Quiring in the New Year

Tickets

Cost: $15.00
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Featuring wonderful guests — cellist Rebecca Wenham (Pricipal Cellist, Vancouver Opera) and violinist Ian Swensen (one of the most popular chamber musicians in North America!) — this will be a New Year’s Eve to remember!

Evening Repertoire includes: Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne for violin and piano, Brahms Trio for viola, cello and piano and the Faure Piano Quartet.

SPECIAL GUESTS:
IAN SWENSEN

A native of New York, violinist Ian Swensen comes from a musically gifted family of Norwegian and Japanese-Hawaiian descent. He has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Sacramento State University. He is a passionate pedagogue and his students have gone on to major positions in orchestras, teaching institutions and chamber groups around the world. Swensen also maintains an active schedule as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at Music@Menlo, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and others. Recent projects include a series of recitals with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with members of the San Francisco Symphony and a series of Haydn trios with Kenneth Slowik on fortepiano. Over the years other engagements have included Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, Music from Marlboro, residencies at Tanglewood, Banff, Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary and travels to Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to teach and perform. He has performed with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Emerson, Takács, Concord and Tokyo quartets, as well as Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Mark O’Connor and Yo-Yo Ma. Swensen studied at The Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and the Eastman School of Music with Donald Weilerstein and members of the Cleveland Quartet. In addition, Mark Sokol of the Concord Quartet has had a profound impact on his musical growth. He is one of the few musicians to have been awarded the Walter W. Naumburg International Competition’s top prize for both solo violin and chamber music (as first violinist of the Meliora String Quartet). His recordings can be found on the Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon labels.

REBECCA WENHAM
Cellist Rebecca Wenham’s performances have been described as “silken, highly refined” (the Globe and Mail) as well as having “extraordinary commitment and maturity” (La Gazette). Her animated playing style is often surprising, dramatic and impulsive, leaving a breathless audience on the edge of their seats. She has performed across North America, Mexico, Europe, Japan and Australia. Formerly a member of the Cecilia String Quartet, she won prizes in the Osaka, Rutenberg, Bordeaux and Banff International String Quartet Competitions, and was a CBC Galaxie Rising Star in 2007. Highlights of the 2015 season included performances of Elgar cello concerto with the Vancouver Philharmonic, Brahms Double Concerto with the Lion’s Gate Sinfonia, and Schumann cello concerto with West Coast Symphony Orchestra. This past May, Music on Main presented Rebecca in a program of solo cello exploring works that highlight divergent musical styles (all composed in the 21st century), from classical to music by jazz cellist Peggy Lee and rock violinist Sarah Neufeld.

A member of Microcosmos Quartet since 2011, an ensemble committed to performing music of the last 100 years (or so), she presents programs in intimate settings such as private homes, art galleries, clubs and small halls. Microcosmos Quartet held its inaugural string orchestra mentorship program, the Kessler Academy, in September 2015. Rebecca is principal cello of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. Her projects have been generously funded by the Canada Council, the BC Arts Council and ProQuartet. She holds degrees from the HARID Conservatory of Music, and from Rice, San Diego State and McGill Universities
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