Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society Announces 2nd Season At Spruce Peak PAC

Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society is thrilled to announce their 2nd Season at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center!

Chamber Music is the most versatile and personal form of music. With anywhere from two to nine players, one person to a part, it is a true musical conversation and democracy. The intimacy of the setting allows for a direct connection between the audience and musicians. Join us once again to experience the power of this art form!

Come and be entertained at each of the 2019/2020 Season performances! Get a special season subscription for all four concerts for $140.00 (individual tickets are $38.00) and be treated to some the finest performances of an extraordinary repertoire!

For Occupied Berlin, our Season opener, on October 13 at 7pm, Artistic Director, Jia Kim, has brought together an extraordinary group of musicians to share their passion and talents with you. Musicians are Jia Kim (cello), Henry Kramer (piano), Christel Lee (violin) and for the first time, a Vermont artist and composer, Evan Premo (double bass and composer).

The program is inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago, when Leonard Bernstein gathered musicians from France, England, Russia and America - the four countries that occupied Berlin after the war. It was a magnificent and history making event, and 30 years later, we are doing our own celebration featuring composers from those four countries.

Selections will include music by Elgar his Sonata for Violin & Piano number one Allegro; Arensky's Piano Trio, movement three: Elegia; Saint-Saens' Piano Trio No. 1 F Major movements one through 4 (Allegro vivace, Andante, Scherzo, Allegro); and Vermont artist and composer Evan Premo with his pieces Reflection, Artemis and a new piece for bass/cello.

Occupied Berlin Musician Bios:

Jia Kim: Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society Artistic Director and Korean-America cellist Jia Kim, recently chosen as recipient of the prestigious 2017 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts, leads a dynamic musical life as a performer, educator, and a passionate advocate for the Arts.

Ms. Kim has been invited as Visiting Artist at the University of Hawaii, American Academy of Jordan, College of William and Mary, Grand Valley State University, and was a Tone Judge for the Violin Society of America's 2016 International Competition. Currently she serves as Faculty at The Juilliard School Precollege Division, New York Youth Symphony's Chamber Music program, The Brearley School, and International Music Sessions. As Artistic Director of Central Chamber Series in NYC and Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society in Stowe, VT, she is committed to connecting with a wider audience through the powerful language of Chamber Music through education and performance.

Ms.Kim is ever more grateful to her mentors and teachers Ronald Leonard, Itzhak & Toby Perlman, and to Joel Krosnick, whom she studied with at the Juilliard School for a Bachelor and Master Degree in Music. Ms.Kim performs on a Testore cello made in 1748.

Henry Kramer: Praised by The New York Times for "thrilling [and] triumphant" performances, pianist Henry Kramer most recently was awarded a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center - one of the most coveted honours bestowed on young American soloists.

At the relatively late age of 11, Henry taught himself to play piano in his hometown of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Shortly after his parents enrolled him in lessons, he was playing Chopin and Mozart. Henry graduated from the Juilliard School and received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Boris Berman. He is a Steinway Artist and a sought-after collaborator having appeared in recitals at prestigious venues around the country.

Christie Lee: First-prize winner of the 2015 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, Canadian-American violinist Christel Lee became the first North American winner in its 50 year history. A multi-faceted artist, Christie is a passionate chamber musician, and regularly invited to European and North American festivals.

Of Korean heritage, Christie began the violin at the age of five in Vancouver, Canada. She later relocated to New York City, attending the Professional Children's School and graduating from the Juilliard School in 2011. She concluded her studies at the Kronberg Academy and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich under the tutelage of Ana Chumachenco. Christie plays on a 1781 violin by Lorenzo Storioni, which has been kindly loaned from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben in Hamburg.

Evan Premo: Composer and Double Bassist Evan Premo is the first VT-based composer featured in a performance at Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society! His music has been commissioned by many, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the International Society of Bassists and Diana Gannett.

Evan is a member of New York City based chamber music collective, DeCoda, with whom he performs in residencies around the world. He is artistic director and founder of "Beethoven and Banjos", residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Evan lives in Marshfield, Vermont with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. They are the founders and artistic directors of Scragg Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music.

Sponsorship of artists provides a unique opportunity to personally get to know the artists and support their residency, as well as Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society. A very special thanks to the supporters of the October 2019 CMS residency who have pledged their support: Irene Bareau, Leslie Abramson and Fred Rossman, and Terri and Gerry Griffin.

Purchase tickets at SprucePeakArts.org or call 802.760.4634.

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