Concerts @ First presents
Musical Fireworks A Chamber Music Celebration
Musical Fireworks A Chamber Music Celebration Concert September 19th, 2021 3:00 P.M Piano Quintet in A Major Op. 81 mvt. 1 Allegro, ma non tanto
Antonin Dvorak
David Coucheron, violin; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Josiah Coe, viola; Charae Krueger, cello; Julie Coucheron, piano
Chaconne
Tomaso Vitali David Coucheron, violin; Jens Korndörfer, organ
Trio in G Major K. 564 mvt. 1 Allegro
W.A. Mozart
David Coucheron, violin; Charae Krueger, cello; Julie Coucheron, piano
La Vida Breve
Manuel de Falla
Julie Coucheron, piano; William Ransom, piano; Elizabeth Pridgen, piano
Piano Trio in G Minor mvt. 3 Finale, Presto
Bedrich Smetana
David Coucheron, violin; Christopher Rex, cello; Julie Coucheron, piano
Summer from The ‘ 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires’
Astor Piazzolla
Helen Hwaya Kim; Charae Krueger, cello; Elizabeth Pridgen, piano
Summer in G Minor RV. 315 from The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi
I. Allegro non molto– Allegro II. Adagio III. Presto David Coucheron, violin; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Alice Hong, violin; Josiah Coe, viola; Christopher Rex, cello; Julie Coucheron, piano
Adagio
Tomaso Albinoni David Coucheron, violin; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Josiah Coe, viola; Charae Krueger, cello; Jens Korndörfer, organ
Czardas
Vittorio Monti
David Coucheron, violin; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Josiah Coe, viola; Charae Krueger, cello; Christopher Rex, cello; Julie Coucheron, piano; William Ransom, piano; Elizabeth Pridgen, piano; Jens Korndörfer, organ
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About the Artists American violist Josiah Coe is a strong proponent of the transformative power of music. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Porterville Strings Festival, Emerald Coast Music Festival, MusicX in Blonay, Switzerland, AIMS Festival in Austria, Le Feste di Musica Fiesole in Italy, and with Wicked Music People in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with members of the Parker String Quartet, Brightfeather Ensemble, Franklin Pond String Quartet, Tempest Trio, and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Josiah is a founding member of the Edgewood String Quartet. He resides in Atlanta where he regularly performs with the Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Opera, and Atlanta Symphony orchestras. Believing music should be accessible, he works with organizations such as Atlanta Music Project, Porterville Strings, and Emerald Coast Music Alliance, all of which bring high quality performances and music education to audiences outside of concert halls. Josiah completed his Bachelor of Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and his Master of Music at Lynn Conservatory of Music with full scholarships at both institutions. He was a Colburn Collection Award recipient and was a Fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival and School. His mentors have included Ralph Fielding, Steve Wyrczynski, James Dunham, Choong-Jin Chang and Julianne Lee. David Coucheron joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in September 2010. At the time, he was the youngest concertmaster among any major U.S. orchestra. Throughout his career, Coucheron has worked with conductors Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich and Charles Dutoit, among others. He has performed as soloist with the BBC Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Sendai Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony. Coucheron has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Olympic Winter Games at Salt Lake City, as well as in Beograd, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Serbia, Singapore and Shanghai. His chamber music performances have included appearances at Suntory Hall as well as Wigmore Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Coucheron serves as the Artistic Director for the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival in his hometown of Oslo, Norway. He is also on the artist-faculty for the Aspen and Brevard Music Festivals. An active recording artist, recordings with sister and pianist Julie Coucheron include “David and Julie” (Naxos/ Mudi) and “Debut” (Naxos). He is also the featured soloist on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was released on ASO Media. Coucheron began playing the violin at age three. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute, his Master of Music from The Juilliard School and his Master of Musical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with teachers including Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan and David Takeno. Coucheron plays a 1725 Stradivarius. He recently joined the faculty of Emory University. Born in Oslo, Norway, Julie Coucheron began playing the piano at age four. She earned her Bach-elor and Master’s Degree with honors from the Royal Academy of Music in London. At the age of 30, Ms. Coucheron has established an international career, winning awards in Italy, Germany, UK and in the United States. Ms. Coucheron has worked with musicians such as Claude Frank, Emanuel Ax, Chee-Yun Kim, Christopher O’Riley, Steve Miller Band, Yo-Yo Ma, and Elton John, and has toured Europe, America, South America and Asia, performing in halls like Verizon Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Ms. Coucheron has performed with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic; Jena Symphony Orchestra, and the Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra in Kiev. Ms. Coucheron regularly performs at festivals such as the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Bergen International Music Festival, Amelia Island Music Festival, Madison Chamber Music Festival, Juneau Jazz and Classics and at La Jolla Summer Fest. She is Artistic Director of the Fjord Cadenza festival in Norway and for the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival in Oslo, Norway. In addition, Ms. Coucheron also performed during the 2003 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Ms. Coucheron enjoys a close collaboration with her brother, the Concertmaster of the Atlanta Sym-phony, David Coucheron, and together they have released two recordings, ‘Debut’ and ‘David and Julie’ on the Naxos label. In addition to her busy concert schedule, Ms. Coucheron is a sought after teacher and pedagogue. In August 2014, she was appointed Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the top 50 state schools in the United States. Ms. Coucheron has given masterclasses and taught at schools such as the New England Conservatory, Emory University and Mercer University.
Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Alice Hong is an international award-winner both as a violinist and composer. She was featured on CBC’s 2018 edition of “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30” and has appeared as a composerperformer for the Atlanta Symphony’s Conversation of Note series with Robert Spano. As a violinist, Alice has toured with Lincoln Center Stage, with which she has performed in 28 countries, and has performed in the violin sections of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic and The Atlanta Opera, among others. In the summer, she performs as a section violinist of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Alice has also performed her own compositions at venues and events such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Spoleto Festival USA, and Heifetz on Tour. As an avid chamber musician, Alice has performed alongside esteemed musicians such as James Ehnes, Frans Helmerson, Mihaela Martin, Jonathan Crow, New Orford String Quartet, and Barry Shiffman, among others. Her performances have been featured on CBC Radio, WABE 90.1 Atlanta and WSMR 89.9 Tampa. As a composer, Alice’s pieces have been performed and recorded by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Niagara Symphony, Georgian Bay Symphony, Ludwig Symphony Orchestra, CIM Symphony Orchestra, Amersfoort Youth Orchestra, and principal members of the New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Rolston String Quartet and Cypress String Quartet. Her works have won multiple awards from the ASCAP Morton Gould Awards as well as first prize at the International Keuris Competition, Carl E. Baldassarre Composer-Virtuosi Competition, NorCal Viola Society Commission Contest, Pikes Peak Composition Competition, and third prize at the 2021 „Steirischer TonkunstlerBund“ International Composition Competition and at the 2018 Lands End Ensemble Composition Competition; they have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden and China. She has also been a commissioned composer and composer-inresidence for festivals such as Toronto Summer Music and Lovstabruks Kammarmusikfestival. Alice earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto under the private tutelage of Jonathan Crow, as well as a Master of Music degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music as a Dorothy R. Starling Foundation Scholar studying with Cho-Liang Lin and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music with David Updegraff.
In the last two decades, German organist Dr. Jens Korndo rfer has established himself international-ly as performer, educator and church musician. Praised as “a virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition” who creates “performances that are deeply musically satisfying as well as exciting” (The American Organist), Jens has performed to critical acclaim at prestigious venues such as Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Merrill Auditorium in Portland (ME), Duke University Chapel, the Montreal Bach Festival, the Cathedrals in Washing-ton, Berlin, Paris, Salzburg, Oslo, and Moscow, Westminster Abbey in London, Suntory Hall in To-kyo, Kyoto Concert Hall, and the Cultural Centre in Hong Kong. Jens’ repertoire reaches from the Renaissance to the 21st century, including transcriptions, com-missions and world premieres. He frequently collaborates with other musicians, has performed with orchestras, and recorded four CDs. He has given master classes and presentations at conventions, universities, and concert halls around the world, and his research has been published in dedicated music journals. As Director of Worship and the Arts, and Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, GA, Jens oversees a thriving music and arts ministry. Under his leadership, the sanctuary organ was completely rebuilt, enlarged, and revoiced by organ builders Klais (Bonn, Germany) and Schlueter (Lithonia, GA), and a new Steinway Concert Grand Piano was purchased. Thanks to collaborations with major cultural players (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, HIGH Museum of Art, Atlanta Opera), the introduction of programs that raise awareness for minorities in the clas-sical arts, and presentations and lecture series on inter-disciplinary topics, Jens significantly in-creased the reach of the church’s music and arts ministry. A top-honor graduate from the Conservatoire National Supe rieur de Musique in Paris, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Musikhochschule in Bayreuth and McGill University in Montreal, Jens’ teachers include Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, James David Christie, and Ludger Lohmann. www.jenskorndoerfer.com
Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston's Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor and Master's Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Hyo, Kang, Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy De-Lay. While at Juilliard, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition at both the pre–college and college levels. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. She won the prestigious Artists Interna-tional Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival. A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged as soloist by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared as soloist with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Highlands-Cashiers, Amelia Island, El Paso Pro Musi-ca,Zenith and Sitka International Chamber Music Festivals. She recently made her debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the 2019 St Miguel de Allende International Chamber music festi-val. Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as Assistant and Associate Concert-master for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and serves as Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Department at Kennesaw State University
Charae Krueger received her training in cello studies at the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with Laurence Lesser and Colin Carr and received a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance. She also holds an Artist Diploma from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Krueger received her chamber music training with Eugene Lehner of the Kolisch Quartet, as well as with Robert Mann and Samuel Rhodes of the Juilliard String Quartet. She has also coached with such artists as Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, Louis Krasner, Felix Galimir and Leon Kirch-ner. She has played in masterclasses with Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Banff School for the Arts. Since moving to Atlanta five years ago, Ms. Krueger has been appointed principal cellist of the At-lanta Opera Orchestra and the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. She also performs frequently with the At-lanta Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee, where she will be featured as soloist this season. She enjoys playing chamber music with various ensembles throughout the city, performing with the Amadeus String Ensemble, the Musica Da Camera, the Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the Lyra String Quartet. Ms. Krueger was recently appointed cello professor at Kennesaw State University and is a member of the faculty string quartet in residence there as well. While living in Boston, Ms. Krueger was principal cellist for ten years with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and also performed with the Vermont Symphony, Nashua NH Symphony and the New England Chamber Orchestra. She was a founding member of the Arden String Quartet, a nationally managed group who, in 1996, succeeded the Borromeo and Ying Quartets by receiving the Arthur W. Foote Emerging Artist award. She has given U.S. premieres of works by Elliot Carter, Gunther Schuller, Herschel Garfein, Victor Ullman and Alexander Mnatsekanyan. She has also enjoyed playing chamber music in such groups as the Boccherini Ensemble, Trillium (a flute-oboe-cello trio) and the Speakeasy String Quartet (a jazz string quartet). Ms. Krueger plays on a cello made by Abraham Prescott in Concord, N.H. in 1830
Pianist Elizabeth Pridgen has distinguished herself as a soloist and chamber musician. Named Artistic Director of the Atlanta Chamber Players in 2014, she has led the group in performances of both new and standard chamber works to critical acclaim. Ms. Pridgen recently made her major orchestral debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano and released three albums including the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet with Andres Cardenes and the Vega String Quartet and albums with violinists Robert McDuffie and Anne Akiko Meyers. An advocate of new music, Ms. Pridgen has participated in the commissioning of works by noted composers such as Adam Schoenberg and Michael Gandolfi and supports underserved composers through her leadership of the Rapido Composition Competition. Ms. Pridgen has toured extensively throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe and performs regularly at festivals including the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Rome, Italy, the Aspen Music Festival, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Chamber Music Festival and the Kon-Tiki Chamber Music Festival in Oslo, Norway. An avid chamber performer, she is a member of the Cortona Trio and Georgian Chamber Players. Ms. Pridgen is currently a Distinguished Artist and Piano Chair at the McDuffie Center for Strings and holds the G. Leslie Fabian Piano Chair at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University. She received her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School where she studied with Joseph Kalichstein and earned her bachelor's degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music as a student of Ann Schein.
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, Dvor a k, Saint-Sae ns, 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 Mu-sic 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 Mon-treal 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 September 10, December 10, February 18, May 13 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Series Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta
With members of Julliard and Vega string quartets, and Zuill Bailey Friday, October 29, 2021 8:00 P.M. Battle of the Keys Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto arr. for piano and organ and a world premiere performed by Julie Coucheron and Jens Korndörfer Sunday, November 14, 2021 3:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Players Works by Brahms, Krause, Bunch, and more Sunday, December 10, 2021 10:15 A.M. Christmas Concert Telemann’s Latin Magnificat in C FPC Choir and Orchestra Friday, January 7, 2022 8:00 P.M. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony and Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with Jens Korndörfer Sunday, January 23, 2022 3:00 P.M. Georgian Chamber Players Friday, February 4, 2022 8:00 P.M. Piano Dedication Concert With Chopin Competition Prize Winner Charles Richard– Hamelin Works by Mozart and Schumann Thursday, February 23, 2022 8:00 P.M. Masterworks Concert Principal Flutist Christina Smith (ASO) with Georgia State University’s Symphony Orchestra Sunday, April 3, 2022 3:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Winds Works by Dvorak, Mozart, Shulz Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19, 2022 Challenge the Stats Celebrating Artists of Color