At the World’s Edge: A Journey to New Zealand
Thursday, April 27th, 2023 | Financial District
In collaboration with the New Zealand-based At The World's Edge Festival, join us at the studio of photographer Peter Lueders as renowned musicians Benjamin Baker (violin), Alexi Kenney (violin), Melissa Reardon (viola) and Julia Yang (cello) lead us on a journey across the sonic landscapes of New Zealand!
The evening will feature original works written by native New Zealanders inspired by the land's evocative and epic landscape, paired with select movements from the String Quartets of Felix Mendelssohn.
Benjamin Baker
Described by the New York Times as bringing ‘virtuosity, refinement and youthful exuberance’ to his performances, violinist Ben Baker is much sought after as soloist and chamber musician around the world.
Recent highlights include regular appearances at Wigmore Hall and on BBC Radio 3, his debut with Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the East Neuk Festival, and solo appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras in NZ. In 2022 Benjamin returned to North America as soloist with the Charleston Symphony and Bucks County Symphony Orchestras and to Merkin Concert Hall in New York.
This season he flies back to New Zealand for his festival in Queenstown - At the World’s Edge, following a hugely successful launch in 2021.
Alexi Kenney
Violinist Alexi Kenney has forged a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. He is equally at home creating experimental programs and commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras in the USA and abroad, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of our time.
A recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, Alexi devotes the first part of 2023 to the debut of his new project Shifting Ground, bringing it to the Celebrity Series of Boston, Cal Performances, Princeton University Concerts, and the Phillips Collection. Shifting Ground intersperses seminal works for solo violin by J.S. Bach with pieces of our time by Samuel Adams, Matthew Burtner, Steve Reich, Paul Wiancko, and Du Yun, as well as commissions by composers Salina Fisher and Angélica Negrón.
Melissa Reardon
Lauded by Classical Voice for her “elegant” and “virtuosic” performances, Grammy-nominated violist Melissa Reardon is an internationally renowned performer whose solo and chamber playing spans all musical genres. She won first prize at the Washington International Competition, and is the only violist to win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International viola competitions.
Melissa is the Artistic Director of the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Portland, ME, Artist in Residence at Bard College and Conservatory and a founding member and the Executive Director of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). As a member of the Ensō String Quartet from 2006 until its final season in 2018, Melissa toured both nationally and internationally, with highlight performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center to name a few.
A sought-after collaborative musician and teacher, Melissa has appeared in numerous festivals across the United States and around the world, and has toured with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and with Musicians from Marlboro. Melissa is married to the cellist Raman Ramakrishnan and they live in NYC with their seven-year-old son Linus.
Julia Yang
Praised for “her sense of joyful virtuosity” as concerto soloist (South Florida Classical Review), Julia Yang is a courageous and soulful cellist, multi-faceted performer, and founding member of the “riveting” (Reading Eagle) and “impeccably elegant” Merz Trio (All About the Arts).
As a solo cellist, Yang is active as a recitalist and in 2019 was featured as a Young Artist in Residence with Fred Child on Performance Today. Yang has won top prizes at competitions including the Lennox International Competition and the Union League of Chicago’s Young Artist Competition. She has also performed as concerto soloist with the New World Symphony Orchestra, Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra. As chamber musician, Yang has been called the "stunning find of the evening" (New York Classical Review), has been noted for her “deep tone” and “precision,” and has performed throughout the United States and internationally in Europe, Mexico, Australia and Canada.
Her collaborations have ranged from the visual arts, literature and dance to theatre, puppetry and the culinary arts. At the heart of Yang’s work is the elevation of a diversity of voices, a thread that can be traced throughout Yang’s programming and projects with Merz Trio, and as a recitalist.