MEDIA RELEASE July 18, 2005 For immediate release Editorial Contact: Kate Scorza Ingram [email protected] (for editorial purposes only)

Chestnut Hill Concerts presents Jennifer Frautschi, Marcus Thompson, Ronald Thomas, and Mihae Lee

At 8 p.m. Friday, August 26, 2005, Chestnut Hill Concerts, Ronald Thomas, Artistic Director, presents Mozart’s Piano Trio in B-flat Major, K. 502; Shostakovich’s Sonata; and Faure’s Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15. The performers will be: Jennifer Frautschi, ; Marcus Thompson, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello; Mihae Lee, piano. The concert will be held at the First Congregational Church of Madison (26 Meetinghouse Lane, Madison, CT). Single tickets are $25, $20 and $15, $8 students (Kids Come Free!). Pre-concert picnic suppers prepared by Anna’s (New Haven) are available for $17 each. For information, call (203) 245-5736 or www.chestnuthillconcerts.org. Chestnut Hill Concerts receives financial support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Evergreen Woods, Stop & Shop, and Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Born in Pasadena, California, violinist JENNIFER FRAUTSCHI began the violin at age three. Ms. Frautschi made her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut in August 2002 under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach at the Ravinia Festival. Other recent orchestral appearances include the opening concert of the Mostly Mozart Festival in , and performances with the Indianapolis, Pasadena, Madison, Delaware, and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, and the Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico. She has appeared in recital at Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars Series, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Gardner Museum in , and La Jolla Society’s Discovery series. International recital appearances include the Imperial Garden Concert Series in Beijing, the Monnaie Opera House in Brussels, La Chaux des Fonds in Switzerland, and the San Miguel de Allende Festival in Mexico. A dedicated chamber musician, Ms. Frautschi recently began her first season as a member of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center II. Ms. Frautschi was a student of Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts in and the University of Southern California School of Music. She attended Harvard, the New England Conservatory of Music, and The , where she studied with .

MARCUS THOMPSON, violist, has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and in chamber music series throughout the Americas, Europe, and the Far East. He has been a soloist with the orchestras of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Saint Louis; The National Symphony, the Boston Pops and the Czech National Symphony in Prague. He performed the West Coast Premiere of the Harbison Viola Concerto with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; the Chicago Premiere with the Chicago Sinfonietta, and recently gave the Boston Premiere with the New England Conservatory Honors Orchestra. In recent seasons he has received critical acclaim for performances of the Penderecki Viola Concerto with the MIT Symphony Orchestra in Boston, and , U.K. He has been a guest of the Audubon, Borromeo, Cleveland, Emerson, Orion, Shanghai, and Vermeer String Quartets; and a frequent participant at chamber music festivals in Anchorage, Seattle, Sitka, Los Angeles, , Dubrovnik and Okinawa. Born and raised in The Bronx, NYC, Mr. Thompson earned the doctorate degree at The Juilliard School. He currently lives in Boston where, as Robert R. Taylor Professor of Music, he heads programs in chamber music and performance studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the viola faculty at New England Conservatory of Music and violist of the Boston Chamber Music Society.

Hailed by critics for her poetic lyricism and scintillating virtuosity, pianist MIHAE LEE has performed extensively in solo recitals and chamber music concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She has appeared frequently as a soloist with das Symphonie Berlin in the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Berlin and in recitals in Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall, and the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. An active chamber musician, Ms. Lee is an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society. Ms. Lee appears frequently at numerous international festivals, including Dubrovnik, Amsterdam, Groningen, Great Woods, OK Mozart, Mainly Mozart, Chestnut Hill, Rockport, Sebago- Long Lake, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festivals. In addition to many years of performing regularly at Bargemusic in New York, she has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Born in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Lee had her professional debut at the age of 14 with the Korean National Orchestra after becoming the youngest grand prizewinner at the prestigious National Competition held by the President of Korea. In the same year, she came to the U.S. and subsequently won additional awards including First Prize at the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She holds a B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School and the Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory studying with Martin Canin and Russell Sherman.

Cellist RONALD THOMAS has been Artistic Director of Chestnut Hill Concerts since 1989. Mr. Thomas sustains one of the most active and varied careers in today's music world as performer, teacher, and artistic administrator. His solo appearances with orchestra include the Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Handel & Haydn and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestras of Boston, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra. In great demand as a chamber music collaborator, Ronald Thomas is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society with whom he appears regularly and has produced a number of highly acclaimed recordings. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Players in Residence committee and the Board of Overseers at Bargemusic in New York City. Ronald Thomas is former member of the faculties at M.I.T., , the Boston Conservatory and, most recently, the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he spent nine years before resigning in 1997 in order to spend more time with his family and the cello. Prior to winning the auditions at the age of 19, Mr. Thomas attended the New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute. His principal teachers were , , and for early studies, Mary Canberg.

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August 26, 2005 at 8 p.m., at the First Congregational Church of Madison (26 Meetinghouse Lane, Madison, CT): Chestnut Hill Concerts presents Mozart’s Piano Trio in B-flat Major, K. 502; Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata; and Faure’s Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15. Jennifer Frautschi, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello; Mihae Lee, piano. Tickets $25, 20, 15, $8 students (Kids Come Free!) Pre-concert picnic suppers $17 each. To order, call (203) 245-5736. www.chestnuthillconcerts.org.

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