Muriel Oberhofer & Eric Clark: Beethoven, Schubert, & Franck

5 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
6 PM Recital
7:30 PM Post-Reception

Muriel Oberhofer & Eric Clark: Beethoven, Schubert, & Franck

Gotham Arts in collaboration Groupmuse is delighted to present an intimate private chamber music performance by violinist Muriel Oberhofer and pianist Eric Clark featuring hallmarks of the repertoire: a Beethoven sonata, Schubert's Fantasie, and Frank's celebrated sonata.

Wine will be served.

Program

BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3

SCHUBERT Fantasie in C Major, D. 934

Intermission

FRANCK Sonata in A Major

About the Artists

Watch a performance of Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in c minor from last season's Kallos Chamber Music Series at the New Haven Lawn Club

Muriel Oberhofer, violin

Praised for her profound musicality and her naturally flowing tone, Muriel Oberhofer most recently appeared in a number of concerts across Europe, performing in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, the Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid and Tonhalle Zürich in Switzerland. Further solo performances include Vivaldi’s Double Violin Concerto together with Peter Zazofsky in the USA and a tour with the Neues Zürcher Orchester across Switzerland. She regularly attends masterclasses, most recently with Hilary Hahn, James Ehnes, Peter Zazofsky and at the Kronberg Academy with Vadim Gluzman. Competition successes include winning first prize with distinction at the Swiss National Youth Music Competition.

Last year, Muriel was principal in the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mahler 3 in the Southbank Center's Royal Festival Hall under Semyon Bychkov. Previous orchestral experiences include leading the Royal Academy Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Youth Chamber Orchestra in Zurich, the Royal Academy String Orchestra and co-leading projects with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in the Tonhalle Zürich.

As a chamber musician, Muriel Oberhofer is playing regularly in chamber music recitals and festivals, performing alsongside artists such as Kit Armstrong, Margarita Balanas, Julian Chan and Thomas Barthel. She also participated in a series of chamber music masterclasses, including with Jeremy Menuhin, Adrian Brendel and Yehuda Hanani.

Muriel has graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with distinction, where she completed her undergraduate and her postgraduate studies under the guidance of Nicholas Miller, Roman Simovic and György Pauk. Previously, she studied privately in Zurich with Klaidi Sahatci. Upon invitation of Pinchas Zukerman, Muriel is currently completing her Professional Performance Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Muriel Oberhofer plays on a 1690 Vincenzo Rugeri violin, kindly loaned to her by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.

Eric Clark, piano

Pianist Eric Clark has performed to great acclaim throughout much of the United States as well as in Europe and Asia. Praising his debut performance of Stravinsky's Petrouchka at the International Piano Series in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston Today wrote: "Clark managed brilliant execution throughout, perfectly capturing Stravinsky's ingeniously quirky structures and headlong rhythmic drive." Of his appearance at the prestigious Concerts at One series at Trinity Wall Street Concerts, the New York-based music blog Lucid Culture praised his interpretation of Liszt's Years of Pilgrimage, writing that "it's not often that audiences get to hear the thoughtful side of Liszt: Kudos to Clark for delivering it with grace and, if anything, understatement."

Eric has appeared as soloist with several orchestras, performing Saint-Saens's Concerto No. 2 under the baton of maestro Sergei Babayan in Perugia, Italy at Music Fest Perugia; the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Queensboro Symphony Orchestra; Chopin Concerto No. 2 with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra; Mozart Concerto No. 24 and Bach Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with the Palisades Sinfonietta; the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Space Coast Symphony on two consecutive evenings; and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic.

Eric performs regularly at prestigious venues throughout New York City and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, the Klavierhaus Concert Series, the Musicians Club of New York, Scandinavia House, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. Eric was invited to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013, and was the only American contestant to attend the First International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw, Poland in 2018. His awards and accolades include second prize in both the Paderewski International Competition in Farmington, Connecticut and the International Chopin Competition of Hartford.

A passionate advocate of new music, Mr. Clark has recorded Le Mat XXII Arcana, a solo piano work by Christian Kriegeskotte. An ambitious cycle of twenty-two pieces, each one is based on one of the twenty-two "major arcana" of the tarot. The recording is available for download on Spotify. A keen performer of chamber music, Eric has performed throughout the East Coast with violinist Artur Kaganovskiy; together, they have recorded the three Brahms Violin Sonatas. He also has diverse interests in Cuban music, jazz, improvisation, and historical fortepiano performance.

Eric Clark earned his bachelor and masters degrees in music from Carnegie Mellon University, where his primary teachers were Enrique Graf and Sergey Schepkin. He has formed a close musical association studying with Andrei Gavrilov in Zürich, Switzerland and Mikhail Voskresensky in New York. Other teachers and mentors include Earl Wild, Ilana Vered, Byron Janis, Juana Zayas, Ann Schein, Michael Blum, Simon Mulligan, and Nina Lelchuk.

What's the music?

Muriel Oberhofer (she/her)