UNCSA Chamber Music Festival returns for spring edition, March 14 and 18

The spring edition of the UNCSA Chamber Music Festival, presented by the School of Music, will offer two concerts featuring faculty, students, and distinguished guest artists Tatjana Masurenko, viola, and Peter Wiley, cello, as well as a work by UNCSA composition alumnus Tyson Davis (H.S. '19).

The festival begins with a concert on Tuesday, March 14, featuring Tyson Davis’ “Abstractions” for woodwind quintet (2018); Felix Mendelssohn’s Sextet in D major, Op. 110; Antonín Dvořák’s Serenade for Wind Instruments in D minor, Op. 44; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sextet in E flat major, Op. 81b (1770-1827).

A second program on Saturday, March 18, with Tatjana Masurenko and Peter Wiley will include Gustav Mahler's Piano Quartet in A minor; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat major; and Johannes Brahms’ String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111.

Both concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Hall on the UNCSA campus. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students with valid ID, available at uncsa.edu/performances and by calling the box office at 336-721-1945. The concerts will also be livestreamed as part of Live From Watson Hall, free with registration.

Founded and led by artistic directors Ida Bieler and Dmitri Vorobiev, the UNCSA Chamber Music Festival was launched in fall 2021. The biannual festival provides invaluable opportunities for students to perform alongside faculty and guest artists, and an intimate and rewarding experience for audiences.

Faculty violinist Ida Bieler was launched into recognition when she won international competitions on three continents at a very young age. She has since been a regular performer in major music capitals throughout the world, recording for radio and television on five continents and appearing with leading international orchestras.

“Incorporating young people on the stage, who play along with us, while being inspired by the faculty and guest artists and playing beautifully in their own right, is a wonderful thing,” Bieler said. “It is magnificent that we can pass along our professional experience, knowledge, love of music, and guidance to our students. We purposefully choose guest artists who we know enjoy working with young people and are able to nurture them and broaden their perspectives.”

A native of Moscow, Russia, Dmitri Vorobiev was previously on the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa; Vivace International Music Festival; International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic; and the Cambridge International String Academy in Cambridge, England.

“A high percentage of our students get to perform in the chamber music festival, and the value to the students is priceless,” said Vorobiev. “It’s a really special opportunity for them to perform with these great artists as well as the faculty.”

Celebrated for his “accurate intonation and warmth of tone,” Grammy-nominated cellist Peter Wiley entered the Curtis Institute at 13 years of age and was appointed principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20. He made his concerto debut at Carnegie Hall in 1986 with the New York String Orchestra conducted by Alexander Schneider. 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, Wiley was cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet from 2001 to 2009. A member of the piano quartet Opus One, he is a past recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Bieler and Wiley performed together when they were just 16 under the direction of Schneider. Although she had already been performing professionally for several years at that point, it was her first Carnegie Hall performance.

“Peter is a master cellist with a huge career,” Bieler said. “In addition to his vast experience, he is an optimistic and encouraging person. He is devoted to the great music that we are promoting.”

Tatjana Masurenko, a leading viola player of today, has a distinctive style shaped by her expressive playing and intensive musical studies. Alongside the great viola concertos by Walton, Bartók and Hindemith, Masurenko’s wide-ranging concert repertoire also includes modern classical works such as Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Kancheli and the rarely performed viola concertos by Hartmann and Bartel. After a 30-year career in Europe, Masurenko joined the faculty in 2022 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles where she teaches viola and coaches chamber music.

“Tatjana is a multidimensional artist who has recorded exceptional albums of new music,” Vorobiev said.

Tyson Davis is a composition student at The Juilliard School where he matriculated after studying at UNCSA with Lawrence Dillon. In the summer of 2019, Davis was selected by the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) and conductor Antonio Pappano to premiere his work “Delicate Tension,” commissioned by the American Embassy in Berlin for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, on tour with the NYO in Berlin, Edinburgh and Hamburg. Davis has received commissions from The Juilliard String Quartet, the Albany Symphony, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, WQXR, the New York New Music Ensemble, Metropolis Ensemble, and others. His recently completed work, “Amorphous Figures” (String Quartet No. 2), to be premiered in April 2023, was commissioned for the Juilliard String Quartet by Da Camera Society of Houston, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Chamber Music Cincinnati. He is also currently writing works for UNCSA faculty member Robert Young, Zephyros Winds (of which Music Dean Saxton Rose is a member), pianist Jonathan Biss, and more.

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