From Bach to Piazzolla

Bach: Three Preludes from Cello Suite No.1, 2 and 3.

Beethoven: Duet mit zwei obligaten Augenglasern, WoO 32
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Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux Lin for Clarinet Quintet

Moritz Moszkowski: Spanish Dances for Clarinet Quintet
No.1 Allegro con brio
No.2 Moderato
No.5 Bolero
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Gershwin: Three Preludes for Clarinet Quartet
I. Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
II. Andante con moto e poco rubato
III. Agitato
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Piazzolla: Three Tangos for Clarinet Quartet 
I. Contrabajeando
II. La misma pena
III. Adios nonino

About the Program

Bach: Three Preludes from Cello Suite No.1, 2 and 3
Johann Sebastian Bach published Six Suites for Cello between the years 1717 and 1720. The exact dates are unknown, but it is thought that the suites were written prior to the Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin which are dated 1720. The preludes begin each Suite for Cello and set the tone for the baroque dance movements that follow. For this program, preludes from Suites No. 1-3 will be performed. Bach’s Six Suites for Cello are among the most important musical compositions composed during the Baroque era. They were considered extremely challenging by the cellists of the 18th century and remained mostly unknown until Pablo Casals began performing the suites in the early part of the 20th century.

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​Beethoven: Duet mit zwei obligaten Augenglasern, WoO 32
Ludwig Van Beethoven hardly needs an introduction as he is arguably the most famous composer of all time. Whether one realizes or not, there is rarely someone who hasn’t heard the famous theme of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Beethoven’s music has been performed countless times by musicians around the world for more than two centuries! Most recently his music has been used in numerous movie soundtracks and can also be heard referenced in pop music.
Beethoven composed Duet mit zwei obligaten Augenglasern otherwise known as Duet With Two Obligato Eyeglasses sometime between 1796 and 1797. Beethoven wrote the duet for viola, which he played himself and for cello, played by his friend Nikolaus Zmeskall. Apparently they both needed spectacles to see the music, so the title of the composition was Beethoven’s idea of a joke! The piece was left unfinished. Only the first two movements, Allegro and Minuet, were completed.


Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux Lin for Clarinet Quintet
Claude Debussy was a French composer who lived from 1962-1918. He was one of the first composers of the Impressionist era. As one of the most influential composers of all time, he inspired composers such as Bela Bartok, Oliver Messian, George Benjamin, and even jazz musician Bill Evans.
La Fille aux Chevereux de Lin, more famously known as The Girl with the Flaxen Hair is a short composition written by Claude Debussy between 1909 and 1910. The piece was inspired by a poem of the same name by Leconte de Lisle written in 1852. It was not unusual for fine art of this period to feature a young girl with golden hair. She was meant to symbolize simplicity and naivety. Debussy emulates this simplicity in his musical composition quite successfully! Originally the piece was written for solo piano but will be performed by clarinet quintet for this program!


Moritz Moszkowski: Spanish Dances for Clarinet Quintet
Moritz Moszkowski was born in 1854 into a wealthy Polish-Jewish family. He showed signs of musical talent from an early age and began to study piano and composition. He went on to study in Berlin and eventually became a professor at the Berlin Conservatory in 1875. Moszkowski enjoyed a very successful career as a concert pianist and was greatly admired for performing his own compositions. His Five Spanish Dances, Op. 12 were written in 1876. The dances were originally written for solo piano, but were so popular that requests were made for other arrangements. Moszkowski arranged the dances for multiple instrumentations including piano four hands and violin and piano duo. For this program the arrangement is for clarinet quintet!


Gershwin: Three Preludes for Clarinet Quartet
George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwine in 1898. Gershwin is one of the most famous American composers of all time. His works include orchestral compositions such as American in Paris, operas such as Porgy and Bess, and jazz standards such as Embraceable You and I Got Rhythm. Sadly, Gershwin died at the age of 38 from a malignant brain tumor. The Three Preludes were the end result of a project to compose twenty-four preludes! In 1926, Gershwin performed five of these preludes at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. After the performance however, he decided to publish only three. The Three Preludes, originally for solo piano, are yet another example of compositions so popular that they have been arranged for many instrumentations!


Piazzolla: Three Tangos for Clarinet Quartet 
Astor Piazzolla, born in 1921, was an Argentinian composer, bandoneon player, and composer. In the 1950’s he transformed the traditional tango and created a new style called nuevo tango. This new style of tango incorporated elements of jazz and classical music. His unconventional tangoes used instruments such as the saxophone and guitar which was quite revolutionary for the time! The Three Tangos for Clarinet Quartet are arrangements based on three of Piazzolla’s most famous tangos. The first, Contrabajeando, maintains the traditional beauty of the old romantic tango. La Misma Pena draws the listener in with its slow, enchanting melody. The third tango, Adios Nonino, is the most energetic and brings the listener back to a mood of exuberance.



 -Ann Fink

CONCERT ARTISTS

Yin Xiong/Cello
Cellist Yin Xiong was appointed by Music Director David Robertson to the cello section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2016/2017 season. Yin was awarded notable prestigious prizes from an early age, including the 4thInternational Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians as well as top prizes at the 4th and 5th National Cello Competition of China. She won the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts concerto competition for an unprecedented consecutive five years. As a soloist, Yin made her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at age 17 under conductor Edo de Waart. She has also collaborated with conductors János Fürst, François-Xavier Roth, and Alexander Shelley.
An avid chamber and orchestral musician, Yin was strongly influenced by her parents, themselves both professional cellists. As a member of the Academy String Quartet, she served as a representative of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and gave concerts regularly in Asia and Europe.  As part of the Hong Kong based cello ensemble, Cellistra, Yin presented concerts and community engagement activities throughout Asia.  She was the founding cellist of the Hsin Trio, with whom she gave the American debut of the Toshio Hosokawa’s Piano Trio, was featured in the Juilliard Open Studio, and gave concerts across the United States and China.
As an orchestral musician, Yin received her first job at the age of 20, joining the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, at the same time performing regularly with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Yin has also served as the principal cellist of the Hong Kong Academy Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, and was co-principal of the Juilliard Orchestra. She was the principal cellist of the Pacific Music Festival from 2006-2009 where she had the privilege to work with conductors Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Christoph Eschenbach and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Yin was a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she was part of the Finckel–Wu Han Chamber Music Studio Program. Other festivals include the Kronberg Academy in Germany, Kneisel Hall, Banff Chamber Music Residency, and the Taos School of Music.
As a dedicated music educator and advocator, Yin served as a faculty member of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Macau Youth Orchestra. She was also a teaching assistant for Professor Darrett Adkins at the Oberlin Conservatory.
Born in Shanghai, China, Yin attended the Shanghai Conservatory, and attended the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on a full scholarship to study with Professor Ray Wang. She holds a Professional Diploma With Distinction from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and an Artist Diploma from the Oberlin Conservatory. She recently graduated from the accelerated Bachelor and Master of Music degree program at the Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins and Joel Krosnick. Besides playing the cello, Yin also enjoys playing the baroque cello and viola da gamba. She took secondary lessons with Catharina Meints at the Oberlin Conservatory and Phoebe Carrai at the Juilliard School. 

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Linda Numagami/Viola
Linda Numagami joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as acting section-violist from 2018-2020.  In addition, she has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.  As an active chamber musician, Numagami has performed with the Ceres Quartet, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Prelude Series and Music For Food (San Francisco and New York).  She has collaborated with Kim Kashkashian, Natasha Brofsky, Daniel Phillips, and Ian Swensen.
Numagami earned a Bachelors degree and Masters degree from the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, respectively, where her primary teacher was Roger Tapping.  She also was coached regularly with the Borromeo String Quartet, the Juilliard String Quartet, and Donald Weilerstein. She also received a postgraduate degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Jonathan Vinocour. ​

Rachel Siegel/Clarinet
​Rachel Siegel is a clarinetist and baroque recorderist, as well as a Master of Social Work candidate, based in St. Louis, MO. She has performed on clarinet with several orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Washington National Opera Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony. Her recorders have brought her to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the NSO, and more, performing film soundtracks by John Williams. The Philadelphia Inquirer has described her recorder playing as “beautiful…and charmingly folksy.”

​Rachel previously held the position of clarinetist with the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band, the premiere military band in the U.S. While in the Marine Band, she performed Vivaldi’s Recorder Concerto in C Minor with the “President’s Own” Chamber Orchestra. She received her BM from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and her MM from the University of Southern California, and a second MM from Rice University. Her teachers include Burt Hara, Yehuda Gilad, and Tina Ward.

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Robert Walker/Clarinet
​Originally from Queens, NY, Robert Walker is currently the 2nd Clarinetist of the Louisville Orchestra in Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville, Robert was a member of the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago, the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, OH, and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra in Florida. He has also performed as a substitute with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Robert is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he received his Master's Degree in Clarinet Performance, studying with Yehuda Gilad, and a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he completed his Bachelor's Degree, studying with Alan R. Kay and Charles Neidich. When not playing Clarinet, Robert spends most of his time reading and writing music. ​

Benjamin Adler/Clarinet
Benjamin Adler joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal/ E-flat/ Second Clarinet in 2015. He also held a one-year position with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in the 2018- 19 season. In addition, Adler has held a position with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and has performed regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra and gone on tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Adler is a member of the clarinet faculty at the Brevard Music Center. Prior to Brevard, Adler has spent his summers performing as a guest in The Breckenridge Music Festival, Artosphere Festival and the Sierra Summer Festival. He holds the Second Clarinet position at the Britt Festival Orchestra and is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Brevard Music Festival.

Adler has performed as soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra and was a grand-prize winner in the Francis Walton LMC competition in 2014. Benjamin competed in the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition, where he was a semi-finalist. As a chamber musician, Adler has performed throughout the Milwaukee area, including performances with the Prometheus Trio, Present Music, Milwaukee Musaik and the PianoArts Competition judges concert. He also has performed with the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella concert series, and the Hear Now Music Festival with members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Along with being a performer, Adler is an active educator within his surrounding communities. He is currently on faculty with the Wisconsin Lutheran College and has been on faculty with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Adler has given masterclasses at Indiana University, UNC Greensboro School of Music and UNLV School of Music. Adler is the Artistic Director of the Clarinet Maestro Festival, a festival he founded in 2020.
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Adler grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he first started studying clarinet with his mother Laurie Friedman-Adler. He earned a Bachelor's degree at Northwestern University under the tutelage of Steve Cohen.He received his Masters degree and Artist Diploma from the University of Southern California and the Colburn School respectively, where he studied with Yehuda Gilad.

Samuel Rothstein/ Clarinet
Samuel Rothstein was appointed as the assistant principal and bass clarinetist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2015.  He received his bachelor’s degree in music performance from Northwestern University where he studied with J. Lawrie Bloom and Steve Cohen.  Prior to joining the Indianapolis Symphony, Mr. Rothstein was a member of the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, Virginia, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.  He has performed with the Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Virginia, New World, and Illinois Symphony Orchestras as well as the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.  Additionally, he was the clarinet player for the 25th anniversary national touring company of Les Miserables, and has also performed in the orchestra of other various productions for Broadway Chicago.  Summer festival appearances include the National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Tanglewood Music Center.  After two summers as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Samuel was invited to return for a third summer as a member of the New Fromm Players, focusing on the study and performance of contemporary music. 

Samuel is the founder, host, and creator of the Candid Clarinetist, a clarinet podcast and YouTube channel. Samuel is a Buffet Crampon performing artist and performs exclusively on Buffet Crampon clarinets and bass clarinets.

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Tzuying Huang/Bass Clarinet
Tzuying Huang was appointed the Bass Clarinetist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in February, 2015 under music director David Robertson, and since 2019, has also held the position of Clarinet/Bass Clarinet with the Britt Music Festivalin Jacksonville, Oregon. Ms. Huang is also the Artist Director of the Ariel Concert Series. Prior to joining the St. Louis Symphony, she played  Clarinet/Bass Clarinet with the Kansas City Symphony. Additionally, Ms. Huang has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival. As a chamber musician, Ms. Huang performs throughout the year with the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, Chamber Projects St. Louis, and Missouri Chamber Music Festival. Outside of North America, she has performed in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Singapore. 

Ms. Huang is also an educator with seventeen years of teaching experience, having given master classes in Taiwan and North America. She also works with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony Education and Community Program, where she teaches in public schools in and around the St. Louis area. Ms. Huang’s awards and honors include a First Prize in the 2011 National Couer d’Alene Symphony Young Artist competition; an Honorable Mention from the 2011 National Midland-Odessa Symphony Young Artist Competition; First Prize in the 2012 National Music Teacher Association Music Competition state competition;  and First Prize at the 2012 Mid Texas Young Artist Competition, after which she was subsequently invited to perform, as soloist, Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with both the Couer d’Alene Symphony and Mid-Texas Symphony.
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Ms. Huang has spent several summer as a Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, one summer at the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Banff Music Festival, and the Young Artist Program of the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Canada. Holding a Masters of Music Degree as well as a Performance Diploma from The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University-Bloomington, her former teachers include James Campbell, Joaquin Valdepeñas, Burt Hara, Nathan Williams, Wei-Ling Chen and Pei-Lin Lee. Tzuying is also a Buffet Crampon performing artist, and D’Addario Woodwinds Artist. She plays exclusively on D'Addario Reserve Bass Clarinet reeds and Buffet Crampon clarinets and bass clarinets.