Joshua Brown, violin; Leland Ko, cello; Evren Ozel, piano

Program

  • Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) - Folk Songs for Piano Trio (2012) (11')
  • I. Canto para La María Angola
  • II. Children's Dance
  • III. Serenata
  • IV. Chavín de Huantar
  • Antonín Dvořák(1841-1904) - Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 “Dumky” (1891) (30’)
  • I. Lento maestoso - Allegro vivace
  • II. Poco adagio - Vivace non troppo
  • III. Andante - Vivace non troppo
  • IV. Andante moderato - Allegro scherzando
  • V. Allegro - Meno mosso
  • VI. Lento maestoso - Vivace
  • Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) - Folk Songs for Piano Trio (2012) (11')
  • Gabriela Lena Frank is known for her exploration of cultural heritage in her music. Born in Berkeley, California, to parents of Peruvian-Chinese and Lithuanian-Jewish descent, Frank’s music explores identity, often through the fusion of folk traditions with classical forms. Of this piece he writes: Four Folk Songs for violin, cello and piano, loosely draws inspiration from the melodic motifs and rhythms of my mother's homeland, Perú. As an American-born Latina, so much of my understanding of this small yet culturally rich Andean nation has been necessarily fashioned from within my private imagination from the time I was a young child. Frequent trips to Perú in my adulthood, always done with my mother, leave me with a sense of belonging to something larger than myself as I connect private musings with the actual existing reality. Seeing the María Angola church in its highland setting after reading myths about it, for instance, makes Perú's connection to colonial Spain that much more real; and this provides the inspiration for the first movement of Four Folk Songs: Canto para La María Angola (Song for the María Angola). The universality of children playing in the streets, albeit with Peruvian toys such as wooden llamas and shakers, is portrayed in the second movement, Children's Dance. The third movement, Serenata, is inspired by the ubiquitous guitar/charango-vocalist duo one sees in most pubs and eating houses; and the last movement harkens to Perú's pre-Inca past in imagining the sounds of an isolated, warlike yet artistically creative culture, Chavín de Huantar. — Gabriela Lena Frank
  • Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) - Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 “Dumky” (1891) (30’)
  • Also known for his masterful use of folk styles is Antonin Dvořák, whose “Dumky” Trio is entirely based on the folk traditions of Eastern Europe. Ignoring traditional sonata form entirely, it comprises six successive examples of the dumka (plural: dumky), a folk genre likely of Ukrainian origin popular in Poland and Bohemia in the 19th century. Dumka means “a fleeting thought” and the musical genre that bears this name evokes the volatility of feeling that characterizes the Slavic soul in an emotionally charged reverie. Each dumka alternates between a brooding melancholy and sharply contrasting interludes of dancelike exuberance. Freed from the constraints of a pre-ordained formal plan, Dvořák structures his pieces by the juxtaposition of seemingly disparate emotional states, although many of the faster sections in fact turn out to be transformed variants of preceding slower material. This trio is one of Dvořák’s most popular works, attractive in its constant stream of lyrical moments and its variety of textures and instrumental colours. Each instrument evokes the personality of a real village musician, and in this work each gets a place in the sun to shine. Program notes by the Vancouver Recital Society.

Violinist Joshua Brown has been praised by audiences and critics worldwide for his “richness of sound, elegance of reading…commitment of every moment at the service of the work…” (La Libre). Joshua was awarded a 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and gained international attention after winning the 2nd Prize and both Audience Awards at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Other international competition successes include 1st Prizes at both the inaugural 2023 Global Music Education International Violin Competition in Beijing, China, as well as the 2019 International Violin Competition of Leopold Mozart in Augsburg, Germany.

 

Joshua was first recognized for his debut performance with the Cleveland Orchestra and has gone on to perform regularly with orchestras around the world, including the Munich Radio Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege, among others, continually garnering praise from critics. A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Joshua has also appeared regularly in series such as Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Festival Musiq3 in Brussels, the Tchaikovsky Festival in Moscow, the ProMusica series in Mexico, the Matinée Musicale series in Cincinnati, the Jupiter Chamber Players series in New York City, and the North Shore Chamber Music Festival in Chicago.

Leland Ko, a cellist of Chinese-Canadian descent, recently took home First Prize at the prestigious 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition. In 2023, he won First Prize, the J.S. Bach Special Prize, and the Orchestra of the Americas Prize at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) Competition, leading to his concerto debut with the orchestra this past season. That same year, he was named a Young Artist in Residence for American Public Media’s Performance Today. Highlights of Leland’s 2025–2026 season include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and the DuPage Symphony, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall.

Multi-award-winning pianist Evren Ozel recently won the Bronze Medal and Mozart Concerto Prize at the 2025 Cliburn Competition, Second Prize and the Baroque Prize at the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023. Recent & forthcoming concerto appearances include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and The Orchestra NOW. His debut album of Mozart concertos Nos. 9 & 12 with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra & Howard Griffiths was selected as a “Concerto Choice” by the BBC Music Magazine. Highlights of his 2025–26 season include solo recitals for Portland Piano International, the Chopin Society of Minnesota, and Chamber Music Detroit. He has previously appeared with the Harvard Musical Association, La Jolla Music Society, Cal Performances, and The Gilmore.

About the Rush Hour Concerts

The concerts are generously sponsored by the Irving Harris Foundation and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

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