Meet the New Members of CMS Two

Name: Lise de la Salle

Instrument: Piano

Hometown: Paris, France

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
I started when I was 4. So, almost 25 years!
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
I'm really proud and happy! Joining the CMS Two program means a lot to me. Meeting and playing with musicians I admire, learning and discovering new repertoire, having fun on tour.... sharing life!
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
That's a hard question! I think I would say Brahms' F-minor Quintet. Brahms writes for 5 instruments as he writes for a full orchestra. Everything in this piece is "perfect."
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
Lots of Jazz. Also a lot of Rock'n'Roll.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I love food, I exercise quite a lot, and I'm a big art lover!

Name: Xavier Foley

Instrument: Double Bass

Hometown: Marietta, Georgia

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
11 years.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
Hopefully it means I will get to explore more chamber music repertoire for double bass, and maybe more performances of my own works.
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
The Schubert "Trout Quintet," because it is the one chamber work that I can sort of play from memory. So this means when I miss a page turn, I'm still covered! (This actually happened at the Marlboro Music Festival).
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
Atmospheric Drum & Bass
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I like taking walks and listening to Atmospheric Drum & Bass at the same time!

Name: Francisco Fullana

Instrument: Violin

Hometown: Palma de Mallorca, Spain

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
I started when I was 4 in my hometown of Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
After living for almost 11 years and counting in New York, the city is home to me. Some of the most memorable concerts I have ever attended over that time have been at the Chamber Music Society so to now be part of CMS Two feels like a dream come true. I look forward to playing and collaborating with some of the artists I grew up watching and admiring over the years. I am crazy about chamber music. The conversations and interactions through our instruments is something that is so special to me and I can't wait to have those kind of dialogues on the CMS stage.
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
That's a tough one, there are so many incredible pieces! But if I have to choose one piece it would have to be Mozart's Divertimento in E-Flat Major for String Trio. It is one of the most challenging yet satisfying pieces to perform. Mozart takes the performers and the listener through an almost one hour journey of beauty, drama and humor, with countless characters and pushing the performers to the limit. There's nothing like it.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
A lot of Jazz. I try to visit the legendary Village Vanguard at least a few times a year, as well as some of the smaller clubs in the city. Lately, I have been listening to Chris Potter's latest album, a true virtuoso of the saxophone.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I decided I needed a different kind of intellectual challenge that did not involve music, so I started taking some Japanese lessons once a week for the past 3 months. It's hard but I am really enjoying it, and for Spanish speakers the pronunciation is surprisingly similar!

Name: Alexi Kenney

Instrument: Violin

Hometown: Palo Alto, CA

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
Since I was 4 years old.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
Chamber music has been my love for as long as I can remember, and having grown up right by Music@Menlo in California, I heard CMS musicians there every summer. When I found out about CMS Two I knew I wanted to be a part of it, to play with and be inspired by musicians of the highest caliber. I'm very excited and honored.
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
Hard to pick, but there's something thrilling and freeing about playing the first violin parts of Haydn's String Quartets. The music is full of unfiltered emotion, and the capricious, joyous, and virtuosic violin parts are so much fun to play. And playing a Beethoven quartet is always a unique pleasure.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
I can't get enough of great powerhouse female vocalists such as Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Whitney Houston, and Joni Mitchell—and more currently Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Adele. I also always keep some Indian Bhangra and Joe Hisaishi soundtracks (from Miyazaki films) on my phone.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I really enjoy food, sometimes to the point of obsession, and I also love to bake! I made an epic bûche de Noel this past December that I slaved over for days and loved every minute of it. I also enjoy yoga and running, and exploring whichever city or town I find myself in on foot (having meticulously Yelped and planned my coffee/food itinerary beforehand, of course).

Name: Sebastian Manz

Instrument: Clarinet

Hometown: Stuttgart, Germany

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
I started to play the clarinet at age seven. I had received the recommendation to wait for my permanent front incisors to develop—and it has now already been 24 years. Unbelievable how fast time flies.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
It is a wonderful opportunity to perform more chamber music, both in America and around the world, and work together with international artists on an international platform. I believe exciting times lie ahead of me. Through the CMS Two Program, Wu Han and David Finckel are providing me with new possibilities to venture into programmatic experimentation and to enormously expand my chamber music repertoire. For me, CMS Two is a milestone in my career.
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
Essentially, all of these works form their own universe. The Messiaen quartet was created under the most extreme emotional conditions, and we musicians feel this profoundly. Each time, the piece poses both a technical and an emotional challenge. At the end of his life, Brahms once more expanded on his compositional avenues, creating one of the most ethereal works ever with this quintet! It is saturated with a passion, maturity and serenity, and, as a clarinetist, I could not be happier – this piece gives me goosebumps every time. Finally, to me, Mozart’s chamber music is the greatest thing ever. Like no one else, Mozart understood how to place wind instruments perfectly into the limelight and show them from their best side. His music possesses the right balance between “constructed” and “musicianly” passages.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
When I was younger, I had a very extreme Hip-Hop phase. I also dressed accordingly: baggy trousers were as much a part of it as my own rap. Currently, I find the “electro-swing movement” very interesting, but all in all, I listen to everything that is good music in my eyes, including Pop music from the past decades: Queen, Elton John, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, the Beatles.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
Endurance sports are very important to me: jogging, swimming, football, badminton, table tennis, etc.—all ball sports, basically. Furthermore, I like going to the movies and enjoy good food and restaurants, as well as having a beer at the Stuttgart “Cannstatter Wasn” festival!

Name: David Requiro

Instrument: Cello

Hometown: Oakland, CA

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
Since I was 6 years old—26 years.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
It is an honor to have the opportunity to collaborate with some of the finest chamber musicians in the world. I look forward to performing innovative and diverse programs in beautiful Alice Tully Hall.
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
It is very hard for me to choose just one. While I don’t have one specific work that I love to perform, I have always had special experiences performing Beethoven. I am very lucky to have performed certain late Beethoven quartets, although I still feel like I have only scratched the surface of these awkward and complex works. Having also performed all of the Beethoven sonatas in one recital, I have special memories journeying from Op. 5 to Op. 102 in the same program.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
I like to listen to some Jazz when I can, but I actually listen to podcasts more than anything else. "Comedy Bang Bang" and "Radiolab" are some of my favorites.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I love cooking with my wife Meta! We also enjoy hanging out with our dog Pinky and watching movies. Also, I grew up playing a lot of tennis and it is the one sport that I try to keep up throughout the year.

Name: Adam Walker

Instrument: Flute

Hometown: Retford, Nottinghamshire

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
I started to play the flute just before I was 9, so I've been playing for just over 20 years. Scary!
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
I'm looking forward to meeting many new musicians and playing as much chamber music as possible, all based around one of my favourite cities in the world. I've heard so many wonderful things about the CMS Two program, so I feel very happy, and lucky, to join!
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
Impossible! I love coming across new and unexpected discoveries...I played the Schulhoff Concertino for the first time last year—the combination of flute/piccolo, viola, and double bass was so effective! The Debussy Trio Sonata would certainly be in with a chance. It's a beautiful masterpiece that doesn't ever seem to lose its magic.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
All sorts! From cheesy Pop to the obscure.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
I love interior design! I'll be looking at design blogs at breakfast and then before I know it the mornings over! I love to travel so I feel fortunate that my career is built around this. Highlights have included Australia, Japan, India, and most recently Vietnam (I love Vietnamese food!).

Name: Angelo Xiang Yu

Instrument: Violin

Hometown: Inner Mongolia, China

1. How long have you been playing your instrument?
24 years! I was still in Inner Mongolia when I started playing the violin, taught by a teacher who plays traditional folk instruments.
2. What does it mean to you to be part of the CMS Two program?
Being part of the CMS Two program is a dream come true! When I was studying at the Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory, everyone in the school wanted to be soloist, yet I started my own quartet. I enjoy working together with others, exchanging our feelings, and inspiring each other, as I believe that chamber music is the ultimate foundation for being a good musician. In the past couple of years, I was lucky enough to perform concertos with different orchestras. Such experience gave me tremendous joy, yet at the same time, I deeply felt that part of my life was missing. Then I realized how much I MISS playing chamber music! Now thanks to the CMS, I found the missing piece in my music life, and I can’t think of a better way to continue my journey! By the way, (don’t be surprised) my first concert appearance with CMS will be my New York debut!
3. What is your favorite chamber music piece to perform and why?
If I only had one day to live, I would spend my day with the middle movement of Beethoven String Quartet Op. 132. Every time I listen to/perform this movement, it always brings the most beautiful memories back to me, and reminds me the joy of life—no matter how many struggles and frustrations I’m facing now, it is so important to realize how lucky I am to be alive, to be able to feel every second, and to be thankful for what I have.
4. When you’re not listening to classical music, what other types of music do you enjoy?
I love all types of music—Rock and Roll, Jazz, Folk, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal…And I almost released my own POP album in China ;) Yes, I’m a huge Karaoke guy!
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not performing?
Swimming and cooking! Perfect ways to destress myself!