Kallos CMS: Beyond the Threshold: Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Penderecki, Montgomery

7 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
8 PM Performance
10 PM Post-Reception

Kallos CMS: Beyond the Threshold
Sirena Huang, violin
[Aaron Wolff[(https://www.aaron-wolff.com/), cello
**Min Young Kang, piano
Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Penderecki, Montgomery

Gotham Arts in collaboration with Groupmuse is excited to present an intimate chamber music performance organized by Kallos Chamber Music Series. Home is not only a place returned to, but a voice recognized as one's own. From Jessie Montgomery, Penderecki, and Clara Schumann* to Beethoven’s revolutionary Kreutzer Sonata, this program celebrates bold artistic voices across three centuries. Marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, it honors a legacy of resilience, courage, and the enduring triumph of the human spirit.

Wine will be served.

Program

JESSIE MONTGOMERY Duo for Violin and Cello (2015)

CLARA SCHUMANN Piano Trio, Op. 17

PENDERECKI Suite for Solo Cello: I. Preludio

BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 ("Kreutzer")

About the Artists

Sirena Huang, violin

Praised by The Baltimore Sun for her “impeccable technique…deeply expressive phrasing…and poetic weight," Sirena Huang is one of her generation’s most celebrated violinists. She brings not only technical brilliance and powerful artistry to the stage, but also a profound sense of connection to her audience. Sirena is the 2022 Gold Medalist of the 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and was also awarded eight of the eleven special prizes.

Sirena made her solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in 2004 at the age of nine and has since performed in 20 countries across three continents. She has been a soloist with numerous prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Shanghai, Russian, Evergreen, National Taiwan, and Singapore symphony orchestras, and the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany. An avid chamber musician and recitalist, Sirena has also been a guest artist at the Verbier, Marlboro, Montreal, Ravinia, Aspen, Newport, Music in the Mountains, and Eastern music festivals. In the spring of 2025, Sirena made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in Zankel Hall to great acclaim. Her debut recording of the same program with pianist Chih-Yi Chen on the Azica label will be released this season. This season will also feature the world premiere of a work by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) who she has commissioned to compose a work for her.

Sirena has performed before world leaders, thinkers and humanitarians. She has appeared at the World Peace Conference held in Petra and at the Opening Ceremony of the Forum 2000 World Conference in Prague. In addition to her TED Talk in 2006, Sirena has been featured on numerous radio and television broadcasts, including WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase and NPR’s From the Top. She graduated from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Stephen Clapp, Sylvia Rosenberg and Itzhak Perlman and holds an Artist Diploma from Yale University’s School of Music, where she studied with Hyo Kang.

Sirena performs on a Guarneri del Gesù violin, Cremona 1739 “Kortschak”, which is on loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.

Aaron Wolff, cello

Described as “a musician of quicksilver brilliance,” (Chicago Tribune), Aaron Wolff is a prizewinner of the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition and cellist of the four-time Grammy-award winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird. As the recipient of the Leo B. Ruiz Memorial Prize, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall in 2023, and has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Musikverein, and Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums.

Committed equally to tradition and experimentation, recent highlights include tracking cello, vocalization and water percussion on a forthcoming recording of Shawn Okpebholo's "Fractured Water,” playing electronic organ in Steve Reich’s “Four Organs” at Eighth Blackbird’s Gilmore Festival performance, touring Igudesman & Joo’s “The Music Critic” with John Malkovich, and performing chamber music on gut strings at Valley of the Moon Music Festival.

Aaron has been a prizewinner at the Boston Symphony, Schadt National String, Barbash Bach, and Cleveland Cello Society Competitions, and a return attendee at IMS Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, Perlman Music Program and Lucerne Festival Academy. He has also found creative outlets in acting – most notably a lead role in the Coen brothers’ film A Serious Man – and in arranging and writing about music: he provided string arrangements for Comedy Central’s sitcom Broad City and concert reviews for the online journal I Care If You Listen.

Aaron holds a BA in comparative literature from Oberlin College and an MM and Artist Diploma from Juilliard. His primary mentors have been Natasha Brofsky, Darrett Adkins, Joel Krosnick, Tim Eddy and Mark Steinberg. He is now pursuing a doctorate at CUNY Graduate Center, where his research will focus on the maverick musical life of cellist and composer Arthur Russell. He plays an 1813 Thomas Kennedy cello made in London.

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 Piano Trio