The 92nd Street Y, one of New York's leading cultural venues, begins a new alliance with the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music with a live in-person concert and a master class. This first-of-its kind collaboration, entitled Curtis at 92Y, will give Curtis its first-ever "home" in New York City - and give the 92Y community an opportunity to learn from Curtis faculty and alumni and enjoy the work of one of the most important conservatories in the world. Both institutions hope to build on this first phase with greater and deeper engagement, beginning with programming designed to educate, engage, and delight audiences and students of all ages, through performances, classes for schoolchildren, adult education, mentorship, and more.
On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 7:30pm ET, the first of two annual Curtis on Tour concerts premieres with a Curtis ensemble, comprising esteemed faculty members Ida Kavafian, violin, and Peter Wiley, cello, and three recent alumni of Curtis: Francis Carr, cello ('21), Lun Li, violin ('20), and Cara Pogossian, viola, ('21). The ensemble will play Schubert and more on the stage of 92Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City. The concert will also be available via livestream and available for 72 hours from time of broadcast. Tickets for both the in-person and livestream options are $20-$45 and are available at 92y.org/event/musicians-from-the-curtis-institute-of-music.
A performance of Schubert's C-Major Quintet will be followed by the New York premiere of a new work by another member of Curtis' faculty, with Grammy Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour's String Quintet ("A Shattered Vessel"). Written 190 years after the Schubert work for the same instrumentation of two violins, viola and two cellos, ("A Shattered Vessel") contemplates crisis and struggle, loss and healing, renewal and gratitude.
The program includes:
Danielpour, String Quintet ("A Shattered Vessel") (NY premiere)
Schubert, String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Lun Li, violin
Ida Kavafian, violin
Cara Pogossian, viola
Francis Carr, cello
Peter Wiley, cello
Concert available for viewing online for 72 hours from time of broadcast.
This performance is part of Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. This program is part of The Tisch Center for the Arts.
On Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 1pm, internationally acclaimed Curtis on Tour artists, violist and violinist, Ida Kavafian, and cellist, Peter Wiley, lead the collaboration's first Master Class for two of 92Y School of Music's Recanati-Kaplan gifted and talented program scholars, Chloe Joo and Erin Wong. For more information and to register for this free in-person master class, visit 92y.org/event/ida-kavafian-and-peter-wiley-master-class.
"We're tremendously excited to launch Curtis at 92Y," says Yana Stotland, Director of 92Y's School of Music. "Our combined 250 years of experience in music education at the highest level creates the foundation for extraordinary new opportunities for artistic growth in students of all ages."
Curtis and 92Y will also work together to develop engaging educational activities around Curtis on Tour appearances on 92Y's concert series for students enrolled in 92Y's School of Music, and in the larger New York City community, with a particular focus on the segment of the community served by 92Y's Center for Arts Learning & Leadership, a renowned music education program developed and run by 92Y that pre-pandemic served over 15,000 primarily under-resourced New York City public school students in-person, and now has expanded nationally online.
"We are pleased to join 92Y in this endeavor and are thrilled by its tremendous potential," says Andrew Lane, Vice President of Touring and Artist Management at Curtis. "Together we will amplify the performance and educational offerings of both of our institutions, reach new audiences, and deepen our relationships with the communities we serve."
In summer 2022, selected students from 92Y's highly-regarded Recanati-Kaplan Program for Excellence in the Arts will study with Curtis alumni teaching artists in an online intensive instructional and mentorship program. 92Y's Recanati-Kaplan program offers full merit-based scholarships for gifted and talented students to foster their creative potential through a broad range of individualized instruction, advanced classes, and mentoring to accelerate learning and support technical accomplishment. This intensive online program with Curtis will supplement the development of overall musicianship and preparedness for our most dedicated scholars.
With 18 concerts, the spring season includes two appearances by world-renowned pianist Angela Hewitt; two performances by The Knights as 92Y's inaugural Ensemble in Residence; the eagerly anticipated New York City main stage debut of pianist Eric Lu; the Grammy Award-nominated Israeli mandolin wizard Avi Avital; two co-presentations with the New York Philharmonic; and the return of guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas.
The season will feature one of the first NYC performances of the Gateways Music Festival, co-presented by 92Y, presenting works reflecting on the theme of enslavement; the New York premiere of 92Y co-commission, Dido Reimagined by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner, performed by the Brentano String Quartet and soprano Dawn Upshaw; the world premieres of Cazon's Revenge by Gonzalo Grau and Arum der Fayer by Osvaldo Golijov, both for mandolin and string quartet, performed by Brooklyn Rider; the New York premiere of ("A Shattered Vessel") by Richard Danielpour, performed by an ensemble from the Curtis Institute of Music; the New York premiere of Acabris! Acabras! Acabram! written and performed by Stewart Goodyear; and award-winning composer Joel Thompson's In response to the madness, performed by the New York Philharmonic String Quartet.
For more information, including purchasing tickets and COVID-19 protocols for in-person performances, please visit 92Y.org/Concerts.
About Curtis Institute of Music: The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry.
For nearly a century Curtis has provided each member of its small student body with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers, distinguished by a "learn by doing" philosophy and personalized attention from a faculty that includes a high proportion of actively performing musicians. With admissions based solely on artistic promise, no student is turned away due to financial need. Curtis invests in each admitted student, ensuring no tuition is charged for their studies and they enter the profession free from educational debt.
Curtis students hone their craft through more than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings and programs that bring arts access and education to the community. This real-world training allows these extraordinary young musicians to join the front rank of performers, composers, conductors, and musical leaders, making a profound impact on music onstage and in their communities.
About Francis Carr: Born into a family of string players, Francis Carr, from Oxford, England, started playing the cello at age four. Early career highlights include a radio broadcast in the Netherlands, concerto appearances with the Oxfordshire Youth Orchestra and the Abingdon Symphony Orchestra, and chamber and solo appearances in Munich, Warsaw, Montpellier, New York, and throughout the United Kingdom.
Mr. Carr has given recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, Milton Court in Surrey, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Brussels Bozar, and Amsterdam's Muziekgebouw. He has attended the Greenwood Music Camp, Four Seasons Winter Workshop, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival. Additional festival appearances throughout the United States and Europe include Loon Lake Live Summer Concert Series, Stichting Kamermuziek Amsterdam, Young Pianists Foundation Piano Concours Amsterdam, Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy, and Music from Angel Fire.
Mr. Carr has studied with Melissa Phelps, Thomas Carroll, Darrett Adkins, Carter Brey, Peter Wiley, and his father, the cellist Colin Carr. He has worked closely with Johannes Goritzki, Joel Krosnick, Gary Hoffman, and the Chiara, Emerson, and Juilliard string quartets and has attended the Juilliard and Yehudi Menuhin Schools and the Curtis Institute of Music. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading, and bird watching.
About Ida Kavafian: Internationally acclaimed as a violist as well as a violinist, the versatile Ida Kavafian is an artist-member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and former violinist of the Beaux Arts Trio. For 34 years she has been artistic director of Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, where some 200 Curtis students have participated in the Young Artist Program to date. She was a founder of the Bravo! Colorado festival, serving as its artistic director for ten years; and co-founded the chamber ensembles Opus One, Tashi, and Trio Valtorna. She also performs as a soloist and in recital with her sister, violinist Ani Kavafian.
Ms. Kavafian has premiered numerous works, including concertos by Toru Takemitsu and Michael Daugherty, whose Fire and Blood she recorded with the Detroit Symphony. She has toured and recorded with jazz artists Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis, and with fiddler/composer Mark O'Connor.
Born in Istanbul of Armenian parentage, Ms. Kavafian is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Oscar Shumsky. She made her debut through Young Concert Artists with the pianist Peter Serkin, and also received the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. She resides with her husband, violist Steven Tenenbom, in Philadelphia and Connecticut, where they breed and train prizewinning Hungarian vizsla show dogs. Since 1998 Ms. Kavafian has served on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she received the 2013 Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. She also teaches at the Juilliard School and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
About Lun Li: Lun Li, a native of Shanghai, China, is an in-demand recitalist and chamber musician in both Asia and the United States. A winner of the 2021 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he recently graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of renowned violinist and violist Ida Kavafian. While at Curtis, Mr. Li was the Jean J. Sterne Fellow. In 2012, as a result of winning second prize at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music's second Haydn Chamber Music Competition, his quartet was invited to perform at the Helsinki Music Centre Festival.
He has participated in master classes with Arnold Steinhardt, Midori Goto and Pierre Amoyal. In 2017, he served as the concertmaster of the Pacific Festival Orchestra under the conductor Valery Gergiev. His festival appearances include Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, and the Verbier Festival Academy. Mr. Li is currently pursuing a master's degree at the Juilliard School with Catherine Cho and Joseph Lin.
About Cara Pogossian: Armenian-American violist Cara Pogossian is a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree under the tutelage of Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory. She served as co-principal viola of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra during the 2019–20 season, which included a U.S. tour in early 2020. Prior to her studies at Curtis, Ms. Pogossian attended the Colburn Music Academy, where she studied with Paul Coletti and Che-Yen (Brian) Chen. As an Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Scholarship recipient, she has performed at several high-profile concerts, including a joint recital with her brother, Edvard, at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Pogossian is an alumna of NPR's "From the Top" radio show, and her quartet was the Junior Bronze Medal winner of the 2017 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. An avid chamber musician, she has attended numerous summer festivals, including the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Taos School of Music, Perlman Music Program, and Yellow Barn Young Artists Program. Committed to musical outreach, Ms. Pogossian has frequently performed at schools, retirement centers, and hospitals in the greater Los Angeles and Philadelphia areas, and is also an organizer of several Music for Food performances, raising funds for local food banks.
Ms. Pogossian is lucky enough to have an entire family of musicians, with whom she frequently performs. During the pandemic, the Pogossian/Manouelian Clarinet Quintet collaborated with composers Timo Andres, Ian Krouse, Artashes Kartalyan, and Aida Shirazi, premiering each of their works in a series of online concerts. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory with Kim Kashkashian.
About Peter Wiley: Peter Wiley, a 1974 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, has played at leading festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, for which he also tours and records. As a recitalist he has appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. A member of the Beaux Arts Trio from 1987 to 1998, Mr. Wiley also succeeded his teacher, David Soyer, as cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet from 2001 to 2009. He is a member of the piano quartet Opus One, with Curtis faculty members Ida Kavafian and Steven Tenenbom and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. Mr. Wiley entered Curtis at age thirteen. At twenty he was named principal cello of the Cincinnati Symphony, after one year with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He made his concerto debut at Carnegie Hall in 1986 with the New York String Orchestra conducted by Alexander Schneider. A past recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Wiley joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1996. He also teaches at the University of Maryland and Bard College Conservatory of Music.
About 92nd Street Y: The 92nd Street Y (92Y) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92Y offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92Y's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92Y.org.
