Internationally recognized solo artist, chamber musician and music educator, Astrid Schween, cellist of the Juilliard String Quartet, has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines, on “Living the Classical Life”, NPR, The Violin Channel, CelloBello and as a guest speaker at the Library of Congress. Ms. Schween will perform in recital with pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion at the 2019 Lyra Music Festival.
Smith College | Sage Hall
Tickets $20
Festival Pass $100 (Entrance to all 2019 Lyra Music Festival Events)
Program:
Debussy: Sonate for Cello and Piano
Cassadó: Suite for Violoncello Solo
Popper: Hungarian Rhapsody
Schumann: Fantasy Pieces
INTERMISSION
Franck: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Astrid Schween, cello
Sun. July 21, 2019
Smith College, Sage Hall
10:00am Cello Masterclass
4:00pm Recital with Pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion
New York born cellist Astrid Schween is an internationally recognized soloist, chamber artist, and teacher. In 2016, she joined the Juilliard String Quartet, succeeding her esteemed colleague Joel Krosnick, and became a member of the Juilliard Cello Faculty. In addition to her work with the JSQ, Ms. Schween remains active as a soloist, appearing this season in Boston, Oakland, Memphis, the International Cello Institute, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and with the Boulder Philharmonic, performing the Elgar concerto.
She made her debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta and received her degrees from the Juilliard School. Her teachers included Harvey Shapiro, Leonard Rose, Dr. H.T. Ma, Bernard Greenhouse and Jacqueline Du Pre, with whom she studied in London. She participated in the Marlboro Music Festival and William Pleeth Master Classes, and was on faculty at UMass Amherst, Hartt School of Music, Mount Holyoke College and Interlochen.
A former member of the Boston Trio and Lark Quartet, Ms. Schween performed at major venues around the world and received many honors including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award with the Lark. During her tenure, the quartet produced critically acclaimed recordings for the Arabesque, Decca/Argo, New World, CRI and Point labels, and commissioned numerous works.
An active juror and panelist, she has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines, on “Living the Classical Life,” NPR, The Violin Channel, CelloBello, and as a guest speaker at the Library of Congress. Following her solo cello album, "Rhapsody," Ms. Schween's current recording project covers the major Romantic cello sonatas with pianist Michael Gurt. Recent faculty appointments include the Sphinx Performance Academy, Tanglewood and the Perlman Music Program, where she succeeds celebrated cellist Ronald Leonard.
Victor Santiago Asuncion, Pianist
Sun. July 21, 2019 Smith College Sage Hall
4:00pm Recital with Cellist Astrid Schween
Hailed by The Washington Post for his “poised and imaginative playing,” Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion has appeared in concert halls in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey and the USA, as a recitalist and concerto soloist. He played his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra, and his New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1999. In addition, he has worked with conductors including Sergio Esmilla, Enrique Batiz, Mei Ann Chen, Zeev Dorman, Arthur Weisberg, Corrick Brown, David Loebel, Leon Fleisher, Michael Stern, Jordan Tang, and Bobby McFerrin.
A chamber music enthusiast, he has performed with artists such as Lynn Harrell, Zuill Bailey, Andres Diaz, James Dunham, Antonio Meneses, Joshua Roman, Cho-Liang Lin, Giora Schmidt, the Dover, Emerson, Serafin, Sao Paulo, and Vega String Quartets. He was on the chamber music faculty of the Aspen Music Festival, and the Garth Newel Summer Music Festival. He was also the pianist for the Garth Newel Piano Quartet for three seasons. Festival appearances include the Amelia Island, Highland-Cashiers, Music in the Vineyards, and Santa Fe.
His recordings include the complete Sonatas of L. van Beethoven with cellist Tobias Werner, Sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with cellist Joseph Johnson, the Rachmaninoff Sonata with the cellist Evan Drachman, and the Chopin and Grieg Sonatas, also with cellist Evan Drachman. He is featured in the award winning recording “Songs My Father Taught Me” with Lynn Harrell, produced by Louise Frank and WFMT-Chicago. Mr. Asuncion is the Founder, and Artistic and Board Director of FilAm Music Foundation, a non-profit foundation that is dedicated to promoting Filipino classical musicians through scholarship, and performance.
He received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in 2007 from the University of Maryland at College Park under the tutelage of Rita Sloan. Victor Santiago Asuncion is a Steinway artist.