Violin Visionaries
This event has passedSat, Feb 28, 2026, 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
The dawn of the 20th century witnessed revolutions in music, literature, philosophy, and science as never before. Composers, liberated by Romanticism and fired by nationalism, explored disparate cultures and wrote music in powerful new ways. Once again the violin was at their sides—the ideal tool for sonic and emotional expression. Here we present works for violin and piano by four innovative composers from across the European continent, each influenced by world events and societies around them, bringing a unique character to a classic genre: the violin-piano duo.
Program
Leoš Janáček
(1854–1928)Sonata for Violin and Piano
(1914-15)George Enescu
(1881–1955)Sonata No. 3 in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 25, "Dans le caractère populaire roumain"
(1926)Maurice Ravel
(1875–1937)Tzigane, rapsodie de concert for Violin and Piano
(1924)Ernest Bloch
(1880–1959)Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, "Poème Mystique"
(1924)
Alessio Bax
Juho Pohjonen
Francisco Fullana
Bella Hristova
Danbi Um
Alessio Bax catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions. He has appeared with more than 150 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, and Sydney Symphonies, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. He released his 11th Signum Classics album, Italian Inspirations, whose program was also the vehicle for his solo recital debut at New York’s 92nd Street Y as well as on tour. He and his regular piano duo partner, Lucille Chung, have given recitals at Lincoln Center and were featured with the St. Louis Symphony and Stéphane Denève. This season he makes his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony, and will return for the fourth time for two recitals at the historic Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Last summer he made return appearances at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival with the Dallas Symphony and Fabio Luisi conducting. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and on the faculty at the New England Conservatory.
Pianist Juho Pohjonen is in demand internationally as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber performer. An ardent exponent of Scandinavian music, he has a growing discography offering music by Finnish compatriots such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho, and Jean Sibelius. Recent engagements include the Taiwan, BBC, and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras; and the symphonies of San Francisco, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Colorado. Pohjonen is an alum of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program and enjoys an ongoing relationship with the organization. Pohjonen earned a master’s degree from Meri Louhos and Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He was selected by Sir András Schiff as the winner of the 2009 Klavier Festival Ruhr Scholarship. In 2019, Pohjonen launched MyPianist, an AI-based app that provides interactive piano accompaniment.
Spanish-American violinist Francisco Fullana has been praised by BBC Music Magazine for “managing to combine Itzhak Perlman’s warmth with the aristocratic poise of Henryk Szeryng.” Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, Fullana makes concerto appearances across three continents this season, including debuts with the San Francisco and Utah Symphonies, and serves as artistic advisor to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and The Orchestra San Antonio. As Outhere Music’s newest recording artist, he will release an album of Lalo and Ginastera concertos under Carlos Miguel Prieto. His passion for curating audience experiences continues with a new project centered on Goya’s The Forge, premiering at the opening night of the Frick Collection’s Music at the Frick series in fall 2026. Fullana performs on the 1735 “Mary Portman” ex-Kreisler Guarneri del Gesù, generously loaned by Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (New York Times) and “impressive power and control” (Washington Post). A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, she is known for a diverse repertoire, bold programming, and a warmly beguiling stage presence. Hristova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A devoted champion of living composers, she has premiered new concertos by Anthony Ritchie and her husband, David Serkin Ludwig. Her commissioning project, Lineage, features six new solo violin works and will be released as an album on Azica Records in 2027. She plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin once owned by Louis Krasner.
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, violinist Danbi Um appears internationally as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She is a Silver Medalist at the Menuhin International Violin Competition, prizewinner of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and the Naumburg International Violin Competition, and recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. In 2026, she was appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Recent and upcoming engagements include performances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Ridgewood Symphony, and the Phillips Collection. Her second album, Poème Mystique, recorded with pianist Juho Pohjonen, was released in February 2025. Her principal teachers include Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program and a winner of Astral Artists’ National Auditions, she performs on the 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolò Amati violin, generously loaned by a private collection.