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Chamber Music Masterclass

Chamber Music Masterclass

Our masterclasses give audiences a glimpse into our fellows’ journey to classical greatness. It’s an opportunity to observe a one-on-one teaching session between teaching artist and fellow.

LED BY TAKÁCS QUARTET

Post Masterclass Event!
Lecture & Book Signing with Edward Dusinberre

The Takács Quartet violinist and author discusses his recent publication Distant Melodies: Music in Search of a Home.

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Artists

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Takács Quartet

quartet-in-residence

ABOUT
Distinction
The Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation / Peggy Maximus Fund quartet-in-residence
violin
Edward Dusinberre
violin
Harumi Rhodes
viola
Richard O\'Neill
cello
András Fejér
Residency
Festival weeks 0-2

The world-renowned Takács Quartet, is now entering its forty-eighth season. Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard ONeill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) are excited about the 2022-2023 season that begins with a tour of Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, and includes the release of two new cds for Hyperion Records. A disc of Haydn’s opp. 42, 77 and 103 is followed by the first recording of an extraordinary new work written for the Takács by Stephen Hough, Les Six Rencontres, presented with quartets by Ravel and Dutilleux. As Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Takács will perform four concerts there. In addition to programs featuring Beethoven, Schubert and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, one concert consists of works by Britten, Bartók and Dvořák that highlight the same themes of displacement and return explored in Edward Dusinberre’s new book Distant Melodies: Music in Search of Home. The book is published by Faber and the University of Chicago Press in the Fall of 2022. The quartet will perform the same program at several venues in the USA, complemented by book talks. During this season the quartet will continue its fruitful partnership with pianist Jeremy Denk, performing on several North American series.

Throughout 2022 and 2023 the ensemble will play at prestigious European venues including the Edinburgh and Schwetzingen Festivals, Madrid’s Auditorio de Música, Bilbao’s Philharmonic Society, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Bath Mozartfest. The group’s North American engagements include concerts in New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tucson, Portland and the Beethoven Center at San Jose State University.

The Takács Quartet is known for innovative programming. In 2021-22 the ensemble partnered with  bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro to premiere new works by Clarice Assad and Bryce Dessner, commissioned by Music Accord. In 2014 the Takács performed a program inspired by Philip Roth’s novel Everyman with Meryl Streep at Princeton, and again with her at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2015. They first performed Everyman at Carnegie Hall in 2007 with Philip Seymour Hoffman. They have toured 14 cities with the poet Robert Pinsky, and played regularly with the Hungarian Folk group Muzsikas.

The Takács records for Hyperion Records, recently winning awards for their recordings of string quartets by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and - with pianist Garrick Ohlsson - piano quintets by Amy Beach and Elgar. Other releases for Hyperion feature works by Haydn, Schubert, Janáček, Smetana, Debussy and Britten, as well as piano quintets by César Franck and Shostakovich (with Marc-André Hamelin), and viola quintets by Brahms and Dvorák (with Lawrence Power). For their CDs on the Decca/London label, the Quartet has won three Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, three Japanese Record Academy Awards, Disc of the Year at the inaugural BBC Music Magazine Awards, and Ensemble Album of the Year at the Classical Brits. Full details of all recordings can be found in the Recordings section of the Quartet's website.

In 2014 the Takács became the first string quartet to be awarded the Wigmore Hall Medal. In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the first string quartet to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. The ensemble also won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London. Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the members of the Takács Quartet are Christoffersen Faculty Fellows, and the grateful beneficiaries of an instrument loan by the Drake Foundation. The members of the Takács are on the faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where they run a summer string quartet seminar, and Visiting Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music, London.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. The group received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982.

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Beau Henson

violin

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
22
Birthplace
Des Moines, Iowa
School
University of Michigan
Compeers
Mark Osiel; Mary McMaster
Scholarship Donor
John Percival and Mary C. Jefferson Endowed Scholarship in Violin

Beau recently earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, studying with David Halen. In 2019, Beau received first prize in both the Des Moines Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Youth Chamber Music Competition. He has performed as concertmaster of the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and as a member of the Volta String Quartet.

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Harin Kang

violin

ABOUT
Fellow
2018, 2023, 2024
Age
27
Birthplace
Suwon, South Korea
School
New England Conservatory
Compeers
Margaret Rose
Scholarship
John and Linda Seiter Scholarship

Harin earned her master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and studies with Kristopher Tong, Duekwoo Kim, and Choonsoo Chung. Awards for the multi-year Music Academy alum include 1st Prize in the 2019 Hwasung National Music Competition and 2nd place in the 2014 Sung Jung Competition.

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PoYu Lee

violin

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
22
Birthplace
Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C
School
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Compeers
Candice Frankel
Scholarship Donor
Sandra Karol Seymour and Phillips Seymour Endowed Scholarship in Violin

PoYu most recently earned his bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Simon James. He won the 2022 Telegraph Quartet Competition and has appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra. Poyu is a substitute musician with the Evergreen Orchestra.

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Oliver Leitner

violin

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
23
Birthplace
San Diego, California
Current School
Yale School of Music
Compeers
Shirley and Ken Waxman
Scholarship Donor
Linda and John Seiter Scholarship in Violin
Music Academy Award
2023 MAX Fellow

  • Born in San Diego, California, earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in Chemistry, recently began a master’s degree at Yale School of Music
  • He was a recipient of the 2022 Yale Music Department Selden Memorial Award, was one of three finalists in the 2021 Yale William Waite Concerto Competition, and received Yale's 2023 Wrexham Prize;
  • He is a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

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Whitney Takata

violin

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
21
Birthplace
Tokyo, Japan
School
The Juilliard School
Compeers
Beth Gates Warren and Robert Boghosian
Scholarship Donor
Beth Gates Warren and Bob Boghosian Scholarship in Violin

Whitney earned a bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School studying with Joseph Lin. She took the Gold Medal in the 2019 Japan Wind, Strings, and Percussion Solo Contest, and earned Second Place in the 2019 Junior Classical Music Competition in Japan. In 2022, she led the Music Academy Festival Orchestra as part of the String Leadership Program.

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Aaron You-Xin Li

violin

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
24
Birthplace
Tainan, Taiwan
Current Position
New World Symphony
Compeers
Beth Gates Warren and Robert Boghosian
Scholarship Donor
Zvi Zeitlin Endowed Scholarship in Violin
Music Academy Award
2023 MAX Fellow

  • Born in Tainan, Taiwan, Aaron earned a master’s degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
  • A first-year Fellow at New World Symphony, he has played with the Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, and Terre Haute Symphony
  • He was awarded first prize at the 2023 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Collegiate Competition

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Kenneth Fujii

viola

ABOUT
Fellow
2023, 2024
Age
22
Birthplace
Las Vegas, Nevada
School
Peabody Conservatory of Music
Compeers
Mally Chakola and Dean Jackson
Scholarship
Donald Harger Endowed Scholarship

Kenneth is earning his master’s degree from the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University in the studio of Victoria Chang. A 2023 Music Academy alum, he was the principal violist of the Canton Symphony for their 2022 season. He also performed as substitute violist with the World Symphony and Madison Symphony. In 2022, he was a finalist in the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition. While in residence at Arcadia University, he was a member of HEXTET. Kenneth is a SphinxConnect fellow.

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Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno

viola

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
20
Birthplace
Greenbrae, California
School
The Juilliard School
Compeers
Mally Chakola and Dean Jackson
Scholarship Donor
Music Academy Scholarship in Viola, anonymous donor

Vincenzo is a bachelor’s degree student at The Juilliard School studying with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory. He won major prizes in both the 2021 International Grande Music and 2020 Northern California Viola Society Young Violists competitions. Vincenzo is a Gluck Fellow at Juilliard.

 

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Torron Pfeffer

viola

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
21
Birthplace
Long Branch, New Jersey
Current School
The Juilliard School
Compeer
Nadia Skidanov
Scholarship Donor
Music Academy Scholarship in Viola, anonymous donor

Torron is currently earning a bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang. He is a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship at Juilliard and the Embrella Foundation Scholarship. He has recorded soundtracks for movies such as Don’t Worry Darling, and Till.

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Claire Park

cello

ABOUT
Pronouns
She/Her
Fellow
2023
Age
22
Birthplace
Los Angeles, California
Current School
New England Conservatory
Compeers
Dawn Seymour; Kirsten Dibenedetto
Scholarship Donor
Katharine Mallin Scholarship in Cello in memory of Richard C. Stein

Claire earned a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Laurence Lesser. She was a finalist for the 2018 Mondavi Center Young Artists National Competition, earning the Bernstein Prize. Recently, Claire has performed with A Far Cry Chamber Ensemble, and at the NEC Honors String Quartet Recital.

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Miles Tatsuo Goosby

cello

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
22
Birthplace
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
School
Manhattan School of Music
Compeers
Alison and Lance Kronberg and Byron Wu
Scholarship Donor
Dan Dokos and Bryan Graybill Scholarship in Cello

Miles recently completed a bachelor’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Julia Lichten. Miles received first place in the 2019 Thomas M. Osborne Concerto Competition, and has performed as principal cello for the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra.

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Hamzah Zaidi

cello

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
24
Birthplace
New York, New York
School
Eastman School of Music
Compeers
Marnie and Steve Pinsker
Scholarship Donor
Stephen Schaible and Daron Builta Scholarship in Cello

Hamzah earned a master’s degree at Eastman School of Music in cello performance and literature, studying with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliot. Hamzah has performed with the English National Opera and was a fellow at the Virtuoso e Belcanto Festival in Lucca, Italy. He has played for BBC Radio 3 and as an extra for Rocketman.

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