Cosmos Sessions Chamber Music Festival

Join us for an extraordinary musical experience as Cape Symphony Concertmaster, Jae Cosmos Lee, curates an unforgettable chamber music festival in Falmouth! Delve into a musical journey, featuring masterpieces by Luigi Boccherini, Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Franz Schubert, Samuel Coleridge-Tayler, Reena Esmail, and Johannes Brahms. Don't miss out on this exhilarating event - mark your calendars and secure your tickets now for an evening of unparalleled musical brilliance!

Secure your tickets now and be part of this extraordinary musical journey!

The Performers:

Jae Cosmos Lee, violin

Yuri Namkung, violin

Danielle Farina, viola

Jacques Lee Wood, cello

Kee-Hyun Kim, cello

William Amsel, clarinet

Concert 1 | Thursday, June 5 at 7:00pm

Luigi Boccherini: Cello Quintet in C minor, op.45/1 “Opera Grande”(22’)

Ellen Taaffe Zwillich: Clarinet Quintet (18’)

-Intermission-

Franz Schubert: Cello Quintet in C major, D.956 (49’))

Concert 2 | Saturday, June 7 at 7:00pm

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet (28’)

Reena Esmail: Teen Muerti for Cello Quintet (11’)

-Intermission-

Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, op.115 (38’)

Biographies

You know Jae Cosmos Lee as the Cape Symphony’s Concertmaster. He’s a founding member of A Far Cry, the Grammy-nominated self-conducted orchestra based in Boston. (He’s also a die-hard Red Sox fan with an unusual collection: white sunglasses).

Jae has performed all over the globe and shared the stage with everyone from renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro to the most exciting chamber ensembles performing today.

Jae holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the Cleveland Institute of Music; and the New England Conservatory. Jae performs on the 2021 album from composer Jan Järvlepp, released on the Navona Records label.

Born in Seattle, Washington, violinist Yuri Namkung made her solo debut at the age of nine with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra and at eleven with the Seattle Symphony. She has since performed concertos with the Tonhalle-Orchestra (Zurich), with David Zinman, Spokane Bach Festival Orchestra with Gunther Schuller, Dubuque Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Wyoming Symphony, Santa Maria Philharmonic, and the Filarmonica Joven de Colombia throughout Colombia and Brazil. She has served on the music faculties of the University of Alabama and Interlochen Arts Academy and has performed in Panama at Frank Gehry’s Biodiversity Museum with UNICEF Artist for Peace, jazz pianist Danilo Perez, Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Gardner Museum, Virginia Arts Festival, Ravinia Festival, Music@Menlo, and Carnegie Hall. A student of legendary teacher, Dorothy DeLay, Ms. Namkung is a graduate of Columbia University, the Juilliard School, and the New England Conservatory. Recent performing highlights include Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Talea Ensemble, the complete solo Bach works for violin, chamber choral works with the Orchestra of St Luke’s, and substituting last minute for Axel Strauss on the Mendelssohn Concerto in Minnesota.

Cape Symphony Principal Violist, Danielle Farina has toured extensively in North America and Europe, performing at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Schleswig Holstein Festival and the International Istanbul Music Festival. While with the Lark, Ms. Farina recorded Aaron Kernis' string quartets, music of Amy Beach, and music of Giovanni Sollima. While with Elements, she participated in the Tibor Varga Festival in Budapest, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, was in residence at Utah Valley State College, and premiered "Snaphots", a project commissioning dozens of composers from Regina Carter to Angelo Badalamenti, John Corigliano and more. She performs regularly with a number of ensembles in the NY area and around the country, among them the Bedford Chamber Ensemble, Music from Copland House and the Palladium Chamber Players. A proponent of new music, Ms. Farina premiered Peter Schickele's Viola Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony and recorded Viola concertos by Jon Bauman and Andy Teirstein in addition to Anthony Newman's Sonata on the Planets for Viola and Piano. Music of Robert Paterson, John Musto, and Eric Ewazen are also part of the discography, in addition to Morton Feldman's "Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello" and Pierre Jalbert's "Secret Alchemy" and "String Trio". An active teacher, Ms. Farina is on the faculty of Vassar College and a former faculty member of The Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program and The Juilliard School’s Pre College Division. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Farina studied with Karen Tuttle, Joseph dePasquale, Stephen Wyrczynski, and Byrnina Socolofsky.

Boston-based cellist Jacques Lee Wood has performed around the world as a solo artist, chamber, and orchestral musician. His activities as a performer reflects a broad range of interests - historical performance on period instruments, commissioning new works for both modern and baroque cello, improvisation that incorporates live electronics, and composing his own material are just a few of the areas he explores in his creative scope. Dr. Wood is Principal Cello of the Cape Symphony and has been a guest artist with Aston Magna, Boston Baroque, A Far Cry, House of Time, Yale Schola Cantorum, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Bachsolisten Seoul, Bach Collegium Japan, and the Handel and Haydn Society. A recognized pedagogue, Wood is faculty at the University of New Hampshire where he maintains a studio of talented cellists, and teaches courses in chamber music, music theory, and ear training. In addition, Wood is faculty at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (Intensive Community Program, BEAM Program). Most recently, Dr. Wood has been visiting faculty at New York University, University of São Paulo-Campinas, Istanbul University, and Istanbul Technical University. Previously he has held artist residencies at Yale School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Avaloch Farm (composition) and Tufts University. Wood has received fellowships from the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Yale Center for East Asian Studies for research at Sogang University (Seoul, South Korea), and the Yale School of Music for postdoctoral studies in early music with noted scholar and baroque violinist Robert Mealy. Dr. Wood is the founder and artistic director of the UNH Cello Festival and currently the cello faculty at the Summer Youth Music School (University of New Hampshire) and Point Counterpoint. An active guest lecturer and clinician, Dr. Wood has presented on a broad range of topics ranging from historical performance practice for the modern musician to music technology in the pedagogical process. He is a frequent guest artist at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Great Mountains Festival (South Korea), Bari International Music Festival, Banff Centre, Aston Magna, and the Manchester Summer Chamber Music Festival. A grammy-nominated recording artist, Wood has released recordings on the Hyperion, Musica Omnia, and Navona labels. Dr. Wood completed his BM at the New England Conservatory of Music under Laurence Lesser, and holds a MM and DMA from Yale University, where he studied with Aldo Parisot.

A native of Seoul, Korea, cellist Kee-Hyun Kim has been praised for his “assertive style…and vital musical spirit” (Pittsburgh Tribune). He has participated in many prestigious festivals, including the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Kronberg Cello Masterclasses and Festival, the World Cello Congress III, the Aspen Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West, among others.

A winner of numerous competitions both at home and abroad, Kee won top prizes in virtually all of the major competitions in Korea, including the Ehwa, Sae-gae, and Korean Newspaper Competitions, as well as placing second in the Pusan National Competition. He was the recipient of the Landgraf-von-Hessen Prize at the 1999 Kronberg Cello Masterclasses, and won second prize in the Hudson Valley String competition in 2002. As a member of the Parker Quartet, of which he is a founding member, some awards and distinctions include 1st prize at the Bordeaux String Quartet competition, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and 2010’s Grammy Award for “Best Chamber Music Performance.

Mr. Kim started his musical education very early on, starting at the Juilliard pre-college in 1992. Since then, he has attended the preparatory divisions of the Korean National University of the Arts, the New England Conservatory, and the Walnut Hill School. He holds a B.M. from the New England Conservatory, as well as two M.M. from the same institution. He, along with the members of the Parker Quartet, has taught at Harvard University’s music department since fall of 2014.

When not playing the cello, Kee’s other interests include maintaining physical and mental health and well-being, international cuisine, world music, and his cat, Sammy.

Kee plays on an 1844 Giaccomo Rivolta cello made in Milan, as well as a custom-made bow from Benoit Rolland, made in 2007.

William Amsel is the principal clarinetist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where he also regularly appears as soloist. Before joining the BPO in 2017, he was the second and E-flat clarinetist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for five seasons. In addition, he has performed with many ensembles across the country, including as guest principal clarinet with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Oregon. He previously held positions with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and was principal clarinetist of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey. As a chamber musician, he has performed with the Buffalo Chamber Players, Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Marlboro Music Festival, First Monday at Jordan Hall, and the Borromeo String Quartet, among many others.

Amsel grew up in Texas, went to college at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and received a master’s degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. His primary teachers were Ricardo Morales, Thomas Martin, and Ilya Shterenberg. As a student, he spent two summers as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was awarded the Gino B. Cioffi Memorial Prize, and received fellowships at the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Aspen Music Festival, and New York String Orchestra Seminar. He has been on the faculty at SUNY Buffalo State College, and in addition to teaching privately, has given masterclasses throughout western New York, the US, and internationally.

He and his wife, bassoonist Natalya Rose Vrbsky, and their two daughters live in Amherst, New York.

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