Sonic Spectrum III
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PROGRAM
Shawn E. Okpebholo The Beautiful for Tenor and Piano (NEW YORK PREMIERE)
Eric Malmquist Fellow Citizens for Tenor and Piano
Alistair Coleman Moonshot for String Quartet (2019)
Nico Muhly Stranger for Tenor and String Quartet (2019)
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Nicholas Phan
Myra Huang
Viano Quartet
Nicholas Phan is a Grammy-winning lyric tenor, curator, and educator, celebrated for his expressive artistry and versatility across a repertoire spanning nearly 500 years. In 2010 he co-founded Art Song Chicago, where he serves as artistic director, to promote art song and vocal chamber music. He is the host and creator of BACH 52, a web series examining the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He has created programs for broadcast on WFMT and WQXR and has also served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Bravo! Vail Music Festival, San Francisco Opera Center, and San Francisco Performances. Phan won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for his recording of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony. His album A Change Is Gonna Come was nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album; he is the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of this category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959.
Acclaimed by Opera News as being “among the top accompanists of her generation,” Grammy-nominated pianist Myra Huang is highly sought after for her interpretation of lieder and art song as well as her depth of musicianship and impeccable technique. Huang has made regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Kennedy Center, and the 92nd Street Y. Huang was chosen as the recipient of the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award for 2019 by the Classical Recording Foundation. She holds the positions of the Head of Music for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Director of Musical Administration and Head Coach at the Aspen Music Festival, and faculty member of the Collaborative Piano Department at the Manhattan School of Music. Huang is a Steinway Artist.
Praised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano Quartet has quickly soared to international acclaim as one of the most dynamic and in-demand string quartets of their generation. Winners of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2025, the ensemble has captivated audiences worldwide ever since they were awarded First Prize at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, with appearances at renowned venues such as Lincoln Center, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall, and London’s Wigmore Hall. The Viano Quartet are members of CMS’s Bowers Program from 2024 to 2027.
Highlights of the Quartet’s 2025–26 season include debut performances at London’s Southbank Centre, the Frick Collection in New York, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Coast Live Music, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Apex Concerts, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Fortas Series at the Kennedy Center, Premiere Performances HK, and a mainstage full recital debut at CMS. The quartet also makes return appearances at Stanford Live, Forte Chamber Music, the Beaches Fine Arts Series, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society’s Slee Series (for the second half of their Beethoven cycle), Chamber Music Albuquerque, and the Sanibel Music Festival. The Quartet looks forward to visiting residencies this season at Stanford University through the St. Lawrence Legacy Series, the University of Victoria, Music in the Morning in Vancouver, and the Auditorium Chamber Music Series at the University of Idaho. This season also features collaborations with mandolinist Avi Avital, pianist Sir Stephen Hough, pianist Gilbert Kalish, clarinetist Anthony McGill, guitarist Miloš Karadaglic, and singer-songwriter Vienna Teng.
Equally committed to both beloved masterworks and contemporary repertoire, the Viano Quartet actively collaborates with today’s leading composers, including Sir Stephen Hough, Kevin Lau, Chris Rogerson, and Caroline Shaw. They are set to premiere a newly written string quartet by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail in the summer of 2026. Their first full-length album, Voyager, was released in summer 2025 with Apple Music/Platoon Records, and features Beethoven’s Op. 130 alongside Alistair Coleman’s Moonshot. Their debut EP Portraits was released in 2023 as one of the first albums to be launched on the Curtis Studio label, featuring works by Schubert, Florence Price, Tchaikovsky, and Ginastera.
The Viano Quartet was formed in Los Angeles at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in 2015. Each member of the quartet is grateful for the unwavering support from their mentors at the Curtis Institute and Colburn Conservatory, including members of the Dover, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets.