First Monday at Jordan Hall: Price, Takemitsu, & Schubert

Florence Price * | String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor (1935)

Moderato
Andante cantabile
Juba
Allegro

Performer Bios

An American with a Russian heart and soul, Maria Ioudenitch was born in Balashov, Russia, and moved with her family to Kansas City when she was 3 years old. Her teachers have included Gregory Sandomirsky, Ben Sayevich, then Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music. Maria recently graduated with her master’s degree from New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried, and is now pursuing her Artist Diploma there.
       Recent solo engagements include performances with the Utah Symphony, Israel Camerata, Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Recent chamber music engagements include performances in South America and the New England area in the US. 
        Maria was appointed Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra for 2016-2017, ending the season with a tour through Europe, featuring Strauss's Ein Helden-leben.  She has also taken part in multiple summer festivals and academies, and will be attending the Marlboro Music Festival in the summer of 2021. 
        Apart from classical music, Maria adores Jazz and visual art.  Her favorite composers and artists change with her mood — currently, Robert Schumann (Classical), Oscar Peterson (Jazz), and Remedíos Varo (Surrealist art) have captured her heart! Maria currently plays on a 2002 Zygmuntowicz violin, which is a copy of the Guarneri “Panette”. This violin is on a generous long-term loan from Dr. Mark Ptashne. 

Violinist Grant Houston connects with listeners through diverse performances known for dynamic programming and unbridled musical energy. Sharing chamber music and solo works both within and beyond traditional concert settings, Houston has performed across the world, notably at the Moritzburg Festival Academy in Germany, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program in Vermont, Schlern International Music Festival in Italy, and Music Academy of the West in California, where he collaborated with renowned pianist Jeremy Denk on a guest artist recital. As the violinist of Trio Gaia, a piano trio formed in 2018 with pianist Andrew Barnwell and cellist Yi-Mei Templeman, Houston’s chamber music accolades include the Vianello Family Audience Prize at the 2019 Plowman Competition and the distinction of Honors Ensemble at the New England Conservatory. Recently, Trio Gaia has performed at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Jordan Hall.  
           Committed to bringing music beyond the formal concert setting, Houston frequently organizes recitals in partnership with schools, senior homes, libraries, and other community settings, and in recent months has brought creative programming into the virtual space. As a recipient of multiple NEC Community Performances and Partnerships fellowships, he has performed unique and educational recital and piano trio programs for many Boston-area audiences through partner organizations. 
         A keen proponent of contemporary music, Houston has worked with numerous composers to premiere works that span the breadth of the classical genre. Recent projects have included a recital focusing on solo violin works of living composers Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Salvatore Sciarrino, and the commissioning of two immersive, audience-interactive pieces with Trio Gaia.  
         Houston has performed for artists Hilary Hahn, Rachel Barton Pine, Martin Beaver, Inon Barnatan, and Stefan Jackiw among many others, and has worked with members of the Cleveland, Cavani, Brentano, St. Lawrence, Prazak, and Miami string quartets. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Houston has studied violin with Ayano Ninomiya and Donald Weilerstein, and chamber music with Merry Peckham and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein. Starting in 2021, he and Trio Gaia will be in residence at NEC in its Professional Piano Trio Program. Currently, he performs on a 1757 Michel'angelo Bergonzi violin generously loaned from a private foundation. 

Described as “a tireless force of musical curiosity, skill, and enthusiasm” and “the one to up the ante” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Sarah Darling enjoys a varied musical career, holding a variety of leading roles in A Far Cry, Musicians of the Old Post Road, Boston Baroque, Les Bostonades, Gut Reaction, and Antico Moderno, also performing with the Boston Early Music Festival, Emmanuel Music, Newton Baroque, Sarasa, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and the Carmel Bach Festival. Sarah studied at Harvard, Juilliard, Amsterdam, Freiburg, and New England Conservatory, working with James Dunham, Karen Tuttle, Wolfram Christ, Nobuko Imai, and Kim Kashkashian. She has recorded old and new music for Linn, Paladino, Azica, MSR, and Centaur, plus a solo album on Naxos and two Grammy-nominated CDs on Crier Records. Sarah is active as a teacher and coach, on the faculty of the Longy School and serving as co-director of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra. She regularly shares her thoughts on music at her blog, Listening Deliberately. www.listeningdeliberately.com

Haitian-American cellist Francesca McNeeley has received critical acclaim as a collaborator and soloist, and enjoys an eclectic career in the Boston area. She has premiered dozens of works, solo and chamber music—including pieces by John Harbison, Mark Neikrug, Augusta Read Thomas, and Joseph Phibbs. Recent musical collaborations have included performing as soloist with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and performing for the Kennedy Center as cellist with Castle of Our Skins. Frequent collaborations include appearances on the New Gallery Concert Series, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Archipelago Collective Chamber Music Festival in San Juan Island, WA. She has been invited to participate in various artist residencies at the Longy School of Music, Yellowbarn, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Marquette University, and Keene State College. She has performed with the Boston Symphony and Sarasota Orchestras, and can be heard on BMOP/sound with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
        Ms. McNeeley graduated from Princeton University Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to receive scholarships to attend the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and New England Conservatory for her graduate degrees in cello performance. She has earned fellowships and prizes from the Tanglewood Music Center, where she also served as a New Fromm Player. With her Fromm colleagues she founded the Chroma Trio, championing modern string trio repertoire. She has received fellowships to attend the Music Academy of the West, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and Toronto Summer Music. She has been awarded multiple grants from the Sphinx Organization, and now serves on The Artist Council for the National Alliance for Audition Support. Her teachers and mentors have included Tom Kraines, Darrett Adkins, Norman Fischer, Yeesun Kim, and Astrid Schween.

Tōru Takemitsu | Rain Tree (1981) for Percussion Trio

Performer Bios

Percussionist Taylor Lents is a first-year master’s student at New England Conservatory where she studies with Will Hudgins. At NEC, she currently serves as the Department Assistant to the Percussion Studio and as a Student Manager for the Preparatory School.
        As a freelance percussionist, Taylor has performed with various orchestras across the southeast and midwest, including the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Symphony Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and as substitute timpanist of the Ohio Valley Symphony and Gwinnett Ballet Theater Orchestra. 
        Taylor has participated in a number of festivals including Eastern Music Festival and Aspen Summer Music Festival and School where she has had the opportunity to work with principal players and conductors of major U.S. orchestras. As a participant of the 2018 and 2019 seasons at AMFS, she worked with Ed Stephan, Cynthia Yeh, Jonathan Haas, Markus Rhoten, Jake Nissly, Doug Howard, Joe Pereira, and Colin Currie. Additionally, Taylor was invited to perform at the 2018 and 2019 seasons of Piccolo Spoleto Festival as a member of the Athens Friendship Presbyterian Church choral/instrumental ensemble, in which they premiered new works inspired by late-Medieval/early-Renaissance music.
        Originally from Blue Ridge, GA, Taylor graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Percussion and Timpani Performance degree from the University of Georgia, where she was a student of Timothy K. Adams Jr. and Kimberly Toscano. During her time at UGA, she performed in numerous large and chamber ensembles and received distinctions for academic and musical excellence, including being named to the Dean’s List as well as being named an inaugural recipient of the Bennett Family Scholarship for Orchestral Performance. 
        Outside of her musical studies, Taylor enjoys reading, running, baking sourdough bread, exploring art museums and coffee shops, and volunteering for the nonprofit organization Lift Music Fund.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Felix Ko started at percussion when he joined his school concert band in his early childhood. He then studied marimba with Chun-Ting Chen at the age of 15 and won several local competitions. While pursuing his bachelor degree in both chemistry and philosophy at National Taiwan University, Ko participated in school orchestras, youth wind ensembles and chamber music groups. With these various experiences, he found himself fascinated by orchestral music and then took lessons with Setsu Miyaoka. After graduating, he entered New England Conservatory for his master degree in percussion performance and is now studying with BSO percussionist Will Hudgins.

Lu Pei Hsien, percussion major student from Taiwan, completed her undergraduate studies under professor Jonathan Fox in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. Prior to this, she graduated from Taiwan National Wu Ling High School’s music education program. At present, she is studying for a master's degree under professor Matthew McKay at NEC.
        Her musical journey began at the age of 4 and concentrated on percussion by age 8. She has accumulated experience performing with many different groups. Her orchestra experiences include playing with Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), Taipei Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra and more. She also performs regularly with the Conservatory Percussion Ensemble, a highlight of which was the trip in 2017 to Kuching, Malaysia, where she performed both solo and ensemble works under “Sing! Percussion” which “captured hearts in a captivating performance.” (Borneo News, 2017)
        In addition to her performance experiences, she also had a lot of chances to have master classes with some famous percussionists like Pius Cheung, Mark Ford, Raymond Curfs, Michael Vladar, Eric Sammut, Colin Currie and others.

Franz Schubert | Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D 898

Allegro moderato
Andante un poco mosso
Scherzo: Allegro
Rondo: Allegro vivace

Performer bios

Miriam Fried has been recognized for years as one of the world’s preeminent violinists. A consummate musician—equally accomplished as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician—she has been heralded for her “fiery intensity and emotional depth” (Musical America) as well as for her technical mastery. Fried has played with virtually every major orchestra in the United States and Europe and has been a frequent guest with the principal orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, as well as with the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphony.
        Recital tours have taken her to all of the major music centers in North America and to Brussels, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, Paris, Salzburg, Stockholm, and Zurich.  A noted pedagogue, Miriam Fried is on the faculty of New England Conservatory and is invited to give master classes throughout the world.
        In recent seasons, her schedule has included orchestral engagements with such prestigious ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Czech Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Mexico, the Japan Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the BBC Philharmonic. She premiered a violin concerto written for her by Donald Erb with the Grand Rapids Symphony and recorded the work for Koss in 1995.
        Since 1993, she been chair of the faculty at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, one of the country’s leading summer programs for young musicians. Her involvement there has included regular performances, including recitals and concerts with the Chicago Symphony. Fried’s highly praised 1985 New York recitals of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin were the culmination of three years of international performances. She returned to this music with a recording made in France for the Lyrinx label. She has also made a prize-winning, best-selling recording of the Sibelius Concerto for the Finlandia label with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of Okko Kamu.
        Chamber music plays an important role in Fried’s musical life. She was first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet until it disbanded after 30 years, and has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Garrick Ohlsson, Nathaniel Rosen, her son, pianist Jonathan Biss, and her husband, violinist/violist Paul Biss. She has been featured guest artist at Chamber Music East in Boston, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society SummerFest, the Lockenhaus Festival, and the Naantali Festival in Finland.
        Miriam Fried’s successful solo career was launched in 1968 after she was awarded First Prize in Genoa’s Paganini International Competition. Three years later she claimed top honors in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, where she gained further world attention by becoming the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. Her early childhood included lessons with Alice Fenyves in Tel Aviv, as well as the opportunity to meet and play for the many great violinists who visited Israel, including Isaac Stern, Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Zino Francescatti, and Erica Morini. She came to the United States as a protégée of Isaac Stern, and continued her studies with Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School and with Joseph Gingold at Indiana University.

Oliver Aldortjoined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2015 and was appointed Assistant Principal Cello during the 19/20 season. Raised on Orcas Island, WA, Mr. Aldort began his musical studies at the age of six. He has performed throughout North America as a soloist, appearing with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Newton Symphony Orchestra, and as a recitalist at the Miami International Piano Festival, Dame Myra Hess Concerts in Chicago, and the Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur in Montreal. His media appearances have included KOMO TV's Northwest Afternoon, NPR's From the Top, CBC Radio, and WFMT in Chicago.
        An avid chamber musician, Mr. Aldort is a member of the newly formed Steans Piano Trio. He has performed internationally with Curtis on Tour, as well as at the Tanglewood Music Center, Verbier Festival Academy,Steans Music Institute at Ravinia, Halcyon Music Festival, and the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, collaborating with many distinguished artists including Miriam Fried, Desmond Hoebig, Roberto Díaz, Martin Chalifour, Jon Kimura Parker among others.
        Mr. Aldort graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2015. His major teachers have included Carter Brey, Peter Wiley, Lynn Harrell, Ron Leonard and Amos Yang.

Dubbed “a major artist” by the Miami Herald and a “quiet maverick” by the Daily Telegraph, pianist Alexander Korsantia has been praised for the “clarity of his technique, richly varied tone and dynamic phrasing” (Baltimore Sun), and a “piano technique where difficulties simply do not exist” (Calgary Sun). The Boston Globe found his interpretation of his signature piece, Pictures at an Exhibition, to be “a performance that could annihilate all others one has heard.” And the Birmingham Post wrote: “his intensely responsive reading was shot through with a vein of constant fantasy, whether musing or mercurial.” Ever since winning Gold Medal at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the First Prize at the Sidney International Piano Competition, Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned artists such as Vadim Repin, Christoph Eschenbach, Gianandrea Noseda, Valery Gergiev, Paavo Järvi, Dan Ettinger and Carlos Prieto with such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Kirov Orchestra, RAI Orchestra in Turin, The City of Birmingham Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and A Far Cry.
        Bel Air, Hänssler Classics and Piano Classics are among the recording labels Mr. Korsantia has worked with. The most recent release is Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with Dan Ettinger and Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra on Hänssler. His solo piano transcription of Ravel’s La valse has been published by Sikorski Musikverlage in 2018. His last big project was arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for solo piano and bass drum to be performed by a single soloist.
        Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Korsantia began his musical studies at an early age moving with his family to the United States in 1991. In 1999, he was awarded one of the most prestigious national awards, the Order of Honor, bestowed on him by then-President Eduard Shevardnadze. He is a recipient of the Golden Wing award (2015) and Georgia’s National State Prize (1997). Korsantia resides in Boston where he is a Professor of Piano on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. Mr. Korsantia is the artistic adviser of the annual music festival “From Easter to Ascension” in Georgia.