Yang and Olivia, Violin-Piano Duo – Not Alone: Music, Mental Health and the Human Story

This November, Kerrytown Concert House welcomes acclaimed violin-piano duo Yang Liu and Olivia Tsai — winners of the 2023 American Prize and 2022 Medici International Competition — for Not Alone: Music, Mental Health, and the Human Story. The program pairs masterworks with the private struggles behind them: Korngold’s flight from Nazi-occupied Europe, Schumann’s battles with depression and psychosis, William Grant Still’s barrier-breaking voice in a segregated America, and Beethoven’s defiant creativity as his hearing failed. Alongside Ravel and contemporary composer Chi-chun Lee, these works become windows into resilience and hope. Behind every masterpiece is a human story — and behind every human story is the hope to be understood. Not Alone is a concert that listens back.
Yang Liu, violin
Olivia Tsai, piano
This concert is generously supported by Classical Salon Series Sponsor William Fulton and Virtuoso Concert Sponsor, the University of Michigan University Musical Society
This program is partially supported by a grant from The Illinois Arts Council Agency and the Yang and Olivia Arts Foundation.