Cellist Sophie Shao returns to concert series

Publication Date

Cellist Sophie Shao returns to the Union College Concert Series with an all-star group of musicians on at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7 in Memorial Chapel.

Joined by violinist Frank Huang, violist Roger Tapping and pianist Pei-Yao Wang, the ensemble will perform Beethoven’s String Trio in D Major, Op. 9, No. 2; Mahler’s rarely-heard Piano Quartet in A Minor; and Brahms’s monumental Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26. Shao assembled this group of virtuosi exclusively to perform at Union.

Winner of top prizes at the Rostropovich and Tchaikovsky competitions, Shao has wowed audiences since she was a child. At age 11, she made her first appearance with the Houston Symphony, and at just 19, she received an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Violinist Huang was appointed concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in 2010 after having won top prizes in the Naumburg, Hannover, Paganini and Indianapolis competitions.

Recently named violist for the legendary Juilliard Quartet, Tapping was formerly with the famed Takács Quartet. He is on the faculty of New England Conservatory and will be joining Juilliard’s faculty in the fall.

Pianist Pei-Yao Wang performs regularly at festivals including Marlboro, Caramoor, Norfolk, La Jolla, and Ravinia, and is a former member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two program.

Individual tickets are $25 or $10 for students. Subscription packages offer significant savings. For information, call (518) 388-6080 or click here.