From left to right: Violinist Huifang Chen, pianist Tao Lin and cellist Christopher Glansdorf. Chen and Glaansdorf will perform in SFSO “Summer With The Symphony” Chamber Music concert “Sparkle And Charm” on Thursday, June 25 in Coral Gables and Friday, June 26 in Ft. Lauderdale (Photo Courtesy of Catherine Lan)
South Florida Symphony Orchestra begins its “Summer With The Symphony” Chamber Music three concert series with the performance of two piano quintets by 19th century Austrian composers Austrian Johann Hummel and Franz Schubert at 7:30 p.m Thursday, May 14 at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ in Coral Gables and on Friday, May 15 at Center For Spiritual Living in Fort Lauderdale.
“The repertoire of both piano quintets by Hummel and Schubert is unusual as a double bass is added to the cello, piano, viola and violin that result in a rich orchestral sound in a chamber music setting, ” said pianist Tao Lin.
Lin will be performing in next week’s two performances of Hummel’s “Piano Quintet Op. 87 in E Flat Major”” and Schubert's “Piano Quintet in A Major” with violinist Huifang Chen, cellist Claudio Jaffe, bass player Amy Nickler, and violist Brandon Wu in a program titled “Whispering Waters” by the SFSO.
From left to right: Violinist Huifang, violist Brandon Wu, cellist Claudio Jaffe and pianist Tao Lin will perform in SFSO “Summer With The Symphony” Chamber Music concert “Whispering Waters” on Thursday, May 14 in Coral Gables and Friday, May 15 in Ft. Lauderdale (Photo Courtesy of Catherine Lan)
“The title refers to the light melodies that float in both piano quintets. The music will feature light textures with a lot of playful exchanges by the musicians in the blending of instruments in all the movements,” said Lin.
Jacqueline Lorber, President and CEO of South Florida Symphony Orchestra, said that summer allows for more intimate concerts than the busy season.
“The beauty of the ‘Summer With The Symphony’ series is for the audience to get an up close and personal view of classical music and to meet and know the musicians as they discuss and introduce what will be performed as well as playing the classical music compositions,” said Lorber.
Hummel’s “Piano Quintet, No. 87 in E Flat Major” is written in four movements and features the piano as the lead instrument and will be performed in the first part of the concert.
Following intermission, Schubert’s “Piano Quintet in A Major” will be performed. The composition is written in five movements and is popularly known as “Trout” because the music mimics the sound of fish swimming in the water.
“Both Hummel (1778-1837) and Schubert (1797-1828) were close friends and popular as great composers of Viennese music,” wrote music writer Maureen Buja in “Interlude.”
“Hummel’s “Piano Quintet, Op. 87” composed in 1802, inspired Schubert’s to write ‘Piano Quintet in A Major’ in 1819. Wealthy music patron and cellist Sylvester Paumgartner commissioned Schubert to write ‘Piano Quintet in A Major’ with the same instruments as Hummel composed in ‘Piano Quintet, Op. 87.’ Paumgartner also loved Schubert’s song ' ‘Die Forelle’ so he asked Schubert to include variations of the song in his piano quintet,” wrote Buja.
Pianist Catherine Lan will be featured in two SFSO “Summer With The Symphony” Chamber Music concerts in June and July in Coral Gables and Ft. Lauderdale (Photo Courtesy of Catherine Lan)
Pianist Lin was born in Shanghai, China and his parents are both musicians. He took piano lessons at age four and started performing in China at age eight. Since moving to the United States as a teen, Lin has performed with major orchestras throughout the world. Lin has been married to pianist Catherine Lan since 2010 and the duo often perform together as “Duo Beaux Arts.”
The second “Summer With The Symphony” concerts areon Thursday, June 25 at Coral Gables Museum in Coral Gables and on Friday, June 26 at the Center For Spiritual Living in Ft. Lauderdale in a program titled “Sparkle and Charm” that will feature violinist Huifang Chen, cellist Christopher Glansdorf and pianist Catherine Lan teaming to perform French composer Louise Farrenc’s “Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 34” and Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic’s “Piano Trio Op. 29.”
The third “Summer With The Symphony” concerts are on Thursday, July 23 at Sanctuary For The Arts in Coral Gables and on Friday, July 24 at the Center for Spiritual Living in Ft. Lauderdale titled “Sweet Serenade” will feature violinist Huifand Chen, cellist Claudio Jaffe, pianist Catherine Lan and violist Brandon Wu perform "Serenade For String Trio” by Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnanyi and “Piano Quartet No. 2 Op. 87” by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.
- WHAT: South Florida Symphony Orchestra “Summer With The Symphony” Chamber Music three concert series. The first concert titled “Whispering Waters” featuring “Piano Quintet Op. 87” by Johann Hummel and “Piano Quintet in A Major” by Franz Schubert performed by five musicians led by pianist Tao Lin.
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Thursday May 14 and Friday, May 15
- WHERE: Coral Gables Congregational United Church Of Christ 3010 De Soto Blvd. in Coral Gables (Thursday, May 14)
Center For Spiritual Living, 4849 North Dixie Hwy. in Ft. Lauderdale (Friday, May 15)- TICKETS: $40 per concert, $20 students per concert, $99 for three concerts.
- INFORMATION: 954-522-8445 and southfloridasymphony.org
