Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival Presents: Festival Concert V
The Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, which draws outstanding musicians from North America and abroad every September, celebrates its 26th season with a series of concerts from September 7 to 20, 2025.
The 2025 Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival is full of color from around the world, from classic pieces by Schubert, Rachmaninov, and Brahms, to the rhythms of Latin America, and Stravinsky’s theatrical L’Histoire du soldat, and so much more. Playing music is telling stories, the expression of culture, the sound of a place, sometimes a place left behind. It is memories, the expression of emotions deep inside and ones to be wildly danced and celebrated.
The centerpiece of this program is Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat with its themes of exile and a search for home through the musical expression of a parable of a soldier who trades his violin to the Devil in return for financial fortune. A mélange of French music from the 20th century complements the Stravinsky, with melodic works of many moods by Darius Milhaud and the Boulanger sisters, Nadia and Lili. A haunting Rachmaninov solo piano prelude and a familiar sweet tune by Hollywood’s own Charlie Chaplin round out the program.
Program:
Suite du Voyageur sans bagage, Op. 157b Darius Milhaud
Nocturne, arr. for cello and piano Lili Boulanger
Cantique, arr. for cello and piano Nadia Boulanger
Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10 Sergei Rachmaninov
Smile Charlie Chaplin
Le Boeuf sur le toit Darius Milhaud
L’Histoire du Soldat Igor Stravinsky
Andrew Armstrong, Raphael Bell, Nina Bernat, Jeroen Berwaerts, I-Jen Fang, Matthew Hunt, Eleni Katz, Dave Nelson, Aylen Pritchin, Timothy Summers
Sponsored by Jan Peskin, in loving memory of Henry Peskin
Special thanks to our Festival Season Sponsor: Mrs. Tessa G. Ader
Other 2025 Festival concerts at the Paramount include a ticketed event on Thursday, September 11 at 7:30PM and a FREE lunchtime concert open to the public on Friday, September 12 at 12:30PM.
About the Musicians
Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. His repertoire encompasses more than 60 concertos with orchestra as well as solo recitals and chamber music concerts at festivals. He has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Warsaw’s National Philharmonic, and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve, and the Dresden Music Festival.
Raphael Bell enjoys a varied career as a principal cellist, chamber musician, teacher, and festival director. He is currently principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France, Co-Founder of the Camerata Fontainebleau, and Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. As a chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Gaveau, Berlin Philharmonie, Köln Philharmonie, Luzerner Theater, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Kyoto Concert Hall.
Double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, emerges onto the world stage with awards and accolades, thrilling audiences everywhere. She was hailed by the Star Tribune as a “standout” for her recent concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, praising her performance as “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.” In 2023, Nina was honored as a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the CAG Elmaleh Competition.
Esteemed worldwide for his exceptional technical skills and sensitive musicality, Belgian trumpeter Jeroen Berwaerts explores repertoire spanning all eras and genres, from Baroque to contemporary music and jazz. As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and others. He has collaborated with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Markus Stenz, Jun Märkl, and Matthias Pintscher.
Described as an “intrepid percussionist” by Fanfare Magazine, I-Jen Fang has a career as a solo performer, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. She joined the faculty of the Music Department at the University of Virginia in 2005 and serves as the Principal Timpanist and Percussionist of the Charlottesville Symphony. As a soloist, I-Jen has performed in Taiwan, U.S., Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and South Africa.
One of Europe’s leading clarinetists, Matthew Hunt is renowned for the vocal quality of his playing. He is Solo Clarinetist of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen, performing under such conductors as Trevor Pinnock and Paavo Järvi. Matthew has performed as a soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Nathalie Stutzmann conducting, and collaborated with the Ernen Musikdorf string soloists directed by Daniel Bard in Switzerland, the Musikfreunde Orchester under Thomas Klug, and the Estonian Festival Orchestra under Paavo Järvi.
Recognized for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, bassoonist Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Her “thoughtful and expressive” (San Diego Union Tribune) approach to music-making has led her from performances by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall. Eleni is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. She has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Nu Deco Ensemble, Jupiter Chamber Players, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and as a member of the New World Symphony.
Dave Nelson is a trombonist, arranger, composer and producer with roots in Nashville and New York City. His musical range encompasses classical, pop, and ambient electronic styles, frequently employing looping pedals and innovative technology to expand the possibilities of live solo performance. Dave is solo trombonist of The Knights Orchestra, a position he has held since 2008. He has also performed with many of today’s premier classical and new music ensembles including ICE, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, NYC Opera, NOVUS, Signal and Talea.
Praised as “the future of the violin” (ClassiqueHD) and lauded for his “outstanding musical culture” (Bruno Monsaingeon), Aylen Pritchin is one of today’s most versatile and sought-after violinists. Equally at ease with early and contemporary music, he performs on both period and modern instruments. Winner of the First Grand Prize at the 2014 Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris, he has since built an impressive international career and released acclaimed recordings on Aparté and Mirare, featuring works by Brahms, Debussy, Hahn, and Stravinsky.
Violinist Timothy Summers is a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and has performed on violin, viola, and occasionally mandolin with the orchestra across the world. He serves on the orchestra’s board and is artistic director of the MCO’s ‘Future Presence’ Virtual Reality project with sound artist Henrik Oppermann. Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival since 2000, Timothy has performed as a chamber musician at festivals across the United States and Europe. He served as second violinist of the Orpheus String Quartet, and was for several years a participant in the Emmanuel Music cycle of Bach Cantatas in Boston, led by John Harbison and the late Craig Smith.
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