Listen Hear Salon Concerts

Resources and Archives

Pilot Season Program Archives and Materials

Program Books and Thinking Questions

Pilot Season, Event 1: Beethoven in the Home

  • Max Tan, violin

    TianYi Li, piano

  • Ludwig van Beethoven (arr. TianYi Li): Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72a

    Ludwig van Beethoven (arr. Hans Sitt): Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

  • As you listen, list 5–10 words or phrases about any aspect of what you hear.

    How does this music make you feel? What does it remind you of?

    How do you think someone in the early 1800s would experience these works, playing them in their home, having never heard the symphonic version before? What might their experience be if they then went to hear this with full orchestra?

    How have these arrangements made certain elements more prominent, or others less so? How would it be different with cello? Or bassoon?

    How has your experience of Beethoven’s music changed? If so, how?

Pilot Season, Event 2: Brahms and the Magic of Time

  • Max Tan, violin

    Stephanie Tang, piano

  • Clara Schumann: Three Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22

    1. Andante molto

    2. Allegretto: Mit zartem Vortrage

    3. Leidenschaftlich schnell

    Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100

    1. Allegro amabile

    2. Andante tranquillo - Vivace

    3. Allegretto grazioso, quasi Andante

  • As you listen, list 5–10 words or phrases about any aspect of what you hear.

    How does this music make you feel? What does it remind you of?

    What do you think composers convey in their music, if anything?

    To be “on time” often means to “arrive together.” To be “in time” often means to “be together.” Can musicians “be together” in ways other than synchronization?

    Is “music in time” or “time in music”?

Pilot Season, Event 3: Folk Music Inspiration

  • Timothy Chooi, violin

    ChangYong Shin, piano

  • Antonín Dvořák: Romance in F minor, Op. 11 (B. 39)

    Edvard Grieg: Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45

    Karol Szymanowski: Nocturne and Tarantella, Op. 28

    Pablo de Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20

  • As you listen, list 5–10 words or phrases about any aspect of what you hear.

    How does this music make you feel? What does it remind you of?

    What does “folk” music mean? Do any of the elements of music heard today remind you of your childhood/family or a place you’ve visited?

    A recital tradition comes from the idea that something is being “recited.” What is being recited in this concert event?

Pilot Season, Event 4: Is music finite or infinite?

  • Michelle Ross, violin and composition

  • Maurice Ravel: Kaddisch from Two Hebrew Melodies

    Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 – I. Adagio

    Michelle Barzel Ross/Johann Sebastian Bach: Improvisation/Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002 – V. Sarabande, IV. Double

    Michelle Barzel Ross: “Book of Fragments” (excerpts)

    Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1005 – V. Ciaconna

    Michelle Barzel Ross: Nadja, for violin and electronics

  • As you listen, list 5–10 words or phrases about any aspect of what you hear.

    How does this music make you feel? What does it remind you of?

    Does a performer who is not improvising “create” something? What freedoms does a performer have to make a composed piece their own?

    Unlike visual arts (at this museum and others), music and literature are examples of non-physical art. What words can we use to describe non-physical art?

Pilot Season, Event 5: Timbres and Textures

  • Max Tan, viola

    Sam Boutris, clarinet

    Chelsea Wang, piano

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio

    Max Bruch: Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Op. 83

    2. Allegro con moto

    3. Andante con moto

    5. Rumänische Melodie (Romanian Melody)

    6. Nachtgesang (Night Song)

  • As you listen, list 5–10 words or phrases about any aspect of what you hear.

    How are the means of producing sound different for piano, clarinet, and viola?

    Which instrument stands out as most unusual in the trio? Why? How would you describe the other instruments?

    Despite being very different instruments, how do the clarinet and viola share similar roles in the music?

    How do our individual voices sound different? How does the literal “sound of our voice” differ from “tone of voice?”

Artist Archive

Biographies and Details

Max Tan

VIOLIN/VIOLA/SERIES CURATOR

www.maxtanviolin.com

  • Praised as "eloquent" by the New York Times and "warmly rhapsodic" by the Boston Globe, Taiwanese American violinist Max Tan has appeared on stages across the United States, Europe, and Asia, forging a varied career as performer and educator. A founding member of the diplomacy-centered Versoi Ensemble, a tenured member of the Sarasota Orchestra, and an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, Mr. Tan is committed to community-building through the arts. His recent projects involve connecting musicians to isolated audiences and recovering Covid-19 patients during the pandemic, producing a monthly livestream concert series, and organizing chamber music residencies. He curates the new Listen Hear music salon series at the Sarasota Art Museum.

    Mr. Tan is the recipient of the Richard F. French Award, the Sylff Fellowship, the Kovner Fellowship from The Juilliard School, and the Arthur Foote Prize from the Harvard Musical Association. He was a semifinalist at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. Recent performances include recitals and chamber music in Taipei, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago on WFMT’s live broadcast of the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and New York at the Chelsea Music Festival where he gave the North American premiere of Phylogenie by Japanese composer Misato Mochizuki. Committed to the music of our time, Mr. Tan works with young composers at Juilliard and Sunset Chamberfest (Los Angeles) in performance, writing, and public speaking. He has performed works by notable composers including Sarah Gibson, Sang Tong, Virgil Thomson, Stefano Gervasoni, and Jean-Frédéric Neuberger. A Harvard graduate with a major in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and a minor in Music, Mr. Tan is pursuing his doctorate at Juilliard, where he also received his Master's and Artist Diploma degrees. His mentors include Catherine Cho, Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Chang, and Albert Markov. Mr. Tan holds an assistant faculty position at The Juilliard School Pre-College.

Sam Boutris

CLARINET

www.samboutris.com

  • Recipient of the ‘Music Solis’ Grand Prize at the 2019 Chamber Music Northwest International Clarinet Competition, Sam Boutris regularly performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. In addition to recordings, his concerts have been featured on ClassicFM and broadcasted on The Violin Channel.

    Recent performances include the Mozart Clarinet Quintet (Rolston String Quartet) and Clarinet Concerto at Chamber Music Northwest, a featured recital on the award-winning Crypt Sessions series in New York City, a live broadcast solo recital on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces Series at the Greene Space, solo recitals at Dame Myra Hess (Chicago), Lincoln Centers’ Paul Hall and Wilson Theater, the Harvard Club of New York, La Maison Française at New York University, and a featured recital of the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets with the Attacca Quartet on the Rockerfeller Noon Series. Mr. Boutris has also appeared in concerto performances with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Boutris has performed as guest principal clarinet with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra and ‘Symphony in C.’ He has also appeared as guest clarinet with the New Haven and Princeton symphonies.

    Mr. Boutris is an alumnus of the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, and The Juilliard School.

Timothy Chooi

VIOLIN

www.timothychooi.com

  • Internationally acclaimed violinist Timothy Chooi is a popular soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, widely sought after for his passionate performances and wide-ranging repertoire. The 2nd Prize Winner at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), 1st Prize Winner at the 2018 Joseph Joachim International Competition (Germany), and 1st Prize Winner at the 2018 Schadt Violin Competition (USA), he is also recipient of the highly coveted Prix Paternot from the Verbier Festival (Switzerland).

    Mr. Chooi’s recent engagements on the world stage include his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, European tours with the Wiener Concert-Verein, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter at Vienna’s Musikverein and Paris’ Theatre Champs-Elysses, to name a few. He is a founding member of The VISION Collective, an ensemble of musicians who raise awareness about global refugee crises by giving voice to immigrants and displaced victims, and by producing diverse, meaningful art. The ensemble received the 2020 Harold W. McGraw Family Foundation's Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach.

    A graduate of The Juilliard School from the studio of Catherine Cho, Mr. Chooi is passionate about developing violin pedagogy and is Professor of Violin at the University of Ottawa. His mentors include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pinchas Zukerman, Christian Tetzlaff, Patinka Kopec, Ida Kavafian, and Pamela Frank.

TianYi Li

PIANO

https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/tianyi-li

  • A native of Shenzhen, China, TianYi Li has received accolades at piano competitions in China and around the world. He is an alumnus of the Professional Children’s School in New York City and New York University Steinhardt where he graduated cum laude from a six-year high school and undergraduate program. During this time, he studied with Eduardus Halim and competed at the 2017 Tbilisi International Piano Competition where he was awarded Third Prize (First Prize vacant) along with three additional special prizes. Mr. Li is currently pursuing his doctorate at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal, where he also is a Teaching Fellow for Sight Reading and Secondary Piano. As an advocate for new music, he has performed in AXIOM and the New Juilliard Ensemble at Lincoln Center. A devoted pedagogue, Mr. Li is faculty at the Bronx Conservatory of Music, teaching courses in music theory, history, and electronic music production in addition to his piano studio.

Michelle Ross

VIOLIN

www.michellerossviolin.com

  • Michelle Barzel Ross is a violinist, composer, and multi-instrumental improviser. A protege of Itzhak Perlman-turned-multidisciplinary artist, Ms. Ross is known for her debut album, pop-up project and blog “Discovering Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach.” Ross is featured on ‘Movement 11’ of Jon Batiste’s GRAMMY winning Best Album of the Year: We Are, and nominated for Best Classical Composition. Passionate about expanding the bounds of contemporary music as both creator and performer, Ms. Ross is a member of Ensemble Échappé, a guest with International Contemporary Ensemble, co-curator of Lucerne Festival Forward, and faculty at Lucerne Festival Contemporary. Ms. Ross was recently the soloist in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres with James Blachly and EXO at the Met’s Temple of Dendur celebration of Arvo Pärt. Collaboration highlights also include Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, leading the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Teodor Currentzis at The Shed, and Musicians from Marlboro tours. Recent album releases also include her solo cello composition “The Whale Song,” for Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, and her featured performances on Samuel Adler: Chamber and Instrumental Music. Ms. Ross is the recipient of the 2012 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund, and was recently Artist-in-Residence at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Ms. Ross holds degrees from the Juilliard School and Columbia University.

ChangYong Shin

PIANO

www.changyongshin.com

  • Pianist Changyong Shin is the 1st Prize Winner of the Gina Bachauer International Artist Competition, Seoul International Music Competition, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. His numerous solo performances have graced some of Classical music’s most important venues and festivals throughout Asia, North America, and Europe, including Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Paris’ Salle Cortot, Korea’s Lotte Concert Hall and Seoul Arts Center, WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces Series (New York), Steinway Hall Artist Series, Newport Music Festival, Italy’s Barletta Piano Festival, Kumho Cultural Foundation’s Artist Series, and many more. Concerto appearances include with such orchestras as the Utah Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, KBS Symphony, Korean Chamber Orchestra, and the Daegu, Gwacheon, Bucheon, Sendai, Daejeon, and Incheon Philharmonics, to name a few.

    Mr. Shin’s budding discography has received wide acclaim. His debut CD was listed as one of the “Best New Recordings of 2018” by WQXR. His second album of Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt, released by Steinway & Sons, received rave reviews from ClassicToday. His latest album <Gaspard de la Nuit> was released on Korea’s Stomp Music label.

    A native of South Korea, Changyong Shin graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School both as a student of famed American-pianist Robert McDonald.

Stephanie Tang

PIANO

www.stephanietangpiano.com

  • Chinese-American pianist Stephanie Tang is establishing an active career in solo and chamber performance in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Europe. She has appeared in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Shenzhen Concert Hall, Himalayan Concert Hall (Shanghai), Sendai Concert Hall, throughout the Netherlands, Place Flagey (Brussels), Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre (London), Banff Centre, and Koerner Hall (Toronto). Recent concert highlights from this past season include performances at the Four Seasons Chamber Festival, Toronto Summer Music, Wigmore Hall, and a concerto debut at the Barbican Centre performing Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra under Adrian Leaper.

    This year, Ms. Tang won the Guildhall Gold Medal, the school’s most prestigious music prize previously awarded to such artists as Jacqueline du Pre, Tasmin Little, and Bryn Terfel. She has also won 1st prize at the Young Pianists’ Beethoven Competition, 2nd prize at the Louisiana International Piano Competition, and the Jury’s Discretionary Prize at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Bronislaw Kaper Awards. In 2021, she was a semi-finalist in the Montreal International Piano Competition and performed at Place Flagey in Brussels at the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition.

    Ms. Tang holds degrees from the Colburn Conservatory of Music (B.M.), Glenn Gould School (A.D.) and the Yale School of Music (M.M.). Her principal teachers have been John Perry, David Louie, Peter Serkin, and Boris Slutsky. She currently studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Ronan O’Hora.

Chelsea Wang

PIANO

www.chelseawangpianist.com

  • Praised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”, Chelsea Wang has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America, Europe and Asia in venues including Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic, Taipei National Concert Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. She is a prizewinner and finalist of many national and international piano competitions including the Seoul International Piano Competition, Washington International Piano Competition, and New York International Piano Competition.

    After making her orchestral debut at the age of six, Ms. Wang has performed with many orchestras including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among others. She has collaborated alongside Ida Kavafian, Ani Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, Peter Wiley, Roberto Diaz, Anne-Marie McDermott, Anton Nel, Randall Scarlata, Dmitri Murrath, and other inspirational mentors. Festival appearances include Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Institute, Bravo!Vail, Music Academy of the West, Fontainebleau, Music from Angel Fire, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

    A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Wang is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn and was awarded the prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award upon graduation. She received her Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Leon Fleisher and Yong-Hi Moon. Ms. Wang is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with James Giles.