Great Performances

When his love for the violin formed between high school and college, Julian Rhee continued to be inspired by his teachers and his family. Playing on a 1699 Stradivarius on loan from the Mary B. Galvin Foundation and the efforts of the Stradivari Society, Rhee performs a sonata for violin and piano by Saint-Saens that he feels shows off the full range of the violin.

The Balourdet Quartet’s name was inspired by the food of Antoine Balourdet, the chef at the Taos School of Music, for which violinists Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis and cellist Russell Houston shared a passion in addition to their music. Violist Benjamin Zannoni later joined the group, and the quartet was borne based on the group’s love for the repertoire and chamber music.

With early inspiration from her mother’s love of music, Njioma Chinyere Grevious took up the violin after watching her sister learn to play. Gaining initial skills through lessons from Boston’s Project STEP, Grevious particularly values the training she received in high school from teacher James Buswell whose instruction included both musical insight and life lessons.

After meeting in graduate school in 2011, members Terry Sweeney, Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, and Ian Rosenbaum created Sandbox Percussion. The chamber percussion group chose their name as a reference to a playful and dedicated space for creativity. Using a diverse range of instruments including homemade steel pipes, the group performs “Pillar V” by contemporary composer Andy Akiho.

A Juilliard Pre-College student at age 10, pianist Clayton Stephenson only decided in the past few years to pursue piano professionally after studying economics at Harvard University. Playing Godowsky’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes from Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus,” Stephenson believes that the piano portrays many instruments.

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary features an all-star cast at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, including Michael Ball, Daniel Dae Kim, Maria Friedman, Audra McDonald, Julian Ovenden and more.