PROTÉGÉ SPOTLIGHT: Claire Wells & Chloe Mun
Not one, but two of the world’s most acclaimed emerging musicians take the stage for this Protégé Spotlight Recital. Pianist Chloe Mun is the winner of both the prestigious Geneva International Competition and Italy’s Busoni Competition. Joining her is violinist Claire Wells, the 2021 winner of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Prize. Prepare to be amazed by these accomplished musicians, who are already in demand from major orchestras and musical festivals across the globe.
This concert is sponsored by Joan Levers & David Manhart.
PSU, College of the Arts, Lincoln Recital Hall
Tuesday, 7/23 • 12:00 pm PT
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- J. S. BACH Violin Sonata in C Minor, BWV 1017
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Violin Sonata in C Minor, BWV 1017
I. Siciliano – Largo
II. Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro- BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897) Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100 (20’)
I. Allegro amabile
II. Andante tranquillo – Vivace
III. Allegretto grazioso, quasi AndanteCharacterized by gracious melodies and an easy partnership between violin and piano, the Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major offers some of Brahms’s most idiomatic writing for the violin. The score is littered with his constant reminders: dolce, teneramente (tenderly), espressivo, sempre dolce. Even the tempo indication for the first movement spells out clearly the mood Brahms wishes to project: Allegro amabile – “Fast, [but with] love.” The movement begins with a graceful, flowing melody for piano, its phrases always answered by the violin. The violin soon picks up this melody and later shares the equally relaxed second subject with the piano.
The second movement combines the slow movement and the scherzo. The Andante tranquillo gives way to a tautly sprung Vivace, and these sections alternate through the movement. The music comes to a quiet close, then Brahms ends with a quick joke: a seven-bar fragment of the scherzo jumps up to bring the movement to its real close.
The violin has the stirring main theme of the concluding Allegretto grazioso. Alternating episodes grow more impassioned as the movement proceeds, but the noble main idea carries the music to its close.
—© Eric Bromberger
- FRITZ KREISLER “Syncopation”
FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962) Syncopation for Violin & Piano
- FRITZ KREISLER “Midnight Bells”
FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962) Midnight Bells for Violin & Piano
- FRITZ KREISLER “La Gitana”
FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962) La Gitana for Violin & Piano
Artists
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Chloe Mun
Piano, Protégé
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At the age of 18, pianist Chloe Jiyeong Mun was brought to the world’s attention in 2014 when she won first prize at the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland. In 2015, she also won the Busoni International Competition in Italy. Since then, she has gained a reputation as one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation.
She has collaborated with the world’s leading conductors, including Myung-whun Chung, Alexander Shelley, Yuri Bashmet, James Judd, Roberto Beltran Zavala, Victor Pablo Perez, Mario Venzago, and Eiji Oue, with renowned orchestras such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Moscow Soloists, Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Trieste Verdi Orchestra, Nuova Orchestra Ferruccio Busoni, St.Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Palermo Festival Orchestra, MAV Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid (ORCAM), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, and Korean National Symphony Orchestra.
For recitals, she has appeared at the Gewandhaus, Wigmore Hall, Warsaw Philharmonic, Salle Cortot, Philharmonie Arthur Rubinstein in Bydgoszcz, and Seoul Arts Center, as well as performing at the prestigious festivals including Chopin and His Europe, Duszniki Chopin Festival, Arthur Rubinstein Piano Festival, Festival Omaggio di Michelangeli, and Pharos Music Festival. Chloe released her first album, Schumann Piano Sonata No.1 & Fantasie, with Deutsche Grammophon.
Also as a committed chamber musician, she is annually invited to perform at Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber music and Seoul International Music Festival. In 2021, she gave the world premiere of Jeajoon Ryu’s Sonata for Viola and Piano at the Seoul Arts Center with violist Sangjin Kim.
Born in Yeosu, South Korea in 1995, Chloe began studying piano at the age of five. She studied with Professor Daejin Kim at the Korea National University of Arts from 2010 to 2020, then with Sir András Schiff as an Artist Diploma student at the Barenboim Said Academy.
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Claire Wells
Violin, Protégé
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American violinist Claire Wells is acclaimed by audiences and press for her expressive musicality and rich, singing quality of sound. Solo concert engagements have brought her to halls like the Wigmore Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, Teatro Degollado, and Konzerthaus Berlin. Having won major prizes in international competitions, Claire Wells is the Mendelssohn-Prize 1st Prize winner and Commission Prize winner at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition 2021, 2nd Prize winner at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2023, and has taken major prizes at the Indianapolis International Competition, Mirecourt International Competition, and Lynn Harrell Competition, among others.
Claire Wells grew up in a musical family, playing both violin and piano from the age of three. Today, Wells has performed with major orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jalisco Philharmonic, and the Shen Zhen Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Now studying at the Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin since 2022, Claire Wells studied privately with Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto, and Emanuel Borok, and in 2017 attended the Yehudi Menuhin School with Lutsia Ibragimova.
A passionate chamber musician, Claire Wells has worked alongside artists such as Enrico Pace, Nobuko Imai, Frans Helmerson, Christian Tetzlaff, and Steven Isserlis. Wells has also taken coachings from the likes of Ana Chumachenco, Boris Kuschnir, Andras Schiff, and Robert Levin. Claire Wells has performed at festivals such as the International Holland Music Sessions, Music@Menlo chamber music festival, Chamber Music Connects the World, Gstaad Festival, the Verbier Festival, and others. Wells plays on a Nicola Amati, on loan from a generous donor.