Festival Finale: Mozart, Ngwenyama & Brahms
The grand finale of our 2025 Summer Festival promises an evening of exceptional beauty. Experience Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Miasma, a captivating blend of intricate textures, and delight in Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, renowned for its playful brilliance. Our finale culminates with Brahms’s String Sextet No. 2, a breathtaking work of profound depth. These final summer performances offer a perfect mix of classical elegance, virtuosity, and memorable melodies—an extraordinary conclusion to an unforgettable festival.
Gold Sponsor:
Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Sunday, 7/27 • 4:00 pm PT
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA “Miasma”
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA (b. 1976) Miasma (2021)
Miasma—an ancient Greek term for “pollution”—describes a cosmic imbalance caused by moral or physical corruption. In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, the blind prophet Tiresias declares, “You are the unclean thing, the polluter of this land.” This concept resonated anew during the COVID-19 pandemic as an airborne virus reshaped our lives.
I began composing Miasma before the development of the mRNA vaccine, exploring the sonic potential of viral RNA sequences with advice from geneticist Dr. Christopher Biggs. Inspired by protein music and the genomic transcription featured in Carl Zimmer’s “Coronavirus Unveiled” (The New York Times Magazine, October 9, 2020), I transcribed the nucleobases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil into musical motifs.
The piece unfolds from a fretful adagio into a moto perpetuo, echoing viral sequences and the emergence of variants. Thirty-three tolls of the poly-A tail mark its end, reaching toward transcendence.
Commissioned by Young Concert Artists’ “Keep Our Artists Working Fund,” I am deeply grateful to violinist Bella Hristova, Young Concert Artists, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and all who supported and inspired this work. Miasma premiered on the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Laureate Series in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 23, 2021.
—© Nokuthula Ngwenyama
- MOZART Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, K. 493
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. AllegrettoIn 1785, Viennese publisher/composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister commissioned a set of three “piano quartets”—a new instrumental combination at the time—from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Later that year, Mozart sent Hoffmeister the Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478. When Hoffmeister read through it, he deemed the music, especially the piano part, too difficult for the amateur players he had hoped would purchase it, and told Mozart not to bother writing the other two quartets.
For his part, Mozart was captivated by the new instrumental and musical possibilities of writing for violin, viola, cello, and piano, and found this micro-orchestra format offered exciting new opportunities to explore thematic development, harmonic transitions, and dialogues between strings and piano. The following year, while he conducted the first performances of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart completed a second quartet, the Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493.
In K. 493, Mozart ignored Hoffmeister’s concerns, and the resulting piano part is even more technically demanding and virtuosic than that of K. 478. The opening Allegro features a seemingly endless supply of agreeable melodies, usually introduced by the piano and answered by the strings. The lyricism of the mellow Andante centers on a simple, largely unadorned theme whose phrases shift between piano and strings in an intimate dialogue. The quicksilver runs of notes and the merry lightheartedness of the Allegretto’s opening theme require delicacy and precision, as piano and strings toss phrases back and forth in joyful play.
—© Elizabeth Schwartz
- BRAHMS String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36
Five years separate Johannes Brahms’s first string sextet from his second. In that time, Brahms completed two serenades for orchestra, his first piano concerto, and several chamber works. The two sextets reflect both the passage of time and Brahms’s growing confidence in his compositional abilities.
In the summer of 1858, Brahms traveled to Göttingen to visit his friends Clara Schumann and Jules Grimm. While there, Brahms met a beautiful and gifted young soprano, Agathe von Siebold. Throughout his life, Brahms had a particular fondness for female voices, and Agathe’s inspired him to write several songs for her after he left Göttingen. But Brahms’s interest in Agathe extended beyond music; before he returned home, the two had come to an understanding. Early in 1859 Brahms returned to Göttingen and spent a great deal of time with Agathe, setting off rumors of an engagement. Brahms and Agathe did in fact exchange rings in secret, but Brahms was quickly assailed by doubts. As a young composer, his financial prospects were uncertain, and he was hesitant to commit himself to a woman he was not confident he could support. More tellingly, however, Brahms struggled all his life with romantic entanglements. According to Agathe, after he left Göttingen, Brahms wrote her a letter in which he declared: “I love you! I must see you again! But I cannot wear fetters. Write to me whether I am to come back, to fold you in my arms, to kiss you, to tell you that I love you!” Devastated, Agathe broke off their engagement. Neither she nor Brahms ever married.
In hindsight, Brahms acknowledged his bad behavior: “I have played the scoundrel with Agathe.” As he composed the String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36, memories of Agathe filled Brahms’s thoughts. In the opening Allegro, Brahms made a theme out of the letters of her first name–A-G-A-H-E (in German music notation, “H” stands for B-natural and “B” for B-flat; there is no counterpart to the letter “T”).
The music of Op. 36 reflects a rueful emotional maturity, as Brahms looked back on his youthful mistakes. The four movements demonstrate Brahms’s emerging mastery of counterpoint and form, and are tinged with nostalgia, regret, and joy recalled through the lens of memory.—© Elizabeth Schwartz
Artists
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Gloria Chien
Piano & Artistic Director
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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.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
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Beth Guterman Chu
Viola
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Beth Guterman Chu is one of the most sought after violists of her generation. Before joining the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2013 as principal, she was an Artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and enjoyed a varied career as a chamber musician and recitalist—including collaborations with Kim Kashkashian, Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, James Ehnes, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, and Orion quartets. As a recording artist, she has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Tzadik, Naxos, and the CMS Studio Recordings.
Chu has performed as soloist with many distinguished conductors including Hannu Lintu, Nicholas McGegan, Bramwell Tovey, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, and James DePreist. Of a recent concerto performance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Dispatch wrote, “Beth Guterman Chu was up to the challenge as soloist in this amphetamine-paced rendering of the best-known work for viola. She brought out the dazzlingly mellow richness of her instrument… Chu showed off her pyrotechnic chops, plowing through frenzied runs with tremendous feeling and passion.”
During the summer Chu performs and works with young musicians at the Marlboro Music Festival, National Youth Orchestra-USA, and the Taipei Music Academy and Festival. In recent years, she has also performed chamber music at festivals in Seattle, Washington; Lake Champlain, Vermont; Portland, Maine; Toronto, Canada; and Bridgehampton, New York.
Beth Guterman Chu received her Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory studying with Kim Kashkashian and her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School studying with Masao Kawasaki and Misha Amory. She grew up in the Boston area and attended NEC Prep for 10 years. She currently lives in St. Louis with her husband Jonathan, another violist, and their three children. She plays on a Samuel Zygmuntowicz viola made in 2022.
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Isabelle Ai Durrenberger
Violin
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American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is praised for her imaginative performances and her ability to communicate with sincere artistry. Based in New York City, she is first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet and a recent graduate of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program.
An avid chamber musician, Durrenberger is recognized for her unique collaborative instincts. Recent engagements include concerts with Boston Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Jupiter Chamber Players, The Knights, A Far Cry, and Marlboro Music Festival.
Durrenberger grew up in a musical home in Columbus, Ohio, and began playing piano at age four, beginning violin lessons three years later. At age 13, she began her studies with Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She attended Meadowmount School of Music for four years, graduated from high school a year early, and at age 16 began her undergraduate program in Cleveland where she continued receiving mentorship from Laredo. Other influences include Jennifer Koh, Sharon Robinson, Joan Kwuon, Jinjoo Cho, Jan Mark Sloman, and Jun Kim.
In 2022, she completed her graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein. Durrenberger has a private violin studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music.
Durrenberger performs on a 2020 Zygmuntowicz violin on private loan from a patron in New York City.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
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Zlatomir Fung
Cello
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Cellist Zlatomir Fung burst onto the scene as the first American in four decades (and youngest musician ever) to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division. Subsequent accolades, critical acclaim, and standing ovations at performances around the world have established him as one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 25-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians.
In the 2024–2025 season, Fung gives recitals in New York City, Boston, and St. Louis, and performs the complete Bach Cello Suites at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts and in Arcata, California, following summer appearances at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals. He joins orchestras in Rochester, San Antonio, and Billings, among others. Internationally, he performs in Europe and Asia with the London Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, and others, and offers a recital tour of Italy. In January 2025, Signum Records released Fung’s debut album, a collection of opera fantasies and transcriptions for cello and piano.
Fung served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023–2024 season; recent debut appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, and BBC Philharmonic, as well as Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, and Kansas City Symphonies.
Fung made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and was described by Bachtrack as “one of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” Fung was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022.
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Soovin Kim
2025 YAI Faculty, Violin & Artistic Director
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Soovin Kim enjoys a broad musical career regularly performing Bach sonatas and Paganini caprices for solo violin, sonatas for violin and piano ranging from Beethoven to Ives, Mozart, and Haydn concertos and symphonies as a conductor, and new world-premiere works almost every season. When he was 20 years old, Kim received first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition. He immersed himself in the string quartet literature for 20 years as the 1st violinist of the Johannes Quartet. Among his many commercial recordings are his “thrillingly triumphant” (Classic FM Magazine) disc of Paganini’s demanding 24 Caprices and a two-disc set of Bach’s complete solo violin works that were released in 2022.
Kim is the founder and artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (LCCMF) in Burlington, Vermont. In addition to its explorative programming and extensive work with living composers, LCCMF created the ONE Strings program through which all 3rd through 5th grade students of the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington study violin. The University of Vermont recognized Soovin Kim’s work by bestowing an Honorary Doctorate upon him in 2015. In 2020, he and his wife, pianist Gloria Chien, became artistic directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He, with Chien, were awarded Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2021 CMS Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music. Kim devotes much of his time to his passion for teaching at the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Yale School of Music in New Haven.
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David McCarroll
Violin
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David McCarroll was appointed concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2022, holding the Rachel Mellon Walton Concertmaster Chair. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich (Simone Young, Grafenegg), Hong Kong Sinfonietta (Christoph Poppen), and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Manfred Honeck). He regularly performs in major concert halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Library of Congress, Kennedy Center, 92nd Street Y, and Carnegie Hall.
Also an active chamber musician, he served from 2015 to 2022 as the violinist of the renowned Vienna Piano Trio with whom he toured and recorded extensively. The Trio’s recording of the complete Brahms piano trios was awarded the 2017 Echo Klassik prize and in 2020 the Trio’s Beethoven recording won the Opus Klassik award.
Recent performances have included Stravinsky’s violin concerto at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Pittsburgh premiere of Schumann’s violin concerto, touring with Musicians from Marlboro, and performances of György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments for violin and soprano.
In demand as a teacher, David is on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music. He has previously taught at Salzburg’s Mozarteum University, and has given masterclasses in violin and chamber music at Ravinia’s Steans Institute, at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and at the San Francisco Conservatory.
David plays a 1761 violin made by A&J Gagliano.
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Burchard Tang
Viola
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Burchard Tang joined The Philadelphia Orchestra viola section in September 1999. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph DePasquale (retired Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Viola), and Choong-Jin Chang (the orchestra’s current Principal Viola). Mr. Tang has served as Principal Viola with the Curtis Symphony and the New York String Seminar, and has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble.
A 1993 winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, Mr. Tang performed with the orchestra as a soloist. As a chamber musician, he has performed at festivals across the country including Marlboro, Seattle, Lake Champlain, Angel Fire, Caramoor, Kingston, and Ravinia.
Mr. Tang plays on a viola made for him in 2022 by Samuel Zygmuntovicz.
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Paul Watkins
Cello
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Acclaimed for his inspirational performances and eloquent musicianship, Paul Watkins enjoys a distinguished career as concerto soloist, chamber musician and conductor.
He is the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit (since 2014), the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet (2013-2023) and Visiting Professor of Cello at Yale School of Music (since 2018). He took first prize in the 2002 Leeds Conducting Competition, and has held the positions of Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra.
As a cellist, Watkins has given regular concerto performances with prestigious orchestras across the globe. Also, a dedicated chamber musician, Watkins was a member of the Nash Ensemble (1997-2013) and the Emerson String Quartet (2013-2023). After 44 successful seasons, the quartet decided to retire, and undertook an extensive series farewell tours, culminating in their final performances in New York Lincoln Center in October 2023. This concert was filmed for a documentary by filmmaker Tristan Cook, and the release of their final recording of Berg, Chausson, Schoenberg, and Hindemith with prestigious guests soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou.
As a conductor, Watkins has conducted all the major British orchestras and a wide range of international orchestras. In 2006 he made his opera debut conducting a critically praised new production of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine for Opera North.