Presented by the Emerson/Harris Program for Private Study Solo Recital Series
Program
Dmitry Kabalevsky: Cello Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 71
Bright Sheng: Seven Tunes Heard in China
Gabriel Fauré: Après un rêve from 3 Songs, Op. 7
Gaspar Cassadó: Requiebros
Livestream: https://mta.mit.edu/viewlisten/live-killian-hall
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About the Performers
Cellist Valerie Chen cannot not-have-fun when she’s with her best friend (her cello). Whether she actively sought out ways to meld humor, cello and her studies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science together or it just hap-pun-ed that way, she found herself starting MIT’s first cello club, CelloWorld();, which encompasses MIT’s first cello ensemble, Cello++ (abbreviated as C++). During the senior’s undergraduate journey, her cello has strung her along to play in the MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Chamber Music Society, and an MIT video performance series highlighting works by Black artists titled the Music Unites: Songs for Equity (MUSE) Project.
Previously, Valerie and cello have also adventured onstage together on the east and west coasts as winners of concerto competitions and chamber music competitions. This fall, the two will perform the Korngold Cello Concerto with the MIT Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the 2022 Concerto Competition.
The duo enjoys meeting other instrument-musician pairs: they have befriended instruments and musicians alike in the yearly All-National Honor Orchestras and California All-State High School Honor Symphonies and found themselves at times serving as Principal Cellist of these groups. Furthermore, their four years with the La Jolla Symphony as the youngest and only high school member were an eye-opening experience neither cellist nor cello (nor broken bow hairs) will forget.
Both Valerie and her cello are immensely grateful to their past teachers Dr. Joyce Geeting, Maureen Hynes and Clive Greensmith. The pair is honored to be currently fine-tuning their cello-cellist synergy under the tutelage of Kee Kim through the generous Emerson/Harris program.
Pianist Eileen Huang is a frequent collaborator with the Boston-area’s finest instrumentalists and vocalists. In recent seasons, Ms. Huang made her Rockport Chamber Music Festival debut alongside Boston Symphony Orchestra principal bass Edwin Barker and violinist Yevgeny Kutik, and appeared at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and BSO Associate Concertmaster Alexander Velinzon. Ms. Huang is a rehearsal pianist for Emmanuel Music and an accompanist for the Boston City Singers. She teaches on the music performance faculty at MIT, where she has been an Affiliated Artist since 2010. Also an accomplished soprano, Ms. Huang has appeared as soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Wellesley Choral Society, and Nahant Music Festival. Raised in New Jersey, Ms. Huang made her concerto debut at age 11 with the Battleground Arts Center Symphony Orchestra and was featured as a chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall at age 17. She received her training at the Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she studied with the late Herbert Stessin, and holds a degree in chemistry from MIT.
About the Emerson/Harris Program for Private Study
Funded by the late Mr. Cherry L. Emerson, Jr. (SM, 1941) in response to an appeal from Associate Provost Ellen T. Harris (Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus of Music), the Emerson/Harris Program offers merit-based financial awards for private study in music to students of outstanding achievement on their instruments in classical, jazz or world music. Each academic year, the Emerson/Harris Program awards Scholarships and Fellowships to nearly fifty students who commit to a full year’s study and participate in the musical life of MIT. Private teacher selections, made in consultation with the music faculty, may include instructors from MIT staff and throughout Greater Boston.
