Carter Brey (The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Chair). The group was formed in 2017, during the Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season; the New York Philharmonic String Quartet made its debut as the solo ensemble in John Adams’s Absolute Jest that season, and reprised the work on the Orchestra’s Europe/Spring 2017 tour. All four members are multiple prize winners, have appeared as concerto soloists with the Philharmonic and orchestras around the world, and have appeared frequently in the Philharmonic’s chamber music series at David Geffen Hall and Merkin Concert Hall.
Frank Huang has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, Seattle Chamber Music Festival and Caramoor. He frequently participates in Musicians from Marlboro’s tours, and was selected by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be a member of the prestigious Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). Before joining the Houston Symphony as concertmaster in 2010, Frank Huang held the position of first violinist of the Grammy Award–winning Ying Quartet.
Qianqian Li has performed at major music festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, Yellow Barn and Sarasota. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras in major concert halls in Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Before joining the New York Philharmonic, she served as a member of the first violin section of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for three years, after winning positions with the orchestras of Seattle, Atlanta, and St. Paul in the same period. She has also performed in the Boston, Pittsburgh and Atlanta symphony orchestras and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Cynthia Phelps performs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Jupiter Chamber Players and the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Seattle, Chamber Music Northwest and Bridgehampton festivals. She has appeared with the Guarneri, Tokyo, Orion, American, Brentano and Prague Quartets, and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. She is also a founding member of the chamber group Les Amies, a flute-harp-viola group with Philharmonic Principal Harp Nancy Allen and flutist Carol Wincenc.
Carter Brey has made regular appearances with the Tokyo and Emerson string quartets as well as The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at festivals such as Spoleto (both in the United States and Italy), and the Santa Fe and La Jolla Chamber Music festivals. He and pianist Christopher O’Riley recorded Le Grand Tango: Music of Latin America, a disc of compositions from South America and Mexico released on Helicon Records.