Timeless Works by Mozart, Bach & Messiaen
In an exultant evening that blends centuries of brilliance, Bach’s emotional Bete aber auch dabei sets the tone, followed by Mozart’s shimmering D Minor String Quartet, a stunning display of elegance and intensity. The evening culminates with Messiaen’s transcendent Quartet for the End of Time. Composed in a WWII concentration camp, the masterpiece combines divine beauty with otherworldly rhythms and harmonies, offering an ethereal exploration of timelessness and inviting reflection on eternity.
We have a special tradition of “picnics” before concerts at Reed College’s Kaul Auditorium. Reed’s catering service, Bon Appétit, offers food and drink service beginning at 6pm. Alternately, you can bring your own picnic, but alcoholic beverages must be purchased on-site.
Gold Sponsor:
Jerome Guillen & Jeremy Gallaher
Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Monday, 7/14 • 8:00 pm PT
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- J. S. BACH Bete aber auch dabei, BWV 115
J. S. BACH (1685–1750)
Bete aber auch dabei, BWV 115This soaringly beautiful aria, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115, is a favorite of sopranos worldwide. The cantata’s title, based on a recurring theme in the Gospel of Matthew, translates as “Make yourself ready, my spirit,” and refers to the preparations of the devout, through prayer, as they anticipate the Lord’s arrival.
Bach composed BWV 115 for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity (Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in Western church liturgies). It includes solo arias for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, as well as an instrumental fantasia and a closing chorus.In “Bete, aber Auch dabei” (Pray, nevertheless, also), the penitent pleads for mercy from the Judge to wash away all her guilt and sin. Bach’s setting captures the entreating cries of the speaker through long sighing notes that bloom with intense feeling. The harsh literal meaning of the words is transformed in Bach’s music into a gentler though no less heartfelt plea for redemption. The soprano is joined by flute, cello, and keyboard; the soft pulses of the continuo anchor the flute’s lilting countermelodies as the soprano floats above them.
—© Elizabeth Schwartz
- OLIVIER MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time (1940 - 1941)
OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908–1992)
Quartet for the End of TimeI. Liturgie de cristal (Crystal Liturgy)
II. Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps (Vocalise, for the Angel who Announces the End of Time)
III. Abîme des oiseaux (Abyss of Birds)
IV. Intermède (Interlude)
V. Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus (Praise to the Eternity of Jesus)
VI. Dane de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes (Dance of Fury, for the Seven Trumpets)
VII. Fouillis d’arcs-en-ciel, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps (Tangle of Rainbows, for the Angel who Announces the End of Time)
VIII. Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus (Praise to the Immortality of Jesus)In the late spring of 1940, German troops stormed through France, capturing more than a million prisoners including the composer Olivier Messiaen. After a long journey, Messiaen arrived at the Stalag VIII A prison camp in Görlitz, Germany, plagued with severe food shortages, poor shelter, and countless other hazards.
To keep morale up, prison guards encouraged the prisoners to entertain themselves. Messiaen, a pianist, decided to write a new work titled Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), to be performed alongside three fellow prisoners: a violinist, a cellist, and a clarinetist. The premiere took place in a camp barracks on January 15, 1941, before an audience of prisoners and guards alike. Messiaen later recalled, “Never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension.”
Some hear the Quartet for the End of Time as a reflection of Messiaen’s experience in the prison camp: anguished, violent, apocalyptic, and despairing. Others hear it more as an escapist apparition, the music of a composer falling back on his religious beliefs to break free from the oppressive banality of life in prison. Murky harmonies and inconsistent rhythms create a feeling of timelessness, but perhaps the most prominent musical element that shapes the quartet is birdsong. Messiaen believed that birds symbolized a higher power, able to fly above our mundane concerns. In the context of his captivity, birdsong becomes an even more potent symbol: the power to simply fly beyond the prison’s walls.
—© Ethan Allred
- MOZART String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet in D MinorI. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Minueto: Allegretto
IV. Allegretto ma non troppo
In 1783, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met Joseph Haydn for the first time. The 17-year-old Mozart was a bit star-struck; Haydn was the most famous composer in Europe, and his prolific output included the virtual invention of a new format: the string quartet. For his part, Haydn was equally impressed with Mozart, and told Mozart’s father Leopold, “Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me, either in person or by name.”
Two years later, Mozart completed a set of six string quartets and sent them as a gift to Haydn. Just below the dedication, Mozart wrote:
“A father who had decided to send his sons out into the great world thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time, and who happened moreover to be his best friend. In the same way I send my six sons to you…Please, then, receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide, and friend!”
Of these six quartets, only the String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421, is in a minor key, and its overall disposition is reflective of the mercurial nature of D minor’s light-and-shadow qualities. The Allegro moderato maintains a steady tempo as it flickers in between D minor and its relative F major. In the Andante, Mozart pays tribute to Haydn by shifting from a sunny F major to a dramatic F minor—a nod to Sturm und Drang. According to Mozart’s wife Costanze, who gave birth to their first child while Mozart was composing K. 421, her husband made a musical transcription of her labor cries (there seems to be some confusion as to where these cries occur—some claim it to be a brief outburst in the Andante, while others suggest Mozart put it into the Minuet). Regardless, if this is true, it is one of the stranger examples of Mozart’s sense of humor. The final Allegretto’s theme and variations concludes with a burst of emotion atypical of Mozart, and finishes by shifting to an understated D major.
—© Elizabeth Schwartz
Artists
-
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.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
-
Edvard Erdal
Violin
-
The Norwegian violinist Edvard Erdal (b. 1996) is a sought-after chamber musician and orchestra leader. He currently holds the position of First Concertmaster of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway. Edvard is a founding member of the string quartet Opus13, which was awarded 2nd prize in the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022. Edvard plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin dated 1780, generously on loan from Snefonn AS.
-
Alexi Kenney
Violin
-
Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. He is equally at home creating experimental programs and commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated artists and musicians of our time. Alexi is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
Alexi has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and San Diego symphonies, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. This season, he plays the complete violin sonatas of Robert Schumann with Amy Yang on period instruments at the Frick Collection, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Phillips Collection.
He continues to tour his project Shifting Ground in collaboration with the new media artist Xuan, which intersperses works for solo violin by J.S. Bach with pieces by Matthew Burtner, Mario Davidovsky, Salina Fisher, Nicola Matteis, Angélica Negrón, and Paul Wiancko.
Alexi is a founding member of the two-cello quartet Owls, hailed as a “dream group” by The New York Times. He regularly performs at chamber music festivals including Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla, Ojai, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Seattle, and Spoleto. He is an alum of the Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
He plays a violin made in London by Stefan-Peter Greiner in 2009 and a bow made in Port Townsend, WA by Charles Espey in 2024.
-
Tara Helen O’Connor
Flute
-
Tara Helen O’Connor, who Art Mag has said “so embodies perfection on the flute that you’ll forget she is human,” is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, and a recipient of the Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award. A Wm.S. Haynes artist, she is a season artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is professor of flute at the Yale School of Music and is the Artistic Director of the “Music from Angel Fire” Festival and in 2026, the Essex Winter Series.
Tara has also appeared on numerous film and television soundtracks including Barbie, Respect, The Joker, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Only Murders in the Building, and Schmigadoon! Festival appearances include the Bravo! Vail festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Music@Menlo, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music, the Great Mountains Music Festival, and Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival.
A charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era, O’Connor has collaborated with such distinguished artists as vocalists Jennifer Johnson Cano, Susanna Phillips and Dawn Upshaw, violinist Jaime Laredo, clarinetist David Shifrin, guitarist Eliot Fisk, and pianists Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, and Stephen Prutsman, and with such revered ensembles as the Emerson, Orion, and St. Lawrence string quartets.
Tara has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings and Bridge Records.
-
Clancy Newman
Composer & Cello
-
Cellist Clancy Newman has enjoyed an extraordinarily wide-ranging career, not only as a cellist, but also as a composer, producer, writer, and educator.
He received his first significant public recognition at the age of twelve, when he won a Gold Medal at the Dandenong Youth Festival in Australia, competing against contestants twice his age. He went on to win first prize at the Naumburg International Competition, and he has performed as soloist throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. A recipient of an Avery Fisher career grant, he can often be heard on NPR’s Performance Today and has been featured on A&E and PBS.
As a composer, he has expanded cello technique in ways heretofore thought unimaginable, particularly in his “Pop-Unpopped” project, and he has been featured on series by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. His piano quintet was premiered at the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, and in 2021 he was commissioned by the Kingston Chamber Music Festival to produce four educational videos to assist school teachers as they navigated the Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently on the faculty of Princeton University, Mr. Newman is a graduate of the five-year exchange program between Juilliard and Columbia University, receiving a M.M. from Juilliard and a B.A. in English from Columbia.
-
David Shifrin
Clarinet & Artistic Director Emeritus 1981–2020
-
Clarinetist David Shifrin graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1967 and the Curtis Institute in 1971. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra having won the Orchestra’s Student Competition in 1969. He went on to receive numerous prizes and awards worldwide, including the Geneva and Munich International Competitions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, and both the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000).
Shifrin received Yale University’s Cultural Leadership Citation in 2014 and is currently the Samuel S. Sanford Professor in the Practice of Clarinet at the Yale School of Music where he teaches a studio of graduate-level clarinetists and coaches chamber music ensembles. He is also the artistic director of Yale’s Oneppo Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. Shifrin previously served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Hawaii.
Shifrin served as artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1992 to 2004 and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon from 1981 to 2020. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad and has served as Principal Clarinet with the Cleveland Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra (under Stokowski), the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of New Haven, Honolulu, and Dallas. Shifrin also continues to broaden the clarinet repertoire by commissioning and championing more than 100 works of 20th and 21st century American composers. Shifrin’s recordings have consistently garnered praise and awards including three Grammy nominations and “Record of the Year” from Stereo Review.
Shifrin is represented by CM Artists in New York and performs on Backun clarinets and Légère reeds.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
-
Yekwon Sunwoo
Piano
-
Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.
The first Korean gold medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yekwon’s 24/25 season included appearances with Ann Arbor Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, as well as recitals at Bechstein Hall and Carnegie Hall. In previous seasons, he has performed as a soloist with the Munich Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev, Washington Chamber Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Collaborations included Clara Jumi Kang, Sebastian Bohren, lsang Enders, Tobias Feldmann, and Gary HoAman.
He has also toured Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama with the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation and appeared in recitals around Japan and at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
In addition to the Cliburn Gold Medal, Yekwon has won first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award, the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the Verbier Festival, the 2013 Sendai International Music Competition, and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition.
Born in Anyang, South Korea, Yekwon began learning the piano at the age of 8 and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode, and Bernd Goetzke.
In September 2023, Yekwon released his second album for Decca’s Universal Music Korea label, featuring works by Rachmaninov following his 2020 album of works by Mozart. In 2017, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017: 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which includes Yekwon’s award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s second Piano Sonata.
-
Daniel Thorell
Cello
-
Daniel Thorell is a cellist from Stockholm, Sweden. Though only 26-years-old, he has already had great success as a soloist and chamber musician, both nationally and internationally. Praised for his mature and expressive music making, he is currently regarded as one of Scandinavia’s most promising young cellists.
He is a first-prize winner in no less than nine international competitions, most notably Rovere D’oro (2017), where he was also awarded a gold medal. In May of 2019, he was a major prize winner in the 54th Markneukirchen International Cello Competition. He was also a laureate at the sixth season of La Classe d’Excellence de Violoncell with Professor Gautier Capucon.
Born into a family of musicians, Daniel began playing the cello at the age of five. He made his debut as a soloist at the age of eleven, performing Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto in A Minor with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has performed regularly as a soloist with orchestras around Sweden, including the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
Daniel is also an experienced chamber musician and since 2019 is a member of the Norwegian-based string quartet, Opus13. In 2022, they were awarded second prize in the Banff international string quartet competition and have performed at festivals such as Kamermuziek festival Utrecht, Risør kammermusikkfest, Valdres sommersymfoni, Midtåsen kulturfestival, and many more. In 2021, they made their debut at the Oslo Quartet Series.
Daniel recently finished his soloist diploma studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Professor Torleif Thedéen has studied with a number of renowned professors, including Jens-Peter Maintz, Danjulo Ishizaka, Maria Kliegel, Claudio Bohorquez, and Antonio Meneses. He is a recipient of numerous scholarships from foundations such as SWEA International Scholarship for the Arts and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
-
Albin Uusijärvi
Viola
-
Albin Uusijärvi, born in 1995 in Nyköping, Sweden, started his musical education in Stockholm and switched from violin to viola at the age of twelve. He studied under Göran Fröst at Lilla Akademien in Stockholm, with Walter Küssner and Tabea Zimmermann at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, and later with Ulrich Knörzer at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. Mentors such as Eberhard Feltz, Oliver Wille, and Mats Zetterqvist have also had a great influence on his passion for chamber music.
In 2014, he was awarded first prize in the Polstjärnepriset competition in Gothenburg, Sweden, which led to him representing Sweden at the Eurovision Young Musician Competition, performing live with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.
After working as solo violist of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, he won the audition for principal violist of his hometown orchestra, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, where he currently collaborates under the leadership of chief conductor, Daniel Harding. He divides his time between his role in the orchestra and as violist of the string quartet, Opus13.
-
Sonoko Miriam Welde
Violin
-
Norwegian violinist Sonoko Miriam Welde (b. 1996) is winner of the “Virtuos” competition, the Norwegian Soloist Prize 2014, and the Equinor Classical Music Scholarship 2016.
As a soloist she has performed with orchestras such the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Bournemouth Symphony, and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and conductors including Andrew Litton, James Gaffigan, Han-Na Chang, Marta Gardolinska, Joshua Weilerstein, and Edward Gardner.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Sonoko has been championed by Leif Ove Andsnes, with whom she performs regularly, and has also worked with Tabea Zimmermann, Clemens Hagen, Sergio Tiempo, Gidon Kremer, Alisa Weilerstein, Jonathan Biss, and Janine Jansen.
She is a founding member of the string quartet, Opus13, who took second prize in the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition.
In 2021, she released her debut album of Bruch and Barber violin concertos and The Lark Ascending with the Oslo Philharmonic on LAWO Classics. It was nominated for the Norwegian “Spellemannprisen” in the classical music category and received rave reviews from publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and The Strad.
Sonoko studied with Janine Jansen in Sion, where she also had lessons with Denis Kozhukhin. She has also studied with Stephan Barratt-Due in Oslo and Kolja Blacher in Berlin. In 2018-2020 she was part of the Crescendo Mentoring Program.
-
Hyunah Yu
Soprano
-
Applauded for her “absolutely captivating voice with exceptional style” and “effortless lyrical grace” (The Washington Post), soprano Hyunah Yu has garnered acclaim for her versatility in concert and opera roles of several centuries, for her work in chamber music, for her support of newly commissioned work, and for her recorded and broadcast performances.
A recipient of the prestigious Borletti Buitoni Trust Award and known particularly for her performances of the music of J.S. Bach, Hyunah has appeared regularly with esteemed conductors, festivals, and orchestras throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.
An avid chamber musician and recitalist, Hyunah has enjoyed engagements with Baltimore’s Shriver Hall Concert Series, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Vancouver Recital Society, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Musicians from Marlboro, and many others.
A highlight of Hyunah’s opera career was singing the title role in Peter Sellar’s new production of Mozart’s Zaide in the joint production of the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Barbican Centre, and the Wiener Festwochen played in New York, London, and Vienna. She has recorded Bach and Mozart arias on EMI’s Debut Series and solo recitals broadcast for the BBC Voices program.
Hyunah was a prizewinner at the Walter Naumburg International Competition and a finalist in both the Dutch International Vocal and Concert Artist Guild International competitions. Hyunah also holds a degree in molecular biology from the University of Texas at Austin.
-
Opus13
String Quartet, Protégé
-
Sonoko Miriam Welde, violin
Edvard Erdal, violin
Albin Uusijärvi, viola
Daniel Thorell, celloThe Swedish-Norwegian string quartet, Opus13, is one of Europe’s most promising, up-and-coming young string quartets. Formed in 2014, the ensemble now comprises Sonoko Miriam Welde, Edvard Erdal, Albin Uusijärvi, and Daniel Thorell. They were 2nd prize winners of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition 2022. In 2023, they received the Norwegian Equinor Classical Music Award, a coveted prize of one million Norwegian Crowns (approx. $96,000). Previous recipients of the award include Leif Ove Andsnes, Lise Davidsen, and Vilde Frang.
They have guested concert series and festivals such as the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht in the Netherlands, Yeulmaru and Yonsei Chamber Music Festivals in South Korea, Rusk Festival in Finland, Swiss Chamber Concerts, and most of the major chamber music festivals in Norway, including Bergen International Festival, Stavanger, Rosendal, Trondheim, and Risør Chamber Music Festivals. Highlights in 2024 included debuts in Scotland and the United States.
Opus13 has collaborated with international top musicians such as Janine Jansen, Olli Mustonen, Julian Bliss, Alisa Weilerstein, Tabea Zimmermann, Jonathan Biss, and Konstantin Heidrich. They are mentored by Berit Cardas and Bjørg Lewis of the Vertavo Quartet, and have benefitted from masterclasses with many of the world’s leading chamber musicians, including members of the Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Artemis Quartett, Oslo String Quartet, and Quatuor Mosaïques.
In their early years, Opus13 received invaluable support and performing experience from the Oslo Quartet Series’ Talent Program and the Crescendo Mentoring Program.
The Opus13s are Founders and Artistic Directors of Vinterspill på Lillehammer, a chamber music festival in the winter town of Lillehammer.