Bach Cello Suites Concert Program

J.S. BACH | COMPLETE SUITES FOR UNACCOMPANIED CELLO

Friday, October 23, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 24, 2015 | 7:00 PM

Christ Church Rochester

PROGRAM
Friday, October 23, 2015

Suite I in G Major, BWV 1007 Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude (1685-1750)
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Minuet I
Minuet II
Gigue

Yunwen Chen, cello

Suite II in D Minor, BWV 1008 J.S. Bach
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Minuet I
Minuet II
Gigue

Amanda Laborete, cello

Suite III in C Major, BWV 1009 J.S. Bach
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrée I
Bourrée II
Gigue

Dustin Seo, cello

PROGRAM
Saturday, October 24, 2015

Suite IV in E-flat major, BWV 1010 Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude (1685-1750)
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrée I
Bourrée II
Gigue

Robert Erhard, cello

Suite V in C Minor, BWV 1011 J.S. Bach
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte I
Gavotte II
Gigue

Cora Swenson Lee, Cello

Suite VI in D Major, BWV 1012 J.S. Bach
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte I
Gavotte II
Gigue

Daniel Ketter, cello

MEET THE ARTISTS
Steven Laitz is Professor and Chair of Theory and Analysis department
at the Juilliard School and Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman
School of Music. He is the Director of the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Cen-
ter for Music Theory Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma, and au-
thor of the textbook Complete Musician and three web courses at the East-
man School of Music.

Yunwen Chen was born in 1995 in Nanking, China, where she started
playing cello at the age of eight. In 2007, Yunwen began to study with
Professor Dahai Liu at the Shanghai Music Conservatory. Here, she de-
veloped a great interest in chamber music and formed a piano trio, the Y
Trio. After two years working together, the Y Trio transferred to Inter-
lochen Arts Academy to continue their training. In 2012, the trio partici-
pated in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and won the Second
Place Prize and Silver Medal in the Junior Division. While at Interloch-
en, Yunwen studied with Professor Crispin Campbell and was a winner
of Interlochen’s Concerto Competition in 2013, leading to a perfor-
mance of Schelomo by Ernst Bloch with the school orchestra under violist
and conductor David Holland.

Yunwen has been studying at the Eastman School of Music with Profes-
sor Alan Harris since 2013 and performs regularly in the Rochester area
in connection with her studies. She is greatly appreciative for Professor
Harris’s support in helping her to achieve her musical intentions with
cello playing.

Amanda Laborete, 20, began cello at the age of 6. As an avid traveler
and musician, Amanda traveled to Germany to participate in a school/
music exchange. While there, she enjoyed performing and touring in
France and Austria with the Bischoefliche Marienschule Orchester, and
the Moenchengladbach Jugendorchester. Currently, she is a junior at the
Eastman School of Music studying cello performance under the tutelage
of Alan Harris. During past summers, Amanda has attended the Nation-
al Cello Summer Institute and Meadowmount School of Music, where
she studied with Tim Eddy, Richard Aaron, Uri Vardi, Hans Jensen, and
Jonathon Koh. In addition to her summer studies, Amanda has per-
formed numerous times with the La Jolla Music Festival. There, she col-
laborated and performed with Augustin Hadelich, Cho-Liang Lin, Des-
mond Hoebig, Meta Weiss, and Madeline Kabat. At 16, Amanda gave
her solo debut with the International Youth Symphony in 2012. In past

MEET THE ARTISTS
years, she has served as principal of the Eastman School Symphony Or-
chestra and the San Diego Youth Symphony. In her free time, she en-
joys reading, cooking, and eating.

Dustin Seo is currently a junior at the Eastman School of Music, study-
ing cello performance under Professor Alan Harris; along with a perfor-
mance degree, Dustin is pursuing a Musical Arts Certificate (MUA) and
is the recipient of the Glenn and Frances Harris Cello Prize. As a new
music enthusiast, Dustin has been heavily involved with both Eastman
new music organizations, OSSIA and Musica Nova, since beginning his
studies at Eastman. He has worked with established composers such as
Sydney Hodkinson, Mortiz Eggert, Jim Mobberley, and Chaya Czer-
nowin as well as with many emerging young composers both from and
outside of the Eastman community. Furthermore, Dustin has studied
and collaborated with musicians such as Brad Lubman, the JACK quar-
tet, and members of the American Modern Ensemble. Dustin has played
masterclasses for Irvine Arditti, Ron Leonard, Natasha Brofsky, the Do-
ver Quartet, and the Juilliard Quartet.

Dustin has attended Idyllwild Chamberfest in 2011, Montecito Interna-
tional Music Festival in 2012/2013, and New Music on the Point in
2015. He is also the founding member of Los Angeles-based Clemens
Quartet, which was awarded first place at VOCE chamber music com-
petition in 2013. He has been the recipient of the Performing Arts
Foundation for Asian Americans (PAFAA) scholarship in 2012. Dustin
works as a summer strings assistant for the Harmony Project in Los An-
geles and also serves as faculty at the Southeast Asia Music Festival in
the Philippines.

Robert Erhard, cellist, grew up with Indian music, language, and cul-
ture during his years as a student in Southern India. In India, Robert
studied Hindi and Sanskrit and was very active singing bhajans and
chanting Vedas. This immersion in the world of Indian music laid a
strong foundation of musical understanding that Robert draws upon in
his cello playing. In May 2015, Robert graduated as “Outstanding Grad-
uate” of his class with highest honors, receiving a Bachelor of Music in
Cello Performance from the University of Colorado College of Music.
At CU, he studied with cellists Judith Glyde and Thomas Heinrich. He
also performed in the College of Music’s chamber music program head-
ed by the Grammy-winning Takács String Quartet and CU’s Early Music

MEET THE ARTISTS
Ensemble, receiving training in baroque music from Dr. Elizabeth Farr.

Robert is the undergraduate winner of the 2015 CU Honors Concerto
Competition, and will be performing the Schumann Cello Concerto with
the CU Symphony Orchestra in 2015-2016. In October 2014, Robert
recited a Vedic chant (with his brother) and performed as a cello/double
bass duo with his father at the White House for a multicultural confer-
ence. He will be featured as a soloist in May 2016 as the “Featured
Young Artist” of the Boulder Bach Festival.

Praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for playing “with maturity and
panache,” Cora Swenson Lee is a cellist and baroque cellist who per-
forms actively in the Boston area. Cora began her studies in Chicago at
the age of 4. Her most influential teachers have been Eastman School of
Music professor Alan Harris and long-time cellist of the renowned Ver-
meer Quartet, Marc Johnson. Cora holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the
Eastman School of Music (2010) and a Master’s Degree from Boston
University College of Fine Arts (2012). Cora is currently pursuing her
Doctorate in Cello Performance at the Eastman School of Music.

Cora is an active and passionate chamber musician. After a recent per-
formance of Mendelssohn’s String Octet with Emmanuel Music, the
Boston Musical Intelligencer stated “Swenson Lee, whom I had not heard
previously, was a treat to discover, especially in the Presto opening,
which is so difficult to get to speak clearly.” Cora was named as a 2014-
2015 season Lorraine Hunt Liebertson Fellow at Emmanuel Music.

Cora’s early music ensemble, Trio Speranza, concertizes around the
United States each season, and in 2014 won the Presentation Prize at
Early Music America’s Baroque Performance Competition. Cora is a
member of Boston Baroque and a substitute cellist for the Handel and
Haydn Society. She has previously worked as a substitute for the Roch-
ester Philharmonic Orchestra and the New World Symphony. Cora has
performed in venues across the United States and internationally. High-
lights include appearances at the San Francisco Early Music Society,
Trinity Church Copley and Jordan Hall in Boston, Quigley Chapel and
DePaul University in Chicago, and Odori Park in Sapporo Japan with
former Vienna Philharmonic concertmaster Werner Hink and principal
clarinetist Peter Schmiedl.

MEET THE ARTISTS
Daniel Ketter holds a MM in cello performance and pedagogy with
Alison Wells from the Peabody Conservatory and graduated with high
distinction both from the Eastman School of Music with Alan Harris
(BM, cello performance) and from the University of Rochester (BA,
mathematics). Recently, Daniel completed the second year of his doctor-
al studies at Eastman as a technique class as a teaching assistant for Alan
Harris. His current research interests include analytical approaches to
solo melodic instrumental music and techniques of single-voice polyph-
ony.

This summer Daniel performed at the New Mexico Chamber Music
Festival in Albuquerque and with Sunset Concerts in Rochester, NY.
Future performance projects include complete works presentations in
the cello studio, collaborations with the Rochester Landmark Society
and performances with Music in the American Wild celebrating the cen-
tennial year of the National Parks Service.

He plays a cello made c. 1870 by H.C. Silvestre.

UPCOMING EVENTS AT EASTMAN
Monday, October 26, 2015

Eastman School Symphony Orchestra
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 8:00 PM

Free admission
Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Saxology
Hatch Recital Hall, 8:00 PM

Free admission
Friday, October 30, 2015
Guest Artist Recital: Guy Johnston, cello
Hatch Recital Hall, 12:30 PM

Free admission

Information about upcoming Eastman concerts and events can be found at:
www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts

www.facebook.com/ConcertsAtEastman

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