Program
Yao Zhao and Friends
Yao Zhao, cello
Wei Lu, violin
Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano
Passacaglia for Violin and Cello
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)
Arr. Johan Halvorson
Liebesleid and Liebesfreud for Violin and Piano
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
From Eight Morceaux for Violin and Cello
Reinhold Glière (1875-1956)
Canzonetta
Cradle Song
Gavotte
Fantasiestücke for Cello and Piano, Op. 73
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Zart und mit Ausdruck (Tender and with expression)
Lebhaft, leicht (Lively, light)
Rasch und mit Feuer (Quick and with fire)
Intermission
Piano Trio No. 39 in G-Major ‘Gypsy’
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Andante
Poco adagio, cantabile
Rondo a l'Ongarese: Presto
Four Seasons of Buenos Aires for Piano Trio
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Arr. José Bragato
Buenos Aires Summer
Buenos Aires Autumn
Buenos Aires Winter
Buenos Aires Spring
Yao Zhao, cello
Hailed in New York Concert Review as “a superb cellist with intense and sensuous sound,” and described by the Los Angeles Times as “being able to handle the most intricate musical works with unblinking ease and expressive zeal,” cellist Yao Zhao performs with a rare and captivating dynamism that has secured him a successful career as the tenured Principal Cellist for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra since 2005, and as a faculty member at San Diego State University since 2009. He is one of the founding members of the award-winning Great Wall String Quartet, and in 2013, he was honored as one of China’s Ten Extraordinary Cellists of the Generation.
Mr. Zhao made his first concert appearance at five, and solo debut in the Beijing Concert Hall at nine. He garnered further attention in 1988 upon winning second prize at the First Chinese National Cello Competition and went on to win more than thirteen competitions, awards and honors. His career has seen him performing in over forty cities around the world including a successful solo debut at the Weil Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York. Some of his many festival appearances include Ojai Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Mainly Mozart Music Festival, Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival, Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, Global Chinese Orchestra in China, the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan and Korea, and Qingdao International Music Festival. Since 2018, Mr. Zhao has been serving as principal cellist of one of the longest-running professional orchestra festivals, the Grand Teton Music Festival. His many recordings – as both a soloist and an ensemble artist - are often featured on radio stations K-MOZART, K-PBS, XLNC-1, CNR.CN and K-USC.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Zhao frequently collaborates with renowned artists from around the world. And, for the past thirteen years, he has been part of the Great Wall String Quartet which was invited as the only western music ensemble to proudly represent the Great Wall of China in a documentary film for UNESCO about six of the world’s heritage sites in Beijing. The quartet released their first recording - Great Wall - in September of 2012 which claimed the Best Performance Award at the 2013 24th Golden Melody Award in Taiwan. Their second album – Tango – which was released in the summer of 2015, was awarded the Best String Quartet Album of the 11th HiFi Album Award in China.
In addition to keeping up with his busy performance schedule, Mr. Yao Zhao serves as the President of the San Diego Cello Foundation a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that is dedicated to further and better music education of all ages in the community. While serving on faculty at San Diego State University and maintaining a private teaching studio, he regularly holds masterclasses at universities and conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Taiyuan, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, and Jakarta. Mr. Zhao has been named Honorary Advisor of the Macau Youth Symphony Orchestra, and his achievements and generous contributions to music performance and education have been recognized and highly commended by the City of Los Angeles and the Governments of Macau and Hong Kong.
Born in Beijing in 1976, Mr. Zhao began his studies on the cello and piano at age four under the instruction of his father, Xuelian Zhao, a distinguished cellist and teacher. He attended the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing studying with Professor Mingqing Yu before coming to the United States at the age of fifteen when he attended Idyllwild Arts Academy and Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where he studied under renowned pedagogue, Professor Eleonore Schoenfeld. Prior to his appointment as the cello principal, Mr. Zhao was the Associate Cello Principal of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and he was a member of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Zhao performs on the ex-Jules Eskin cello by Matteo Gofriller of Venice, circa 1710, the “Muller-Bergonzi” generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Wei Lu, violin
Violinist Wei Lu, the concertmaster of the Deutsches Symphony-Orchester Berlin, (formerly the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra) was the first violinist selected to join the Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation. His concertmaster position, which was filled after 17 auditions, makes him one of the youngest concertmasters leading a major orchestra. He is the Berlin Philharmonic’s first ever Chinese guest Concertmaster, and he has been invited as guest Concertmaster for Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal and Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich.
Wei Lu has given concerts and recitals in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia, and has performed as a soloist with many world class orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scotland National Orchestra, Nuernberg Opera House, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra and China Philharmonic. Beginning in 2011, he played as chamber music partner and Concertmaster of “Mutter’s Vituosi” with Anne Sophie Mutter touring all around the world including the cities of New York, Vienna, Lucern, Munich, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Beijing and Shanghai.
He has been coached and praised by such world-famous masters as Isaac Stern, Ruggiero Ricci, Itzhak Perlman, Salvatore Accardo, Igor Oistrakh, Ida Handel, Uto Ugi, Henry Meyer and Yuri Bashmet. In 1997, after attending his playing in Beijing, Anne-Sophie Mutter decided immediately to invite Wei Lu for further studies sponsored by her foundation, during which time, he studied with Prof. Franco Gulli at Indiana University, Prof. Herman Krebbers in Amsterdam, and Prof. Ingolf Turban at the Stuttgart Conservatory of Music.
Wei Lu gives special thanks to Mr. Bai Peng, sponsor for 1843 Joseph Rocca Italian violin he plays.
Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano
Canadian pianist, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his “hypnotically powerful and precise” pianism and “dynamic and distinguished” interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Mexico, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntori Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne). He has appeared with several Canadian and American orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Los Angeles Camerata, Utah Chamber Orchestra and more.
Fitz-Gerald’s concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio, and television networks in Canada, the U.S., South America, France, Japan, China, Korea and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM, Centaur, GM, Yamaha PianoSoft and Ivory Classics records labels. In constant demand as a chamber musician, he has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as: Hagai, Shaham, Patrick Gallois, Stephen Isserlis, Anne Akiko Meyers, Richard Stolzman, Alan Civil, Camilla Wicks, Midori, Eudice Shapiro, Milton Thomas, Karen Tuttle, Donald McInnes, Ronald Leonard, the Bartok, St. Petersburg and St. Lawrence String Quartets.
Fitz-Gerald also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting masterclasses and lecture-symposiums throughout the world. His students have been prize-winners in many major piano and chamber music competitions.