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Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Violist
Sunday, February 22, 2004
4:00 p.m.
NAS Auditorium
Entrance at 2100 C Street, NW
FREE! – No tickets or reservations required.
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Co-sponsored by the African American History Program Committee of the National Academies
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola & violin
Melvin Chen, piano and violin & viola
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Viola
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuett
Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894)
Sonata in F Minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 49 (1855)
Moderato
Andante
Moderato con moto
Allegro Assai
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Duo for Violin and Viola in B-Flat, K. 424
Adagio – allegro
Andante cantabile
Tema con variazioni – andante grazioso – allegretto
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Romance for Violin and Piano
Ballade in C Minor
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Sonata For Viola & Piano- 'Devil's Trill'
Andante
Allegro
Andante-Allegro
ARTIST BIOS
Nokuthula Ngwenyama
Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s acclaimed performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician garner great attention, as "her highly-strung, all-stops-out performances show she belongs to the chosen few (The Strad)," playing "music beautifully, with dazzling technique in the virtuoso fast movements and deep expressiveness in the slow movements (The Washington Post)."
Winner of the 1993 Primrose Competition, Ms. Ngwenyama came to international attention when she won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions - the first violist chosen in 14 years - at age 17. Plaudits followed her debut recitals in Washington, D. C. at the Kennedy Center and in New York at the 92nd Street Y, and in 1997 she received an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Highlights of Ms. Ngwenyama’s 2003-2004 season include performances with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in celebration of their inaugural season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. She also joins forces with Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Recital engagements include performances on both viola and violin at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D. C. and as guest of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, with pianists Melvin Chen and Meng-Chieh Liu respectively.
Ms. Ngwenyama has performed throughout the United States, including appearances with the Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Columbus, Indianapolis, and National Symphony orchestras. A popular recitalist, she has been heard at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, the Louvre, the Ford Center in Toronto, Seattle’s Meany Hall, Spivey Hall, and the Maison de Radio France. She has also appeared with such music festivals as Marlboro, Spoleto USA, Vancouver, La Jolla, and Vail as well as the Italian Bolzano and Este Festivals, and the Festival de Radio France.
Ms. Ngwenyama is no stranger to television and radio appearances. Her performance at the White House, commemorating the 10th anniversary of NPR’s Performance Today, also featured artists Wynton Marsalis, James Galway, Denyce Graves, and Murray Perahia. A vivid portrait of Ms. Ngwenyama was televised nationally on CBS Sunday Morning with cultural correspondent Eugenia Zukerman, and Ms. Ngwenyama was also featured on the Emmy Award-nominated PBS program Sound of Strings in the Musical Encounter Series, hosted by cellist Lynn Harrell.
Born in California of Zimbabwean-Japanese parentage, Ms. Ngwenyama graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1996. As a Fulbright scholar she attended the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, and in 2002 received a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University.
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Melvin Chen
A native of Tennessee, pianist Melvin Chen is recognized as an important young artist, having received acclaim for performances throughout the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician Mr. Chen has performed at major venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Frick Collection, the Kennedy Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall, in addition to other appearances throughout the country, Canada and Asia.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, David Shifrin, Robert White, Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley, and members of the St. Lawrence, Mendelssohn, Miami, Orion, Borromeo, and Arditti quartets. Mr. Chen was selected to be a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber Music Society Two, where he appeared with members of the Chamber Music Society in performance and educational programs for two seasons. A performer in numerous music festivals, he has performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Chautauqua, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Bard Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, among others.
Mr. Chen completed a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University, and also holds a double master’s degree from the Juilliard School in piano and violin, where he studied with Seymour Lipkin and Glenn Dicterow, respectively. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the U.S. Department of Education Jacob Javits Fellowship, as well as the William Petschek Piano Scholarship and the Ruth D. Rosenman Memorial Scholarship. Previously, he attended Yale University, receiving a B.S. in chemistry and physics. Upon graduation, he was awarded the New Prize by the fellows of Jonathan Edwards College. During his tenure at Yale, he studied with Boris Berman, Paul Kantor, and Ida Kavafian.
He is a performer on Wynton Marsalis’ series on music education, “Marsalis on Music”, and can also be heard on Discover, Nices, and KBS label compact disks with violinist Juliette Kang. He is on the piano faculty of the Yale School of Music and is a visiting professor at Bard College.
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All concerts are free and open to the public -- no tickets or reservations are required. Doors to the auditorium open 30 minutes prior to the performance.
Directions to the National Academy of Sciences Auditorium
Links:
Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Website
MANAGEMENT: Herbert Barrett Management
266 West 37th Street, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Ph: 212-245-3530 Fx: 212-397-5860
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