Concerts @ First and
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Present
Bach’s Lunch
Bach‘s Lunch Beethoven 2020 October 30th, 2020 12:00 P.M. Music of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op.5 No.2 Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo Allegro molto più tosto presto
Rondo: Allegro
Christopher Rex, cello William Ransom, piano Sonata No.5 in F Major, Op. 24, “The Spring“ Allegro Adagio molto espressivo
Scherzo: Allegro molto Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo Amy Schwartz Moretti, Violin William Ransom, Piano
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta is supported by the Cherry L. Emerson Endowment, the Rebecca Katz-Doft Chamber Music Endowment, the Ethel Orentlicher Gershon Fund, a generous gift from Dr. John and Linda Cooke, the Friends of Music at Emory, and by ongoing contributions from listeners like you.
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About the Artists Recognized as a deeply expressive artist with an affinity for chamber music, violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti has a musical career of broad versatility. She is former Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and Florida Orchestra, and recipient of prizes from the D’Angelo International Young Artist Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. She was also an award winner at the Washington International Competition and made her New York concerto debut in Carnegie Hall. Her appearances during the 2016-17 season included the Japanese premiere of “Three Shades of Blue,” GRAMMY® winner Matt Catingub’s concerto written for her. She has served as guest concertmaster for the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh and Atlanta; the Hawaii Pops and New York Pops; and the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado and Grand Teton, and has also served as Concertmaster of CityMusic Cleveland, a chamber orchestra bringing free concerts into the neighborhoods of northeastern Ohio. In addition to her performances as an orchestral soloist and concertmaster, she is an awardwinning chamber music artist, appearing in concert series and at music festivals across North America and Europe, and is a member of the internationally acclaimed Ehnes Quartet. Recent projects include the complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets for performances at the 2016 DITTO Festival in Seoul, and the recording of Schubert and Sibelius quartets released in November 2016. She has recorded for Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Onyx Classics, CBC Records, BCMF/Naxos and Sono Luminus. Her Prokofiev and Bartok duos with James Ehnes were included in recordings that received Juno Awards for “Classical Album of the Year – Solo or Chamber Ensemble” in 2014 and 2015. Throughout her career, Ms. Moretti has been an advocate of chamber music and instrumental in the development of intensive workshops for young musicians in Oregon, Florida and Georgia. Born in Wisconsin, raised in North Carolina and California, Amy lives in Georgia with her husband and two young sons. Director of the McDuffie Center for Strings since its inception at the Mercer University Townsend School of Music in 2007, she has also developed the Fabian Concert Series on campus featuring internationally distinguished artists in chamber music concerts and masterclasses, and is violinist of Cortona Trio with her McDuffie Center colleagues. Her dedication to collaboration and performance complements her directorship and inspires her teaching and coaching of the Center’s gifted young musicians. The Cleveland Institute of Music has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award and she is the 2014 San Francisco Conservatory of Music Fanfare Honoree. Through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society in Chicago, Amy Schwartz Moretti plays the 1744 G.B. Guadagnini violin known as the "Canadian" and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan.
About the Artists Pianist, Artistic Director, master teacher, editor and judge for international competitions, William Ransom appears around the world as soloist with orchestras, recitalist and chamber musician. His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio and Television in the US, Argentina, Poland and Japan. He regularly collaborates with musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, William Preucil, Stephen Isserlis, Robert McDuffie, and members of the Tokyo, Cleveland, Juilliard, American, St. Petersburg, Borromeo, Parker, Ariel and Lark String Quartets; the Empire Brass Quintet, Eroica Trio, and the percussion group Nexus among others. As a master teacher, he also performs and gives master classes at numerous schools of music and universities around the world. He has recorded for ACA Digital and Rising Star Records. Ransom is the Mary Emerson Professor of Piano at Emory University in Atlanta and founder and Artistic Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. A graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of Michigan, in the summers, Ransom is Artistic Director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and for a decade was an artist-faculty member at the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan. In 2016 he was named Artistic Director of the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and also one of Musical America Worldwide’s “30 Musical Innovators”.
Christopher Rex joined the Atlanta Symphony as Principal in 1979, the same year in which he became the first cellist ever to win the string prize in the biennial Young Artists Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Since then he has appeared as a recitalist and chamber musician across the nation. Following his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Orlando Cole and at The Juilliard School with Leonard Rose, he was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy for seven seasons. He has taught at Gettysburg College, the New School of Music in Philadelphia, Georgia State University, and the Eastern Music Festival. He shared Acting Principal duties for the New York Philharmonic's European tour in 1988. Mr. Rex's solo performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra include works by Brahms, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Bloch, Elgar, Schumann, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Haydn, Herbert, Hindemith, Prokofiev, Barber, Golijov, and Stephen Paulus. Mr. Rex directs the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, which he founded, and the Madison Chamber Music Festival in Georgia. A regular performer at the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, he has been principal cellist of the orchestras at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has performed as a soloist at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Brevard and Eastern Music Festival and the Chautauqua Festival in New York. He served on the board of directors of Chamber Music America for six years, was head of the Cello Department of Georgia State University School of Music, and is on the chamber music faculty of the of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon.
Concerts @ First presents 2020-2021 Dedication Concerts of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta’s PEYTON CATER ROBINSON MEMORIAL STEINWAY CONCERT GRAND PIANO Friday, October 23, 2020 8:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Players 45th Season Opener World Premiere– David Garner’s Crow and Melt
Friday, October 30, 2020 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Beethoven 2020 - Violin and Cello Sonatas #2 Christopher Rex, cello - Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin - William Ransom, piano
Sunday, November 8, 2020 2:00 P.M. Chamber Music Showcase Purchase tickets for in person attendance Thanksgiving concert featuring David Coucheron, Stuart Stephenson, Maria Valdes
Sunday, December 13, 2020 10:00 A.M. Christmas Concert Program TBD Friday, January 22, 2021 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Vega String Quartet
Saturday, February 6, 2021 11:00 A.M. Atlanta Opera Studio Educational Tour Bi-lingual Barber of Seville Friday, February 19, 2021 8:00 P.M. Piano & Organ Concert Beethoven – Emperor Concerto; David Briggs - Poème Rhapsodique (World Premiere) Julie Coucheron, piano - Jens Korndörfer, organ
Friday, March 26, 2021 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta David Coucheron, violin; William Ransom, piano
Sunday, May 16, 2021 3:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Players Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue