New Orford String Quartet with Special Guests Enrico Elisi, Alice Hong

New Orford String Quartet with special guests Enrico Elisi, Alice Hong, Heng-Han Hou, Maxime Despax and Allison Rich Friday November 16, 2018 7:30 pm Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land. New Orford String Quartet Jonathan Crow and Andrew Wan, violin Eric Nowlin, viola Brian Manker, cello with special guests Enrico Elisi, Alice Hong, Heng-Han Hou, Maxime Despax and Allison Rich PROGRAM Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) i. Allegro non troppo ii. Andante, un poco Adagio iii. Scherzo. Allegro iv. Finale. Poco sostenuto Enrico Elisi, piano Intermission Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) i. Allegro moderato con fuoco ii. Andante iii. Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo iv. Presto Alice Hong and Heng-Han Hou, violin Maxime Despax, viola Allison Rich, cello The Faculty of Music is a partner of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor bloorstculturecorridor.com BIOGRAPHIES The original Orford String Quartet gave its first public concert in 1965, and became one of the best-known and most illustrious chamber music ensembles. After more than 2,000 concerts on six continents, the Orford String Quartet gave its last concert in 1991. Two decades later, in July 2009, the New Orford String Quartet took up this mantle, giving its first concert for a sold-out audience at the Orford Arts Centre. The New Orford has Four musicians with equally stellar since gone on to perform concerts pedigrees formed the New Orford throughout North America and lead String Quartet with the goal of residencies at the University of Toronto, developing a new model for a touring Schulich School of Music, Mount Royal string quartet. Their concept – to bring University, and Syracuse University. four elite orchestral leaders together In September 2017 the Quartet on a regular basis over many years became Ensemble in Residence at the to perform chamber music at the University of Toronto, and was recently highest level – has resulted in a quartet named Artistic Directors of the Prince that maintains a remarkably fresh Edward County Music Festival, where perspective while bringing a palpable they made their curatorial debut in sense of joy to each performance. September 2018. The Toronto Star has described this outcome as “nothing short of In 2011, the Quartet recorded its debut electrifying.” album of the final quartets of Schubert and Beethoven, released by Bridge Consisting of the concertmasters Records to international acclaim. The and principal cellist and violist of recording was hailed as one of the top the Montreal, Detroit, and Toronto CDs of 2011 by La Presse and CBC Symphonies, the New Orford String In Concert and nominated for a Juno Quartet has seen astonishing success, Award in 2012. Critics have described giving annual concerts for national CBC the recording as “…flawless… a match broadcast and receiving unanimous made in heaven!” (Classical Music critical acclaim, including two Opus Sentinel); “a performance of rare Awards for Concert of the Year, and intensity” (Audiophile Audition); and a 2017 Juno Award for Canada’s “nothing short of electrifying… listen top Chamber Music Recording. and weep” (The Toronto Star). Their Recent seasons have featured return follow-up album of the Brahms Op. 51 engagements in Chicago, Montreal Quartets was equally well-received, and Toronto, as well as their New York and received the 2017 Juno for best City debut on Lincoln Center’s Great chamber music album. Performers series. The New Orford is dedicated to Asia, and his interpretations reveal promoting Canadian works, both “remarkable sensitivity, imagination, and new commissions and neglected polish” (Baltimore Sun). repertoire from the previous century. New Orford String Quartet projects Elisi has appeared in historical settings have included performances of major such as La Fenice Theatre, Venice; Canadian string quartets from the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Bibiena 20th century including works by Glenn Theatre, Mantua; and Pavarotti Opera Gould, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Jacques House, Modena. Recent engagements Hétu, R. Murray Schafer, and Claude include the Banff Centre for the Arts, Vivier, as well as commissions of Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York new works from composers such as Public Library, New York’s Morgan Francois Dompierre, Gary Kulesha, Library, Washington’s National Gallery of Airat Ichmouratov and Tim Brady. Art and the Italian Embassy, as well as The Quartet thrives on exploring the the Centro Cultural de España in Lima, rich chamber music repertoire; recent Peru. He has performed with several collaborations include those with orchestras in the US, Italy and Portugal, pianists Marc-André Hamelin and and as a chamber musician at the Taos Menahem Pressler. and Ravinia Festivals. The Quartet regularly tours in the major Among Enrico Elisi’s awards are top cities of North America, including prizes in the Premio Venezia (Italy) and Washington, D.C., Toronto, and the Oporto International Competition Los Angeles; at the same time, the (Portugal). A champion of new music, members feel strongly about bringing he premiered Paul Chihara’s Two this music to areas that don’t often hear Images at Weill Hall (subsequently it, and as a result perform frequently recorded for Albany Records). Mozart in remote rural locations. As part of Piano Album was released in 2011 their leadership positions at the major and another CD dedicated to Bach orchestras in Montreal, Toronto and will be released in 2018. Dr. Elisi is an Detroit, each member of the Quartet Associate Professor at the University of regularly has the opportunity to perform Toronto and a Steinway Concert Artist. as a soloist with his orchestra. The New Orford String Quartet is Artist in Residence at the University Club of Toronto. Born and raised in Bologna, Italy, Enrico Elisi has established himself as one of the most passionate Italian pianists on the concert scene today and has been hailed for his mastery of elegance, refinement, and fantasy (La Nueva España). He regularly performs to acclaim throughout the Americas, Europe and Originally from Gatineau, Quebec, An international award winner both as violist Maxime Despax studied at the a violinist and composer, Alice Hong is Conservatoire de musique de Gatineau, the international first prizewinner for the the Conservatoire de music de Montréal 2nd Keuris Composition Competition and the University of Toronto, where and a multiple award recipient of the he studied with Emmanuel Beaudet, ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. She Jocelyne Bastien and Teng Li. He has performed as a violinist in solo completed his Master’s degree in Viola and chamber recitals across America, Performance at the University of Toronto Canada, Czech Republic, and China on full scholarship, studying with Teng Li and has attended numerous festivals. with whom he is now pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts. Currently, his career Hong currently plays with ensembles is focused on orchestral and chamber local to Toronto, including as a music. Maxime has subbed with the substitute in the Toronto Symphony Toronto Symphony Orchestra and is a Orchestra (TSO), Kitchener-Waterloo member of the Orchestre Symphonique Symphony, guest principal second for de Gatineau. He often collaborates the Rose Orchestra, and has appeared with current composers from Canada, as a soloist with the University of and performed the national premiere Toronto Percussion Ensemble. She of the opera Luci Mie Traditrici by is a founding member of Project Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino in MainStream (www.project-mainstream. Toronto. Maxime also has a family string com) a collective of musicians aiming to quartet, the Quatuor Despax. They bridge the gap between classical and have been invited to perform in several pop music. festivals such as Ottawa Chamberfest, and have performed throughout Hong earned a Master of Music degree Quebec and Ontario, as well as in from Rice University’s Shepherd School France and Italy. of Music under the tutelage of Cho- Liang Lin, and a Bachelor’s degree and Maxime Despax has attended the minor in composition from the Cleveland Orford Quartet Program, the Domaine Institute of Music with David Updegraff. Forget, the St. Lawrence String Quartet She is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts Seminar at Stanford University, the Banff candidate at the University of Toronto Centre and the Mozarteum Summer studying with TSO concertmaster Academy in Salzburg. Jonathan Crow. A sensitive and musical player, Heng- Allison Rich is currently a Doctor of Han Hou’s professional violin career has Musical Arts student at the University seen him performing around the world. of Toronto studying Cello Performance Hailing from Taiwan, Heng-Han’s talent with Joseph Johnson. Prior to moving in both violin and piano stems from to Toronto, she was a member of his early formal music education and a Jackson Symphony Orchestra and deep passion for music. an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Allison received A versatile musician, Heng-Han’s love her Master of Music degree from for music appears in solo, chamber, the University of Michigan School of and orchestral playing. Heng-Han has Music, Theatre & Dance, studying played in public master classes for with Professor Richard Aaron. At the Midori Goto, Noah Bendix-Balgley, the University of Michigan, she performed New Orford String Quartet, the Ebene with the University Symphony Orchestra String Quartet, and the American String as principal cellist, the Contemporary Quartet among others. He performs Directions Ensemble, and collaborated regularly with the Toronto Symphony in many chamber music settings.

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