2023-24 Concert Season
Event 1
Dedicated to the memory of Joseph Chang
Geneva Lewis, violin | Gabriel Martins, cello | Marisa Gupta, piano
December 11, 2023 at 8PM
Pasadena Conservatory of Music, 100 North Hill Ave. Pasadena, CA, 91106,
December 11, 2023 Barrett Hall
*Tickets are free but seating is limited - please RSVP
Program:
Schumann - Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
Stravinsky – Divertimento from Le baiser de la fée
Brahms - Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 101 in c minor
Made possible by a generous donation by Robert Ronus
Sunset ChamberFest celebrates 10 years with past performers from our summer festival in the excellent acoustics and intimate setting of Barratt Hall. PCM Alum Geneva Lewis, a BBC New Generations Artist, has graced the world’s great stages, including recently at the BBC Proms and the LA Phil’s 2023 Gala Concert. She is joined by fellow musicians cellist Gabriel Martins, a top prize winner at CAG/YCAT and Sphinx Competitions and pianist Marisa Gupta - a prize winner at the Concours Maria Canals who makes her Carnegie Hall debut this season along with releases on Avie and Centaur Records.
Geneva Lewis, violinist
Kiwi/American violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Geneva is the recipient of a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Most recently, Geneva was named one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists.
Since her solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena POPS, Geneva has gone on to perform with orchestras including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, North Carolina Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Austin Symphony. In recital, recent highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Tippet Rise, and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
Deeply passionate about collaboration, Geneva has had the pleasure of performing with such prominent musicians as Gidon Kremer, Sir András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida, among others.
Geneva received her Artist Diploma and Bachelor of Music at the New England Conservatory, studying with Miriam Fried. Prior to that, she studied with Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. She is currently studying at Kronberg Academy with Professor Mihaela Martin. These studies are funded by the Strauss Family Patronage.
Geneva is currently performing on a composite violin by G.B. Guadagnini, c. 1766, generously on loan from a Charitable Trust.
Gabriel Martins, cellist
Cellist Gabriel Martins (b. 1998) has established himself as one of the world’s most compelling young musicians. His artistry has already been recognized through an extensive list of accolades including the Concert Artists Guild/Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, the Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, the David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians Silver Medal, the Schadt String Competition Gold Medal, the Orford Music Award, and the Prague Spring Czech Music Fund Prize. These successes have led to a number of high-profile debuts including Carnegie, Merkin, and Wigmore Halls, 92nd Street Y, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Maison Symphonique in Montréal, and the Arkansas, Greensboro, Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, New Russian State, Omaha, Pacific, Phoenix and São Paulo Symphony Orchestras. In 2022, The Strad Magazine declared his New York City recital debut to be "flawlessly played...a deeply moving experience”, and Classic FM named him one of their “30 under 30” Rising Stars. Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied with Susan Moses. He later studied with Ralph Kirshbaum at USC and Laurence Lesser at NEC. He plays a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello and a François Nicolas Voirin bow. His debut album, devoted to the works of Bach is out now.
Marisa Gupta, pianist
Born in the USA of Thai and Indian parentage, pianist Marisa Gupta made her debut performing Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Houston Symphony. She won top prizes at the Concours Maria Canals (Barcelona), the Viotti Competition (Vercelli, Italy), a Fulbright scholarship for study in the UK, and others. She has appeared at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), South Bank Centre, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Bucharest’s Ateneul Român, Zipper Hall, LACMA (L.A.), Tokyo Opera City, Munetsugu Hall (Nagoya) and other venues around the world. Broadcasts include BBC Radio 3, BBC TV 4, Radio 4 (Netherlands), Radio Catalunya, KUSC (LA) and KUHF (Houston). She has worked closely with leading composers of today including Brett Dean, Jörg Widmann and Philippe Hersant. Collaborations with prominent artists include, Philippe Graffin, Stephen Kovacevich, Anthony Marwood, Nicolas Dautricourt, members of the Berlin Philharmonic, COE, Verona, Calder, Rolston, and Doric Quartets, Nash Ensemble and others. She studied at the HEM Genève and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Important mentors include Richard Goode, Horacio Gutierrez, Pascal Devoyon and John and Nancy Weems. She has given masterclasses and lectures at the Kunstuniversität Graz, Guildhall School of Music, Colburn School, Longy School of Music, and Webster University in St. Louis. She was formerly on the faculty of the University of Huddersfield and University of Texas at Austin.