Join us for CMC's 2024 Spring Fundraiser, benefiting the organization’s free concert access tradition. Taking place May 6, 2024 at the University Club of Chicago, the evening offers a special opportunity to celebrate CMC’s free-to-the-public music programs. The music program will feature Matous Michal, violin; Lawrence Neuman, viola; Alexander Hersh, cello and Victor Asuncion, piano.

Nina Bernat, double bass and Umi Garrett, piano

WFMT’s spring membership drive is happening this week so this concert will not be broadcast.

Program

Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) - Three Pieces for Cello and Piano (1914) (8’)
I. Modéré
II. Sans vitesse et à l’aise
III. Vite et nerveusement rythmé
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) - 5 Melodies Op. 35 (1920) (14’)
I. Andante
II. Lento, ma non troppo
III. Animato, ma non allegro
IV. Andantino, un poco scherzando
V. Andante non troppo
Joseph Achron (1886-1943) - Hebrew Melody Op. 33 (1911) (6’)
Reinhold Glieré (1875-1956) - 2 Morceaux pour contrebasse et piano, Op.9 (1902) (9’)
I. Intermezzo
II. Tarantella

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.

In 2023, Nina was honored as a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the CAG Elmaleh Competition. Recent 1st prizes include the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition.

Engaged in all aspects of double bass performance, she has been invited to perform as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic, serving under the batons of conductors such as András Schiff and Osmo Vänskä.

Nina is in demand as a passionate chamber musician. She begins her involvement with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as a member of the Bowers Program in 2024. Among her notable chamber performances are appearances with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Series, and Mostly Music.

Nina performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.

Most recently, Umi Garrett was awarded 4th prize at the 2020 National Chopin Competition and 1st prize in the Juilliard School’s concerto competition, performing Ravel’s G Major Concerto. As a soloist, she has also performed with many renowned orchestras, such as the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Symphony Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Symphonia Boca Raton, the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Boston Pops, the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. As a passionate collaborator and chamber musician, she has performed with prizewinners in the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, 2022 Sphinx Competition, and 2023 Montreal International Violin Competition, where she received the award for best collaborative pianist. Umi has recorded 3 solo albums and will be releasing her debut chamber album in 2023 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 5 Sonatas for Piano and Cello with Emily Mantone. Umi is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where she currently studies with Hung Kuan Chen. Umi is a Young Steinway Artist.

About the Dame Myra Hess Concerts

The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.