DARWIN SHEN, VIOLIN

Violinist Darwin Shen has been performing as a soloist in concert halls and with ensembles and orchestras all over the United States for over twenty-five years.  Although he continues to perform much of the standard violin repertoire of concertos, sonatas and short pieces, in recent years he has specialized in resurrecting lost or rarely performed works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He has been sought after by other artists and musicians as an expert in these works, and his most recent projects in this area have been published online.

In addition to his performance schedule, Darwin maintains a teaching studio for pre-college students in the New York metropolitan area.  His students have gone on to study at many of the major music conservatories and colleges in the United States.  Darwin is also the founder and executive director of the Violin Audition Prep Program, an annual, intensive program which is designed to teach young musicians how to approach and perform in auditions of all types, including for college and conservatory admissions and orchestra placements.  He also works with student orchestras and school music programs as a guest teacher, helping students work through intensive rehearsals or difficult pieces.  Darwin conducts the Young String Ensemble for the Young Artists Philharmonic, is a teacher and conductor for the inTEMPO program and is Artist in Residence at the Byram Shubert Library, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Darwin performs on various instruments depending on the genre and instrumentation of the performance. His main concert instrument is a Honore Derazey circa 1870. An ardent supporter of modern instrument makers, Darwin also performs on instruments by Robert Isley and Kenneth Beckman amongst others.

Darwin studied violin with Paul Kantor, Kyung Yu and Yuval Waldman.  He also has a BA degree in History from Manhattanville College.

Darwin is married to pianist Yuan Wang and they have a five year old son Ian who believes that pasta should have red sauce.

MICHELLE KIM

Pianist Michelle Kim enjoys a versatile musical career as a soloist and a collaborative pianist. Currently, she is on Collaborative Piano Fellowship at the Yale School of Music where she coaches in rehearsals and performs in recitals with graduate students. Her past engagement includes working at the Toronto Summer Music Festival, National Concert Band, Vic Chorus at the University of Toronto, Mississauga Children’s Choir, Mimico Children’s Choir and performed throughout North America at venues like National Arts Centre, Carnegie Hall, Chan Centre for the Arts and Tempe Centre for the Arts. In 2022, she joined an opera training program Musiktheater Bavaria in Oberaudorf, Germany as a collaborative piano fellow.

Michelle has received Master of Music in Performance, Advanced Certificate for Performance and Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto where she was under the tutelage of Marietta Orlov and Boris Lysenko. During her studies, she has worked as a teaching assistant and received numerous scholarships such as Greta Kraus Scholarship, David and Summer Beach Award Scholarship, Faculty of Music Fellowship and Simmonds Graduate Fellowship. In addition, Kim has received Master of Music in Collaborative Piano at Arizona State University and is completing her studies for Doctorate of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano studies under Prof. Andrew Campbell, Prof. Miki Aoki and Prof. Robert Hamilton while working as a Musician-in-Residence Coordinator at Mirabella at ASU.

Putting on the Fritz – Program

Original version of Praeludium and Allegro

Bach Violin Concerto in a minor with new piano accompaniment

Beethoven Cavatina from String Quartet op 130 arr by Kreisler

Mozart Violin Concerto no 3 1st movt with new  piano accompaniment

Rachmaninov/Kreisler Italian polka

Chaussson Poeme piano part revised by Fritz Kreisler

Stars in my eyes from the operetta “Sissy”

Gabriel Marie La Cinquantaine reconstruction of Fritz Kreisler improvised accompaniment

Korngold Tanzlied des Pierrots reconstruction based on Kreisler recording

Paganini La Campanella

Tickets:

General Admission: $30
Students: $15
MoCA Members: 15% off with Member ID at check out.