(photo credit: Saunder Ho)
As we traverse the audition experience to find our new violinist – a process which has been way more entertaining than we ever expected, by the way – we have a few shows at the top of the 2016/17 season for which we'll need subs. The Spektral Quartet Trio is not a viable option for most presenters, apparently.
Fortunately, we happen to know a deep roster of outstanding violinists, and we're using this as an excellent excuse to play with them. First up is MingHuan Xu, who audiences will know from her performances as a member of Ensemble Dal Niente as well her duo appearances with pianist Winston Choi (with whom we're playing quite a bit this season!).
MingHuan is joining us on September 10th for the Collaborative Arts Festival closing concert at the Logan Center for the Arts Performance Penthouse. We're diving into works by Chausson, Fauré, and Ferré with GRAMMY-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor and CAIC artistic director Nicholas Phan (tenor). It's sumptuous music, real heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, and MingHuan's impressive range of tender to gutsy playing will be on full display.
It pays to have friends that are really, really good at what they do...
