Musical Arts International, Inc.

These four musicians, David Salness,violin Sally McLain, violin, Katherine Murdock, viola, Eric Kutz, cello,  their diverse and colorful backgrounds, came together through the auspices of the Theater Chamber Players, and rather unexpectedly discovered the joys of a vibrant and enthusiastic collaboration. They have been The Left Bank Quartet since 1999, taking their name from the fact that the Kennedy Center, their first regular venue, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac River.

Their combined experiences include participation in the major festivals of the musical world — Aspen, Banff, Chautauqua, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Prussia Cove, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Spoleto and Yellow Barn, to name just a few. Their teaching experiences, collaborations, national and international tours, recital and concerto performances, and success in international competitions give this quartet a rich and varied tapestry as they weave their musical message.

The Left Bank Quartet’s repertoire encompasses an eclectic range, with quartets of composers such as Chavez, Crumb, Durkó, Dutilleux, Ginastera, Jalbert, Kirchner, Kurtág, Korngold, Ligeti, Meriläinen, Nancarrow and Revueltes augmenting the standard fare. Compositions written for and premiered by the quartet include Mark Wilson’s Time Variations (Capstone Records),Dream -Crossed Twilight (2019, commissioned by Maryland State Music Teachers Association) and String Quartet No. 4 by Lawrence Moss, recently released on the Innova label. They are faculty members and  artists in residence at University of Maryland.

Pianist Esther Park has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals across the United States as well as Asia and major European cities. Dr. Park has appeared as soloist with many orchestras such as Houston Symphony, Yale Philharmonia, Corpus Christi Symphony, Filharmonia Pomorska, Poland, Orchestra Filarmonica, Romania, Shanghai Philharmonic, China,  Shreveport Symphony, the Juilliard Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony.Dr. Park has recently formed a piano duo with her sister, Sun-A Park.  Duo Amadeae has since won the Chicago International Duo Piano Competition, and has appeared in numerous festivals, concerto performances and in duo recitals.  The duo has been heard on WQXR as well as part of the Horowitz & Stecher foundation’s piano series. Dr. Park is the winner of the Jose Roca International ,  Russian International , “Prix Amadeo” , Chopin Gesellschaft Klavierwettbewerb,  San Marino International , China Shanghai International,  Paderewski International, the National Chopin Competition (USA), Hilton Head International , the New Orleans International Piano Competition and is the recipient of the President Clinton’s Prodigy Award. She completed the undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky. Dr. Park has also studied at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Hannover. She has since received the Artist Diploma, Master of Musical Arts degrees and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Mr. Boris Berman. She is a faculty member at East Tennessee State University.

Korean American pianist Sun-A Park is quickly establishing herself as one of the exciting pianists of her generation. Hailed as “incredible” by the great pianist Martha Argerich, Ms. Park has received international recognition in several competitions including first prize at the 2018 Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Young Artists Awards , and prizes at the  International Sendai Music Competition, the  Ferruccio Busoni International , and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. Ms. Park has made appearances at the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, Steinway Hall, Horowitz Piano Recital Series , Bass Recital Hall , and was a featured soloist with the Yale Philharmonia and Sendai City Orchestra  performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1. Additional concerto engagements included performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Albany Symphony, San Marino Republic Orchestra, Orchester Haydn , Hannover Hochschulorchester , and Symphonic Orchestra of Castilla y León  .She had her undergraduate and graduate studies at Juilliard with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio. She received the Elizabeth Parisot Piano Award for the most outstanding pianist at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Boris Berman . Her recording of Clementi Sonatas will be released under the Naxos label in July 2019.

Program:  solo, duets of Beethoven, Barber,  Chopin, Mendelssohn and trio - 6 hands with Lily Chang, music by Rachmaninoff, Bizet.