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Guest Artists
Guest Artists
The Felici Trio
November 22, 2008, Saturday – 7:30 p.m.
November 23, 2008, Sunday – 3:00 p.m.
Leonora No. 3
Triple Concerto (violin, cello, piano), with soloists: Felici Trio
Symphony No. 7
The Felici Piano Trio
A microcosm uniting three continents, the Felici Trio is the musical home of Taiwanese pianist Wen-Ting Huang, German violinist Rebecca Hang and American cellist Brian Schuldt. Felici members are prize winners of the Chesapeake, Yellow Springs, and Osaka (Japan) Chamber Music Competitions and graduates of the renowned School of Music of Indiana University, Bloomington. The vibrant threesome has performed over 350 concerts in Europe, South America and the U.S. and has distinguished itself as a unique presence on the national music scene since coming to Mammoth Lakes as grantee of Chamber Music America’s Rural Residencies Program and as a California Arts Council's (CAC) Touring Roster Ensemble.
Through Chamber Music Unbound (CMU), a nonprofit arts organization, Felici presents a full winter concert season and an annual summer festival with distinguished international guest artists. Year round, the members of the trio direct chamber music workshops, lead a community music school and perform "Kids Concerts" for all grade levels. In collaboration with Cerro Coso College, CMU offers music appreciation classes and chamber orchestra classes. The Felici Trio has received a Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!) grant, a three-year Artists-in-Residence grant and two Exemplary Grants from the California Arts Council (CAC).
The ensemble has concertized in Germany under the auspices of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate's Kultursommer, and appeared on 3SAT and ZDF Television as well as recorded for German Southwest Radio (SWF). In addition to the Ravel/Saint-Saëns CD, Felici has recorded Chamber Music of Women Composers with works by Fanny Hensel, Louise Farrenc and Amy Beach; Tchaikovsky’s Trio in A Minor, and Live from Germany with Beethoven’s "Ghost" Trio and Brahms’ Trio op. 87. Along with the traditional repertoire, Felici likes to explore works by female and contemporary composers.
Rebecca Hang, violin, was born in Germany and began her violin studies at the Peter-Cornelius-Conservatory in Mainz with Helga Waehdel. From 1987 until 1990 she lived in Israel where she studied with the renowned concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Chaim Taub. Rebecca continued her musical education with Atar Arad and Paul Biss at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she received her Bachelors of Music "with high distinction" and a Masters of Music in violin performance. As member of the internationally reputable Felici String Quartet, she won first prize in the 1992 Michael Kuttner Competition at IU, the MTNA Competition in Indianapolis, the Russell Award of the 1993 Coleman Competition and was a prize winner of the International String Quartet Competition in Osaka, Japan, in the same year. In June of 1993 Rebecca gave her New York solo debut in Lincoln Center's Juilliard Theater performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. As member of the first violin section of the International "Guido Cantelli" Chamber Orchestra in Milan, Italy, she toured throughout Europe and the U.S. before accepting the NEA Rural Residency Grant with the Felici Piano Trio in Mammoth Lakes, CA, in 1998. Rebecca dedicates much of her time to CMU’s Music School, teaching more than 60 violin students in weekly group and individual lessons. Through her pedagogical work she hopes to nurture children’s innate musicality and lay the foundations for a lasting love of great music.
Wen-Ting Huang, piano. Honored with the National Excellence Award for Young Artistic Talents in Taiwan at the age of 15, Wen-Ting took a cross-continental musical journey from the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, through the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, to Indiana University in Bloomington, USA. She was the prize winner of the National competitions in piano and composition in Taiwan, and the recipient of honors and scholarships of the Ministry of Education of Taiwan, the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research, the Artists Association in Paris, and Indiana University. As an active solo, chamber and collaborative artist, she has performed in Austria, France, U.S. and her native Taiwan. She was the founding member of the Moirae Trio with whom she won Third Price and was honored with the Audience Choice Award of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition. Since fall 2005, Wen-Ting is in-residence with the Felici Piano Trio in Mammoth Lakes, California. Wen-Ting received her Artist diploma and Master’s degree from the Vienna Academy for Music and Performing Arts and her Doctor of Music from Indiana University.
Brian Schuldt, cello. As a member of the Felici Piano Trio, Brian has performed over 350 critically-acclaimed concerts in the U.S., Europe and South America. At the onset of his career in chamber music, Brian was the cellist of the Arcadia String Quartet, which twice won the Michael Kuttner String Quartet Scholarship and Grand Prize of the 1995 Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Owensboro Symphony, Eastern Sierra Symphony and the International Chamber Orchestra "Cantelli" of Milan, Italy, where he served as principal cellist, touring throughout Europe and the U.S. In his native Seattle, Brian studied with Toby Saks at the University of Washington, and then continued his cello studies under Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Janos Starker at Indiana University, Bloomington. There he earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, and from 1994-1996, held the appointment of Assistant Instructor of Cello. Brian is the Executive Director of Chamber Music Unbound, director of the Sierra Chamber Ensemble Workshops and conductor of the Eastern Sierra Chamber Orchestra.