THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Guest Artist Recital
Steven Elisha, Cello
Jihye Chang, Piano
Thursday, September 21, 2023 7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A, Op. 69 Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegro ma non tanto (1770–1827)
Scherzo. Allegro molto
Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace
Suite for violoncello solo Gaspar Cassadó
1. Preludio-fantasia. Andante (1897–1966)
2. Sardana (danza). Allegro giusto
3. Intermezzo e danza finale. Lento ma non troppo - Allegro marcato
INTERMISSION
Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Allegro moderato
Scherzo
Largo
Finale. Allegro
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Frédéric Chopin
(1846–1847)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Internationally acclaimed cellist Dr. Steven Elisha has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Norway, China, Taiwan, Brazil, Israel, and the United States. He first attracted attention at the age of fifteen when he gave solo performances with the Albany and Schenectady (NY) Symphonies. Elisha’s New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and premiere performance of Cry of the Dove (a cello concerto written by his sister, Adrienne Elisha) received critical acclaim.
As an honorary member and returned guest of the Beijing Cello Society, he has extensively toured mainland China, performing recitals and teaching master classes at the Shanghai, Canton, Xian, Jinan, and Beijing conservatories. Featured solo appearances have included the Beijing Central Philharmonic and Symphonies of Beijing, Xian, Jinan, and Canton, Toledo Symphony, Connecticut Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Topeka Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony and Highland Park Strings.
Formerly Director of String Studies at Washburn University, Principal Cellist of the Topeka Symphony, and Conductor of the Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra, Elisha was also the Artistic Director/Conductor of the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra. Elisha regularly gives masterclasses, workshops, and residencies throughout the United States, including his fun-loving and innovative “Mr. Cello Stories” program for audiences of all ages. Elisha frequently presents workshops, teaches and performs at national and international festivals, conferences and summer music programs, including the Summit Music Festival, Sunflower Music Festival, Washington Square Music Festival, Charleston International Music School, Omaha Conservatory Summer Institute, College Music Society and American String Teachers National Conference. Elisha is the Regional Representative of the American String Teachers Association Georgia Chapter. Elisha is co-founder and cellist of the Elaris Duo, with violinist Larisa Elisha.
As a recording artist, he can be heard on a Grammy-nominated Musical Heritage Society recording of New England piano trios, Yale Cellos of Aldo Parisot, on Delos and Duo Virtuoso on MSR-Classics. Just released at MSR-Classics, Duo Virtuoso II – Works for Violin and Cello by Honegger, Ravel and Schulhoff, has received high praise in reviews appearing in Fanfare Magazine, Gramophone, American Record Guide, and other leading music publications. Elisha was featured in Fanfare Magazine, and is winner of the Global Music Awards for Duo Virtuoso and Duo Virtuoso II. Currently, Elisha is Professor of Music, Strings Area Head and Director of Orchestras at Georgia Southern University Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music.
Pianist Jihye Chang enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, collaborator, educator, scholar, and advocate for new music in the United States and abroad. Her performances focus on the creative process of collaborating with living composers, curating programs that can connect to various audiences, and giving context to contemporary works.
She is a recipient of the Henry Kohn Award from the Tanglewood Music Center, an Honorary Fellowship from the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, the Aaron Copland Recording Grant, and first prize of the Mikhashoff International Pianist-Composer Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Brevard Music Center Sinfonietta, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Wonjoo Philhamronic Orchestra, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and Virtuosi of Festival Internacionale de Musica in Recife (Brazil), among others. Since 2016 she has led more than 20 performances of her solo project “Continuum 88” – a solo project in which she programs masterworks of piano literature, focusing on specific genres such as etudes and variations each season, alongside newly commissioned works in the same genres by younger composers – in venues across the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan.
As a chamber musician she has collaborated with musicians from across the states including Cheeyun, Jordan Bak, Frank Cohen, Michael Klotz, Bion Tsang, and Richard Young, among others and has appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Blue Candlelight Music Series in Dallas, Artists Series of Tallahassee, Broman Series at Mary Baldwin University, and Brevard Monday Series. She also appeared at the Nuevo Mundo Festival y Academia in Aruba, Old First Church Concert Series of San Francisco, and Tuesday Concert Series at Seoul National University. Recently she led residencies both in person and online at Indiana University, UCLA, Tufts University, Rutgers University, University of North Texas, Texas Christian University, and Tulane University, working with young composers and composition faculty members.
During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020-2021, she launched an online collaborative project with 8 Bostonarea composers, the “Boston Etudes Project,” with 8 online premieres of new etudes written for her. The Project culminated in a live performance with 5 additional etudes at Tufts University in February 2022. She also launched a hybrid concert series entitled “Jihye’s Salon,” in which audience from all over the world enjoyed livestreamed concerts at their own home while artists from various locations performed from their own home.
Chang’s recordings can be found on Albany, Centaur, Parma, and Sony Korea, and she has recently recorded 77 Canonic Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Nathan Lam. Her research has been focused on piano etudes, music by women composers, interdisciplinary outreach programs, and music by Korean composers. She expanded her interest on music by Korean composers into a new music theory course at Florida State University. She has presented several lectures focusing on music as a mean to understand Korean culture at Seoul National University Alumni Association’s 2022 Summit, University of Cincinnati College of Music, University of North Texas, University of East Maine, and Boston University.
Chang graduated from Seoul National University, and earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Chang is a faculty member at the Brevard Music Center and a core member of the Intersection Music. She has been a lecturer at Florida State University since 2012 and served there as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2014-15. Visit instagram.com/jihyechangpiano to see her passion on espresso and listen to her online premieres and other performances on youtube.com/jihyechangpiano.
