The performance will feature Solomiya Ivakhiv, professor of violin and viola and coordinator of strings in the School of Fine Arts
Solomiya Ivakhiv, professor of violin and viola and coordinator of strings, and Dmitry Glivinskiy, assistant professor-in-residence, perform "American Rhapsody (Romance for Violin and Piano)" during the inauguration of UConn President Radenka Maric in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 29, 2023. (Sydney Herdle/UConn Photo)
The internationally renowned Callisto Quartet will perform as part of the Lenard Chamber Series at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
The concert program will include "Beethoven String Quartet op. 127," "Jessie Montgomery Strum," and "Chausson Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21," a unique sextet composition with four movements.
The Chausson work will feature Solomiya Ivakhiv, professor of violin and viola and coordinator of strings in the School of Fine Arts at UConn and an internationally performing classical violinist, and Melvin Chen, professor in the practice of piano at Yale School of Music, who is acclaimed for solo and chamber performances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia.
"It is a very unusual piece and format," Ivakhiv told WHUS about the Chausson work. "I cannot think of another work that is written for solo violin, solo piano and a string group. It's not unusual for the pianist to join the string quartet; then we would call it a piano quintet. But to have another violinist have a solo part, a solo piano part and for the quartet to basically act like an orchestra and support the two solos, that's an unusual format. I don't think any other composer has done it."
Praised for their "tremendous variety of color" (The Strad), the American-Canadian-Taiwanese Callisto Quartet has quickly risen to international acclaim as one of the most accomplished quartets of their generation. Since their inception in 2016, the quartet has garnered top prizes in nearly every major international chamber music competition. Grand Prize winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize Winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the quartet was also recently named Bowers Program artists at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, beginning a three-season residency in 2027-2028.
As dedicated educators, the Callisto Quartet has taught masterclasses at universities including Rice University, Cleveland Institute of Music, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Washington, and the University of California Santa Barbara, among others. The Callisto Quartet serves as returning faculty at summer festivals including the Bravo Workshop, Hudson Montessori Conservatory Chamber Music Intensive, and Rocky Ridge Music, where Callisto serves as Faculty Quartet in Residence. From 2022-2024, the Callisto Quartet taught The Performance of Chamber Music at Yale University, and they currently serve as Associated Faculty at Chamber Music Connection in Columbus, Ohio.
