CHAMBER MUSIC @ BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY
Chamber Music @ Bloomfield Township Public Library is a popular program series at the library. Please join us for an evening of music on Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. (after Library hours).
The evening program includes Suite Cantando for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano by Bill Douglas; Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 3 by Alexander Zemlinsky; Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15 by Bedřich Smetana, and much more.
The special talent for this concert includes:
Cathrine (Katie) Gu began studying private clarinet lessons at the age of 13 with Roman Fukshansky. Throughout middle school and high school, she participated in the El Camino Youth Symphony located in the Bay Area of California, which toured Spain in 2015. In addition to this ensemble, she also played in her local county honor bands and the California All-State Honor band, playing on both clarinet and Eb clarinet. As an essential part of her music education experience, she helped found the Tri-M National Music Honors society at Homestead High School as an officer of the club. In high school, Cathrine participated in her high school orchestra, band, and choirs, which toured New York and Austria & Germany. Later in her career, she began taking lessons with Debra Gardner, who encouraged her to participate in summer programs such as San Francisco Conservatory Summer West, Interlochen, and Eastman Music Horizons. As an aspiring music educator, Cathrine believes that performance should still be kept as an important aspect of her musical career.”
Marissa Honig is a first year undergraduate student majoring in Bassoon Performance with Dr. Jeffrey Lyman at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Marissa has performed with the New England Conservatory Festival Youth Orchestra in Boston, under the direction of Aaron Kula, and the Brevard Music Center Festival in North Carolina, with conductors Keith Lockhart and Kenneth Lam. Marissa has also attended the Peabody Conservatory’s Bassoon Week at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan Bassoon MPulse program. Currently, Marissa is a member of the University of Michigan’s Concert Band, two chamber ensembles and University of Michigan’s Marching Band. She is from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina where she enjoys the beauty and culture of the Carolina low country with her family.
Gyu Hwan (Harry) Hwang is a 2nd year South Korean clarinetist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance at the University of Michigan. He is under the tutelage of Chad Burrow and Daniel Gilbert during the school term and receives guidance from Richie Hawley and Sean Krissman during his stay in Houston for the summer. He has served as principal and assistant principal in numerous occasions, some of which include: Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble, IUSD Honor Orchestra, and Onnuri Chamber Orchestra. He has also taken part in California’s All-State and All-Southern Honor Groups for a number of years. In addition, he has served as principal clarinet under the baton of Dr. Thomas Lee who is currently the director of Bands at UCLA who called Mr. Hwang’s playing, “possessing a powerful sense of leadership”. In addition, Mr. Hwang played alongside the musicians of Houston Symphony Orchestra in the “Salute to Educators” concert under the baton of Robert Franz.
Yu-Hsien Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan and began playing the piano at the age of four. She has attended several master classes and was taught by Dang Thai Son, Lilya Ziberstein, Yossi Reshef. Also, she has played in chamber music master classes, including Wu Han, Calidore String Quartet and Karl Paulnack collaborative master class.
In 2017, she played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Mozart Piano Marathon. Between 2010 and 2012, she attended The Taiwan-Japan Exchange Concerts. Besides, Ms. Lin played in the Asian Composer League to assist in launching the new work by the Taiwanese composer. This year, she will attend First International White Nights Piano Festival in St. Petersburg. Yu-Hsien is currently studying for a Masters Degree in Piano Performance and Chamber Music at The University of Michigan, where she is a student of Christopher Harding.
A native of Japan, Jin Nakamura started playing cello at the age of nine in New Zealand with Jerome de Bouter in 2004. In 2007, Jin moved back to Osaka, Japan where he studied with Takeo Itoh in Suzuki Method and performed in Kansai Suzuki Method Orchestra in 2009 and Kita Osaka Jungsolisten String Ensemble in 2010. When he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2012, Jin studied with Horacio Contreras and Ken Ishii, and joined in Pioneer High School Symphony Orchestra and University of Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra during his high school years. He was a participant of the University of Michigan String Preparatory Academy in 2014, Chautauqua Institution Music Festival in 2015, and Aspen Music Festival (Fellowship) in 2016. He had performed in master classes for Mineo Hayashi, Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, Amit Peled, Paul Marleyn, and Phoebe Carrai. Jin is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he studies with Richard Aaron.
Cellist Nathan Walhout, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Michigan, studying with Richard Aaron. Previously, Nathan was the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Fellow Laureate at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, a training center for gifted pre-college musicians where he studied with artist faculty member Gilda Barston. He began his cello studies in 2001 at the age of four.
In May 2014, Nathan soloed with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, performing Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque, from Ernest Bloch’s Jewish Cycle. He has also soloed twice in 2010 and 2012 with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra as a selected winner of the DePaul Concerto Festival. He also won first place at the 2012 Walgreen’s National Concerto Competition. Nathan has had the privilege of performing in many master classes over the years; he has played for Richard Hirschl, Joshua Roman, Jonathan Pegis, Ronald Leonard, Robert Nagy, Tamás Varga, Daniel McDonough, Desmond Hoebig, and Julie Albers. Nathan’s other interests include chess and cars, and he is a life-long dog lover.
Yu Chao Weng, age 20, is a sophomore at the University of Michigan, where she is a student of Danielle Belen. Originally from Tainan, Taiwan, she began her musical studies first on the piano and then violin.
In 2010, she was selected by the city of Shanghai to participate in their special program – “A Dialogue Between Master and Talented Youth” and appeared as a soloist to perform with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. She has played in master classes for artists and pedagogues, including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Robert Lipsett, Cho-Liang Lin, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Stephen Shipps, Robert McDuffie, Calidore String Quartet and Wu Han. Ms. Weng has won competitions both in her native country and in the United States, where she was a scholarship student at the Colburn Academy for two years, also with Ms. Belen. In 2013, she was the First Prize Winner of the Parness Concerto Competition, soloing with the Culver City Symphony in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2. During the summer, Ms. Weng has attended and accepted as a scholarship student at the Aspen Music Festival in 2015, Sarasota Festival 2016 & 2017 and Center Stage Strings.
Jiyuan (Grace) Zhang began to play the piano at age of 3. She studied at the Shanghai Conservatory Middle School with Professor Yunlin Yang (2005-2011), Interlochen Arts Academy with Dr.Thomas Lymenstull (2011-2014), and is now a student of Professor Logan Skelton, majoring in Piano Performance at University of Michigan, School of Music, Theater and Dance. Accomplishments include 1st prize at the First China National Youth Piano Competition, gold medal at the Shanghai “Haiman” Piano Competition, 1st prize at the 71st International Steinway Youth Piano Competition as well as the 3rd National Steinway Youth Competition, as well as other prizes including the First National Professional Piano Competition and the First Asia-Pacific International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Korea. She is the recipient of the Lily New Scholarships in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and Chengxian Fu Scholarship in 2008.
In addition, she has recorded CDs for the Piano Grade Examination on Social Arts Level at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and has performed with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. She released CDs with Chinese-American violinist Le Zhang. She has won multiple prizes at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), including being the winner of the Michigan Division and East Central Division Competition of MTNA, as well as the 2nd place winner at the MTNA National Finals in 2012. She performed at the MMTA Conference in Ann Arbor, in October 2012. In January 2013, as the youngest contestant, she won 2nd place at Lennox International Concerto Competition in Dallas, TX. Ms. Zhang has also taken part in many prestigious master classes including Fou Ts’ong, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jane Coop, Jerome Ross, Ilja Scheps (Professor of Cologne Academy of Music), Daniel Shapiro, Michel Dalberto from the Paris Conservatoire, Santiago Rodriguez, Vadim Monastyrski, and Lang Lang.
She was awarded as Honors Student for her academic achievements. The Chinese Confucius Society of University of Michigan invited her to perform the music from Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) in Chinese history in April 2017. She also has performed with University Choir, University Symphony Orchestra, and University Symphony Band. As the pianist in the Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Band, she has released several CDs of orchestral works by Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová, English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, and the National Medal of Arts, Pulitzer Prize, and Grammy Award-winner William Bolcom.
Zi An (Sunny) Zhou is a freshman at the music school of University of Michigan, where she studies piano with Dr. Arthur Greene. Sunny was born in China. She began to play the piano at the age of six, and attended the Middle School Attached to Xinghai Conservatory of Music from 2010 to 2012. From 2012 to 2016, she was a student of Dr. Thomas Lymenstull at Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, Michigan. Besides piano, Sunny also studies organ, and had chances to play in the Central United Methodist Church in Traverse City, Michigan.
Spend an enjoyable Friday evening at the beautiful Bloomfield Township Public Library. Relax and enjoy the music!
This program is free and open to everyone. No registration is required. This concert series is sponsored by the Friends of Bloomfield Township Public Library. For more information, call the Library at (248) 642-5800 or visit our website at www.btpl.org.
The Bloomfield Township Public Library is located at 1099 Lone Pine Road (at Telegraph), Bloomfield Township, Michigan, 48302.
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY
1099 LONE PINE ROAD
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI 48302
(248) 642-5800 www.btpl.org