Monday, May 23 — Tom Hicks
Hailed as an artist of “magnificent pianism,” Tom Hicks has been praised for his “brilliantly evocative” and “gorgeously creative playing.” He is a gold medalist in the Wales International Piano Competition and Croydon Piano Concerto Competition. As a teacher, Hicks has taught piano performance at Yale University and currently lectures at Northwestern University.
Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Rebecca Clarke
Tuesday, May 24 — Gail Archer
Hailed as one of this era’s most adventurous interpreters of the classical organ repertoire, Gail Archer has released Cantius, an album of rarely performed works by Polish composers of the 19th to 21st centuries. The recording was made on the “Tina Mae” organ built in 1907 at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago.
Music
Meditation-Elegy by Felix Borowski
Wednesday, May 25 —Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert: Hazel Friedman
Hazel Friedman studied piano performance at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In 2014, she was the first-place winner of the San Diego Symphony’s Concerto Competition and subsequently soloed with the orchestra.
Music of César Franck, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Robert Muczynski
Thursday, May 26 — Rika Seko and Camerata Chicago
After graduating from the Tokyo University of Arts, violinist Rika Seko began her professional career in Bogota, Colombia, in 1986. Since moving to Chicago in 1994, she has appeared with many area orchestras. Currently, Seko is concertmaster with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Grant Park Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and Camerata Chicago.
Music
Violin Concerto in E major, Spring from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
Friday, May 27 – Impromptu Encore: Vadim Gluzman and Angela Yoffe
Violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Angela Yoffe have combined their music talents for decades as performers, educators, and concert presenters. The husband-and-wife duo splits their time between Chicago and Tel Aviv. Every summer, Gluzman and Yoffe produce the North Shore Chamber Music Festival in Northbrook. They visited WFMT for a live Impromptu in 2011.
Music of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev