Beethoven & Brahms

Live Concert: December 7th, 2020 @ 7:30 PM
Streamed Concert: December 9th, 2020 @ 7:30 PM

As a genre, the Clarinet Trio (clarinet, cello, piano) is not often touched by composers, perhaps due to the potential balance issues that are solved by substituting clarinet for violin. Yet what we do have in Beethoven’s and Brahms’s trios are two masterpieces that highlight the unique timbre of the clarinet, and that have become standard repertoire for all three instruments. Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio, op. 11 is jaunty, lyrical, and incredibly catchy. Even for an early work of Beethoven influenced by Haydn and Mozart, this piece is especially jovial and speaks to the light approach to woodwind writing during the classical era. But just as in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, this trio is not without profound lyricism (second movement). Brahms’s Clarinet Trio, op. 114 is one of his final works, inspired by the lyrical playing of clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld whom the composer called “his dear nightingale.” Unlike Beethoven’s take on the unusual instrumentation, Brahms’s comprehensive work is somber, nostalgic, and subtle – until its fiery finish.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 11 for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op 114 for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano

Listen

Musicians

Stas Chernyshev, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, is recently appointed principal clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder and artistic director of Fort Worth Performances for Autism, and a co-director of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series. Mr. Chernyshev is a prize winner of many international competitions, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan. A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Chernyshev has collaborated with Grammy-winning ensemblesEighth Blackbird and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, commissioned new works for his instrument. He has been featured on WQXR -New York’s classical music station and WHYY’s television program - On Stage at Curtis. Mr. Chernyshev holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and a Master’s degree from St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. He is an alumnus of Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute, and ArtistYear, a program of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Ann Hung, born in Taipei, Taiwan, began her musical studies at a young age, starting with piano at age five and clarinet at age nine. Dr. Hung is an active performer in the Dallas and Fort Worth area who regularly performs in the realms of both the orchestral and chamber music. She has shared the stage with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the faculty of the Juilliard School. Dr. Hung is always pushing the boundaries of her repertoire and skills, such as collaborating with jazz musicians and commissioning new composers. As a proponent of new music, she has avidlycommissioned new works including a wind quintet with her quintet Opus Now premiering in Symphony Space in NYC. One of the new works that Dr. Hung commissioned is included in a recently released album “Stained Glass Story” by Eldad Tarmu. Dr. Hung is currently teaching in Lewisville ISD, Burleson ISD as private lesson instructor and often plays with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. She is the associate director of the Fort Worth Performances for Autism and co- founder of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series.

Taiwanese Pianist Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao enjoys performing in a wide variety of settings, which includes chamber music, opera, orchestral ensembles, new music ensembles and choral music. She has collaborated with many distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Stefan Jackiw, Robert McDuffie, Bion Tsang, Gerardo Riberio, David Coucheron, Jennifer Stumm, and many members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Kao is currently the Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and Collaborative Piano Artist at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She is also the collaborative piano coordinator at the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York. She has been a collaborative pianist at Columbus State University and Mercer University in Georgia, where she worked with students of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings.

She has appeared at Carnegie Weill Hall and can be heard with cellist Bion Tsang on his CD The Blue Rock Sessions. She was also a member of the Boulder Altitude Directive, a modern music ensemble dedicated to commissioning and performing new music, during their inaugural season. Cecilia has received fellowships for both the Aspen School of Music and the Music Academy of the West, where she studied with Jonathan Feldman. She also was a chamber music artist at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival in Florida.

Kao holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with the pioneer pedagogue, Anne Epperson. Prior to her move to the U.S., she was one of the first pianists to receive the Master of Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, where she also received her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance. Her principal teachers include Anne Epperson, Margaret McDonald, Alexandra Nguyen, Elizabeth Pridgen, Chi-Chen Wu, and Shu-Cheng Lin.

Allan Steele, principal cellist with the Fort Worth Symphony, is a performer, teacher, and composer. Mr. Steele maintains an active solo career and has performed with the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, and others. He has premiered several works in chamber or orchestral settings by composers such as Mark Antony Turnage and Stephen Cohn, as well as performing the world premiere of Henri Lazarof's Fifth Cello Concerto. Mr. Steele has studied with a number of notable pedagogues such as Tanya Carey, Hans Jensen, and Susan Moses. Music festival appearances include Indiana University's Summer String Program, The Meadowmount School of Music, and the Montreal International String Quartet Academy. He is a graduate of the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he studied with Ronald Leonard. He is a regular in the chamber music scene, performing with musicians such as Edgar Myers, Paul Coletti, Arnold Steinhardt, and Vadym Kholodenko. Steele is a founding member of the classical music group, "MC2" and devotes much of his spare time to composing and arranging.