Secret Chamber Music
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Foster/White Gallery
Foster/White’s current exhibition features works of Alden Mason (information here) and Susan English (information here).
Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111
Jacques Chailley: Improvisation a deux for Violin and Viola
-INTERMISSION (ten minutes)-
Elliot Roman: go: even further (World Premiere)
Jessie Montgomery: Strum (Original String Quartet Version)
Nicolò Paganini: Largo and Allegro from Duet No. 1 for Violin and Bassoon
Jean Francaix: Divertissement for Bassoon and String Quintet
Allion Salvador, violin
Vanessa Moss, violin
Gerald Liu, viola
Roxanna Patterson, viola
Lauren McShane, cello
Moe Weisner, bass
Michael Quigley, bassoon
About the Artists
Elliot Roman is a multifaceted composer, pianist, flutist, and conductor based in New York City. Elliot’s compositions often juxtapose stasis with motion, rich harmony with rhythmic vibrancy, and sincerity with wit. They have been performed in the US and Europe and have won awards in competitions including the BMI Student Composer Awards, the Charles Ives Concert Series Call for Scores, and the Chicago Ensemble “Discover America” Call for Scores, among others. Elliot has received commissions from ensembles and organizations such as the American String Quartet, the New York Virtuoso Singers and the National Orchestral Institute and Festival and has collaborated with artists such as George Manahan and Frederick Zlotkin. In addition, Elliot has composed for other genres such as musical theatre and film. He orchestrated Morningside, a new musical premiered in 2019 at the Manhattan School of Music and scored Ashes Artist Collective’s award-winning short film Girl of My Dreams (2021).
Elliot also has experience performing as a soloist and orchestral player. He was a member of the New York Youth Symphony on flute and piano from 2017-19, performing at Carnegie Hall, on CNN, and on tour in Spain. Elliot has premiered new works both in the New York Youth Symphony and in programs such as the Carnegie Hall “Migrations: The Making of America” Festival. In 2021, Elliot founded underStaffed, a collective dedicated to the performance of classical works for chamber orchestra and small ensembles and serves as its Artistic Director and Conductor. Elliot is a graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music, where he also received his undergraduate degree and was a recipient of the Jay Rubinton Scholarship. He has studied composition with Reiko Fueting, J. Mark Stambaugh, Nick DiBerardino, and Simon Holt and piano with Daniel Epstein, Julian Jacobson and Adam Kent.
Violinist Allion Salvador is the 1st prize winner of the 2021 Music International Grand Prix, co-concertmaster of the Missoula-based String Orchestra of the Rockies, co-concertmaster of Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, associate concertmaster of Yakima Symphony, guest concertmaster at Seattle’s Paramount Theater, and a member of the Spokane Symphony. He is a regular guest artist with the Yakima-based Sempre Chamber Music series and SMCO’s Secret Chamber Music, collaborating with artists including Nathan Chan, Maria Larionoff, Jorja Fleezanis, and Denise Dillenbeck.
As a conductor, he is the music director of the Federal Way Youth Orchestra, assistant conductor of the CWU Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, and the founder of Seattle Philharmonic Strings, a chamber orchestra bringing rarely played string repertoire to new communities. Mr. Salvador graduated with degrees in Violin Performance and Neurobiology from the University of Washington, and completed graduate work in violin at the University of Oregon and Manhattan School of Music. He is currently a conducting student of Nikolas Caoile at Central Washington University. His teachers include Lisa Kim and Ronald Patterson in violin, and Michael Jinbo, Kenneth Kiesler, and Ludovic Morlot in conducting. Festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Round Top Music Festival, and the Pierre Monteux School.
Violinist Vanessa Moss enjoys a dynamic career in the Pacific Northwest. She is concertmaster of the Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra and the Mid Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and can be seen performing frequently with ensembles including Northwest Sinfonietta, Spokane Symphony, and Yakima Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Moss has appeared as concerto soloist with Wenatchee Symphony, Mid-Columbia Symphony, Twisp Chamber Players, and the Pipestone Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she is Artistic Director of Sempre Chamber Music, a repertory chamber ensemble in Central Washington. In addition to her playing, Ms. Moss is an enthusiastic teacher, nurturing an active studio of dedicated and curious young violinists.
Violist Roxanna Patterson began her professional career at age 16 as a member of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Forth Worth Opera Orchestras. She later attended the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University) and played in the Houston Symphony, Houston Opera Orchestra and served as Concertmaster or the Houston Ballet Orchestra. Her teachers included Eudice Shapiro, Wayne Crouse and Karen Tuttle.
In 1979 she moved to Monte Carlo with her husband, violinist Ron Patterson. There she changed from violin to viola and the couple formed the unique violin/viola ensemble Duo Patterson. A chamber music enthusiast, Roxanna has performed extensively in this capacity, recording for Ante Aeternum Records (with a new 2004 Duo Patterson release of “Czech Mates”), CRI, Centaur and VOX labels, and appeared on European and American television.
Roxanna has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestras in France, Italy, Germany, England, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and the U.S. She has performed in the festivals of Aspen, Marrowstone, Round Top, Flaine and Rasigere, France. In 1984 she received the first Special Award from the Princess Grace Foundation and was recently decorated by Prince Rainier of Monaco with Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Culturel. She is Principal Viola of the New Hampshire Music Festival, viola coach of the Seattle Youth Symphony, teaches privately in Seattle and is active in the film and computer game recording industry.
A passionate classical music advocate and champion, violist Gerald Liu is equally at ease on stage and in the teaching studio. As a dedicated orchestral performer, he regularly performs with the Yakima Symphony, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, and Listeso Music Group. He has also held fellowships at Montecito, National Repertory, and Round Top Music festivals. Mr. Liu’s artistry extends beyond orchestral settings, as he has shared the stage with distinguished figures such as Joshua Bell, Emilio Colon, Gretchen Pusch, and many others.
Lauren McShane is a cellist based in Seattle, Washington, whose love for music began at an early age. She was introduced to the cello at the age of seven and immediately fell in love with its rich and soulful sound. After receiving her Bachelors degree at Brown University, she moved to Seattle where she began to enjoy exploring alternative music. She began performing regularly with Portland Cello Project, a group aimed to take the cello to places you wouldn’t normally experience a cello. She also performs with Boise Philharmonic, Seattle Rock Orchestra, and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. Lauren is a dedicated music educator, with a full private cello studio and coaching with Seattle Youth Symphony. Outside of music, Lauren enjoys spending time with her family on Vashon island and running in the crazy Seattle weather.
Moe Weisner is a bassist, composer, and music teacher based in Seattle. He performs jazz, classical, R&B, Tango, and other styles as a freelancer on electric bass and upright bass. As a composer, his primary projects are a jazz trio called JoMoMa and a string quintet called Odd Balance. In these two groups, he expresses his unique compositional voice which carries influences from Claude Debussy, Wayne Shorter, Frank Zappa, and Alice in Chains.
Michael Quigley is a Montreal-born bassoonist currently living in Toronto. In 2023, Michael completed his Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he studied with the principal bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera, William Short. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, where he was a student of Eric Hall, principal bassoon of the Canadian Opera Company. He has freelanced with a number of orchestras in the Greater Toronto Area and New York City, and he has performed chamber music in a variety of halls in Manhattan, including Mary Flagler Cary Hall at the Dimenna center and Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center.