May Mid-Week Recital: Evan Kahn, cello; Amy Zanrosso, piano.
| California-based Evan Kahn has been praised as “a cellist deserved of serious listening” for bringing his “electrifying … nuanced and colorful” style to all of his collaborations, from concerti to chamber music to contemporary performances. He has commissioned and premiered over 60 works by composers from around the world, including his father’s Cello Concerto. Evan holds principal positions in four orchestras — New Century Chamber Orchestra, Symphony San Jose, Opera San Jose, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. Dedicated to the orchestral craft, he has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, and as acting principal cellist with the Britt Music and Arts Festival. In April/May 2018, he served as Artist-in-Residence with Performance Today at NPR, sharing some of his favorite works for cello and his philosophies on music and life. In February 2019, he was named Musical America’s New Artist of the Month. He is resident cellist for a number of Bay Area small ensembles, including Ninth Planet, After Everything, the Farallon Quintet, and the Kobold Quartet. Evan received a Master’s in Chamber Music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jennifer Culp. He graduated with college and university honors from Carnegie Mellon University, studying with David Premo. Before college, he took lessons in Los Angeles with John Walz, Timothy Loo, and Karen Patch. Other important mentors include Paul Hersh, Thomas Loewenheim, Amos Yang, Mark Kosower, Robert DeMaine, and Bonnie Hampton. In addition to performing and teaching, Evan enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons and watching British television. He plays on a cello by Italian luthier Carlo Carletti, c. 1900, and a bow made for cellist Lynn Harrell by archetier Paul Martin Siefried. Amy Zanrosso’s playing has been hailed as expressive, magnetic and masterful but since no one at the New York Times has said this, she’s not allowed to put it in quotes. Her first touch of a keyboard was a two-octave electric organ that her parents had found who knows where. She enjoyed picking out tunes like O Sole Mio and Ode To Joy until her cousin decided to show her Heart and Soul on an acoustic piano. That’s the moment Amy fell in love. Thanks to her attentive and industrious Italian immigrant mom, piano lessons started at the age of 6 and by the age of 15, Amy had made the decision to make music her life. A few years later she was accepted into the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada where, in Bruce Vogt’s studio, she realized that she had way too much to learn and would always be in awe of the absolute force that is music. Bruce’s wisdom and humor still influences her life today and she will always be thankful for his guidance in those early years of learning what playing the piano really meant. As a soloist, Amy is addicted to the thrill of performing with orchestra. Since 2016, concerto repertoire, similar to chamber music but on steroids, has forced her to push her limits, helping make her into the confident and electrifying player she always hoped to be. She has appeared as a soloist with the Symphony of the Kootenays, the Russian Chamber Orchestra and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Her intense love of chamber music has led her to more fully admire and explore her favorite composers while sharing the experience with countless inspiring, dedicated players and appreciative audiences. In addition to freelancing in the Bay Area with various musicians and ensembles, the RossoRose Duo, founded in 2015, keeps Amy and violinist Alisa Rose occupied learning and performing repertoire from Beethoven to Auerbach. After her Bachelor’s, Amy furthered her studies for a few years in Italy and then completed a Master’s Degree at McGill University in Montreal. Her life filled with a wealth of chamber music and was rounded out by some Broadway musicals, German cabaret and a number of years in an Argentine tango quintet. In 2014, Amy moved from Montreal to the Bay Area with her partner Dave and her dog Roscoe. She is currently based in Oakland. Since the big move, Amy went on tour to China with the GRAMMY award-winning Pacific Boychoir, rehearsed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel at the podium and was the pianist for Chorissima, the five-time GRAMMY award winning San Francisco Girls Chorus Premier Ensemble throughout the 2017–18 season. Like performing, Amy finds teaching to be a highly rewarding part of a musician’s life. She is a faculty member and chamber music coach at the Pre-College Academy of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, CA. She is constantly fueled by her fantastically inspiring students and enjoys forcing her favorite composers on them as well as telling them what to do. Amy is looking forward to all the superb music, musicians, students and enthusiastic audiences that will come her way in the future. Many thanks to Beethoven and Brahms for inspiring her to come this far – she wouldn’t change a thing. |
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Various guest musicians alongside Jim Smith, Music Director, and Ty Woodward, resident organist, have been featured during the Sunday online and In-Person worship service.
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Past Recitals
View the March 2023 Recital featuring Cantilena Trio: Susan Greenberg, Jon Lee Keenan, Kenton Youngstrom
View the February 2023 Mid-Week Recital featuring Tom Batson, piano.
View the January 2023 Mid-Week Recital featuring Laurent Jochum, organ.
View the December 2022 Mid-Week Recital: with Beth Chouinard-Mitchell, tuba; Hannah Yi, piano
View the November 2022 Mid-Week Recital: with Susan Greenberg, Michele Zukovsky, and Dr. Pierre Tang
View the October 2022 Mid-Week Recital: with Nora Chiang Wrobel, piano; Limor Toren-Immerman, violin;Garik Terzian, cello
View the September 2022 Mid-Week Recital: with Mak Grgic [GER-gich], guitar.
View the May 2022 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Clayton Haslop, violin; Kevan Torfeh, cello; and Wendy Prober-Cohen, piano. View the Recital Program
View the April 2022 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Sean O’Neal, organ
View the March 2022 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Ty Woodward, organ; Dr. Jim Smith, piano and organ
View the February 2022 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Tae Yeon Lim, piano
View the January 2022 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Philip Vaiman, violin / Miloš Veljković, piano.
View the November 2021 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Kirill and Anna Gliadkovsky, piano duo.
View the October 2021 Mid-Week Recital, featuring Cristina Montes Mateo, harp
September 2021 Recital: Tengyue (TY) Zhang, classical guitar
May 2021 Mid-Week Recital: Rufus Choi, piano
April 2021 Mid-Week Recital: Kevan Torfeh & Friends:
Kevan Torfeh, cello; Jim Smith, organ and piano; Tomasz Golka & Anna Kostyuchek, violins; and Linda Muggeridge, oboe.
View the Recital Program here
March 2021 Recital: David York, organ
February 2021 Recital: Aram Barsamian, baritone; accompanied by Mark Salters, piano.
View the Program
Wednesday, January 13: Ty Woodward, organ; David Searfoss, trumpet; Stephen Billington, trumpet
View the Recital Program here
Wednesday, December 9, 2020: Calico Winds, wind ensemble
View the Recital Program here
Wednesday, November 11 2020, Kirill Gliadkovsky, piano
View the Recital Program (list of pieces and artist bio)
Wednesday, October 14, 2020: Nancy Roth, violin; Lorenzo Sanchez, piano
Wednesday, September 9, 2020: Aaron Shows, organ
View the Recital Program for Aaron Shows
August 12, 2020 – Susan Greenberg, flute; Cristina Montes Mateo, harp
July 8, 2020 – Connie Sheu, guitar, and Elise Henry, flute
June 11, 2020 – Duo Imaginalis: Ekaterina Bessmettseva, piano; Hugo Nogueira, guitar
May 13, 2020 – Mark Robson, Piano Online Recital
January 8, 2020 – David Childs, baritone
David Childs is a baritone who specializes in Jewish Music. He holds a degree in Vocal Performance from UCLA and is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival. David’s past musical endeavors include singing solo roles with several performing groups: Guild Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Aspen Opera Center, & LA Chamber Orchestra. In 2017, David performed a recital with pianist Mark Robson as part of Boston Court’s Emerging Artist Series. David also played accordion with the Latin-American folk-pop band, We The Folk. He currently serves as Cantorial Intern at Sinai Temple in Westwood and is studying at the Ziegler School of Rabbinics at American Jewish University.
March 11, 2020 – Sergey Kosemyan, cello; Anna Markosyan, piano
Sergey Kosemyan is a recipient of the UNESCO Gold Medal, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Aram Khachaturian, 2008. He is the prize winner of the following International Competitions: Aram Khachaturian International Competition, 2006; Pierre Lantier International Chamber Music Competition (Grand Prix), Paris, 2002; the National Young Artist Competition in Yerevan, Armenia (1997) First Prize; and the winner of the Premier Prix de La Conservatoire National Superior de Paris, 2002. He is the founder of the Classic Art Trio (2014), and Kosemyan Ensemble (2017) in Mexico. His teachers have been Mstislav Rostropovich, Philipe Müller, Harry Hoffman, and Dominique de Williencourt.
Anna Markosyan is a graduate of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, and winner of the A. Babajanyan National Piano Competition (Armenia). She has performed in chamber ensembles in Armenia, Russia, Europe, Mexico and the USA.
May 8, 2019 – David York, organ
April 10, 2019 – The Wilder Trio, clarinet, bassoon & piano
March 13, 2019 – AlmaNova Duo, flute and guitar
February 13, 2019 – Lukas Hasler, organ
March 14, 2018 – Duo Ondine: Boglárka Kiss, Flute; Alison Bjorkedal, Harp
February 7, 2018 – Althea Waites, Piano – February 7, 2018
May 10, 2017 – Jaebon Hwang, Organ
The finale of the 2017 Mid-Week Recital series is with award-winning composer and organist, Jaebon Hwang! She is organist at Westwood United Methodist Church where she presides over one of the largest organs in the region. Awarded the Fellow of American Guild of Organists, the organization’s highest level of certification, she is active as a recitalist and as a collaborative artist.
May 9, 2018 – Christoph Bull, Organ
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