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Invitation to the Dance

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Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 7:30 pm

Alice Tully Hall

2 hours, including intermission

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“Last week I gave a ball in my own rooms . . . we began at 6 in the evening and stopped at 7—what? only an hour?—no, no—at seven in the morning.” — W. A. Mozart 

Beginning with Mozart, who was an avid and reportedly expert dancer, this program offers a unique opportunity to enjoy the special synergy between music and dance: from composers who created dance music for social gatherings like the “Waltz King” Johann Strauss, Jr., to artistic representations of folk dances by Johannes Brahms and David Serkin Ludwig. Double bassist Nina Bernat performs Chopin’s dazzling polonaise, and a quartet of CMS musicians presents Shostakovich’s comical, almost sarcastic take on the polka.

Program

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756–1791)

5 Contredanses for Flute, Strings, and Drum, K. 609

(1791)

Franz Schubert

(1797–1828)

Polonaise in E major for Piano, Four Hands, D. 824, Op. 61, No. 6

(1826)

David Serkin Ludwig

(b. 1974)

Three Yiddish Dances for Piano, Violin, and Cello

(2010)

Dmitri Shostakovich

(1906–1975)

Two Pieces for String Quartet

Igor Stravinsky

(1882–1971)

Duo Concertant for Violin and Piano

(1932)

Johannes Brahms

(1833–1897)

Selected Hungarian Dances for Violin and Piano

(arr. Joseph Joachim) (1868, 1880)

Frédéric Chopin

(1810–1849)

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major for Double Bass and Piano, Op. 3

(1829-30)

Alexandre Tansman

(1897-1986)

Fantaisie sur les valses de Johann Strauss for Two Pianos

Johann Strauss, Jr.

(1825-1899)

Schatz-Walzer for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Piano, and Harmonium, Op. 418

(1885)

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Presented at

Alice Tully Hall

1941 Broadway at, W 65th St New York, NY 10023
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Anna Geniushene

Piano

Anna Geniushene’s fresh, layered, and powerful interpretations defined her participation at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—and won her the coveted silver medal and the adoration of fans around the globe. Critics praised her “powerhouse sound, forceful musical personality, and sheer virtuosity” (Musical America) and likened her performance to “Cliburn at his best” (Gramophone). Born in Moscow on New Year’s Day in 1991, Anna made her recital debut just seven years later in the small hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. She has since developed a versatile career, with performances in major world venues such as the Town Hall in Leeds, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Museum of Arts in Tel Aviv, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and Sala Greppi in Bergamo. A dedicated chamber musician, she has performed piano duo repertoire with her husband, Lukas Geniušas, and has collaborated with the Quartetto di Cremona. The 2024 season features her debut in Washington, DC, and multiple engagement across the United States; an Asian tour including solo recitals in Singapore, China, and Taiwan; the season opening in Florence with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto under Gabor Takacs-Nagy; her debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus; and the beginning of her tenure in CMS’s Bowers Program.

Sahun Sam Hong

Piano

Pianist Sahun Sam Hong was the winner of the 2017 Vendome Prize at Verbier, and a prizewinner of the 2023 Naumburg International Piano Competition and 2017 International Beethoven Competition Vienna. He was also the recipient of a 2021 American Pianists Award. He has been invited to perform at major chamber music festivals and is a prolific arranger of chamber music and orchestral works. He is the Co-Artistic Director of ensemble132, a chamber music collective that presents his transcriptions on annual tours. At the age of 16, Hong graduated from Texas Christian University, studying with John Owings. He also studied with Leon Fleisher and Yong Hi Moon at the Peabody Institute. A member of CMS’s Bowers Program, Hong is currently based in New York City and serves on the faculty of CUNY Queens College.

Aaron Boyd

Violin

Violinist Aaron Boyd enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist, lecturer, and teacher. Since making his New York recital debut in 1998, he has concertized throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly a member of the Escher String Quartet, he was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin E. Segal prize from Lincoln Center, and was also awarded a Proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh for his musical accomplishments. A passionate advocate for new music, he has been involved in numerous commissions and premieres, and has worked directly with such legendary composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, and Charles Wuorinen. He is also founder of the Zukofsky Quartet (quartet-in-residence at Bargemusic); the only ensemble to have played all of Milton Babbitt's notoriously difficult string quartets. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the BIS, Music@Menlo Live, Naxos, Tzadik, North/South and Innova labels. He has been broadcast in concert by NPR, WQXR, and WQED, and was profiled by Arizona Public Television. Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Boyd began his studies with Samuel LaRocca and Eugene Phillips and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Sally Thomas and coached extensively with Paul Zukofsky and cellist Harvey Shapiro. He now serves as Director of Chamber Music and Professor of Practice in Violin at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and lives in Dallas with his wife Yuko, daughter Ayu, and son Yuki.

Bella Hristova

Violin

Acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across the US, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand. She was the featured soloist for an eight-orchestra concerto commission, written for her by her husband, composer David Serkin Ludwig, and recently recorded it with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. Her discography also includes the complete Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with pianist Michael Houstoun. A champion of new music, she has commissioned works by Joan Tower, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich for her project Lineage. She is a recipient of a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant and first-prize winner of the Michael Hill and Young Concert Artists competitions. Hristova studied with Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo, is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, and plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin.

Daniel Phillips

Violin/Viola

Violinist Daniel Phillips enjoys a versatile career as a chamber musician, solo artist, and teacher. A graduate of Juilliard, his major teachers were his father Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sandor Végh, and George Neikrug. Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh, Houston, New Jersey, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Yakima symphonies. He appears regularly at the Spoleto USA Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Music Festival, the International Musicians Seminar in England, Marlboro Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, where he is co-artistic director. He has served on the faculty of the Heifetz Institute and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for Sony with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma. A judge in the 2022 Leipzig Bach Competition and 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition, Phillips is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music, Bard College Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, and their two dachshunds on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Estelle Choi

Cello

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, cellist Estelle Choi began her music studies at the age of five. She garnered top prizes as a soloist and as a chamber musician in the Canadian Music Competition, the Alberta Music Festival, and the Calgary Concerto Competition. She has gained international recognition as a founding member of the Calidore String Quartet, an ensemble celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2020. Praised by the New York Times for its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” and by the Los Angeles Times for its balance of “intellect and expression,” the Calidore made international headlines when they won the Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition. As a member of the Calidore, Ms. Choi is an Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, BBC 3 New Generation Artist, recipient of the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist award, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust recipient. The Calidore recently completed their third year as members of CMS’s Bowers Program. Internationally, Ms. Choi was a prize winner in the ARD Munich competition as well as the Hamburg Chamber Music competition. She studied with John Kadz for 13 years and went on to work with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music and Ronald Leonard at the Colburn Conservatory. She holds a bachelor’s degree and artist diploma from the Colburn Conservatory and a masters from the Yale School of Music. She teaches and performs at the University of Delaware and University of Toronto.

Nina Bernat

Double Bass

Double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth, and technical clarity, emerges onto the world stage as a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Recent first prizes include the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She was invited in 2019 to perform as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, serving under the batons of András Schiff and Osmo Vänskä. Among her chamber performances are appearances with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Series, and Mostly Music. This summer, she heads to Vermont for her second season at both the 2023 Marlboro Music Festival and the Lake Champlain Music Festival. She also returns to the 2023 Grace Note Farm Summer Music Festival in Rhode Island for her third season, as both performer and co-organizer. Her 2023–24 season includes a concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and performances as guest principal of the Oslo Philharmonic. In 2024, she begins her tenure as a member of CMS’s Bowers Program. Bernat performs on a beautiful and sonorous early-18th-century bass, attributed to Guadagnini and handed down to her from her father.

Sooyun Kim

Flute

Praised as “a rare virtuoso of the flute” by Libération, Sooyun Kim has established herself as one of the rare flute soloists on the classical music scene. Since her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, she has enjoyed a flourishing career performing with orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Pops. She has been presented in recital in Budapest’s Liszt Hall, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and Kobe’s Bunka Hall. Her European debut recital at the Louvre was streamed live on medici.tv. A winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant, she has received numerous international awards and prizes including the third prize at the ARD International Flute Competition. Her summer appearances include the Music@Menlo, Spoleto USA, Yellow Barn, Rockport, Olympic, Charlottesville, Ravinia, and Tanglewood festivals. Her special interest in interdisciplinary art has led her to collaborate with many artists, dancers, and museums around the world such as Sol Lewitt, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Glassmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark. She choreographed and performed in dance works for Chamber Music Northwest and the Tivoli Dance Troupe in Denmark. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, she studied at the New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Paula Robison. She is currently on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and teaches summer courses at Orford Musique. Kim plays a rare 18-karat gold flute specially made for her by Verne Q. Powell Flutes.