Program

Johannes Brahms (arr. Paul Klengel)
Sonata in D Major, Op. 78 (“Regensonate”)
  I. Vivace, ma non troppo

J.S. Bach
Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011

Robert Schumann
Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129
  I. Nicht zu Schnell

Samuel Barber
Concerto in A Minor, Op. 22
  I. Allegro moderato

Alfredo Carlo Piatti
12 Caprices for Solo Cello, Op. 25
  VII. Maestoso
  X. Allegro deciso

Performers

Evan Kahn, cello
Christopher Basso, piano
Hye Young Min, piano
Margaret Halbig, piano

Artist profile

Native to Los Angeles, California, cellist Evan Kahn has been praised as “a cellist deserved of serious listening” for bringing his “electrifying … nuanced and colorful” style to all of his collaborations, from concerti to chamber music to contemporary performances. Intensely passionate about new music and music of non-Western cultures, he has commissioned and premiered over 45 works by composers from around the world, including his father’s Cello Concerto.

Evan currently serves as assistant principal cellist of both Opera San Jose and West Bay Opera, and as principal cellist of Symphony Silicon Valley. As cellist in the Lazuli String Quartet, Evan has played in chamber music series around the Bay Area, as well as in master classes for leading chamber music artists, including members of the Kronos Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, Takacs Quartet, Danish String Quartet, and Fidelio Trio. His Pittsburgh-based piano trio, Trio Rizi, won the top awards in the Silberman Chamber Music Competition and the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition.

As a soloist, he has performed with the Veridian Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh String Orchestra, the Segah Festival Orchestra, and the Diablo Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra after winning both institutions’ concerto competitions. This season, he will perform Elgar’s Cello Concerto with North State Symphony.

Evan attended Aspen Music Festival on a fellowship for three consecutive summer, where he studied with Julliard professor Darrett Adkins and played co-principal in the Aspen Academy of Conducting Orchestra, the Aspen Sinfonia Concertante, and the Aspen Philharmonic as an Orchestral Leadership Fellow. In summer 2016, he served as one of 40 student fellows in the Piatigorsky Cello Festival — fellows hand-picked from conservatories around the world — and in summer 2017, Evan attended the Taos School of Music to work with the Brentano, Borromeo, and Shanghai Quartets.

A recipient of a instrument grant from the Maestro Foundation, he has the great honor and pleasure of playing on the foundation’s “Mendelsohn” cello, a 2001 instrument by Mario Miralles named after the foundation’s head, Aaron Mendelsohn. Evan plays with a Paul Martin Siefried bow, also leant to him by Maestro, and a Bernard Ouchard leant to him by the San Francisco Conservatory.

Evan is pursuing a Master’s in Chamber Music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jennifer Culp. He graduated with college and university honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where he served as principal cellist of CMU orchestras and studied with David Premo. At CMU, he received awards such as The Harry G. Archer Award for Outstanding Senior, Presser Scholarship, four years’ worth of the Wilkins Cello Scholarship, and first prize in the Carnegie Mellon Concerto Competition. Other important mentors include John Walz, Timothy Loo, Karen Patch, and Thomas Loewenheim.

For more information and performances, visit evandkahn.com.