SANTA MONICA — Vicente Chamber Orchestra, founded in Los Angeles in 2016 by conductor Zain Khan, presents its second annual Gala Concert at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, 1310 11th St. in Santa Monica, on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. with an all-Beethoven program featuring world-renowned violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, cellist Julian Schwarz, and pianist Wendy Chen.
In celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, the gala focuses on the legendary composer’s works written in his middle period. The star power of Meyers, Schwarz, and Chen brings his triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano to vibrant life. The concert is completed with Beethoven’s fourth symphony and Coriolan Overture, which were coincidentally premiered at the same private concert in 1807.
Consisting primarily of non-professional musicians, the Vicente Chamber Orchestra is proud to offer world-class performances to its audiences in Los Angeles in pursuit of its mission to be one the finest chamber orchestras in the United States.
“The Vicente Chamber Orchestra serves as a platform for some of L.A.’s best non-professional musicians and aims to provide world-class performances to local audiences,” says Khan, a graduate of USC’s Thornton School of Music and a tech company CEO. “This October’s Gala Concert at the Broad Stage is truly a big milestone for our emerging group that was only founded a few short years ago. We are deeply honored to perform with Ms Meyers, Mr. Schwarz, and Ms. Chen.”
Admission is $40 for adults, $15 for students (26 and under). There is a special 50 percent discount for Rafu Shimpo readers. Promotional code: RSGUEST. Visit www.vicentechamberorchestra.com for more information and tickets.
About the Artists
Anne Akiko Meyers is one of today’s most important violinists, performing as guest soloist with the world’s top orchestras, presenting ground-breaking recitals, commissioning and performing new music, and releasing best-selling recordings. Many of her 37 albums have debuted at #1 on Billboard classical charts and she was the top-selling instrumentalist of 2014.
Meyers recently premiered Adam Schoenberg’s “Orchard in Fog,” a concerto written for her, for two special performances at the Enescu Festival in Romania and performs it on opening nights with the Boise and Louisville symphony orchestras. She also performed the Barber Concerto with James Gaffigan and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. In October, she performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Leipzig at the Gewandhaus and will perform in Sapporo and Tokyo with the MDR Leipzig Orchestra, conducted by Kristjan Järvi.
During the 2018/19 season, Meyers was the featured soloist in several performances celebrating the opening of the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia, by special invitation of the legendary composer himself. She also performed “Schindler’s List” for a “Great Performances” television special honoring John Williams, also at the composer’s personal invitation.
Meyers performs on the Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù, dated 1741, considered by many to be the finest-sounding violin in existence. Visit www.anneakikomeyers.com for more information.
Julian Schwarz was born to a multigenerational musical family in 1991. He made his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony, and his U.S. touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in 2013, he has led an active career as soloist, having made over 150 concerto appearances in the U.S. and abroad.
Schwarz is an ardent supporter of new music, and has premiered concertos by Richard Danielpour, Samuel Jones and Dobrinka Tabakova. In the ’17-’18 season, he gave the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s first Cello Concerto with a consortium of six orchestras.
A devoted teacher, Schwarz serves as assistant professor of cello at Shenandoah Conservatory and on the artist faculty of New York University. Other faculty appointments include faculty teaching assistant to Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, and cello faculty at the Eastern Music Festival, where he runs programming for the Tuesday evening chamber music series.
Schwarz plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743 and an American bow made by Paul Martin Siefried. He is an active contributor to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog, and sits on the music committee of the National Arts Club.
Wendy Chen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 15 under conductor André Previn. In 1990, she became the youngest winner ever of the National Chopin Competition, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Irving S. Gilmore Young Artists Award, and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for the Arts. Since then, her career has flourished, adding Young Concert Artists International Auditions and Washington International Competition to her numerous awards.
Chen has garnered critical acclaim for her engagements with leading orchestras and concert halls worldwide, with reviewers exclaiming that “having pianist Wendy Chen on the program is a guarantee that sparks will fly.” Her numerous orchestral appearances have included the New York Chamber Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Uruguay’s Orquesta Sinfonica del Sodres, New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia and Wellington Sinfonia, Montreal’s I Musici and many others.
The Dominion of New Zealand described that “Chen possesses all the qualities of a modern musical star. Her playing was cuttingly virtuosic, had fantastic clarity and crispness, yet also plenty of sensitivity.”
Chen has also appeared with the Boston Pops and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in unique programs that also featured musical legends James Taylor and Art Garfunkel, respectively. Of her performance with the Pops, The Boston Globe wrote that “Chen’s performance had stamina, chops, brilliance and sensitivity – a formidable combination.”
About Vicente Chamber Orchestra
Composed of 51 members, the Vicente Chamber Orchestra fills a unique niche in Los Angeles with non-professional musicians. Many of the orchestra’s members volunteer their time to the orchestra and pursue non-musical careers as doctors, lawyers, researchers, teachers, and technologists.
Orchestra members have studied at some of the nation’s top music schools, including USC’s Thornton School, the Colburn School and UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
Vicente Chamber Orchestra recently generated considerable interest and acclaim by presenting all five Beethoven piano concertos in one weekend in June 2019, each performed by a different virtuoso soloist.