Eric Gratz, violin; Joseph Skerik, viola; Haddon Kay, cello; Victor Santiago Asunción, piano
Holy Name Cathedral - 735 N State Street
Jonathan Leibovitz is a multi award winning clarinetist. In 2022, he was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust and Concert Artists Guild joint International Auditions and was named as Classic FM ‘Rising Star’. He was the recipient of the prestigious Arthur Waser Foundation and Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Award, and was announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Artist 2024. He frequently gives recitals globally, including most recently at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall. Highlights of Jonathan’s 2024/25 season include his debut with the Munich Symphony, and performances at the Münster Neue Namen Series and with the Kaleidoscope Ensemble in the UK. In February 2025 Jonathan joined a stellar ensemble of YCAT artists past and present for a European Tour celebrating the charity’s 40th anniversary, performing at some of Europe’s most prestigious halls. Jonathan’s debut album ‘Eastern Reflections’ was released in August 2024 on Delphian Records, and was recorded alongside violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux and pianist Joseph Havlat.
An avid chamber musician Jonathan founded the Avir Wind Quintet, and has collaborated with the ‘Mietar Ensemble’, Israeli Contemporary Players and Quatuor Agate among others, including performances at prestigious festivals including Verbier Festival, Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Crusell, Rauna and Hauho Festivals in Finland.In recent seasons Jonathan has performed in concerto with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Košice, London Mozart Players and Jyväskylä Sinfonia. He has also previously appeared as soloist with the Ostrobothnian Chamber, Lapland Chamber and Kuopio Symphony Orchestras working with conductors including Elena Schwarz, Adrien Perruchon and Tung-Chieh Chuang. Jonathan is also extremely grateful to Andrea König for her support during his time with YCAT.
Italian pianist, composer, and arranger Matteo Generani is a specialist in Italian music, performing works from Frescobaldi to contemporary composers. In May 2020, he recorded the complete Études, Op. 23 by contemporary Italian composer Giovanni Albini. His research on Giuseppe Martucci, the topic of his doctoral studies in Kansas City, has been a central focus of his career: he has presented lectures, performed and recorded solo piano and chamber works, and made original arrangements. In December 2024, Naxos released his album Martucci: Solo Piano Works, which received international critical acclaim, with critics praising his “meticulous attention to detail” and “fiercely committed playing.” His arrangements for piano 8-hands have been published by Universal Edition since 2025. Generani performed for several Lyric Opera of Kansas City events in past seasons and served as Resident Artist Coach-Accompanist for the 2024–2025 season. He is co-founder of the Medhelan Duo with Italian violinist and violist Doriano Di Domenico and of the Neo-Art Piano Duo with Indonesian pianist Regina Tanujaya, and co-artistic director of Classical Music Express. Matteo has been the festival coordinator of the prestigious Lieven Piano Foundation in Vienna since 2023. Founded in 2023, the Medhelan Duo is dedicated to promoting and enhancing Italian music, both past and present. The Medhelan Duo has performed in Italy (Monferrato Classic Festival, Flying Notes, Viotti Festival, Festival Nazionale dei Conservatori – Frosinone, UrsaCall), Austria (Bösendorfer Salon and Vivaldi Hall in Vienna), Belgium (BOZAR, the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, and Salon du Tilleul in Brussels), and the United States. Matteo is currently based in New York, attending a Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano at the Juilliard School studying with Lydia Brown and Jonathan Feldmann. In June 2026 he recorded with the Medhelan Duo an album with the DaVinci label with music for violin and piano by Luciano Maria Serra. For more about Matteo Generani please visit www.matteogenerani.com
The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.