ARTISTS
Stella Chen, violin
Chad Hoopes, violin
Timothy Ridout, viola
Clive Greensmith, cello
Sebastian Manz, clarinet
PROGRAM
Brahms Quintet in B minor for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 115 (1891)
--INTERMISSION--
Mozart Quintet in A major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, K. 581 (1789)
Praised for her “silken grace”and “brilliant command” (TheStrad), American violinist Stella Chen captured international attention as the winner of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her debut album, Stella x Schubert, was released in 2023 on Apple Music’s Platoon label to critical acclaim, garnering her the title of Young Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards. Stella has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, appearing as soloist with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. A recently appointed faculty member of the Juilliard School, she holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Juilliard, and is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program. Chen performs on the 1720 “General Kyd” Stradivarius, generously loaned by Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
Clive Greensmith has a distinguished career as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. From 1999 until 2013 he was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, giving over 100 performances each year in the most prestigious international venues. As a soloist, he has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and the RAI Orchestra of Rome. Over 25 years, he has built up a catalogue of landmark recordings, most notably the complete Beethoven string quartet cycle for Harmonia Mundi with the Tokyo String Quartet. He was appointed professor at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2014. In 2019, he became the artistic director of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival and was appointed director of chamber music master classes at the Chigiana International Summer Academy in Siena, Italy. He performs on a cello made by Stefano Gibertoni & Valerio Nalin made in Milan 2021 and is a Pirastro Strings Artist.
American violinist Chad Hoopes performs with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, l’Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and the Minnesota and National Arts Centre orchestras, as well the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, and National symphonies. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he currently holds the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Chair at CMS, supported by the Wallach Artist Fund. He has been featured on recordings including the recent Moritzburg Festival Dvorák album with cellist JanVogler, released by Sony Classical, and with the MDR Leipzig and conductor Kristjan Järvi performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on the Naïve label. A 2017 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, Hoopes studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Kronberg Academy. He plays the 1991 Samuel Zygmuntowicz, ex Isaac Stern violin.
Clarinetist Sebastian Manz has performed as a soloist with major European orchestras such as the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern, and MDR Musiksommer in Germany, collaborating with artists like Danae Dörken and the Danish String Quartet. At the ARD International Music Competition in 2008, he won first prize in the clarinet category, which had not been awarded for 40 years, and the coveted Audience Prize. He is Principal Clarinet of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart. His recording A Bernstein Story was awarded with the Opus Klassik award in 2020, and he recently released a recording of clarinet concertos by Carl Nielsen and Magnus Lindberg, as well as a recital recording of works by Brahms and Schumann with pianist Herbert Schuch. He is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Timothy Ridout, a former BBC New Generation Artist, Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2020 winner, and recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2023 Young Artist Award, is one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. Highlights of this season include the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s viola concerto Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth at the Berlin Philharmonie with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as well as performances with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Born in London in 1995, Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He completed his master’s at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai in 2019 and, in 2021, joined CMS’s Bowers Program. He plays a viola by Peregrino di Zanetto c.1565–75 on loan from a generous patron of Beare’s International Violin Society.
