Purchase, NY
Bach to BeethovenSat, February 21, 2026, 5:00 pm
Recital Hall, Purchase College
2 hours, including intermission
Invented in the mid-16th century, the violin emerged as the stringed instrument of choice during the Baroque era, culminating with the concertos, chamber music, and solo works of J. S. Bach. Virtuosi such as Tartini added flair; Mozart, a proficient violinist himself, contributed sonatas on a sublime new level; and Beethoven, master of drama and musical prophet, paved the way to the future with new heights of expression for the instrument.
Program
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Sonata in E major for Violin and Keyboard, BWV 1016
(Before 1725)Giuseppe Tartini
(1692–1770)Sonata in G minor for Violin and Continuo, "Devil's Trill"
(before 1756)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Sonata in B-flat major for Violin and Piano, K. 454
(1784)Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770–1827)Sonata in C minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 30, No. 2
(1801-02)
Sahun Sam Hong
Evren Ozel
Chad Hoopes
Ani Kavafian
Sean Lee
Cho-Liang Lin
Pianist Sahun Sam Hong is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including the Vendome Prize at Verbier, International Beethoven Competition Vienna, and Naumburg International Piano Competition. 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 all around the world. Hong’s primary mentors have included John Owings, Leon Fleisher, and Yong Hi Moon. A member of CMS’s Bowers Program, Hong is currently based in New York City and serves on the faculty of CUNY Queens College. Hong is a Steinway Artist.
American pianist Evren Ozel, praised for his compelling artistry and technical mastery, is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also received the Mozart Concerto Prize. He has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony under conductors including Marin Alsop and Carlos Miguel Prieto. A recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ozel released his debut album of Mozart concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Howard Griffiths on Alpha Classics in 2025. Ozel is a 2024–27 Bowers Program Artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performs widely in recital, chamber music, and international festivals. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied with Wha Kyung Byun and has worked with Mitsuko Uchida, Sir András Schiff, and others. He is managed by Concert Artists Guild and makes his home in Boston.
American violinist Chad Hoopes is a consistent and versatile performer with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, l’Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and the Minnesota and National Arts Centre orchestras, as well the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, and National symphonies. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he performs regularly on tour and at Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has been a guest of the Moritzburg Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, and Aspen Music Festival, and has been featured on recordings including the recent Moritzburg Festival Dvořák album with cellist Jan Vogler, released by Sony Classical, and with the MDR Leipzig and conductor Kristjan Järvi performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on the Naïve label. He has performed in recital at the Ravinia Festival, the Tonhalle Zürich, and the Louvre, as well as on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series. He is a 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant and appeared as the cover feature on the November 2021 edition of The Strad. Hoopes attended the Cleveland Institute of Music before studying with Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy. He plays the 1991 Samuel Zygmuntowicz, ex Isaac Stern violin.
Violinist Ani Kavafian enjoys a prolific career as a soloist, chamber musician, and professor. She has performed with many of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. In the 2019-20 season, she continued her longtime association as an artist of the Chamber Music Society with appearances in New York and on tour. Last summer she participated in several music festivals, including the Heifetz International Institute and the Sarasota Chamber Music, Bridgehampton, Meadowmount, Norfolk, and Angel Fire festivals. She and her sister, violinist and violist Ida Kavafian, have performed with the symphonies of Detroit, Colorado, Tucson, San Antonio, and Cincinnati, and have recorded the music of Mozart and Sarasate on the Nonesuch label. She is a Full Professor at Yale University and has appeared at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall numerous times with colleagues and students from Yale. She has received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions award and has appeared at the White House on three occasions. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, and Delos labels. Born in Istanbul of Armenian heritage, Kavafian studied violin in the US with Ara Zerounian and Mischa Mischakoff. She received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School under Ivan Galamian. She plays the 1736 Muir McKenzie Stradivarius violin.
Violinist Sean Lee has captured the attention of audiences around the world with his lively performances of the classics. A recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, he is one of few violinists who dares to perform Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices in concert, and his YouTube series, Paganini POV, continues to draw praise for its use of technology in sharing unique perspectives and insight into violin playing. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Israel Camerata Jerusalem, and Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice, and his recital appearances have taken him to Vienna's Konzerthaus, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. As a season artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he continues to perform regularly at Lincoln Center and on tour. Originally from Los Angeles, Lee studied with Robert Lipsett of the Colburn Conservatory and legendary violinist Ruggiero Ricci before moving at the age of 17 to study at the Juilliard School with his longtime mentor, violinist Itzhak Perlman. Lee performs on violins made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 1995 and David Bague in 1999, with bows made circa 1890 by Joseph Arthur Vigneron and circa 1910 by W. E. Hill & Sons.
Born in Taiwan, Cho-Liang Lin moved to Sydney at age 12 to further his violin studies with Robert Pikler. After playing for Itzhak Perlman in a master class, the 13-year-old decided that he must study with Mr. Perlman’s teacher, Dorothy DeLay. At age 15, he traveled alone to New York, auditioned for the Juilliard School, and spent the next six years working with Ms. DeLay. His concert career launched in 1980 with his debut playing the Mendelssohn Concerto with the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta. He has since performed as soloist with virtually every major orchestra in the world. At the age of 31 he joined the faculty of the Juilliard School, and in 2006 was appointed professor at Rice University. He was music director of La Jolla SummerFest for 18 years, currently serves as artistic director of the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, and recently founded the Taipei Music Academy and Festival. Many of today’s composers have written for him, including John Harbison, Christopher Rouse, Tan Dun, John Williams, Steven Stucky, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bright Sheng, Paul Schoenfield, Lalo Schifrin, Joan Tower, and others. Recently, he was soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Royal Philharmonic. Lin performs on the 1715 “Titian” Stradivari and a 2000 Samuel Zygmuntowicz. His many recordings can be heard on the Sony Classical, Decca, BIS, Delos, and Ondine labels. His albums have won Gramophone Record of the Year, Grammy nominations, and Penguin Guide Rosettes.