Sunday May 19, 2019 in Mclean
Emerson Avenue Salons Proudly Presents
Polaris Piano Trio
Laura Kobayashi, Violin
Kenneth Law, Cello
Francesca Hurst, Piano
Program
Clara Wieck Schumann:
Selections from Piano Trio in G minor, op.17 (1846)
Allegro Moderato
Scherzo: Tempo di Menuetto
Andante
Joseph Haydn:
Piano Trio in G Major, “Gypsy”, Hob.XV:25 (1795)
Andante
Poco Adagio
Finale/Rondo “in Gypsies Stil”: Presto
David Baker:
Selections from Roots II for Violin, Cello and Piano (1992)
Dance in Congo Square
Sorrow Song
Jubilee
Biography
Violinist Laura Kobayashi, performs with The Kobayashi/Gray Duo, Polaris Piano Trio and the Main Street Chamber Players. She also has a private studio in Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. Kobayashi actively performs throughout the United States and has also performed abroad in Wales, Thailand, South Africa, Norway, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Argentina and Brazil and the islands of Puerto Rico, St. Lucia and Trinidad. In addition, she has recorded two compact discs of music by women composers for the Albany Records label. She has also edited for publication a violin sonata by 19th Century French woman composer, Marie Grandval, for Hildegard Publishing Company. She received the Outstanding String Teacher Award by VASTA (Virginia State Chapter of ASTA) and the “Excellence in Teaching” Award by West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts. Her past teaching positions include serving on the faculties at West Virginia University, the University of Georgia and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. For a short period of time as a professional orchestral musician, she played in the second violin section in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Dr. Kobayashi studied violin with Dorothy DeLay, Andrew Jennings, Paul Kantor and Denes Zsigmondy. Her degrees are from The Juilliard School, Yale University and The University of Michigan.
Cellist, teacher and author Kenneth Law is a member of the Main Street Chamber Players, Polaris Piano Trio and Ritz Chamber Players. He performed at the Washington Performing Arts Club, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center Concert Series, and Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Law has performed in England France, Scotland, Panama and Puerto Rico, and collaborated with Earl Carlyss (Juilliard String Quartet), Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet), and Ying String Quartet. He has recorded for Albany Records, New Albion and Telarc. Mr. Law currently maintains a private studio in Fairfax, VA. His students have been accepted to the Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Peabody and Oberlin Conservatories and Indiana University (Bloomington). He received the 2010 Studio Teacher of the Year Award from both the South Carolina and Virginia chapters of the American String Teachers Association. Mr. Law received undergraduate and graduate degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory. He was also a chamber music fellow at The Juilliard School.
Recognized for her “tender lyricism” (The Washington Post), yet not afraid to shout, swing her foot onto the piano or don fingerless gloves if the music demands it, pianist Francesca Hurst divides her playing evenly between classical and contemporary music. Classically trained, she accidentally fell into the new music scene in 2013 when she stepped in last minute for a gig with Great Noise Ensemble. At ease with a wide repertoire ranging from Bach to JacobTV, she makes sense of the music regardless of style and period. Francesca has appeared as a solo and collaborative guest artist at many new music festivals including the Bang on a Can Music Marathon, and has performed in venues like the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and Sala dei Notari in Perugia, Italy. She is currently working on the commission, recording and premiere of a new solo piano work by Jennifer Margaret Barker. Francesca holds a DMA in piano performance from The Catholic University of America as well as degrees from Tulane University. She is an adjunct faculty member at Catholic University and served for nine years as adjunct faculty at Trinity Washington University. She also runs a thriving private piano studio in the DC area. www.francescahurst.com