Hannah Lynch

Daniel Hsu

In-person Concert on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 3:00 pm in St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley

Program:
Robert Schumann – Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15
Beethoven – Sonata No. 31 in A flat Major, Op. 110
Liszt – Sonata in B minor, S. 178

Characterized by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “poet…[with] an expressive edge to his playing that charms, questions, and coaxes,” American pianist Daniel Hsu is increasingly recognized for his easy virtuosity and bold musicianship. He captured the bronze medal and prizes for best performance of both the commissioned work and chamber music at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and is also a 2016 Gilmore Young Artist, first prize winner of the 2015 CAG Victor Elmaleh Competition, and bronze medalist of the 2015 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Daniel Hsu began taking piano lessons at age 6 with Larisa Kagan. He made his concerto debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8, and his recital debut at the Steinway Society of the Bay Area at age 9, before being accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 10, along with his two older siblings. Since then, he has made his debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra (2016) and Carnegie Hall (2017) as part of the CAG Winners Series at Weill Recital Hall. He has appeared in recitals at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, as well as in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, Pittsburgh, and New York. A sensitive and keen collaborator, Daniel has performed with the Tokyo, North Carolina, Grand Rapids, Anchorage, New Haven, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, working alongside conductors Leonard Slatkin, Nicholas McGegan, Cristian Măcelaru, Ruth Reinhardt, Marcelo Lehninger, Eugene Tzigane, and Stilian Kirov.

Recent and upcoming highlights include his debuts with the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra with Hannu Lintu, Eugene Symphony with Francesco Lecce-Chong, and Jacksonville Symphony with Courtney Lewis; chamber tours with Curtis-on-Tour (Europe) and the Verona Quartet (United States); and recitals across the United States and Japan. His Boston debut recital in spring 2019 was hailed as a “powerful, thoughtful, and sensitive program… this deeply inquisitive artist’s inner probing brought fresh meaning to great warhorses, reaching well beyond his stunning mastery of technical difficulties” (Boston Musical Intelligencer).

Daniel’s chamber music performance with the Brentano String Quartet at the Cliburn Competition earned him the Steven de Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music. The Dallas Morning News praised “his impassioned, eloquently detailed Franck Quintet,” proclaiming it to be “a boldly molded account, with a natural feeling for the rise and fall of intensity, the give and take of rubato. Both he and the Brentano seemed to be channeling the same life force.” He regularly tours the United States with the Verona Quartet and in duo piano with his brother, Andrew, and appears frequently in chamber music festivals. Decca Gold released Daniel’s first album featuring live recordings from the Cliburn Competition of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, op. 110, as well as his award-winning performance of Marc-André Hamelin’s Toccata on “L’homme armé.” He has also been featured in interviews and performances for WQXR, APM’s Performance Today, and Colorado Public Radio, and was profiled as one to watch by International Piano magazine. Now 22 years old, Daniel graduated from Curtis in spring 2019, where he studied with Gary Graffman, Robert McDonald, and Eleanor Sokoloff. He is a Marvel film
buff and enjoys programming—he contributed to the creation of Workflow (now known as Siri Shortcuts), which won the 2015 Apple Design Award and was acquired by the tech giant in 2017.

Dr. Rochelle Sennet – 2022 Founder’s Concert

This In-Person Concert was held on Saturday, May 7, at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, California at 3:00 pm.

This concert was held in tribute to Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, Founder of Four Seasons Arts.

Program: Bach to Black

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Partita no. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827
– Fantasia
– Allemande
– Corrente
– Sarabande
– Burlesca
– Scherzo
– Gigue

Jeffrey Mumford (b. 1955): four dances for Boris
Maestoso e sonoro—Variation I (Urgente)—Variation II (Pensieroso ma grazioso)— Variation III (Insistente)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Partita no. 2 in C Minor, BWV 826
– Sinfonia
– Allemande
– Courante
– Sarabande
– Rondeaux
– Capriccio

R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943): In the Bottoms Suite
Prelude (Night)
– His Song
– Honey (Humoresque)
– Barcarolle (Morning)
– Dance (Juba)

Dr. Rochelle Sennet has established herself as a well-known performer, teacher, and scholar. Her recital programs showcase her versatility at the keyboard, with frequent performances of works by J.S. Bach and Black composers such as H. Leslie Adams, Jeffrey Mumford, James Lee III, and Pulitzer-Prize winning composer George Walker. She received the Bachelor of Music degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Master of Music degree from University of Michigan, Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Illinois. She was co-winner for the Krannert Center Debut Artist Competition, national finalist at the MTNA Steinway & Sons Young Artist piano competition, and a prize winner in numerous competitions such as the Kingsville International Piano competition, San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club Piano Competition, and the US Open Music Piano Concerto Competition. She is the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the College of Fine and Applied Arts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also serves as Associate Professor of Piano in the School of Music.

Her newest 3-Disc recording, “Bach to Black,” has been released on Albany Records in June 2021, and includes the complete English Suites of J.S. Bach, and six additional suites by five Black composers: S. Coleridge-Taylor, N. Dett, H. Adams, F. Tillis, and J. Mumford. Her previous solo recording, entitled “Alkebulan’s Son: The Solo Piano works of James Lee III,” was released in May 2014 on Albany Records, and received rave reviews in American Record Guide. Her duo’s debut recording, “Duo MemDi: The Debut” was released in 2018 on Albany Records, and earned a Silver Medal from Global Music Awards. In 2012, her recording of George Walker’s Piano Concerto was also released on the Albany Records label, and she was the first pianist to record this difficult work since Natalie Hinderas. Robert Schulslaper of Fanfare Magazine described her performance of Walker’s concerto: “Rochelle Sennet plays the concerto…with supreme confidence.” She is also featured on this recording, performing on Walker’s triple concerto, Da Camera. George Walker himself praised her performance of his music. She also recorded eighteenth-century composer Leopold Kozeluch’s second piano concerto and three harpsichord sonatas for four-hands with the Classical Chamber Players, which was released on the Mark Records label during the summer of 2013.

Recent performances include solo appearances at the Four Seasons Arts in Oakland, California, Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory and Balakirev Music College in Russia, where she gave the international debut of James Lee’s Piano Sonata No. 1, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Hastings College in Nebraska. She performed Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto with the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra in Michigan, which was broadcast live on WBLV-Blue Lake Public Radio. She also recently gave the world premiere of James Lee III’s Concerto for Piano and Winds with the Morgan State University Symphonic Band in Baltimore, Maryland. She has also made guest appearances as a soloist with ensembles such as University Philharmonia Orchestra in Michigan, the Sewanee Festival Orchestra in Tennessee, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. She also performed Etude Fantasy by Oscar- winning composer John Corigliano at University of Illinois concert, in which the composer was in attendance and praised her performance. As an accomplished chamber music performer, she was a co-founder of Duo MemDi, a piano-violin duo established in 2010 with Russian international violin performer Igor Kalnin, on the principles of diversity and performing works by memory, a rarity in the field of chamber music. Recent Duo MemDi performances have included appearances at the Tashkent State Conservatory, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Luther College, and numerous outreach events throughout the United States.

As a committed scholar and educator, she has presented frequent guest lectures, is an advocate for outreach performances, and is in demand as an adjudicator at piano competitions. She has presented lecture recitals at the American Musicological Society Conference, College Music Society National Conference, the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference in Dayton, Ohio, and the Illinois State Music Teachers Conference. Other appearances include solo recitals as well as being invited as masterclass clinician at the Tashkent State Conservatory in Uzbekistan, University of New Mexico at Las Cruces, Flint Institute of Music in Michigan, and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee. As an adjudicator, she was invited to judge competitions such as the Sejong Music Society Piano Competition, Zelpha Wells Piano Competition in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Walgreens Concerto Competition in Highland Park, Illinois.

Dr. Rochelle Sennet is a Yamaha Artist.

About the Founder’s Concert

Dr. Williams was one of the first African-American presenters of a major classical music concert series in the United States and it is to him that we offer this special tribute. His love of classical music began as a child when he attended concerts by legendary artists such as tenor Roland Hayes and contralto Marian Anderson, In 1958, at a time when the classical music world, and much of the rest of society, was racially segregated, he began presenting artists of all races and organizing racially diverse audiences. Over 40-plus years in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, he introduced to the world some of the finest musicians of our time.

Four Seasons Arts continues this legacy by presenting annual concerts in Oakland, California, providing artists’ seminars and master classes for Oakland public school students, organizing concerts at the Alameda County Jail, and featuring online concerts and programs.

This annual “Founder’s Concert” reaffirms Dr. Williams’ belief that Art creates images of beauty that enrich and ennoble as they inspire us to achieve the highest and best in the human experience. He felt that race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and language were artificial barriers and he used music as his vehicle for celebrating the enduring commonality of the human family.

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G-G-R Trio

**Miles Graber, Pianist, Michael Graham, Cellist, Thomas Rose, Clarinetist**

Live Concert Premiering
Saturday, February 12, 3:00 pm
St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Program:

Felix Mendelssohn: Concert piece No. 2 in D minor, Op. 114 (1833)
Robert Muczynski: Fantasy Trio, Op. 26 (1969)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio No. 4 in Bb Major, Op. 11 (1797)
Nino Rota: Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (1973)

The Graber-Graham-Rose Trio or G-G-R Trio, was formed in 2013 and made its debut performance at Trinity Chamber Concerts in Berkeley. Since then, the group has performed at Old First Church and NoonTime Concert in San Francisco, Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, Four Seasons Arts Cameo Concerts, and other venues. Because works of major composers for this instrumentation are limited, G-G-R Trio also explores arrangements and works by lesser known composers, including Mikhail Glinka, Marko Tajevi, Paul Juon and Gunter Raphael.

Pianist Miles Graber received his musical training at The Juilliard School. He has performed with numerous artists, including Sarah Chang, Cho-Liang Lin, Camilla Wicks, Axel Strauss, Mimi Stillman, Paula Robison, Zuill Bailey, Judith LeClair, and Frederica von Stade. Mr. Graber has been associated with such organizations as New Century Chamber Orchestra, Midsummer Mozart, Berkeley Opera, Opera San Jose, and California Symphony. His accompanying posts include the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the San Domenico Conservatory, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the Summer Brass Institute, the Mondavi Young Artist Competition, and Northern California Flute Camp. He is a member of the Alcyone Ensemble, MusicAEterna, the Graham-Graber-Rose Trio, the Sor Ensemble, the Mira Trio, and the new music group Sounds New.

Cellist Michael Graham studied at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, where he was a founding member of that institution’s first secret chamber music society, Skull and Bows. His playing has been hailed by the San Francisco Classical Voice for its “almost painfully pretty expressive richness”, and by the San Jose Mercury News as “super-good.” Mr. Graham has toured and recorded with artists from Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg to John Densmore of the Doors, including performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Joan Baez, John Williams, Rita Moreno, Isaac Hayes, and Weird Al Yankovic. He has appeared on ABC’s Regis and Kelley and NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and can be heard on Van Morrison’s album “Astral Weeks Live from Hollywood Bowl.” Mr. Graham performs actively as a member of the Oakland Symphony, the funk chamber music collective Vitamin Em, and Taiwan’s acclaimed Ben Feng Music Studio. He teaches cello at Mills College in Oakland.

Clarinetist Tom Rose holds a B.A. from San Francisco State College and a Masters in Performance from Mills College. He has held the position of Principal Clarinetist with Music in the Mountains Festival, Grass Valley, since its founding, in 1982. He has performed numerous solo works with the orchestra. From 1988 to 2010 Tom served as Personnel Manager and extra clarinetist for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. In addition to San Francisco Ballet, he has played with numerous bay area orchestras, including Oakland, Marin, and Berkeley Symphonies. He has also performed with the Modesto Symphony. Mr. Rose is also an adjunct clarinet teacher at Holy Names University, Oakland. In 2004 he and Miles Graber released their first CD, Music for Clarinet and Piano. The second CD in this series was released in January 2016. Tom served as a performing artist at Four Seasons Arts’ Yachats Music Festival, Yachats, Oregon from 2014 to 2017.

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Sphinx Virtuosi

**Sphinx Vurtuosi at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater**

Virtual Premiere: January 22, 2022 – 7:00 pm

Program:
Xavier Foley: “Ev’ry Voice”
Jessie Montgomery: Source Code
Antonin Dvorak: Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American”, 4th movement – Finale
Andrea Casarrubios: Seven
Leonard Bernstein: “America” from West Side Story
Michael Abels: Delights and Dances

“Drawing inspiration from the most promising voices of today, we seek to lift the many voices within our communities. Despite the physical isolation imposed by the pandemic, we are unified through our shared commitment to social impact through our expression. We are inspired by the music of Michael Abels, one of the most versatile composers of today, spanning cinema and symphonies alike. The sounds of Jessie Montgomery’s “Source Code” redefine our canon of tomorrow. Starting with the new work by Xavier Foley, “Ev’ry Voice” and on our journey toward other American classics, we seek to find new ways to lift the voices of our black and brown communities through the lens of our black and brown musicians. Though we are separated by distances and time, we collaborate to share the voices of our flagship ensembles to unify our greater communities during these challenging yet transformative times.” – The Sphinx Virtuosi

The Sphinx Virtuosi are the nation’s most dynamic, exhilarating professional chamber orchestra, dedicated to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in classical music. Comprised of eighteen of the nation’s top Black and Latinx classical soloists, the Virtuosi are primarily alumni of the internationally renowned Sphinx Competition, and its members work together as cultural ambassadors reaching new audiences. This unique ensemble earned rapturous reviews from The New York Times during its highly acclaimed debut at Carnegie Hall in December 2004: Allan Kozinn described their performance as “first-rate in every way” and raved that “the ensemble produced a more beautiful, precise and carefully shaped sound than some fully professional orchestras that come through Carnegie Hall in the course of the year.”

The Sphinx Virtuosi have returned to Carnegie Hall annually since 2006, performing to sold-out audiences and earning additional outstanding reviews from The New York Times each year. Acting as a bridge between minority communities and the classical music establishment, the Sphinx Virtuosi continue to garner critical acclaim during their annual national tours to many of the leading venues around the country. Inspired by the Sphinx Organization’s overarching mission, the Sphinx Virtuosi work to advance diversity in classical music while engaging young and new audiences through performances of kaleidoscopically varied repertoire. Masterpieces by Bach, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Mozart are performed alongside the more seldom-presented works by composers of color, including Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, George Walker, Michael Abels, and Astor Piazzolla.

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ATOS Trio

**Annette von Hehn, violin, Stefan Heinemeyer, cello, Thomas Hoppe, piano, Photo by Steven Haberland**

Virtual Concert Premiere
Monday, November 15, 2021
at 7:00 pm

Program
Mozart – Trio in B flat Major, KV 502
Debussy – Trio in G Major (1880)
Haydn – Trio in G Major, Hob. XV:25 (“all’Ongharese”)
Cécile Chaminade – Piano Trio No. 2 in A minor, Op. 34

Three voices, one sound: The kind of pitch-perfect unanimity of phrasing, tone, feeling and interpretation that distinguishes the finest chamber ensembles.
(Detroit Free Press)

Pianist Thomas Hoppe, violinist Annette von Hehn and cellist Stefan Heinemeyer have been conquering the world’s major concert series together since 2003. Around the globe, the ATOS Trio is hailed by audiences and met with critical acclaim.

From winning the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, the gold-standard prize for trios in the US, to a prestigious recognition as “New Generation Artists” by the BBC. From prizes in London, Graz and Melbourne to concerts in all the major festivals and venues from Oceana to Carnegie Hall.

The ATOS Trio pushes expression and dynamics to the limits, and with its incredibly distinctive warm expressive unified trio sound, far beyond the comfortable, familiar, and expected.

“They were Austrians in Haydn, Czechs in Dvorak, and Russians in Shostakovich.”
(O Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil)

At great venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Sala Sao Paulo, Carnegie Hall or the Berlin Philharmonic; at festivals such as City of London, Cheltenham, Budapest Spring Festival and Gilmore Michigan; in performances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, or the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele.

On enthusiastically received CD recordings of classical and romantic repertoire (Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn); in complete premiere recordings of Heinrich von Herzogenberg and Josef Suk; and most recently in a celebration of French, Russian. and Czech music (The French album, The Russian Album, The Czech Album).

Their total dedication to the music, the joy, the almost magically differentiated interpretation sets new standards.

“… One of the elite Piano Trios playing before the public today.”
(The Washington Post, USA)

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Kindra Scharich & Jeffrey LaDeur

A Virtual Premiere of the concert will be available on our website on Friday, October 29th at 7:00 pm.

In-Person Concert Saturday, October 16, 2021, at 3:00 pm at the Piedmont Center for the Arts; 801 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA.

Program: Love, Death, Wit & Wisdom
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)/B.Britten:
Music for a while
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):
Deux épigrammes de Clément Marot
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):
Histoires Naturelles
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121
George Walker (1922-2018):
With Rue My Heart Is Laden, Hey Nonny No
Cecil Cohen (1894-1967):
Death of an old Seaman
Samuel Barber (1910-1981):
Three Songs

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Kindra Scharich, Mezzo soprano

Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “exuberant vitality” “fearless technical precision” “deep-rooted pathos” and “irrepressible musical splendor.” As a dedicated recitalist, she has performed more than 250 art songs in 13 languages and enjoys the full complement of recital, concert, and opera engagements alike. Ms. Scharich has presented recitals at the American Composer’s Forum, The Wagner Society, La Jolla Athenaeum, and the acclaimed Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro. She has collaborated extensively with the Alexander String Quartet, with whom she recorded In meinem Himmel: The Complete Mahler Song Cycles (Foghorn Classics 2018), lauded by Opera News as an “extraordinary and complete musical and poetical accomplishment.” Other collaborators include renowned pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, founder and director of San Francisco International Piano Festival. Their recording To My Distant Beloved has been called “a truly remarkable feat of musical and dramatic transformation” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Upcoming recordings include the release of songs of the great Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno, the focus of Ms. Scharich’s extensive partnership with Brazilian pianist Ricardo Ballestero. Enthusiastic about working with living composers, Ms. Scharich has premièred solo vocal works by Elinor Armer, Kurt Erickson, Janis Mattox, Laurence Rosenthal and Anno Schreier (partnership between Deutsche Oper Berlin and Lieder Alive), and is featured in Everyone Sang: Vocal Music of David Conte (ARSIS). In the world of opera, Ms. Scharich has sung over 35 roles ranging from Monteverdi to Philip Glass, including première performances of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina, Laura Kaminsky’s Today It Rains and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves.

Jeffrey Ladeur, Pianist

Jeffrey LaDeur is known for his “delicate keyboard touch and rich expressivity” (San Francisco Chronicle) and playing described as “deeply moving, probing, felt entirely in the moment” (Eduard Laurel) Much sought after for his rare blend of insight, spontaneity, and approachable, communicative stage presence, Jeffrey has captured the hearts and minds of audiences from the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall to the Shanghai Conservatory and the Orlando Festival in the Netherlands. LaDeur has established himself as a compelling exponent of the French masters from Couperin to Ravel in addition to a diverse repertoire of canonical and alternative masterpieces. In March of 2018, LaDeur made his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall on the centennial of Claude Debussy’s death, performing the composer’s complete Etudes with works by Couperin and Chopin. His acclaimed solo album, The Unbroken Line [MSR Classics) is devoted to music of Rameau and Debussy and has been hailed as “a masterpiece of understatement, simplicity, and ‘old school’ chord-playing where every note sings out with meaning” (Gramophone). In 2017, LaDeur founded the San Francisco International Piano Festival for which he serves as artistic director.

As a pianist, LaDeur integrates solo performance and collaboration, blending the intimacy of chamber music with the brio of concertante works. As founding member and pianist of the Delphi Trio, Jeffrey toured internationally with the ensemble for a decade and premiered William Bolcom’s first Piano Trio, written for the ensemble. With mezzo soprano Kindra Scharich he recently recorded To My Distant Beloved, an album exploring the relationship between Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben and his epic Fantasy in C for solo piano. Jeffrey has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Robert Mann, Bonnie Hampton, Ian Swensen, Axel Strauss, Geoff Nuttall, Anne Akiko Meyers, David Requiro, and Scott Pingel.

LaDeur holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music in piano performance and chamber music, respectively.

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Sarah Cahill

Saturday, March 18, 3:00 PM,
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue, Berkeley

Program
From “The Future is Female” — A classical program of music by women, from the Baroque onwards, including Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Hélène de Montgeroult, Louise Farrenc, Maria Szymanowska, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Margaret Bonds.

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Sarah Cahill, hailed as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. Composers who have dedicated works to Cahill include John Adams, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski, Pauline Oliveros, Julia Wolfe, Roscoe Mitchell, Annea Lockwood, and Ingram Marshall. Keyboard Magazine writes, “Through her inspired interpretation of works across the 20th and 21st centuries, Cahill has been instrumental in bringing to life the music of many of our greatest living composers.” She was named a 2018 Champion of New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum (ACF).

Cahill enjoys working closely with composers, musicologists, and scholars to prepare scores for each performance. She researched and recorded music by prominent early 20th- century American modernists Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford and commissioned a number of new pieces in tribute to their enduring influence. Cahill has worked closely with composer Terry Riley since 1997, and for his 80th birthday, she commissioned nine new works for solo piano in his honor and performed them with several of Riley’s own compositions at venues across the country. Cahill also had the opportunity to work closely with Lou Harrison and has championed many of his works for piano.

Cahill’s latest project is The Future is Female, an investigation and reframing of the piano literature featuring more than seventy compositions by women around the globe, from the Baroque to the present day. Recent and upcoming performances of The Future is Female include concerts presented by The Barbican, Carolina Performing Arts, Carlsbad Music Festival, Detroit Institute of Arts, University of Iowa, Bowling Green New Music Festival, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, North Dakota Museum of Art, Mayville State University, the EXTENSITY Concert Series’ Women Now Festival in New York, and the Newport Classical Festival.

Cahill has performed classical and contemporary chamber music with artists and ensembles such as Jessica Lang Dance; pianists Joseph Kubera, Adam Tendler, and Regina Myers; violinist Stuart Canin; the Alexander String Quartet; New Century Chamber Orchestra; Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and many more. She also performs as a duo with violinist Kate Stenberg.

Sarah Cahill’s discography includes more than twenty albums on the New Albion, CRI, New World, Tzadik, Albany, Innova, Cold Blue, Other Minds, Irritable Hedgehog, and Pinna labels. Cahill’s latest album, The Future is Female, Vol. 1, In Nature, was released in March 2022 on First Hand Records. The Future is Female is a three-volume series, which celebrates and highlights women composers from the 17th century to the present day. These albums encompass 30 compositions by women from around the globe and include many new commissioned works and world premiere recordings.

Cahill’s radio show, Revolutions Per Minute, can be heard every Sunday evening from 8 to 10 pm on KALW, 91.7 FM in San Francisco. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and is a regular pre-concert speaker with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

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Thomas Mesa and Ilya Yakushev

Thomas Mesa, Cello and Ilya Yakushev, Piano

Saturday, April 15, 2023 – 3:00
PM St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue
Berkeley, California

Program:
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) – Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Keyboard, No. 3 in G minor, BWV 1029
Andrea Casarrubios (b. 1988) – Silbo (2021)
Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020) – Scherzo, from Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano, Op. 63
Kevin Day (b. 1996) – Cello Sonata No. 1 (2016)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) – Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19

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”Thomas and Ilya were stupendous! I cannot say enough good things about these two superlative musicians. The audience was mesmerized by their musicianship and their amazing synergy. Each one enhances the other’s playing, and they have such wonderful charisma both on stage and off.” (Director, Wildflower Festival in Pennsylvania)

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Piedmont Grocery
United Pharmacy
Oakland Hills Tennis Club
Berkeley Hearing Center
Spectator Books

Individual Sponsors

Joyce Lashof (in Memoriam), Hector Eduardo Lopez, Stephen Nelson,
James and Ruth Reynolds, Helen and Garrett Romain, Carol Rosenberg,
Odessa Sutton (in Memoriam), Leabah Winter

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Amadi Azikiwe – 2023 Founder’s Concert

Saturday, May 13, 2023 – 3:00 PM
St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Avenue,
Berkeley, California

This concert is held in tribute to Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, Founder of Four Seasons Arts.

Program to be Announced

This concert is free of charge, but tickets are required – ORDER BELOW

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Kenari Saxophone Quartet

Bob Eason, Soprano Saxophone, Kyle Baldwin, Alto Saxophone, Corey Dundee, Tenor Saxophone, Steven Banks, Baritone Saxophone

Saturday, January 28, 2023 – 3:00 PM
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue
Berkeley, California

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Program:

G.F. Handel, arr. Jean-Yves Formeau – Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Robert Schumann, arr. William Bolcom – A Schumann Bouquet
I. Lieber Mai (Beloved Maytime)
II. Knecht Ruprecht (The Bogeyman)
III. Sheherazade
IV. Laendler
V. Sehr Langsam
VI. Lied italienischer Marinari
Nikolai Kapustin, arr. Corey Dundee: From 24 Preludes in Jazz Style,
XXII. Animato
X. Allegro
XIII. Allegretto
XXIV. Presto

-Intermission-
Guillermo Lago – Ciudades
I. Córdoba
II. Sarajevo
III. Addis Ababa
IV. Montevideo
V. Koln
VI. Tokyo
George Gershwin, arr. J. Van der Linden – Rhapsody in Blue

Applauded for their “flat-out amazing” performances and “stunning virtuosity” (Cleveland Classical), the highly acclaimed Kenari Quartet delivers inspiring performances that transform the perception of the saxophone. The quartet aims to highlight the instrument’s remarkable versatility by presenting meticulously crafted repertoire from all periods of classical and contemporary music.

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Hannah Lynch

Daniel Hsu

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Dr. Rochelle Sennet – 2022 Founder’s Concert

About the Founder’s Concert

G-G-R Trio

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Sphinx Virtuosi

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ATOS Trio

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Kindra Scharich & Jeffrey LaDeur

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Sarah Cahill

Thomas Mesa and Ilya Yakushev

Amadi Azikiwe – 2023 Founder’s Concert

Kenari Saxophone Quartet

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