String Theory At The Hunter To Hold Concert March 6

String Theory, in partnership with Lee University and the Hunter Museum of American Art, will continue its ninth season with a performance featuring brothers Roberto and Andrés Díaz and violinist Soovin Kim, along with Gloria Chien, piano. The concert will take place on Tuesday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the museum. 

String Theory was founded by pianist and Artistic Director Dr. Chien in 2009 to expose new audiences to chamber music, invigorate the local classical music scene, and cultivate a future generation of music lovers. 

The March performance will include Kodály’s “Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7” and Fauré’s “Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 15.” 

Prior to the concert, “Art Connections” will take place at 5:30 p.m. Former Hunter Museum chief curator Ellen Simak and maestro Robert Bernhardt, conductor emeritus of the Chattanooga Symphony and artist-in-residence at Lee University, will explore works from the Hunter Museum collection that relate to the music featured in the evening’s concert. 

Roberto Díaz is a violist of international reputation. His impact on American music is two-fold with his performance work as former principal viola for the Philadelphia Orchestra and as an educator at Curtis Institute of Music where he is president, CEO, and a teacher of viola. 

In addition to performing with string quartets and pianists in chamber music series and festivals worldwide, Roberto Díaz has toured Europe, Asia, and the Americas as a member of the Díaz Trio, a group that has performed at Carnegie Hall, Casals Festival in France, and Kuhmo Festival in Finland, among others. He has also performed with the Boston Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the National Symphony, where he was principal viola. 

As a frequent recitalist, Roberto Díaz enjoys collaborating with young pianists, bringing a fresh approach to the repertoire and providing invaluable opportunities to artists at the beginnings of their careers. 

Andrés Díaz graduated from the New England Conservatory and continues to play an active role in the chamber music performances with the conservatory’s faculty. He currently serves as a professor of cello at Southern Methodist University.  

Andrés Díaz has captured the attention of critics and audiences around the world with his cello since winning First Prize in the 1986 Naumburg International Cello Competition. He went on to receive the Pierre Mayer Memorial Award for Outstanding String Player, and in 2009, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy. 

Andrés is a favorite to Cleveland and Chattanooga audiences, performing in the Presidential Concert Series at Lee and in previous String Theory series. He has also performed across the United States with the American Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra. His recent tours have taken him throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe. He is also a member of the Díaz Trio alongside Roberto Díaz and Andrés Cárdenes. 

Mr. Kim is an internationally-renowned violinist and performs as both a concert soloist and a recitalist. He has performed with many orchestras including the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, the Vermont and Chattanooga symphony orchestras, and founded the Johannes String Quartet. 

Mr. Kim’s international concert career was launched when he received First Prize at the Paganini International Competition at the age of 20. He went on to receive the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the Henryk Szeryng Career Award. He currently serves as a professor of violin at the New England Conservatory. 

Mr. Kim’s Lake Champlain Music Festival, founded in 2009, gained national recognition for excellence in performance, innovative programming, educational outreach, and work with young composers and performers. In 2017, Dr. Chien was named co-artistic director of the festival. 

Dr. Chien made her orchestral debut at age 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist under the batons of Sergiu Comissiona, Keith Lockhart, Thomas Dausgaard, Irwin Hoffman, Benjamin Zander, and Robert Bernhardt. She currently serves as an artist-in-residence at Lee University. 

She is a prize winner of the World Piano Competition, Harvard Musical Association Award, as well as the San Antonio International Piano Competition, where she also received the prize for the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work.  

Dr. Chien has also been a member of the CMS of Lincoln Center since 2012 and frequently plays at numerous venues around the country with the music society. She has emerged in recent years as one of America’s finest young chamber musicians and has been praised by well-known Boston music critic Richard Dyer for her “wondrously rich palette of colors, which she mixes with dashing bravado and with an uncanny precision of calibration.” 

Individual concert tickets are $35 for Hunter members, $45 for non-members, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and $25 for groups of 20 or more people. 

For more information on String Theory at the Hunter Museum of American Art or to purchase tickets, call 414-2525 or visit http://stringtheorymusic.org/.