Pianist Kirill Gerstein’s heritage combines the traditions of Russian, American, and Central European music-making with an insatiable curiosity. These qualities and the relationships he’s developed with orchestras, conductors, instrumentalists, singers, and composers have led him to explore a huge spectrum of repertoire, both new and old. From Bach to Thomas Adès, Gerstein’s playing is distinguished by a ferocious technique and discerning intelligence matched by an energetic, imaginative musical presence that places him at the top of his profession.
First prize winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition and the Concert Artist Guild International Competition, Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee has been lauded by The New York Times as a pianist with “a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style,” and by the Washington Post for her “stunning command of the keyboard.”
The riveting American violinist William Hagen is a seasoned international performer who’s appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Chicago, Frankfurt Radio, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among many others. He’s been hailed as a “brilliant virtuoso” and “a standout” by The Dallas Morning News, while the Chicago Classical Review has praised his “glowing tone,” “virtuosic pyrotechnics,” and “poise and maturity” as a player. In 2015, Hagan won third prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, making him one of the most successful Americans in that prestigious competition’s history.
Acclaimed by critics worldwide for his exceptional talent and magnificent tone, American violinist Chad Hoopes has remained an impressive, consistent, and versatile performer with many of the world’s leading orchestras since winning First Prize at the Young Artists Division of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition.
Hoopes is a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fischer Career Grant. Former winners include Kirill Gerstein, Yuja Wang, Leila Josefowicz, Joshua Bell, and Hilary Hahn.
In 2019, Ida Kavafian completed her 35-year tenure as artistic director of the Music from Angel Fire chamber music festival in New Mexico. A frequent artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for more than 40 years and former violinist of the renowned Beaux Arts Trio, Kavafian currently performs as a soloist; in recital with her sister, violinist Ani Kavafian; as a guest with distinguished ensembles; and as a faculty member at the Curtis Institute of Music. She’s premiered many new works, toured and recorded with fiddler/composer Mark O’Connor and with jazz greats Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis, and had a solo feature onCBS Sunday Morning. She premiered and recorded Michael Daugherty’s violin concertoFire and Bloodwith the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and, as a violist, toured and recorded with the Guarneri Quartet and performed with the Orion, Shanghai, and American string quartets.
Praised by The Strad magazine for having a “lyricism that stood out . . . a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, she’s performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which The Strad described as “fleet and energetic . . . powerful and focused.”
Cellist Eric Kim enjoys a diverse career as a recitalist, a chamber musician, an orchestral soloist, and a teacher. He made his solo debut at age 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; since then, he’s been a featured soloist with the Cincinnati, Denver, and San Diego symphony orchestras, and he’s collaborated with conductors Alan Gilbert, Zubin Mehta, Paavo Järvi, Jesús López Cobos, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Comissiona, Gianandrea Noseda, and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. He was also a featured soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra during the ensemble’s critically acclaimed tour of the Far East.
The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for their profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, they’ve performed at London’s Cadogan Hall for the BBC Proms, are regular guests at London’s Wigmore Hall, and in their hometown of New York City, are season artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
For clarinetist Carol McGonnell, the word ‘play’ takes center stage. It reaches far beyond the formal act of making music. It starts by acknowledging our natural state; open, receptive, awake, alive.
With these as innate qualities, music is an unfolding experience in which we can exist in the exquisite present moment. A shift from observing to becoming, moving together into a space of heightened energy. In this sense, play is a path to be actively followed by listeners and performers alike. Play is about bravery and ferocious curiosity.
Stefan Dohr is blessed with both a “thundering tone that resounds valley-wide” (Berliner Zeitung) and a breathtakingly “delicate piano that sounds as if from afar” (Badische Zeitung). As an acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and principal horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he is a mainstay of the international horn scene. In the orchestra, he has a special task: on the one hand, the horn player is a “quasi mediator between the instrumental groups, on the other hand, a soloist in Mahler and Bruckner symphonies, for example”.
