Andrew Smith, Violin & Christopher Ungerer, Piano In Recital

Experience an important musical event featuring a masterful recital of works by Schubert, Grieg, de Falla, and Pärt. Tickets are available at the door for a suggested donation of $20 for adults and $10 for students.

Violinist Andrew Smith enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, composer and educator. Hailed by audience and critics alike for his virtuoso playing and richly expressive sound, he made his London debut at the Royal Festival Hall in London and has since appeared in concert in venues around the world, including Symphony Hall in Chicago, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and abroad at the Edinburgh International Festival, Le Salle Gaveau and at the British Embassy in Paris. His performances have been broadcast on Radio and Television in the United States, England, Italy, Portugal and China.

He has recorded for ASV, Sony Classical, MSR Classics, Mahin Media, VUCA labels. His 6CD release of the complete Mozart Violin Sonatas recorded live for WSHU Radio in collaboration with Mozart Scholar Cliff Eisen, received rave reviews that pointed out his deeply considered interpretations, finesse and poise. As a Beethoven interpreter he has been hailed as one of the finest 21st century artists. A champion of contemporary music, Smith has performed with Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, John Corigliano, George Benjamin and Hans Werner Henze, among others. In the field of Early Music, he worked closely with Helmuth Rilling as concertmaster of the Bach Institute and European Chamber Consort.

Smith is a leading authority on Fin-de-Siècle music and its interaction with art and poetry in France and Belgium. While a student, he received the Royal Academy of Music’s award for music theory and founded The Rubicon Ensemble, a new music group with musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House, BBC Symphony Orchestra and English National Opera. He has led the Stamford International Music Festival, The Copland Centenary Festival and Connecticut Guitar Festival. He is Executive Director of the Suzuki Music Schools.

Pianist Christopher Ungerer is connected to the legacies of Tobias Matthay and Artur Schnabel through his mentor, Eunice Norton. The New York Times has praised his “appealing boldness and drama,” while The Washington Post has lauded the “expansive and exploratory” qualities of his playing, “rendered with clarity and full of real insight.”

Mr. Ungerer made his solo recital debut at age 13. He made his Carnegie Hall recital debut at Weill Recital Hall, presented by Herbert H. Breslin, and his London recital debut at Wigmore Hall, where he also appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune. Other notable early milestones include a Chicago recital debut on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at Preston Bradley Hall (broadcast live on WFMT-FM); opening the Tobias Matthay Festival at the University of Richmond; a sold-out Washington, D.C. recital on the Embassy Series; and a recital on the Soirées Musicales Series, all to public and critical acclaim. Mr. Ungerer has toured India presenting recitals and masterclasses in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. Additional notable appearances include the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf; St. Paul’s Cathedral in Jerusalem; the Benedum Center, Frick Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, and the Byham Theatre in Pittsburgh; and Rockefeller University, the Music in Chelsea Series, and the Trinity Wall Street Series in New York.

A committed advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Ungerer has given several premieres, including the American premiere of Kenneth Leighton’s Four Romantic Pieces at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) under the auspices of the Kenneth Leighton Trust. On that occasion, The New York Times wrote: “Mr. Ungerer, who studied with the Schnabel student Eunice Norton, admirably captured the music’s restless motoric drive, and in the third movement, a contrasting sense of stillness rendered in gorgeous Messiaen-like pastels.” He also collaborated for three seasons with Paul Abrahamson’s contemporary ballet company, The Moose Project, in three world premieres of choreography set to the music of Samuel Barber. Mr. Ungerer has been heard on NPR in the United States, WDR in Germany, and the BBC in the United Kingdom. Playing the music of Brahms, he is featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture Particles of Truth.