Central Chamber Series: Psalms & Poetry
$20 (student w/valid ID free)
- Rebecca Fischer, violin
- Michelle Ross, violin
- Leah Ferguson, viola
- Jia Kim, cello
- David Kaplan, piano
Robert Schumann — Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44
Join us for a wonderful evening featuring works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Robert Schumann.
About Rebecca Fischer, violin
Praised for her “beautiful tone and nuanced phrasing” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), violinist Rebecca Fischer is sought after as a highly expressive, intuitive performer of solo, chamber music, and chamber orchestra repertoire. Garnering attention for her compelling programs of solo violin and singing violinist music, Ms. Fischer has premiered solo works by composers Lisa Bielawa, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Mathew Fuerst, Augusta Read Thomas, Byron Au Yong, Pierre Jalbert, and others.
She is the concertmaster of Ensemble Baroklyn, a group run by pianist Simone Dinnerstein specializing in the music of Bach, and she performs regularly with other ensembles based in New York City. Ms. Fischer is also a member of The Afield, a multidisciplinary collaboration with visual artist/writer Anthony Hawley combining new and original compositions for violin, voice, and electronics with video and other media. The Afield has performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe, Carnegie Hall, and the Atlanta Contemporary Museum, and has published work in Art Papers.
First-violinist of the Chiara String Quartet for 18 years until the group’s final season in 2018, Ms. Fischer recorded and performed numerous works by heart, held residencies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harvard University, and premiered many major new works by composers such as Gabriela Lena Frank and Philip Glass. Performance highlights include the complete Bartók Quartets by heart at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, several complete Beethoven quartet cycles, and collaborations with such artists as the Juilliard and Saint Lawrence Quartets, Roger Tapping, Robert Levin, and the electronic duo Matmos. Ms. Fischer has recorded for Azica Records (the complete string quartets of Brahms and Bartók) and New Amsterdam Records (the string quartets of Jefferson Friedman, a Grammy-nominated album).
Ms. Fischer is the Executive Director and Director of Senior Camp at Greenwood Music Camp, where she has been on the faculty since 2006. During the year she teaches violin and chamber music at the Mannes School of Music and serves as co-chair of the string department. She has given masterclasses and run workshops at Carnegie Hall, Rice University, Seoul National University, Peabody Conservatory, the University of Michigan, and San Francisco Conservatory, among others, and she was on the faculty of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for over a decade. Ms. Fischer holds degrees from Columbia University (B.A.) and The Juilliard School (M.M., A.D.).
http://www.rebeccafischerviolin.com/About Michelle Ross, violin
About Jia Kim, cello
Korean-American cellist Jia Kim, recipient of the prestigious 2017 career award from the
Leonore Annenberg Foundation for Performing and Visual Arts, leads a dynamic musical life as a performer, educator, and a passionate advocate for the Arts. She has appeared on stages across the US, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East with performances broadcasted on WQXR,
PBS, KMZT Classical, and acclaimed by The New York Times. An avid chamber musician, Jia has performed at Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, the 92Y, and joined Itzhak Perlman on a tour across Toronto, Mexico City, Virginia Beach, Miami and New York City.
Jia has been invited as Visiting Artist at the University of Hawaii, American Academy of Jordan, College of William and Mary, Grand Valley State University, and served as a Tone Judge for the Violin Society of America's 2016 International Competition.
Currently she is on Faculty at The Juilliard School Precollege Division, The Perlman Music Program, and New York Youth Symphony's Chamber Music Program. As Artistic Director of Central Chamber Series in NYC and Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society in Stowe, VT, she is committed to connecting with a wider audience through the powerful language of Chamber Music, both through education and performance.
Jia is evermore grateful to her mentors and teachers Ronald Leonard, Itzhak and Toby Perlman, and to Joel Krosnick, with whom she studied at the Juilliard School for a Bachelor and Master Degree in Music. Jia performs on a Testore cello made in 1748.
https://www.jiakimcello.com/