All Naturals: a C Major house concert
About this Event
An intimate living-room concert at a historic 1920 home in the Berkeley Hills designed by architect James Plachek. Sunset views of San Francisco Bay accompany four pieces in C major... more or less.
PROGRAM
Benjamin BRITTEN Cello Sonata in C major, Op.65
BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No.4 in C major, Op.102 No.1
Jean AHN Roll [commissioned by Isaac and Alison]
PROKOFIEV Cello Sonata in C major, Op.119
ARTISTS
Isaac Pastor-Chermak, cello
Miles Graber, piano
Alison Lee, piano
ISAAC PASTOR-CHERMAK, cello
Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements; he’s also deeply engaged in mentoring the next generation of musicians as a multifaceted educator.
He is Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony and Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Marin Symphony, and Monterey Symphony. In 2023, he was guest principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra.
His commercial discography includes The Shadow Dancer with Auriga String Quartet; Backlash Bach with Red Cedar Chamber Music; Preludes and Prologues with pianist Alison Lee; The Year 1948 with Ms. Lee and pianist Miles Graber; and Brahms: Cello Sonatas and Songs, also with Ms. Lee. His recording of both Haydn cello concertos is due out in late 2026.
Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music; at home, he teaches an award-winning cello studio. A ‘recovering conductor’, he is Founder and Music Director Emeritus of Solano Youth Chamber Orchestra. Isaac and his wife, pianist Alison Lee, live in a 105-year-old house in the Berkeley Hills with their cat, Waffle. isaacpastorchermak.com
MILES GRABER, piano
Miles Graber received his musical training at the Juilliard School, where he studied with Anne Hull, Phyllis Kreuter, Hugh Aitken, and Louise Behrend. He has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1971, where he has developed a wide reputation as an accompanist and collaborative pianist for instrumentalists and singers. He has performed with numerous solo artists, including Sarah Chang, Cho-Liang Lin, Camilla Wicks, Axel Strauss, Mimi Stillman, Judith LeClair, Frederica von Stade, Martha Aarons, and Lev Polyakin. Mr. Graber has accompanied violinists Robin Hansen, Christina Mok, Natasha Makhijani, Stuart Canin, Roy Malan, and Mariya Borozina, cellists Michael Graham, Robert Howard, Thalia Moore, and Stephen Harrison, clarinetist Tom Rose, and flutists Gary Woodward, Amy Likar, Sasha Launer, and Ai Goldsmith.
He is a member of the chamber groups MusicAEterna, GGR Trio, Alcyone Ensemble, the Sor Ensemble, Mira Trio, and the new music group Sounds New.
Mr. Graber has been associated with such ensembles as the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Midsummer Mozart, the Oakland Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony, the California Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Oakland Lyric Opera, Berkeley Opera, and Opera San Jose. He has accompanied master classes of Midori, Joseph Silverstein, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Pamela Frank, Alexander Barantchik, James Galway, Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Lipsett, Ronald Leonard, Leon Fleisher, Alisa Weilerstein, Jeanne Baxtresser, Paula Robison, and Kim Kashkashian. He has been a frequent performer with members of San Francisco Symphony, San Jose Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, UC Berkeley Symphony, and members of the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Graber is a staff accompanist at the San Domenico Conservatory in San Anselmo, California, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Northern California Flute Camp in Carmel Valley. Other accompanying posts have included the Mondavi Center for the Arts Young Artist Competition, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, and the Summer Brass Institute.
ALISON LEE, piano
ALISON LEE made her unofficial recital debut at the age of two when, while waiting for a concert to start, she climbed onstage to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to confused and scattered applause. Now, decades later, she is a pianist and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Alison is equally at home as a solo and collaborative pianist, and her main goal as a musician is to learn as much of her favorite repertoire as she can. She has been a concerto soloist with Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and Coeur d’Alene Symphony, and has also performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Earplay. She is in demand as a collaborative pianist all year round and is a staff pianist at the SFCM Pre-College program. She and her husband, cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak, frequently perform together and are planning a recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano in 2027. Stay tuned!
Alison earned her doctorate in piano performance from the University of Minnesota and is also an alumna of Rice University and Oberlin Conservatory. Her teachers include Lydia Artymiw, Jon Kimura Parker, Angela Cheng, Hans Boepple, and Jed Galant. alisonthepianist.com
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 23.18 to USD 44.52
