Evermay Concert Series

The 6821 Quintet

Eric Silberger (violin)
Rachel Lee Priday (violin)
Andrew Gonzalez (viola)
Clancy Newman (cello)
Ryo Yanagitani (piano)

The 6821 Quintet consists of international artists coming together to fulfill the understanding that music brings disparate cultures together. The group will put on performances during the National Cherry Blossom Festival and will be showcasing their musical artistry at various venues around the DC area.

BIOGRAPHY

---

Eric Silberger

Violin

From prestigious concert halls around the world to an Icelandic volcano, virtuoso violinist Eric Silberger’s performances have been described by critics as “spine-tingling… astonishing” (The Guardian), “dazzling virtuoso playing” (The Washington Post), “impeccable level of playing, a wonderful musician” (The Strad). “... he has got everything in his favour, technique, composure and personality.” (El Pais, Spain). He is a prize winner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 2011.

Eric has collaborated as soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonia, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Danish National Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, among others. Conductors Eric has worked with include Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Michael Tilson Thomas, Dimitri Kitajenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Donald Runnicles, Robin Ticciati, and others.

He has appeared at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Louvre in Paris, the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, The Moscow International House of Music in Russia, Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, Royal Festival Hall in London, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, the National Arts Centre in Canada, and more. Among numerous television and radio appearances in the United States, Asia, and Europe, he was featured on Radio France, STV in China, KBS in Korea, and WQXR, WFYI, FOX 59, WISH-TV, and NPR, among others.

2018-19 highlights include performances with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on tour in Russia, a tour in Spain with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and a performance with the San Francisco Symphony. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include performances of Tchaikovsky Concerto in Carnegie Hall, Beethoven Concerto in Alaska and Paganini Concerto No. 1 in Wisconsin, a recital playing the three Brahms Sonatas in Berlin, and a concert tour in South Korea.

Eric received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Columbia University and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Mentors have included Glenn Dicterow, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, and the late Maestro Lorin Maazel.

Eric plays on a rare J.B. Guadagnini violin made in 1757 on generous loan from the Si Yo Music Society Foundation and Sau-Wing Lam collection. Eric is a co-founder of the Hawaii International Music Festival and Executive Director of Strings at Classical Bridge International Music Festival of New York City.

BIOGRAPHY

---

Rachel Lee Priday

Violin

Hailed by the Chicago Tribune for playing that combines “irresistible panache,” “big and luscious sound” and “dazzling dexterity,” violinist Rachel Lee PRIDAY (PRY-day) enthralls audiences with impassioned performances that have been described as “nothing short of exquisite” (San Francisco Examiner). Through her imaginative programming, incisive interpretations, and fruitful collaborations, she is steadily garnering distinction as a musical explorer, in search of contemporary relevance when performing the classical violin repertoire, and in discovering and commissioning new works. Seen and Heard International wrote: “the past vaulted forward, generating contemporary reflections that lingered long after.”

Rachel Lee Priday has appeared as soloist with major international orchestras, including the Chicago, Saint Louis, Houston, Seattle, and National Symphony Orchestras, the Boston Pops, and the Berlin Staatskapelle. Recital appearances have brought her to eminent venues including the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Musée du Louvre, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival and Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany, and tours of South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Committed to new music, and making enriching community and global connections, her wide-ranging repertoire and multidisciplinary collaborations reflect a deep fascination with literary and cultural narratives. Recent seasons have seen a new Violin Sonata commissioned from Pulitzer Prize Finalist Christopher Cerrone and the premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s “The Orphic Moment” in an innovative staging that mixed poetry, drama, visuals, and music. Rachel has collaborated several times with Ballet San Jose, and was lead performer in “Tchaikovsky: None But The Lonely Heart” during a week-long theatrical concert with Ensemble for the Romantic Century at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Her work as soloist with the Asia America New Music Institute promoted new music relationships and cultural exchange between Asia and the Americas, combining new music premieres and educational outreach in the US, China, Korea and Vietnam.

Recent and upcoming concerto engagements include the Pacific Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic, Stamford Symphony, and Bangor Symphony. Since making her orchestral debut at the Aspen Music Festival in 1997, she has performed with numerous orchestras across the country, such as the symphony orchestras of Colorado, Alabama, Knoxville, Rockford, and New York Youth Symphony. In Europe and in Asia, she has appeared at the Moritzburg Festival in Germany and with orchestras in Graz, Austria, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea, where she performed with the KBS Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic and Russian State Symphony Orchestra on tour.

Rachel began her violin studies at the age of four in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York to study with iconic pedagogue Dorothy DeLay, and continued her studies at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division with Itzhak Perlman. Rachel holds a B.A. degree in English from Harvard University and an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried. Since Fall 2019, she serves as Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Washington School of Music.

Rachel has been profiled in The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, Family Circle Magazine, and The Strad Magazine. Her concerts have been broadcast on major media outlets in the U.S., Germany, Korea, South Africa, and Brazil, including a televised concert in Rio de Janeiro, numerous radio appearances on 98.7 WFMT Chicago radio, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. She been featured on the Disney Channel, “Fiddling for the Future” and “American Masters” on PBS, and the Grammy Awards.

She performs on a Nicolo Gagliano violin (Naples, 1760), double-purfled with fleurs-de-lis, named Alejandro.

BIOGRAPHY

---

Andrew Gonzalez

Viola

Appointed Visiting Producer

Hailed by the Strad Magazine for his "warm-hearted playing and mellow tone" Andrew Gonzalez has a diverse career around the world as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and entrepreneur in music.

A native of Chesapeake Virginia, Andrew started viola in a public-school music program at the age of 10. At 14, he began studying with Amy Davis and Stacey Miggliozi, both members of the Virginia Symphony. He then went to the Juilliard School where he did both his undergrad and graduate degrees, completing his bachelors in 2014 and masters in 2016. There he studied with world renowned violists Michael Tree, Heidi Castleman, Steve Tenenbom, and Hsin-Yun Huang.

Right out of school, Andrew began a two-year residency as a member of "Ensemble Connect", a chamber music ensemble based at Carnegie Hall that trains its members to become their own leaders and entrepreneurs in music. As part of Connect, Andrew has taught and performed in 2 residencies at Skidmore College, participated in the inaugural Paris and Colorado winter and spring residencies, and has played in multiple chamber music performances at Carnegie Hall. As part of his fellowship with Ensemble Connect, Andrew taught at PS 226 Alfred De B. Mason in Brooklyn.

Andrew has been a soloist in orchestras across the country, most recently playing Walton Viola Concerto with the Virginia Symphony. Past concerto performances also include playing Stamitz Viola Concerto with the Sphinx Symphony, Telemann viola concerto and Bach Brandenburg 6 with Hampton Roads Chamber Players, as well as Strauss' Don Quixote with the Juilliard orchestra.

Andrew has given numerous recital performances around the country, most recently a recital at Barge Music in New York performing both Brahms viola sonatas. Other recent recitals include, the Clark Arts Center recital series at the Perlman Music Program, the Sunday's at Four series in Smithfield Virginia, a recital at the University of Scranton, and the Beckler Museum recital series in North Carolina. Andrew frequently performs at Barge Music and looks forward to returning there for another recital in September.

As a chamber musician, Andrew has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Martin Beaver, David Kim, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Nobuko Imai, Danny Philips, Natalie Dessay, and many others. Andrew's recent performances include the Brahms songs for Mezzo, Viola, and Piano at the Morgan Library with Ken Noda and Sarah Mesko, Mozart Divertimento and Copland Sextet in Weill Recital Hall, both Mozart Piano Quartets, Schumann piano quartet, and Beethoven G major string trio at Barge Music, as well as a performance of Mendelssohn's string Octet with Itzhak Perlman and alumni of the Perlman Music Program.

He has participated in music festivals including, the Verbier Academy, Music@Menlo, the Perlman Music Program, the Heifetz Institute, Sarasota Music Festival, Valley of the Moon Music Festival, American Bach Soloists, and many others. Since 2014, Andrew has continuously returned to the Heifetz Institute as an artist in residence and has recently been put on chamber music faculty for their Program for the Exceptionally Gifted.

In 2014, Andrew began playing the baroque viola and studied with Cynthia Roberts at the Juilliard School. Andrew has performed in a baroque and classical ensemble in New York called Quodlibet and have had a chance to work with a lot of musicians who have come through Juilliard 415 and Yale Baroque programs. Andrew recently performed at American Bach Soloists and Valley of the Moon Music Festival where he studied with both Robert Mealy and Elizabeth Blumenstock. Andrew looks forward to returning this summer as an artist at the Valley of the Moon Music Festival.

Andrew is also passionate about performing music of living composers. His most recent performances include a performance of Steve Reich's "Different Trains" in Weill Hall and a premiere of Caroline Shaw's "Stucco and Brocatelle". He looks forward to giving a premiere of a work by Andy Akiho in June 2018. In 2016, Andrew gave a New York premiere of Joel Friedman's "When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes". Andrew regularly plays at the here and now festival at Barge Music, a contemporary music series dedicated to performing works by living composers.

Andrew performs regularly with Sejong Soloists, an ensemble based in New York City and has toured with them all over Europe and Asia. He is also on the sublist for the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and plays with them frequently. Andrew plays on a 1930 Frederick Haenel modeled after a Gasparo da Saló.

 

BIOGRAPHY

---

Clancy Newman

BIOGRAPHY

---

Ryo Yanagitani, D.M.A.

Piano

Hailed by the Washington Post as "a pianist's pianist," Ryo has established himself as one of Canada's shining artists. His success includes winning the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was also given special recognition for a performance of the complete Chopin Ballades. He is also the grand prize winner of the Hugo Kauder International Piano competition and a laureate of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, the Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano competition in Vina del Mar (Chile), and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Ryo has made concerto appearances with orchestras around the world including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Kioi Symphonietta. His performances have taken him to such venues as the Kennedy Center, The National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and Salle Cortot in Paris among others.

In addition to his solo career, he is much sought after as a chamber musician, performing in a wide range of settings from the duo sonata repertoire to large ensembles. Ryo is frequently invited as guest pianist to chamber music festivals across the US, in the capacity of both lecturer and collaborative pianist.

A recipient of many scholarships and awards, Ryo has been endowed twice by the Canadian Arts Council with a grant as an Emerging Artist and is a recipient of the Arthur Foote Scholarship from the Harvard Musical Association. He was also awarded the Sony Foundation of America Career Grant through the Salon de Virtuosi of New York, and a Washington Award by the S&R Foundation of Washington DC. He has also been an artist-in-residence of the Maxwell Shepherd Fund of Connecticut. Ryo is also increasingly recognized not only as a performer but as a pedagogue and is in demand as adjudicator to competitions and as masterclass clinician in North America and Asia. He has also released two solo CDs consisting of works by Chopin and Debussy, as well as a CD in collaboration with the cellist Dai Miyata in Japan.

Ryo Yanagitani received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music under Boris Berman, a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia under Doctor Henri-Paul Sicsic, and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute under Sergei Babayan. He was an instructor for the Chamber Music Program at Yale and was a visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He currently holds the title of Artistic Director of the Ryuji Ueno Foundation in Washington, DC, and oversees the Evermay Concert Series in Georgetown.