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HUANG, APPEL, ARRON, WEISS QUARTET

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ARTIST BIOS

• PAUL HUANG, VIOLIN

  Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Taiwanese-American violinist Paul Huang is already recognized for his intensely expressive music making, distinctive sound, and effortless virtuosity. Following his Kennedy Center debut, The Washington Post proclaimed: “Huang is definitely an artist with the goods for a significant career.” In 2013, The New York Times praised his “masterly account of Barber’s Violin Concerto” with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Huang’s 2015-16 season includes subscription debuts with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Brevard Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, as well as return engagements with the Detroit Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, Bilbao Symphony, National Symphony of Mexico, and National Taiwan Symphony. In addition, Mr. Huang appears in recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Herbst Theatre in San Francisco (San Francisco Performances), Barre Opera House in Vermont, Symphony Hall in Detroit (Pro Musica Detroit), the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, and Caramoor Festival Rising Stars series.

  Last season, Mr. Huang stepped in for Midori to appear with the Detroit Symphony under the baton of Leonard Slatkin performing the Sibelius concerto to critical acclaim. He also appeared with the Alabama Symphony on short notice to perform the Walton concerto. Other season highlights included his concerto debut performing the Barber concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, as well as his sold-out solo recital debut on Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers” Series. Mr. Huang’s recent recital appearances included Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, University of Georgia Performing Arts, University of Florida Performing Arts, the Strathmore Center, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall, the Louvre in Paris, Seoul Arts Center, and National Concert Hall in Taiwan. His first solo CD, Intimate Inspiration, was released on the CHIMEI label. In association with the Camerata Pacifica, he also recorded “Four Songs of Solitude” for solo violin for their album of John Harbison works. The album was released on Harmonia Mundi in fall 2014. An acclaimed chamber musician, Mr. Huang appears as a member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two as well as a Principal Artist for the Camerata Pacifica in Santa Barbara and throughout California. A frequent guest artist at summer music festivals worldwide, his upcoming appearances include debuts at Music@Menlo, La Jolla, Bad Kissingen, as well as returning to Caramoor, CHANEL, Great Mountains, and Moritzburg Festivals. Winner of the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Huang made critically acclaimed recital debuts in New York at Merkin Concert Hall and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Other honors include First Prize at the 2009 International Violin Competition Sion-Valais in Switzerland, the 2009 Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation Arts Award for Taiwan’s Most Promising Young Artists, the 2013 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and 2014 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award. Born in Taiwan, Mr. Huang began violin lessons at the age of seven. Since entering the Juilliard Pre-College at fourteen, he has continued studies at the school with Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. Mr. Huang was a recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He plays on the 1742 ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesù on loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago. 

  For more information, click here to visit the artist’s webpage.

• TOBEY APPEL, VIOLA

  Violist Toby Appel has been heard in recital and concerto performances throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. He has appeared as a member of the Tashi chamber ensemble and the Lenox and Audubon Quartets; and, as a guest artist, with the Alexander, Manhattan, and Vermeer Quartets and jazz artists Chick Corea and Gary Burton. Other performance venues include the United Nations; the White House; and the Angel Fire, Bravo, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, and Orcas festivals. Mr. Appel has also performed as a narrator for Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, and Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat; and he is a frequent commentator on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. His chamber music performances can be heard on the Columbia, Delos, Desto, Koch International, Opus 1, and Musical Heritage Society labels. Mr. Appel entered the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of thirteen, studying with Max Aronoff. He is currently on the faculty of the Juilliard School. 

• EDWARD ARRON, CELLO

  Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe and Asia. In 2013, Mr. Arron completed a ten-year residency as the artistic director of the critically acclaimed Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert, a chamber music series created in 2003 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Museum’s prestigious Concerts and Lectures series. Currently, he is the artistic director, host, and resident performer of the Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut, as well as the Festival Series in Beaufort, South Carolina and Chamber Music on Main at the Columbia Museum in Columbia, SC. Additionally, Mr. Arron curates a series, “Edward Arron and Friends,” at the Caramoor International Music Festival, and is the co-artistic director along with his wife, pianist Jeewon Park, of the new Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron has performed numerous times at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls, New York’s Town Hall, and the 92nd Street Y, and is a frequent performer at Bargemusic. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, BRAVO! Colorado, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music, Great Mountains, Charlottesville, Telluride Musicfest, Seoul Spring, Lake Champlain Chamber Music, Chesapeake Chamber Music, and Bard Music Festival. He has participated in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project as well as Isaac Stern’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters.

  Edward Arron began playing the cello at age seven in Cincinnati and continued his studies in New York with Peter Wiley. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Harvey Shapiro. Mr. Arron has served on the faculty of New York University since 2009. 

• ORION WEISS, PIANO

  One of the most sought-after soloists in his generation of young American musicians, the pianist Orion Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim.“When you’re named after one of the biggest constellations in the night sky, the pressure is on to display a little star power — and the young pianist Orion Weiss did exactly that…” – The Washington Post

  The 2014-15 season features Orion’s third performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as a North American tour with the world-famous Salzburg Marionette theater in an enhanced piano recital of Debussy’s La Boîte à Joujoux. The 2013-14 season featured Weiss with orchestras around North America, including the Milwaukee and Vancouver Symphonies, and the 2012-13 season saw Weiss in repeat engagements with the Baltimore Symphony and New World Symphony. In 2012 he released a recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Bartok in spring 2012, and also spearheaded a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with his longtime collaborators the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta.

  Named the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year in September 2010, in the summer of 2011 Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as a last-minute replacement for Leon Fleisher. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and in duo summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at both Lincoln Center and the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman.

  Also known for his affinity and enthusiasm for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with his wife, the pianist Anna Polonsky, violinist James Ehnes, and cellist Zuill Bailey, as well as ensembles including the Pacifica Quartet. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Weiss has appeared across the U.S. at venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival, Sheldon Concert Hall, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Chamber Music Northwest, the Bard Music Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Spivey Hall.  He won the 2005 William Petschek Recital Award at Juilliard, and made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall that April. Also in 2005 he made his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2002-2004, which included his appearance in the opening concert of the Society’s 2002-2003 season at Alice Tully Hall performing Ravel’s La Valse with pianist Shai Wosner.

  Weiss’s impressive list of awards includes the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at the Juilliard School and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship. A native of Lyndhurst, OH, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown, and Edith Reed. In February of 1999, Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.