MACHESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023

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MANCHESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023

by Norman Warwick

Manchester Music Festival (left) returns for another season of world-class classical music! Season 49 will see the return of festival-favourite performers, but will also have some fresh faces and new experiences for audiences to enjoy.  Take a moment to get to know the renowned artists who will be gracing the Arkell Pavilion stage this summer! The season kicks off on June 29, 2023, with its Season Opener Mainstage Concert featuring the Emerson String Quartet, and continues through the summer concluding with our Orchestral Evening on August 31, 2023, featuring The Knights.

APPEARING JUNE 29, 2023

 The Emerson String Quartet (Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violins; Lawrence Dutton, viola; Paul Watkins, cello) will have its final season of concerts in 2022-23, disbanding after more than four decades as one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles.  The Quartet has made more than 30 acclaimed recordings, and has been honored with nine GRAMMYs® (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Korean-American violinist and coffee addict Brian Hong is forging a career as a soloist and chamber musician. Known for his commanding stage presence and honest interpretations, Mr. Hong has performed with such orchestras as the Juilliard Orchestra, Fairfax Symphony, American Youth Philharmonic, Chesapeake Orchestra, US Army Orchestra, National Philharmonic, and the Springfield Symphony.Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s “Ensemble

APPEARING JULY 6, 2023

Qing Hou has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1997. A native of China, she attended the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing before coming to the United States in 1988 to continue her studies. She holds degrees from the Peabody Institute and the New England Conservatory. Before joining the CSO, Hou was a member of the San Francisco Symphony.of the

Year” award.

APPEARING JULY 6, 2023

Lawrence Neuman has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1991. Before coming to Chicago, he was violist with the Miami String Quartet.  A founding member of the Lincoln String Quartet, comprising 4 members of the Chicago Symphony, Lawrence Neuman is heard frequently in chamber music throughout the Chicago area and has performed in chamber ensembles across the United States, Europe, and South America.  A native of Saint Louis, Missouri, Lawrence Neuman attended the Eastman School of Music, the University of Southern California, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

APPEARING JULY 6, 2023

Cellist Astrid Schween (left) has gained a rich following and enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber artist and teacher. Since joining the Juilliard String Quartet in 2016, she has appeared at many of the world’s great concert halls including the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center, among others

APPEARING JULY 13, 2023

Canadian pianist Winston Choi (right) is the Head of the Piano Program at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. His professional career was launched when he was named Laureate of the 2003 Honens Piano Competition and winner of France’s Concours International de Piano 20e siècle d’Orléans in 2002.

APPEARING JULY 13, 2023

Known for his thrilling performances and musical creativity, Ara Gregorian made his New Recital Hall and his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra in Symphony Hall in 1997.  Throughout his career, Gregorian has taken an active role as a performer and presenter of chamber music. He is the founder and artistic director of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival in Greenville, North Carolina, which has recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary Season.

APPEARING JULY 13, 2023

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein (right)is considered one of today’s most exceptional artists. Fiterstein has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. The Washington Post has described his playing as “dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility, and range…”

APPEARING JULY 13, 2023

Known for her musical sensitivity and deeply engaging performances that transport audiences beyond mere technical virtuosity, violinist Hye-Jin Kim (left) leads a versatile career as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician since her First Prize win at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen and a subsequent win at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

APPEARING JULY 13, 2023

Having given his Carnegie Hall debut recital in November 2022, cellist Alexander Hersh has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting and creative talents of his generation. He frequently appears as soloist with major orchestras, including the Houston Symphony and Boston POPS, and has received top prizes at various competitions worldwide.

APPEARING JULY 20, 202

Praised for her “deeply reflective playing” (Indianapolis Star) and “infectious exuberance” (New York Times), Korean-born pianist Jeewon Park has garnered the attention of audiences for her dazzling technique and poetic lyricism. She came to the US in 2002 after winning all major competitions in Korea. Park is a graduate of Yonsei University, The Juilliard School, Yale University, and SUNY Stony Brook where she earned her DMA. The 2022-2023 season marks her 10th season as the co-artistic director, along with her husband, cellist Edward Arron, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute.  

APPEARING JULY 20, 2023

Praised by The Strad magazine and The New York Times, internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today.  He is on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and has performed in and presented master classes around the world.  Embracing the new era of the pandemic, Peled has established the Amit Peled Online Cello Academy reaching out to cellists all over the world. Moreover, his home studio in Baltimore has turned into a virtual art gallery promoting and supporting local artists while teaching and livestreaming to a worldwide audience.

APPEARING JULY 20, 2023

Praised as playing “gorgeously” (The Boston Globe) and with “irrepressible élan” (The Seattle Times), violinist Emily Daggett Smith has performed across the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia.  Dr. Smith was recently named the new first violinist of the Vega String Quartet, in residence at Emory University, and began her position in January 2022.  In addition to Emory University, Dr. Smith has served on faculty at Stony Brook University’s undergraduate music program, Bard College Simon’s Rock, and the Juilliard School, where she is assistant for Laurie Smukler.

APPEARING JULY 20, 2023

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, cellist Edward Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with orchestra, and as a chamber musician in major concert halls throughout North America, Europe and Asia.  In 2016, Mr. Arron joined the faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst, after having served on the faculty of New York University from 2009 to 2016.

APPEARING JULY 27, 2023

Ran Dank is one of today’s most ardent advocates for contemporary music. In recent seasons, he has performed Kevin Puts’ piano concerto “Night,” the Tobias Picker concerto, “Keys to the City,” Frederic Rzewski’s “The People United Will Never Be Defeated,” William Bolcom’s Pulitzer-winning set of “Twelve New Etudes”. Alongside his wife, pianist Soyeon Kate Lee, Ran debuted the world premieres of Frederic Rzewski’s “Four Hands,” and Alexander Goehr’s “Seven Impromptus.”

APPEARING JULY 27, 2023

Tara Helen O’Connor is a charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, she was the first wind player chosen to participate in The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) and is now a Season Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  She is Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Woodwinds Department and the Coordinator of Classical Music Studies at Purchase College School of the Arts Conservatory of Music.

APPEARING JULY 27, 2023

The first German artist to ever win the international Naumburg Violin Award in New York, Axel Strauss made his American début at the Library of Congress in Washington DC and his New York début at Alice Tully Hall in 1998.  He has served as guest concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony.  In 2012 Axel Strauss was appointed Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, where he also serves as Chair of the String Area. Prior to that he served as Professor of Violin

APPEARING AUGUST 31, 2023

photo 13 The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The Knights are proud to be known as “one of Brooklyn’s sterling cultural products…known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory” (The New Yorker). the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The Knights are proud to be known as “one of Brooklyn’s sterling cultural products…known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory” (The New Yorker).