Internationally acclaimed for her extensive breadth of performance works, violinist Pamela Frank headlines the opening concert of Union’s 39th Chamber Concert Series. She returns to Memorial Chapel on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m., along with fellow string-instrumentalists Andrew Simionescu, Beth Guterman, Dimitri Murrath, Edward Arron and Peter Wiley.
The sextet’s program will include one of Schoenberg’s most renowned works, “Verklarte Nacht,” and a selection by Brahms.
The only child of pianists Liliam Kallir and Claude Frank, Frank began violin lessons at age five, ultimately earning her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1989. Ten years later, she won the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.
In addition to being on the faculty of the Curtis Institute and the Peabody Conservatory, Frank plays independently as a soloist and with major orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony.
Married to Frank, Andrew Simionescu is also a celebrated violinist. Performing with symphonies around the world, he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The White House and Kennedy Center. A winner of the 1984 Concert Artists Guild International, Simionescu is a member of the Raphael Trio and has played over 300 concerts with the Bowdoin Trio.
Violist Beth Guterman received her musical education at the Julliard School, and in 2009, she completed her artist diploma at the New England Conservatory. A member of the International Sejong Soloists, Guterman has toured the United States and Asia and also performed live on National Public Radio. She has won the Julliard Viola Competition, the inaugural Apsen Nakamichi Lower Strings Competition, and the 1999 Eugene Lehner Chamber Music Award for Excellence from the New England Conservatory.
Fellow violist and artist diploma recipient, Dimitri Murrath has performed as a soloist at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels. He earned first place at the Primrose International Viola Competition, second place at the First Tokyo International Viola Competition and the Verbier Festival Academy’s Viola Prize.
Described as one of New York’s most exciting young cellists, Edward Arron has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and as a chamber musician in the United States, Europe and Asia. A graduate of the Julliard School, he has frequently appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the 92nd Street Y. He’s currently beginning his eighth season as the artistic coordinator for the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert.
Arron’s former teacher and fellow cellist, Peter Wiley, has enjoyed a lifetime of significant accomplishments. Attending the Curtis Institute at age 13, he became the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal cellist at the young age of 20. A former member of the Grammy-nominated Beaux Arts Trio and Guarmeri String Quartet, Wiley now teaches at both the Bard Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music.
The show is open to the public and free to members of the Union community. General admission tickets are $25, though area students may attend for $10. For a complete list of this season’s concerts, click here.
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