Kallos CMS: The Place We Begin: Schumann, Dvořák, Grosshandler, Lark

5 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
6 PM Performance
8 PM Post-Reception

Kallos CMS: The Place We Begin
Lun Li, violin
Matthew Lipman, viola
Audrey Chen, cello
Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet
Min Young Kang, piano
Schumann, Dvořák, Grosshandler, Lark

Gotham Arts in collaboration with Groupmuse is excited to present an intimate chamber music performance organized by Kallos Chamber Music Series, whose season opens with music shaped by storytelling, memory, and imagination. From the Appalachian spirit of Tessa Lark and the intimate reflections of Seth Grosshandler to the poetic world of Schumann and the expansive lyricism of Dvořák, this program is a vibrant exploration of heritage, identity, and shared memory through works that illuminate traditions, memories, and experiences that continue to shape across generations.

Wine will be served.

Program

TESSA LARK Jig and Pop for Violin Solo

SETH GROSSHANDLER Miniature for Piano, Cello, and Clarinet

ROBERT SCHUMANN Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 87

About the Artists

Lun Li, violin

Violinist Lun Li is committed to creating thought-provoking, boundary-pushing concert experiences for contemporary audiences around the world. A native of Shanghai, China, he won the 2021 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, along with The Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize.

As a concerto soloist, Lun has appeared with orchestras across the U.S. including the Bangor Symphony, Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall, Kennett Square Symphony, Meridian Symphony, Brevard Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, Salina Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and McCall Summer Festival Orchestra, as well as the Tokyo Symphony, Kyoto Symphony, and Osaka Symphony in Japan.

He made his New York recital debut at Merkin Hall and his Washington, D.C. debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Recital and chamber highlights include The Morgan Library & Museum, Caramoor, Bay Chamber Concerts, Tippet Rise Art Center, and the Jupiter Chamber Players. In addition to traditional repertoire, Lun explores theatrical and interdisciplinary approaches through recital projects Death and Conception and A Long Walk Through the Night. In March 2025, he collaborated with Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Du Yun on Morning Mist, Night Thunder at the Asia Society.

Upcoming recitals include Charleston Chamber Music Society, The Brooks Center at Clemson University, and Arts Council of Moore County.

A member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program, Lun was a featured artist on the Society’s 2025 opening night at Alice Tully Hall and has toured extensively with the Society, including a recent tour in China. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where he studied with Catherine Cho, and performs on the Stradivarius “Samazeuilh” 1735 violin, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Matthew Lipman, viola

American violist Matthew Lipman has been praised by the New York Times for his “rich tone and elegant phrasing,” and by the Chicago Tribune for a “splendid technique and musical sensitivity.” Lipman has become one of the most sought after instrumentalists of his generation, frequently appearing as both a soloist and chamber musician.

Lipman recently debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the Rheingau Music Festival, and the American Symphony Orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has collaborated with leading conductors including the late Sir Neville Marriner, Edward Gardner, Osmo Vänskä, Nicholas McGegan, Leon Botstein, Josep Caballé-Domenech, and Yue Bao. Additionally, he has performed solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Zürich Tonhalle, among others.

In 2023, Lipman performed chamber music by André Previn with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter at Carnegie Hall, and on tour at the Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and the Vienna Musikverein, the latter of which was recorded and released on Deutsche Grammophon and DG STAGE+.

The maiden recipient of the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Artists Chair, Lipman performs regularly in New York and on tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Additionally, Lipman is a frequent guest artist at the Bridgehampton, Bad Kissingen, Kronberg, La Jolla, Marlboro, Menlo, Ravinia, Reno, Rheingau, Saratoga, Seattle, and Wolf Trap music festivals.

Lipman is the recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has won top prizes in the Primrose, Tertis, Washington, Johansen, and Stulberg International competitions, and is an alumni of the Bowers Program.

A native of Chicago, Matthew Lipman is on faculty at Stony Brook University in New York, where he teaches viola to graduate students. When he’s not practicing or performing on the viola made for him in 2021 in Brooklyn by Samuel Zygmuntowicz, he’s probably eating donuts, drawing floor plans, or watching tennis matches.

Audrey Chen, cello

Washington native and cellist Audrey Chen is forging a dynamic solo and chamber music career with a commitment to inspire audiences and future generations of musicians through performance and education. She has been featured at chamber music festivals across the United States, including at Yellowbarn, Olympic Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Perlman Music Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Four Seasons Chamber Music, Taos School of Music, and Sarasota Music Festival. As a soloist, she has concertized with the Seattle Symphony and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and appeared on NPR’s From the Top Radio Show. Audrey is highly sought after as a guest artist and has collaborated with groups including Jupiter Chamber Players, Cantori NYC, the Parker Quartet, Borromeo Quartet, and Argus Quartet. She performs actively as cellist of the international prize-winning Terra String Quartet.

Beyond her performing career, Audrey is committed to educating and promoting music through an interdisciplinary lens. She was previously on faculty at CUNY Hunter College, where she has taught A Thousand Years of Listening, an introduction course to music history, and currently coaches chamber music. During her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the CUNY Graduate Center, she explored the interplay of Asianness and musical identity within her research. On account of her studies, Audrey was named a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a 2021 recipient of the Baisley Powell Elebash Performance Grant Award.

A graduate of the Harvard/NEC dual degree program, Audrey received her B.A. from Harvard University in Molecular and Cellular Biology and her M.M. in cello performance from the New England Conservatory. Her main teachers include Laurence Lesser, Lluis Claret, and Marcy Rosen.

In her spare time, she enjoys watching films and puzzling.

Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet

Praised as “technically and interpretively impeccable and passionately communicative” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Graeme Steele Johnson is an artist of uncommon imagination and versatility.

The clarinetist, curator and “musical detective” (New York Classical Review) garnered international attention for his rediscovery and reconstruction of a 125-year-old Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler, profiled in a full-page spread by The Washington Post. Released on his debut album Forgotten Sounds, Johnson’s world-premiere recording of the work was named one of The New York Times’ Best Classical Music Albums of 2024, nominated for a Gramophone Classical Music Award, and awarded BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Choice. As Artistic Director of the Loeffler Octet touring ensemble, Johnson led the work’s first present-day performances at the Library of Congress, Morgan Library, Harvard Musical Association, Phoenix Chamber Music Festival, Emerald City Music, Chamber Music Northwest and more.

Other recent appearances include Ravinia and the Bridgehampton, Rockport, Moab, Cooperstown and Orcas Island Chamber Music Festivals, as well as collaborations with the Miró, Balourdet, Aeolus, Callisto and KASA Quartets, and the Copland House, Twelfth Night, and New York New Music Ensembles. Upcoming highlights include performances at La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest and a solo recital at the Muse Salentine Festival in Italy. Johnson has appeared as soloist with the San Diego Symphony, Vienna International Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Caroga Arts Ensemble, and since 2022 has served as the clarinetist of the award-winning quintet WindSync.

Admired for his creative curation and engaging communication, Johnson has presented a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, authored chamber arrangements heard around the world, and serves as Artistic Director of the Onstage Offstage Chamber Music Festival in Houston. He earned degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, Yale School of Music and a doctorate from the CUNY Graduate Center. His principal teachers include David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, Nathan Williams and Ricardo Morales.

Min Young Kang, piano

Korean-born pianist and artistic curator Dr. Min Young Kang is recognized for her dynamic performances and imaginative concert programming. Praised as “an absolute gem” by the Montecito Journal, she has appeared throughout the United States, France, and South Korea at venues including Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Château de Fontainebleau, and the Sejong Center M Theater. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with distinguished artists including Ani Kavafian, Paul Watkins, members of the New York Philharmonic, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Her debut album, Remembering Russia (PENTATONE), released in 2021 to critical acclaim. Min Young is the recipient of numerous awards, including prizes from the J.C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition, Artur Balsam Duo Competition, and Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, as well as the Talisman Energy Emerging Artist Award (Canada), Kraeuter Musical Foundation Award (USA), and the Special Director’s Award and Chamber Music Excellence award from Ecoles D’Art Americaines de Fontainbleau (France).

A passionate advocate for chamber music, she is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Kallos Chamber Music Series in New Haven, Connecticut. Now in its nineth season, Kallos has enjoyed significant local acclaim—the New Haven Independent praised Kallos as “resonant with the time,” while an audience member describes the experience as “impeccably performed, with witty commentary and swoon-worthy music.”

In addition to her performing career, Min Young has collaborated as a pianist with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, The Juilliard School, and the Yale School of Music. She has participated in leading summer music programs including the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival and School, SongFest, and the Banff International Workshop in Piano Collaboration. She also served on the collaborative piano staff at the Fontainebleau Schools of Music & Fine Arts in France. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Manhattan School of Music and is a former Collaborative Piano Fellow at Yale. She currently serves as Lecturer in Collaborative Piano at the Yale School of Music.

What's the music?

Kallos Chamber Musicians Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet, Piano