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Sunday, May 17 2026
Natasha Bogachek & Wan-Chi Su
Violin & Piano
From Counterpoint to Fire: Bach, Brahms and Hungarian Spirit
From the expressive beauty of Bach to the sweeping passion of Brahms, this program brings together music of drama, intimacy, and irresistible energy.
Bach’s Sonata in C minor, BWV 1017, begins the evening with graceful conversation between violin and piano, full of warmth, vitality, and sparkling interplay. More than a century later, Brahms carried Bach’s spirit into the Romantic era, combining rich emotion with extraordinary craftsmanship in his Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor—a work by turns tender, restless, and deeply powerful.
The evening concludes with Brahms’s lively Hungarian Dances, inspired by the vibrant rhythms and melodies he discovered through the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi. Filled with dazzling contrasts and infectious energy, these dances bring the program to a joyful and spirited close.
Spanning two centuries, this program celebrates the enduring connection between tradition and imagination, uniting Bach’s clarity and balance with Brahms’s passion and warmth.
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach
Sonata in C minor for violin and keyboard BWV 1017
J. Brahms
Sonata for Piano and Violin d minor op. 108
J . Brahms
Hungarian dances n. 20, 7, 9, 2.
BIOGRAPHY
Violinist Natasha Bogachek, a native of Russia, received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and continued her studies at the Peabody Conservatory, earning both her Graduate Performance and Artist Diplomas. Her primary teachers include A. Vinnitsky, B. Senofsky, and H. Greenberg.
Ms. Bogachek’s past solo engagements include performances in Russia, former Yugoslavia, France, and Finland with orchestras such as the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic and Sibelius Academy Symphony, among others.
While in the United States, she has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Centennial Philharmonic, and Eclipse Chamber Orchestras, and performed with various chamber music groups throughout the country. Ms. Bogachek was a member of the Knoxville Symphony and the North Carolina Symphony prior to joining the National Symphony Orchestra in September 2000.
Praised by The American Scholar for her “sensitivity and imagination,” pianist Wan-Chi Su, a native of Taiwan, is an active performer, collaborator, and educator. She has appeared at distinguished venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Washington National Cathedral, and Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.
Wan-Chi is a founding member of Duo Sorolla and an artist with the Piatigorsky Foundation, through which she performs widely throughout the United States in both traditional concert halls and community-centered settings. She frequently collaborates with musicians from the National, Baltimore, and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras.
An advocate for contemporary music, Wan-Chi has premiered numerous works and collaborated with composers such as George Walker, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Binna Kim. She serves as organist at Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore and is on the faculties of Georgetown University and Loyola University Maryland. She is the Artistic Director of Chamber Music in Historic Landmarks, curating chamber music programs in partnership with Manor Mill in Monkton, Maryland.
Wan-Chi holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
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