PROGRAM:

Antonîn Dvořák
Song My Mother Taught Me

Seymour Bernstein
Madonna from 'New Pictures at an Exhibition' (with poem by Owen Lewis)

Johannes Brahms
Horn Trio in E-flat Op. 40

.. and more

Junko Ichikawa, piano
Mimi Zhang, horn
Tao Zhang, violin
 

Johannes Brahms composed the Horn Trio in E-flat when he was 32 to commemorate his mother's death, where it features three of the instruments he learned while he was a child, and is based on a theme he had written for twelve years which did not get published.

Highlighting with the Horn Trio, pianist JUNKO ICHIKAWA and colleagues will be presenting the Brahms along with other compositions honoring motherhood including Junko's teacher Seymour Bernstein's 'Madonna', and works by prominent international composers.

Described by Harris Goldsmith "…the special star: Her technical virtuosity was staggering; her playing was, at every turn of phrase, brimful of poetry and exciting temperament…" , pianist JUNKO ICHIKAWA has been the recipient of top prizes in competitions, notably the second prize at the Dichler/Sato International Piano Competition in Vienna. She has performed as a soloist with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Residenz Orchester. Her recent appearance includes a solo recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the documentary film, “Seymour: An Introduction” directed by Ethan Hawke that is on her teacher and mentor, Seymour Bernstein, with whom she has studied for 16 years. She is a graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, New York University, Mannes College of Music, and has earned her DMA at Rutgers University.

MIMI ZHANG is recognized as one of the most promising young French horn players of her generation. Ms. Zhang has performed with the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra and Macao Symphony Orchestra. She has also been performing with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey since 2012. Over the years, Ms. Zhang has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician around the world including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum (the Met Gala), the Los Angeles Music Center, the Kennedy Center, the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Stefaniensaal and Eggenberg Palace in Austria. Ms. Zhang is currently a Doctoral Fellow at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She holds Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. 

Violinist TAO ZHANG first studied at Sichuan Conservatory, where he is from, before he was invited by William van der Sloot, faculty of Mount Royal University to Gifted Young Artist Program while finishing his high school in Calgary, Canada. There he worked with guest artists such as Pinchas Zukerman. Later Tao was under the tutelage of Mr. Swensen at San Francisco Conservatory of Music under full scholarship. He then furthered his studies with Ani Kavafian at Yale School, where he earned his Masters degree. Tao has worked with artists such as Kurt Mazur, James Levine, Joseph Silverstein, Ida Kavafian. He is currently doing his Doctor of Musical Arts with Carmit Zori in Rutgers University, New Jersey; and serves as concertmaster in the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra.