Emory
CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY of Atlanta
Emerson Series
This livestream concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Box Office/Audience Information 404.727.5050 • boxoffice@emory.edu
Photographs and Recordings Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted. Event and Program Information Available online at schwartz.emory.edu Cover Design By Lisa Baron Acknowledgment Eternal thanks to Donna and Marvin Schwartz for their many contributions.
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 music lovers like you.
ECMSA Emerson Series Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta William Ransom, artistic director
2020 2021
String Theory
The Vega String Quartet David Coucheron, guest first violin; Jessica Shuang Wu, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola; and Guang Wang, cello with Paul Murphy, viola, and Roy Harran, cello
Saturday, April 3, 2021, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Virtual Stage
Program Preshow music provided by the Vega String Quartet
Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola Poco allegro–Poco vivo Poco andante–Andante moderato Allegro–Moderato
Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)
David Coucheron, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Souvenir de Florence Allegro con spirito Adagio cantabile e con moto Allegro moderato Allegro vivace
The Vega String Quartet; Paul Murphy, viola; Roy Harran, cello
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The Vega String Quartet David Coucheron, guest first violin; Jessica Shuang Wu, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola; Guang Wang, cello
The Vega String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Emory, is cultivating a new generation of chamber music lovers through dynamic performances and innovative community engagement. The New York Times raved about its “playing that had a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along. . . . the musicians took real risks in their music making,” and the Los Angeles Times praised its “triumphant L.A. debut.” The quartet concertizes both nationally and internationally, most recently in Baltimore, Chicago, Nashville, Sacramento, Berlin, San Miguel, and the Brahms-Saal in Vienna’s Musikverein. Performing projects at Emory have included the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets, as well as pairing Bach’s complete works for solo violin, viola, and cello with the six Bartók quartets. It has also developed a series of Jazz Meets Classics programs, bringing the two genres together. Tour highlights include a debut at Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw; a tour of Denmark, with a performance at the Royal Danish Conservatory; and appearances at El Paso Pro Musica and the Sitka Music Festival. 5
A unique aspect of the quartet’s residency at Emory is bringing performance into the classroom, collaborating with academic professors to create interdisciplinary parallels and conversations. The quartet also strives to enrich the cultural life of its community, having founded the Emory Youth Chamber Music Program, which gives intensive training sessions in small ensemble playing to advanced pre-college students. The quartet was appointed to the roster of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Young Audience program, engaging thousands of students throughout the greater-Atlanta school system. The quartet has also held residencies in Augusta, Jacksonville, and Juneau that combined traditional concerts with The Vega star is educational outreach, performances in non-traditional venues, and master the brightest in the classes for area students. Lyra constellation. The Vega String Quartet has won According to numerous international awards, Greek mythology, including at the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, as well as top this constellation prizes from the Coleman Chamber represents the lyre, Ensemble Competition, the Carmel which belonged Chamber Music Competition, and the National Society of Arts and to the legendary Letters String Quartet Competition. musician Orpheus. It tours throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, and has appeared at Weill Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, and Duke Hall at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The members of the Vega String Quartet collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians including Eliot Fisk, Christopher O’Riley, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Robert Spano, Charles Wadsworth, and the Eroica Trio. They also commission, premier, and record works by leading composers. The quartet is a frequent guest at numerous music festivals including Amelia Island, Aspen, Brevard, Highlands-Cashiers, Juneau Jazz and Classics, Kingston, Mostly Mozart, Rockport, San Miguel de Allende, and SummerFest La Jolla.
What does Vega mean?
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Photo by Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC
David Coucheron, guest first violin
David Coucheron joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as concertmaster in September 2010. At the time, he was the youngest concertmaster among any major United States 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, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Coucheron has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the XIX Olympic Winter Games (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 Music Festival and Brevard Music Festival. 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’s recording of Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, which was released on ASO Media. Coucheron began playing the violin at age three. He has a bachelor’s degree in music from the Curtis Institute of Music, a master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School, and a master’s degree in musical performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, studying with teachers including Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan, and David Takeno. Coucheron plays a 1725 Stradivarius, on kind loan from the Anders Sveaas Charitable Trust.
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Paul Murphy, viola
Paul Murphy is the associate principal viola with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, having held that position since 1986. Previously he held principal positions with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic, an the Caracas (Venezuela) Philharmonic, and he was a regular player with the St. Louis Symphony. He has also performed as guest principal for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Murphy is a native of Pensacola, Florida, where he studied with the renowned Anna Tringas. He later graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music where his principal teachers were David Cerone and Robert Vernon. During college, he also served as an assistant teacher at the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music. Murphy is an avid chamber music performer and has played extensively with the ECMSA, the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Georgian Chamber Players, and the Minneapolis Artists Ensemble. He has collaborated with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Sadao Harada, Robert McDuffie, Alan Gilbert, and Robert Spano. He can be heard in chamber music performances on the Innova, GM, Arundax, and ACA labels, and is a featured performer on the short children’s film, The Orchestra Gets Dressed. Murphy has participated regularly in music festivals including the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Wintergreen Music Festival, the Highlands-Cashiers Music Festival, and the Pensacola Chamber Music Festival. On a different note, Murphy has recorded extensively with rock bands R.E.M. and Collective Soul and also worked with Stone Temple Pilots, Indigo Girls, Usher, Widespread Panic, and Outkast. He has soloed with the Atlanta Symphony in works by Mozart, Rorem, Bruch, and Freddy Mercury. A dedicated teacher, Murphy has served as an artist affiliate at Emory, a distinguished artist at the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, and he also maintains a private studio. 8
Roy Harran, cello
Born in Israel, Roy Harran began playing cello at age seven with David Sella and later with Uzi Wiesel. Harran received scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and served three years in the military as “Outstanding Musician,” playing in the Israel Defense Forces String Quartet. Harran earned a BMus (magna cum laude) at the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University and went on to receive an MMus from the Eastman School of Music at University of Rochester where he studied with Paul Katz and Steve Doane. Harran has played solo recitals and appeared as a soloist with various ensembles in Israel and the United States and has also performed with several chamber ensembles and orchestras in Israel, Europe, Asia, the United States and Canada, including the Orchestre Mondial des Jeunesses Musicales and the Vanbrugh Quartet. He has participated at Tanglewood Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, Rochester Piano Quartet, Pacific Music Festival, Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, and others. After several years as principal cellist in the New World Symphony, Harran became a member of the Savannah Symphony before joining the faculty of Radford University and the Renaissance Music Academy in Virginia, where he was a member of the Avanti Trio. Currently, Harran freelances in Atlanta where plays regularly with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Opera, and Ballet. Harran has been a faculty member at Agnes Scott College and he currently serves on the Emory University faculty.
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Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta
Now celebrating its 28th season of excellence, the Southeast’s largest and most active chamber music organization brings together some of the city’s finest resident musicians with internationally known guest artists who are dedicated to performing the most delightful, exciting, and interesting music from the chamber repertoire in some of the most acoustically and visually beautiful spaces in Atlanta. Guests have included Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, Alan Gilbert, Dave Brubeck, William Preucil, Eliot Fisk, Robert Spano, and many others. The mission of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) is to create new generations of passionate and educated music lovers who will cherish and support this great art forever. In addition to presenting an Emerson Series, a Family Series, and the Cooke Noontime Concert Series at Emory, the ECMSA tours, participates in recording projects, commissions new works, and supports numerous community outreach activities. Education is an integral part of the ECMSA’s mission, and members teach in a wide variety of ways throughout the university and greater community, coach student chamber music ensembles, and give private lessons. Emory’s String Quartet in Residence program, held by the internationally acclaimed Vega String Quartet, lies at the heart of the ECMSA’s mission to spread this great music throughout the Atlanta community, reaching audiences of all ages. The Vega String Quartet is the first professional string quartet to ever make Atlanta its home base, and as such, it is transforming music education and performance throughout the area. Until further notice, all ECMSA concerts will be presented online only. Concerts remain free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated. William Ransom, artistic director wransom@emory.edu/404.727.6443 10
More events coming soon to the Schwartz Center Virtual Stage schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Camille Thomas, cello Candler Concert Series Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m. The first cellist to be signed by the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label in more than 40 years, Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas blends a brilliant command of her instrument with a rare musicality. Thomas’s recital program with pianist Julien Brocal features selections from her recently released album, Voice of Hope.
ECMSA 2 X 3 ECMSA Emerson Series Friday, April 16 at noon Three members of the Vega String Quartet take a solo turn with pianist William Ransom: Jessica Shuang Wu, violin; Yinzi Kong, viola; and cellist Guang Wang, in music of Handel, Schubert, and Prokofiev.
Emory University Symphony Orchestra (EUSO) Saturday, April 17 at 8 p.m. This semester, the EUSO divides into two string chamber orchestras. In this livestream performance from Emerson Concert Hall, the orchestras will present works by Bryce Dessner, Florence Price, Mozart, and others. Paul Bhasin conducts. 11
Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances and events. In a typical year, Music at Emory presents more than 150 events across multiple Emory venues; however, in this challenging season, we are committed to coming together virtually for a variety of musical offerings. For spring 2021 concerts, we remain steadfast in our mission and continue to present events virtually based on guidance from Emory University and public health officials. Please visit music.emory.edu for the most up-to-date schedule and announcements.
404.727.5050 music.emory.edu