Artwork by Helen Xue

An Evening of World Class Concert & Talk

A hybrid in person and Youtube Live Stream Event on March 18th 2022 at 7pm at Flushing Town Hall, Queens. Pianist Sean Chen, violinist Siwoo Kim, and violist and Erhuist Andy Lin team up for a night of beautiful music by Bach, Handel, Ravel, Mendelssohn, Wu and Erhu music.

• Schedule

  • Handel-Halvorsen - Passacaglia for Violin and Viola by Kim and Lim

  • J.S. Bach - Largo from Violin Sonata No.3, BWV 1005, arr. Sean Chen by Chen

  • Vittorio Monti - Czardas (arr. for Erhu) by Lin

  • Maurice Ravel - Tzigane by Chen and Kim

  • Peiling Wu - Wildlife Suite (from Chinese songs) by Chen, Kim and Lin

• About the artists

  • Professor Williams will also explore with these world class musicians their lives and careers, including their musical journey as Asians, and what they have learned along the way. Do we practice too much? Is it enough to just be a good musician? The musicians will share what makes them unique and the things that drive them to continue to create more art. However, they will also tackle issues of stereotyping of Asian musicians and students, and how growing up as an immigrant or part of an immigrant family.

  • Mr. Sean Chen, a prizewinner at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and winner of the American Pianists Awards, is now an Artist-in-Residence Faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. Mr. Chen just recently released a digital record on the Steinway & Sons label, and continues to appear in solo, chamber, and concerto performances throughout the United States. In addition to performing, Mr. Chen also composes both original pieces and virtuosic transcriptions for the piano. He credits videogame music and learning improvisation and playing by ear at an early age with forming the backbone of his musical flexibility.

  • Mr. Siwoo Kim is an “incisive” and “compelling” (Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times) violinist who plays with “stylistic sensitivity and generous tonal nuance” (John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune). Mr. Kim performs as a soloist and chamber musician, and he is the co-founding artistic director of VIVO Music Festival in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

  • Violist and erhuist, Dr. Andy Lin, is recognized as one of the most promising and the only active performers who specialized in both western and eastern instruments. Praised by The Strad “The great Molto adagio…..elicited some of the night’s most sensitive work, especially from Wei-Yang Andy Lin on viola.” and New York Times “Taiwanese-born violist Wei-Yang Andy Lin..…is also a virtuoso on the erhu, and he gave a brilliant performance.” Andy is the artistic director and co-founder of the New Asia Chamber Music Society. Andy is also a member of the Musicians of Lenox Hill and serves as principal violist of the New York Classical Players and the Solisti Ensemble. Prof. Greg Williams, viola faculty from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College is the Assistant Principal Violist of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra. He is a member of the Golden Williams Duo, a viola-cello duo committed to performing music written by a diverse array of composers. He recently recorded on the concept album for the new musical Goodbye New York, which will be released on May 8th, 2022. His debut solo album, The Raphael Project, featuring the unaccompanied viola sonatas of Günther Raphael, will be released in the summer of 2022. He is currently the New Music Editor for the American Viola Society.