Date & Time: Sunday March 3, 7 p.m.
Venue: Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco
Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students
For more information visit https://sunsetarts.wordpress.com/trio-180/
Program
Joseph Haydn Piano Trio No. 39 in G major Hob. XV/25 (Gypsy trio)
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66
Paul Schoenfield Piano Trio Café Music
About the Artists
Trio 180, the faculty piano trio-in-residence at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, is dedicated to its roles as performer, proponent of new music, and educator. In addition to giving concerts and master classes throughout the United States, the trio has been featured on concert series in Mexico and Canada. This talented ensemble includes celebrated concert violinist Ann Miller, renowned cellist Vicky Wang, and award-winning pianist Sonia Leong.
Trio 180 performs a wide range of music from the Classical era to the present and is an active advocate of new music. The trio was awarded a Barlow Grant in 2006 to commission eminent composer Chen Yi’s first piano trio, Tibetan Tunes (Theodore Presser). Continuing its tradition of commissioning new works, the trio premiered composer Robert Greenberg’s 180 Shift in 2013 and Reinaldo Moya’s Gothic Sea in 2011 in honor of Trio 180’s tenth anniversary. The trio has premiered works by Allan Crossman (Icarus), Jorge Liderman (Suite del Sur; Sidewalk recorded on Albany Records), Derek Jacoby (Trio No. 2), Francois Rose (Gently, Wild Rose Petals) and Cindy Cox (Wave, recorded in summer, 2010 and winter of 2014).
The trio mentors young musicians and chamber music groups at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, where all three members are on faculty. In addition, Trio 180 frequently performs at elementary and high schools throughout California, presenting varied and interactive programs designed to challenge and engage young students.
The trio’s current season features appearances in North Carolina and California, including performances and master classes at the Music Teachers’ Association of California’s annual conference. In past seasons, the trio has presented numerous performances for Composers Inc., in San Francisco and Berkeley, a concert tour to Vancouver, Canada, and performances across California, including concerts at the Crocker Museum in Sacramento and the Sundays Live series at the Los Angeles County Museum. Trio 180 has enjoyed their trips to Maryland, where they played on the prestigious concert series Sundays at 3 in Columbia and gave a master class at the Baltimore School for the Arts. The trio has performed numerous times on the Old First Concert series in San Francisco, including a year-long residency featuring the works of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Robert Schumann. The trio is thrilled to have completed its first CD of works by Dvorak, Suk, and Schumann.
Ann Miller, violin
Celebrated violinist Ann Miller has appeared in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. At home performing music spanning the Baroque era to the present day, Ms. Miller enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator.
A proponent of new music, Ms. Miller made her New York debut as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble in Alice Tully Hall in the North American premiere of David Matthews’ Concerto No. 2. She has performed with the ensemble Continuum in venues in Mongolia and Ukraine as well as New York City. In addition, Ms. Miller participated in an exchange program between the Juilliard School and the Lucerne Festival Academy that culminated in performances in Switzerland and New York under the direction of Pierre Boulez.
Recent solo appearances include performances of Tartini’s Devil’s Trill with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, the Brahms Violin Concerto with the University of the Pacific’s Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the St. John’s Chamber Orchestra, and Brahms’s Double Concerto with cellist Ira Lehn and the Mariposa Symphony in Yosemite National Park. As a recitalist, Ms. Miller frequently collaborates with pianist Sonia Leong and has appeared on Old First Concerts in San Francisco and the University of the Pacific’s Resident Artist Series. Their debut album of music by Beaser, Ysaÿe, and Bartók will be released in the fall of 2015.
An avid chamber musician, Ann Miller is a member of Trio 180, the piano trio-in-residence at the University of the Pacific. In addition to performing in Canada, Mexico, Maryland, Oregon, and Nevada, the trio has concertized throughout California in such venues as the Mondavi Center, Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford University, and the Center for New Music in San Francisco. Trio 180 has also performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the St. John’s Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Miller is an associate professor of violin at the Conservatory of Music of the University of the Pacific. She holds her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School, and she received her Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, from Rice University. Her teachers have included Ronald Copes and Kathleen Winkler. Her chamber music coaches have included Jerome Lowenthal, Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Norman Fischer, James Dunham, Paul Katz, and members of the Juilliard and Tokyo string quartets. Ms. Miller has participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar and has spent summers at Kneisel Hall, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In addition to her passion for music, she enjoys running, reading, and vegetarian food.
Vicky Wang, cello
Winner of the Young Artist International Competition, cellist Vicky Wang made her New York debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2001. As an avid chamber musician, Ms. Wang was a member of the award-winning ensemble Aristos String Quartet. This ensemble has been invited to participate in the focus! New Music Festival in New York, Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival in Virginia as well as frequent collaborations with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in its lecture-concert series. Ms. Wang’s concert highlights also include collaborations with legendary performers Ray Charles at the Belleayer Music Festival and Liza Minelli at Avery Fisher Hall.
Prior to relocating to California, Ms. Wang served on the faculty of Mannes College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. She currently maintains an active private studio in Palo Alto. Her students have been featured as concerto soloists with the El Camino Youth Symphony, California Youth Symphony, and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.
She is a founding member of C’est Bon Chamber Music Academy in Los Altos, California and the San Francisco Cello Quartet. In 2017, Ms. Wang will be returning as the artist-teacher for the pianoSonoma Music Festival at Sonoma State University and will be joining the faculty of University of Pacific Conservatory of Music and serve as the cellist of its faculty ensemble – Trio 180.
Ms. Wang began studying the piano and cello at age four and ten respectively, and has been a frequent prizewinner in both instruments. She came to the United States in 1992 and became a scholarship student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. She continued her Bachelor and Masters Degree in Performance at the Juilliard School with Zara Nelsova, Darrett Adkins, and Joel Krosnick and has studied with Alan Stepansky, Jonathan Feldman, Andre Emelianoff and members of Cleveland, Guarneri, Shanghai, and Juilliard String Quartets. She has participated in music festivals such as the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Verbier Music Festival (Switzerland), and Spoleto Music Festival (Italy) and Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara). In 2011, Ms. Wang received the Doctorate of Musical Art degree from the City University of New York under the guidance of Marcy Rosen. Her dissertation focused on comparative analysis of cello teaching and performing techniques of cellists Julius Klengel and Hugo Becker.
Sonia Leong, piano
Pianist Sonia Leong has performed in Canada, the United States, England, Romania, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. She has appeared with the Filarmonica de Stat Dinu Lipatti in Satu Mare, Romania, the Banff Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Stockton Symphony, the St. John Chamber Orchestra, and has performed live on Radio Suisse Romande in Geneva. She was a prizewinner at the Concours Piano 80, in Switzerland, and a finalist at the Concorso Pianistico Nazionale “Città de Cesenatico” in Italy. From 2001–03, she played with Music Now, a new music ensemble based in Sacramento. She appears regularly on the Sierra Chamber Society concert series, both with her trio and in other chamber music combinations.
Ms. Leong studied at the University of British Columbia, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Université de Montréal, as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) on a Commonwealth Scholarship. Her principal teachers include Robert Silverman, Julian Martin, and Marc Durand. She has participated in festivals at the Banff Centre; Orford, Quebec; Scotia Festival; Ladevie, France; and Ernen, Switzerland (with György Sebök).
The St. Galler Tagblatt (Switzerland) wrote of Ms. Leong’s “ richly colorful and tender playing”, saying “she balances intelligence and sensitivity, revealing the depths of each score”. The San Francisco Classical Voice described her “sensitive and accomplished touch” and wrote, “Leong…played the brilliant piano part effortlessly and with a great deal of flair”. Dr. Leong has taught at the University of Puget Sound, and currently teaches at the University of the Pacific, where she is a founding member of the in-residence piano trio, Trio 180.
Cost: $15 - $20