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Crossing Borders: Brahms Piano Quartet

Crossing Borders: Brahms Piano Quartet

Few things in our fractured world bring us together quite like music, connecting us with our shared humanity across borders and time.

Premiered by Clara Schumann in 1861 and famous for its fiery “Rondo alla Zingarese” finale, Brahms’s youthful and exuberant Piano Quartet in G Minor transports us to both a young Brahms (he was just 23 when he started composing it) and to Hungary with its folk inspiration. Two soaring solo works by Austrian American composer Fritz Kreisler magically take us to Vienna in the hands of virtuoso violinist and CMNW Protégé Alumnus Claire Wells. This program even spans the mightiest oceans with a new CMNW-commissioned premiere by Donghoon Shin, whose music encompasses influences of both his Korean heritage and his London home. Don’t miss this U.S. premiere featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano.

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
Thursday, 7/9 • 7:30 pm

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Program

Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.

FRITZ KREISLER Selections

FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962)

Marche Miniature Viennoise (4’)

Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta (10’)

DONGHOON SHIN “Sonnets to Orpheus” U.S. Premiere

DONGHOON SHIN (b.1983) Sonnets to Orpheus for Mezzo-soprano and String Quartet (15’)

U.S. Premiere | CMNW Co-Commission

BRAHMS Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25

Artists

Gloria Chien Gloria Chien Piano & Artistic Director

Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a position she held for the next decade.

In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon in 2020. They were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.

Most recently, Gloria was named Advisor of the newly launched Institute for Concert Artists at the New England Conservatory of Music. Gloria released two albums—her Gloria Chien LIVE from the Music@Menlo LIVE label and Here With You with acclaimed clarinetist Anthony McGill on Cedille Records.

Gloria received her bachelor, master’s, and doctoral degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Jennifer Frautschi Jennifer Frautschi Violin

Two-time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi has appeared as soloist with innumerable orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is an artist-member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and has appeared as chamber musician at Chamber Music Northwest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, Toronto Summer Music, and the Bridgehampton, Cape Cod, Charlottesville, Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Moab, Ojai, Salt Bay, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Spoleto Festivals. Her extensive discography for the Albany, Artek, and Naxos labels includes the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerti with the Seattle Symphony. Born in Pasadena, California, Jennifer attended the Colburn School, Harvard, the New England Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. She performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius violin known as the “ex-Cadiz,” on generous loan from a private American foundation with support from Rare Violins in Consortium. She teaches in the graduate program at Stony Brook University.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Alexander Hersh Alexander Hersh Cello

A top laureate of the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition, Alexander Hersh is widely recognized as one of the most creative and versatile cellists of his generation. Praised for his 2022 Carnegie Hall debut recital, he has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Houston Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and Boston POPS, and received top prizes from the Pro Musicis International Award, Astral Artists National Auditions, and Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant.

An avid chamber musician, Hersh has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and performed at leading festivals, including Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, Lucerne, and IMS Prussia Cove. He is Co-Artistic Director of NEXUS Chamber Music, an artist-led collective dedicated to breaking down the barriers for how classical music is experienced through intimate performances, multimedia projects, and new commissions.

His debut album, ABSINTHE (2023) received critical acclaim, and he was recently featured on PBS’s Now Hear This series in an episode exploring the music of Boccherini.

A fourth-generation string player, Hersh’s parents are both active professional violinists; his grandfather, Paul Hersh, taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for 49 years and his great-grandfather, Ralph Hersh, was a member of the WQXR and Stuyvesant String Quartets and Principal Violist of the Dallas and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

Raised in Chicago, Hersh began playing the cello at the age of five. He received his B.M. and M.M. from New England Conservatory and continued his studies in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik. His teachers have included Laurence Lesser, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Kim Kashkashian, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Paul Katz. He plays a G.B. Rogeri cello, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. In his spare time he composes original music and creates short films that marry classical music with narrative, viewable on his YouTube channel: @AlexanderHersh.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Jennifer Johnson Cano Jennifer Johnson Cano Mezzo-soprano

Jennifer Johnson Cano’s portrayal of Michele in the recent premiere of The Righteous at Santa Fe Opera earned her accolades from The New York Times, which noted how she “voluptuously captured” the pain and strength of her character; Musical America called her a “standout,” and The Wall Street Journal described her as “riveting.” Opera Today noted her “substantial, creamy mezzo-soprano” and called Ms. Cano’s arias in The Righteous “flawless combinations of radiant, poised, attractive singing invested with heartfelt delivery.” Opera News has described her as a “matchless interpreter of contemporary opera.”

After creating the role of Michele in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’s The Righteous with Santa Fe Opera in summer of 2024, she was invited back to sing the role of Mrs. Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw as well as Schwertleite in Wagner’s Die Walküre in summer of 2025. Her 2025-2026 season includes engagements with the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, and The Apollo Orchestra in repertoire by a wide variety of composers. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Ms. Cano in recital with pianist Christopher Cano and violist Beth Guterman Chu. Tours include a project with Simone Dinnerstein and her ensemble Baroklyn (following Ms. Cano’s appearance on Complicité, Ms. Dinnerstein’s 2025 recording on Supertrain Records) as well as a week with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan’s chamber music festival in January. Ms. Cano returns to the MET Opera in her role debut as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, which will include the singer’s 150th performance at the MET. She and Christopher will also premiere a new song cycle by Gregory Spears at the Tucson Desert Song Festival.

Cano undertakes a balance of orchestral, opera, and chamber music performances each season. Recent highlights include the role of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the role of Mistress Quickly in Falstaff at Houston Grand Opera. She has collaborated often with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Philadelphia and with his Orchestre Métropolitain, and Riccardo Muti with the Chicago Symphony. She has also worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, and Dallas Symphony, among others. Ms. Cano continues to sing a diverse selection of roles, and each season includes premieres and new works that challenge and delight her artistically while inspiring her to explore new vocal horizons.

Highlights of Cano’s operatic career have included performing the roles of Donna Elvira, Carmen, and Offred with Boston Lyric Opera; The Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen with The Cleveland Orchestra; the Mother, Dragonfly, and the Squirrel in L’enfant et les sortilèges with the San Francisco Symphony; performances of El Niño with John Adams and the London Symphony Orchestra; Carmen with New Orleans Opera; and Orphée with Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. She has appeared in more than 100 performances on the stage at The Metropolitan Opera since her debut in the 2009-2010 season. Cano debuted the role of Virginia Woolf in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’s The Hours with The Philadelphia Orchestra about which The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “Every word was clear both in content and intention, and her mezzo-soprano tone was deeply alluring.”

A native of St. Louis, Cano earned degrees from Rice University and Webster University, where she was honored as a distinguished alumna and commencement speaker in May 2017. Her debut recital recording with pianist Christopher Cano, Unaffected: Live from the Savannah Voice Festival, was recorded live and unedited. She sings as a soloist on a live recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony and in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She also recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble.

Ms. Cano joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Among her honors are Winner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, a Richard Tucker Career Grant, and a George London Award.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Erin Keefe Erin Keefe Violin

American violinist Erin Keefe is currently the Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra and on the violin faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as numerous international competitions, she has appeared as soloist in recent seasons with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, Lahti Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, and the Gottingen Symphony, and has given recitals throughout the United States, Austria, Italy, Germany, Korea, Poland, Finland, Japan, and Denmark.

Ms. Keefe has been performing with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2005 and has been featured with them on Live from Lincoln Center three times. She has collaborated with artists such as the Emerson String Quartet, Edgar Meyer, Gary Hoffman, David Finckel, Wu Han, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, and Leon Fleisher, and she has recorded for Naxos, the CMS Studio Recordings label, BIS, and Deutsche Grammophon. She has made festival appearances with Music@Menlo, the Marlboro Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Music in the Vineyards, and the Bridgehampton, Seattle, OK Mozart, La Jolla Summerfest, and Bravo! Vail chamber music festivals.

As a guest concertmaster, Ms. Keefe has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Keefe earned a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music. Her teachers included Ronald Copes, Ida Kavafian, Arnold Steinhardt, and Philip Setzer.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal Viola, Protégé

Internationally acclaimed for his generous musical spirit, violist Samuel Rosenthal delights in sharing music with audiences of all ages and collaborating with some of today’s preeminent artists. His performances are recognized for their “intimate, personal approach” (Journal of the American Viola Society) and communicative style “clearly conveying the range of human emotions” (Cleveland Classical).

First Prize winner at the 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Sam was also recipient of the silver medal at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition. Other awards and recognitions include major prizes at the Johansen International Competition and, as a member of the Razumovsky String Quartet, at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Sam began his musical studies in Cleveland and continued his viola studies with Jeffrey Irvine as a member of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Perlman Music Program community as a student at both the Summer Music School and the Chamber Music Workshop.

Chamber music plays a central part in Sam’s musical life. Since 2023, he has attended the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, where he had the opportunity to perform and collaborate with its legendary roster of extraordinary artists. Sam has been invited to perform at a variety of celebrated chamber music festivals across the United States and abroad including Chamberfest Cleveland, Musique de Chambre en Normandie, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute.

Sam is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang, and was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai and Antoine Tamestit. These studies are funded by the Annika and Wolfgang Fink Patronage.

Artist's Website


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Peter Stumpf Peter Stumpf Cello

Peter Stumpf is Professor of Cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for nine years, following a twelve-year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist’s Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.

A dedicated chamber music musician, he is a member of the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio and has appeared at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Cologne. He has performed with the chamber music societies of Boston and Philadelphia, and at numerous festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bridgehampton, Spoleto, and Aspen. He has toured with Music from Marlboro, and with pianist Mitsuko Uchida in performances of the complete Mozart Piano Trios. As a member of the Johannes Quartet, he collaborated with the Guarneri String Quartet on a tour including premieres of works by Bolcom and Salonen.

Concerto appearances have included the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival, among others. Solo recitals have been at Jordan Hall in Boston, on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series, on the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series in Los Angeles, and at the Philips and Corcoran Galleries in Washington, D.C. His awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition.

He has served on the cello faculties at the New England Conservatory and the University of Southern California.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Claire Wells Claire Wells Violin

American violinist Claire Wells is acclaimed by audiences and press for her expressive musicality and rich, singing quality of sound. Claire has won numerous major prizes in renowned international competitions such as the Sibelius, Michael Hill, and Indianapolis competitions, and has collaborated with orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and others. Solo concert engagements have brought her to halls like the Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, and Teatro Degollado.

Having always held a special place in her heart for chamber music, Claire has been invited to perform at several international festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Connects the World, the Gstaad Festival, Krzyzowa Festival, and the Verbier Festival. Claire has the pleasure of frequently collaborating with some of the world’s top young musicians, as well as sharing the stage with world-renowned musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Anders Tomter, and Enrico Pace, amongst others.

Since 2022, Claire Wells has studied with Mihaela Martin at the Kronberg Academy, made possible by the Opel/Dr. Schaefer patronage. Claire plays on a Nicolo Amati and a Grand Adam bow, on loan from a generous donor.


Upcoming Concerts & Events

Suggested Event

7/11  •  8:00 pm Reed College, Kaul Auditorium Crossing Borders: Brahms Piano Quartet   Crossing Borders: Brahms Piano Quartet



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