Performing masterpieces by Zoltán Kodály, Maurice Ravel, and Handel/Halvorsen, the musical duo of Korean-American artists Siwoo Kim, violinist, and Sydney Lee, cellist, will thrill your soul. Siwoo trained with legendary violin pedagogue Almita Vamos. Sydney Lee was among the last students of Lynn Harrell and is the new winner of the American Debut Recital Award.
In collaboration with Fil-Am Music Foundation, we offer a showcase of three of the best violinists from the Philippines. They will dazzle you individually, and as a trio, performing specially commissioned works for three violins and piano.
Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia, an artist whose looks could easily fit in on the stages of Coachella or Lollapalooza, will give us a preview of his much-awaited New York Recital Debut in Carnegie Hall. Joined by Victor Santiago Asunción, piano, they will play sonatas by Debussy and Shostakovich, among others.
The dream team combination of MCMS favorites Basil Alter, violin, Alexander Hersh, cello, and yours truly offer two great piano trios: Shostakovich's Second and Dvořák's beloved "Dumky." Shostakovich takes us on a journey fraught with emotional extremes, while Dvořák touches our hearts with Bohemian melodies and songs of lament.
Pianists Victor Asunción and Daniel Driver explore the piano duet repertoire of Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, and Ravel. Both Copland and Bernstein studied with famed French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger in her Parisian apartment, and Gershwin traveled to Paris to study with Ravel, where he was famously turned down.
Last season, the young American violinist Joshua Brown brought down the house with his Memphis and MCMS debut. A native Chicagoan, Josh won second prize at the most recent Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition. He is now making his name in both Europe and North America. Together with the Vega Quartet and Victor Santiago Asunción, piano, he will perform the monumental Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet by Ernest Chausson, bringing our 2026-2027 concert season to a rousing finale.