Mystery & Exuberation
Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor
Sunday, August 10th at 3pm • Berkeley Hillside Club
Join violinist Alexi Kenney, cellist Tanya Tomkins and Musaics Director/pianist Audrey Vardanega at the Berkeley Hillside Club for a special performance of Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 110.
Like many of Schumann’s later works, this final trio by the composer evokes a complex kaleidoscope of emotions ranging from humor to passion, anguish to exaltation, often all intertwined. Presented in a beautiful setting by three celebrated artists, we look forward to sharing a Sunday afternoon of sublime music with you.
alexi Kenney
Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging 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 around the world, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of our time. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
Alexi has played recitals at Wigmore Hall, on Carnegie Hall’s ‘Distinctive Debuts’ series, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, 92nd Street Y, Mecklenberg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Winner of the 2013 Concert Artists Guild Competition and laureate of the 2012 Menuhin Competition, Alexi has been profiled by Musical America, Strings Magazine, and The New York Times, and has written for The Strad. He is also an alum of the Bowers Program (formerly CMS 2) at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Tanya Tomkins
Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Valley of the Moon Music Festival, cellist Tanya Tomkins is equally at home on Baroque and modern instruments. She has performed on many chamber music series to critical acclaim, including the Frick Collection, “Great Performances” at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, San Francisco Performances, and the Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal.
She is renowned in particular for her interpretation of the Bach Cello Suites, having recorded them for the Avie label and performed them many times at venues such as New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, Seattle Early Music Guild, Vancouver Early Music Society, and The Library of Congress.
Audrey vardanega
Praised as a “[musically] eloquent” (San Francisco Classical Voice) player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists” and a “bewitching musical presence” (The Piedmont Post), American pianist and arts entrepreneur Audrey Vardanega (b.1995) has performed as a solo and collaborative pianist across Europe, China, and the United States. In response to her passion for bringing artists together for opportunities for performance, the creation of new work, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Audrey founded Musaics of the Bay in 2019.
about The Hillside Club
The Hillside Club is a neighborhood social club established in 1898 by a group of Berkeley women who wished to protect the Berkeley hillsides by promoting the development of the community in environmentally sensitive ways.