Purchase, NY
Virtuosic Clarinet QuintetsSat, Jan 30, 2027, 5:00 pm
Recital Hall at Purchase College
2 hours, including intermission
This engaging evening of chamber music features works by Dvořák, Mozart, and Weber. Dvořák’s Miniatures for Two Violins and Viola, written for family friends of the composer with Dvořák himself intending to play the viola part, offer a set of intimate character pieces that highlight the warmth of the string trio. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, one of his crowning chamber works and the first great clarinet quintet ever written, established the instrument as a central voice in the repertoire through its effortless dialogue with the strings. The evening concludes with Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B-flat major, a practically operatic work that explores the instrument’s extraordinary technical possibilities and impressive range.
Program
Antonín Dvořák
(1841–1904)Drobnosti (Miniatures) for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 75a
(1887)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Quintet in A major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, K. 581
(1789)Carl Maria von Weber
(1786–1826)Quintet in B-flat major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 34
(1811–15)
Aaron Boyd
Danbi Um
Paul Neubauer
Nicholas Canellakis
Romie de Guise-Langlois
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.
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.
Violist Paul Neubauer, hailed by the New York Times as a “master musician,” released two new albums in 2025 on First Hand Records, featuring the final works of two great composers: an all-Bartók album including the revised version of the Viola Concerto, and a Shostakovich recording that includes the monumental Viola Sonata. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at the age of 21, Neubauer has appeared as soloist with the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki Philharmonics; the Chicago, National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth Symphonies; and the Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle Orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower. A two-time Grammy nominee, Neubauer is artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School and Mannes College.
Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, praised in the New Yorker as a “superb young soloist.” Recent highlights include solo debuts with the Virginia, Albany, Bangor, and Delaware symphony orchestras; concerto appearances with the Erie Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra; Europe and Asia tours with CMS; and recitals throughout the US with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he is a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals. Canellakis is the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona in Arizona and is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (where he was recently appointed to the cello faculty) and New England Conservatory.
Praised as “extraordinary” and “a formidable clarinetist” by the New York Times, Romie de Guise-Langlois has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on major concert stages internationally. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony, Ensemble Connect, the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and the Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, as well as at Festival Mozaic, Music@Menlo, and the Banff Center for the Arts. She was awarded first prize in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg competition, the Yale University Woolsey Hall Competition, the McGill University Classical Concerto Competition, and the Canadian Music Competition. She has performed as principal clarinetist for the Orpheus and Saint Paul chamber orchestras, NOVUS NY, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Haven and Stamford symphony orchestras, and The Knights Chamber Orchestra. She is an alum of Astral Artists, Ensemble Connect, and CMS's Bowers Program, and has appeared at series such as the Boston and Philadelphia chamber music societies, Musicians from Marlboro, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest, among others. A native of Montreal, Ms. de Guise-Langlois earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University and her master’s degree from Yale School of Music. She is currently assistant professor of clarinet at UMass Amherst.