Sunday, April 11, 2027, at 4 pm
Wilton Congregational Church
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Quintet
George Gershwin: Three Preludes
Antonín Dvořák: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77
FRISSON features the best and brightest of classical music’s rising stars as well as established artists. Frisson showcases a myriad of rarely-performed masterworks and new music, and the group expands and contracts into a variety of ensembles, including quintets, sextets, nonets, and a small chamber orchestra. The ensemble performs in over 25 cities annually including appearances in such diverse venues as the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, for the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles and at the Bermuda Festival. The group’s name is taken from the French word Frisson which means “a sudden burst of excitement” or “a shiver and a thrill.”
Since its founding, Frisson has performed more than 100 concerts across the United States and abroad. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at the Morgan Library and Museum (New York City), the Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Bermuda Festival, Newport Classical, and Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music.
Suliman Tekalli, violinist
As a prizewinner at numerous international competitions, most notably as top prizewinner at the 2015 Seoul International Music Competition, Tekalli has performed as a soloist with orchestras across North and South America, Europe, and Asia, appearing at esteemed venues such as Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Seoul Arts Center. His performances have been broadcast on NPR, CBC Radio 3 in Canada, and KBS TV in Korea.
An accomplished chamber musician, he has appeared at renowned festivals including Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn, and the Banff Centre. His collaborations include performances with Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, Donald Weilerstein, Paul Watkins, Wu Han, and David Shifrin. He regularly tours the continents with sibling and pianist Jamila Tekalli Hanner as the Tekalli Duo. Mr. Tekalli was a former member of the Grammy-nominated Catalyst Quartet and the internationally acclaimed and genre-defying string quintet Sybarite5.
Suliman is the current concertmaster of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and has also led as concertmaster for notable ensembles such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Classical Players, Sphinx Virtuosi and the International Sejong Soloists.
Tekalli began his violin studies with Russian violinist and pedagogue Lev Gurevich. He went on to study at the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Yale School of Music, training under esteemed mentors including Hyo Kang, Joel Smirnoff, Sergiu Schwartz and Ayako Yonetani. He performs on both a 2016 Joseph Curtin violin as well as the 1683 “Cobbett” Stradivarius.
George Meyer, violinist
George Meyer is equally interested in “classical” music, in fiddle music, and in what they have in common; these interests inform his composing. His pieces for classical string-playing friends make use of lessons learned from the fiddle side, and vice versa.
He has been commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest, Bravo! Vail, Astral Artists and Katie Hyun, Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg, the Versoi Ensemble, Midsummer’s Music, and the Tribeca New Music Festival. He has performed his own compositions at the 92nd Street Y, Stanford Live in Bing Concert Hall, the Phillips Center at University of Florida, the Newman Center at University of Denver, the Gogue Center at Auburn University, Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt University, the Peace Center in Greenville, SC, and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY, among many others. Festival appearances performing his own compositions include the Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Chamber Music Northwest, the Rome Chamber Music Festival, and the Telluride and RockyGrass Bluegrass Festivals.
He recently announced a new violin-piano duo project, Upstream, with composer-pianist Will Healy; they co-compose their repertoire.
Hannah Burnett, violist
Hannah Burnett holds an international and wide-ranging performing career featuring appearances at Carnegie Hall, Harris Concert Hall, the Royal Concertgebouw, Smetana Hall, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing). In November of 2018, she soloed with the Oregon East Symphony, performing Mozart’s duo Sinfonia Concertante. She performs regularly with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the New York Classical Players and previously served as principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra, performing under the batons of Gustavo Dudamel, Marin Alsop, and John Adams. An avid chamber musician, Hannah has spent summers at Kneisel Hall, Yellow Barn, and the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival. She has been coached by members of the Juilliard String Quartet, and has collaborated with artists such as Natasha Brofsky, Laurie Smukler, Anthony Marwood, Gilbert Kalish, Krzysztof Chorzelski, Donald Weilerstein, and Janine Jansen. She was a founding member of the Unison String Quartet, which took part in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, was the quartet in residence at the Perlman Music Program and The Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and was a finalist at the 2021 Bartok World Competition. Ms. Burnett completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Roger Tapping and Misha Amory, and was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.
Julian Schwarz, cellist
Julian Schwarz has been heralded from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the greatest of the 21st century, Julian’s powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style.
After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony, he made his US touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in Hong Kong, he has led an active career as soloist, performing with the symphony orchestras of Annapolis, Arizona, Boise, Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Delaware, Des Moines, Hartford, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Modesto, Omaha, Puerto Rico, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, San Jose, Sarasota, Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Virginia, West Virginia, Wichita, and Winston-Salem, among many others.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 Schwarz & Bournaki were awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017. Mr. Schwarz is a founding member of the New York based touring ensemble “Frisson” and was recently appointed the newest core member of the Olmos Ensemble in San Antonio, TX. He is a member of the Palladium Chamber Players (St Petersburg FL), the Alaria Ensemble (New York NY), and has given over 100 performances at Brooklyn’s Bargemusic. He has appeared at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival, Verbier Festival, and the Salzburg Mozarteum.
Sam Suggs, bassist
Through “brilliant and compelling programming” (The Strad), Sam Suggs gathers musical materials through composition, re-composition, and improvisation, melting barriers of genre and style with fresh interpretations and deft transitions between old and new worlds of sound, colored by the unique physicality and haunting resonance of the double bass and guiding audiences through unfamiliar territory with the soft palette of his voice.
A paradigm-shifting bassist-composer, Sam was named ‘New Artist of the Month’ (October 2015) by Musical America after winning 1st place at the 2015 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition while performing many original works.
As a collaborative bassist, he has performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and with the Argus Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, Founders, Frisson Ensemble (composer-in-residence), and his contemporary jazz trio Triplepoint.
A native of Buffalo, NY and doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Music, Sam spends his time between the Northeast and the Shenandoah Valley performing with various chamber, crossover, and contemporary groups, giving recitals and masterclasses, and teaching full-time as Assistant Professor of Bass at James Madison University, as well as at the Heifetz Institute, Peabody Bass Works, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and the Juilliard Summer Strings Program in Shanghai.
Bixby Kennedy, clarinetist
Admired for his “marvelous ringing tone” (Joseph Dalton, Albany Times Union) Bixby Kennedy is one of the most versatile clarinetists of his generation. He has performed concerti with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Bixby has performed throughout the US and Europe in venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and is the clarinetist for the “explosive” New York City based chamber ensemble Frisson. He has appeared as a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and The Knights. As an orchestral musician, Bixby has performed with the MET Opera and NY Philharmonic in addition to regular engagements with the Albany and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. On period instruments, Bixby has performed classical repertoire on original and replica instruments throughout the US with Grand Harmonie Orchestra. He is a former member of Ensemble Connect and works as a teaching artist throughout the US. As an arranger, his works have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Schumann, Frisson, Ensemble Connect, and Symphony in C. He loves traveling, trying new foods, laughing, hiking, and playing tennis. Bixby performs exclusively on Backun instruments.