Program
Fritz Kreisler
(1875–1962)Praeludium and Allegro (in the Style of Pugnani) for Viola and Piano
(1905)Charles Ives
(1874–1954)Sonata No. 4 for Violin and Piano, "Children's Day at the Camp Meeting"
(1906)Ernest Bloch
(1880–1959)Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, "Poème Mystique"
(1924)John Adams
(b. 1947)Road Movies for Violin and Piano
(1995)Michael Stephen Brown
(b. 1987)Sigh for Violin and Piano
(2024)Amy Beach
(1867–1944)Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23
(1893)Igor Frolov
(b. 1937)Concert Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for Violin and Piano, Op. 19
(1987)
Kristin Lee
Michael Stephen Brown
A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as a top-prize winner of the International Naumburg Violin Competition and the Astral Artists’ National Auditions, Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Lee has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and many others. She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Emerald City Music in Seattle. Lee released her critically acclaimed debut solo album, American Sketches, on First Hand Records in November 2024. In 2026, she will collaborate with Grammy-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion, featuring a new commission by Vivian Fung. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul and Linda Gridley. She is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Michael Stephen Brown is a composer and pianist hailed by the New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” The 2026 Andrew Wolf Award Winner and a recent fellow at both MacDowell and Yaddo, he is also a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Brown performs internationally and receives commissions from orchestras, soloists, and festivals around the world. Recent highlights include a recital at Alice Tully Hall for CMS, and collaborations with cellist Nicholas Canellakis and violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Kristin Lee, and Arnaud Sussmann. He is currently composing The Carnival of Endangered Wonders, a CMS-led project co-presented by a consortium of US presenters. His first album devoted entirely to his music, Twelve Blocks, will be released in February 2026. Brown is also composing the score for Angeline Gragasin’s upcoming film Look But Don’t Touch and lives in New York City with his two 19th-century Steinways, Octavia and Daria.