Program
Eugène Ysaÿe, Sonata for Solo Violin in E minor, No. 4, Op. 27/4 (1923)
I. Allemande (Lento maestoso)
II. Sarabande (Quasi lento)
III. Finale (Presto ma non troppo)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata No. 9 for Piano and Violin, Op.47 ("Kreutzer", 1803)
I. Adagio sostenuto - Presto
II. Andante con variazioni
III. Presto
About the Performers
Lily Tsai is a first-year PhD student in Computer Science at MIT studying violin with Lynn Chang. She graduated from Harvard in 2017 with an A.B./S.M. in CS, and spent 2017-2018 on a Fulbright at the Max-Planck Institute for Software Systems in Saarbruecken, Germany. A lover of chamber music, Lily currently plays in a Harvard-MIT piano trio and performs regularly at Harvard and for various events around the Boston area. When she is not playing music or staring at a computer, she can be found running around the Charles, scrambling up a climbing wall, reading a book, or making puns.
At Harvard, Lily played in the River Charles Ensemble, the Brattle Street Chamber Players, and in a piano trio coached by Hengjin Park and the Parker String Quartet. Prior to college, Lily lived in Palo Alto, CA, where she was a merit scholarship student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division studying violin with Li Lin. Lily has toured as Concertmistress of the inaugural National Youth Orchestra of the USA under the baton of Valery Gergiev, and has played in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Elara String Quartet, and the Tsai Duo with her cellist sister, Stephanie. Lily received first prize in the 2011 Peninsula Symphony’s Young Musician's Competition, the 2011 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Solo Competition, Junior Violin category, the 2011 MTAC VOCE Competition in the Intermediate Strings Division, and the 2010 Intermediate Ensemble Division as a member of the Tsai Duo. Lily has performed in several Junior Bach Festivals in Northern California and participated several times in the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute's Young Performers Program.
Allen Yuan, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in Mathematics in 2015 and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mathematics at MIT. Since beginning to play the piano at age 5, he has studied with Faye Mao, Arthur Greene at the University of Michigan, and Heng-Jin Park at Harvard University.
As a solo performer, Allen has participated and won prizes in many national and international piano competitions, including: Gold Medal, full scholarship to Eastman School of Music, and Audience Prize at the 2010 Eastman International Piano Competition, Third Place at the 2007 Kingsville International Piano Competition, Finalist at the 2008 Schimmel USASU Young Artists International Piano Competition, Semifinalist at the 2009 New Orleans International Piano Competition, and Finalist at YoungARTS week 2011. He has also performed as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Rochester, NY), the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Symphony Orchestra (Rochester, MI), the River Charles Ensemble, and the Bach Society Orchestra. He has also performed in master classes with Nelita True, Douglas Humpherys, Jeremy Denk, and Jonathan Biss. In addition to his solo performance achievements, Allen is also active as a chamber musician and a part of the music community at Harvard and MIT. As co-president of the Harvard College Piano Society in 2012-2013, he helped to organize events to promote piano music across campus. He enjoys spending his free time reading chamber music with his friends.
