Visiting Violin Series: September 30, 2023

Sponsored by Payton Violins of Rochester, NY

1:30pm VIOLIN MASTERCLASS with Yvonne Lam

Yvonne Lam: Grammy Award winning violinist; former AD of Eighth Blackbird, prizewinner Michael Hill International Violin Competition

1:30pm PERCUSSION MASTERCLASS with Gwendolyn Dease

Gwendolyn Dease: professor of percussion, Michigan State Univ. College of Music faculty: Brevard Music Center, Filarmonica Joven de Colombia, Interlochen Arts Camp

4:00pm CONCERT

YVONNE LAM, VIOLIN & GWENDOLYN DEASE, PERCUSSION

*1:00-5:00PM VISIT THE LUTHIER: PAYTON VIOLINS WILL BE SET UP IN THE LOBBY

Works by:
Paul Lansky, Kevin Day, Salina Fisher, Sheridan Seyfried, Bright Sheng, and Somei Satoh

Yvonne Lam, violin

Grammy Award-winning violinist Yvonne Lam has garnered international acclaim for her thoughtful musicianship, technical prowess, and fearless performance aesthetic.Yvonne has performed as a soloist and chamber musician all over the world including with Philadelphia Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Lexington Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and the Tasmanian Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia.

A champion of new music, she has performed over a hundred world premieres of commissioned works. For eight years, Yvonne served as co-artistic director of the world-renowned ensemble Eighth Blackbird. She recorded three albums with Eighth Blackbird, winning a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for the album Filament.

Winner of the silver medal at the 2005 Michael Hill World Violin Competition, Yvonne has also been awarded top prizes at the Liana Issakadze International Competition and the Holland-America Music Society Competition, as well as prizes for the Best Performance of a Commissioned Work at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and at the Michael Hill World Violin Competition.

Yvonne has given lessons, masterclasses and lectures at universities throughout the US and abroad, in addition to long-term residency activities at the Curtis Institute of Music, the University of Chicago, and the University of Richmond and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Violin and the Coordinator of Chamber Music at Michigan State University.

Her mentors include Alexander Treger, Laura Schmieder, Alice Schoenfeld, and Linda Rose, Victor Danchenko and Robert Mann.


Gwendolyn Dease, percussion

Gwendolyn Dease is professor of percussion at the Michigan State University College of Music. She is passionate about educating the next generation of young musicians and regularly gives master classes at universities throughout the US and abroad. She is currently on the faculty at the Brevard Music Center and has served on the faculty for the Filarmonica Joven de Colombia and the Interlochen Arts Camp.

Dease maintains a career as an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout the United States, Asia and South America. She is passionate about new music and has been involved in commissioning over 30 new works for solo and chamber percussion. She is currently principal percussionist with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and has also performed with the Detroit Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Grand Rapids Symphony among others.

Dease’s discography includes four solo CDs: “Marimba Suites” and “Boomslang: New Works for Marimba” released on the Blue Griffin label; “Idle Fancies” released on the Bridge Records and “Beguiled” released on the Origin Classical Label. Her collaborative projects include “Textures” (Percussion Chamber Music by Paul Lansky) released on the Bridge Records and “In the Shadow of No Towers” (The Phillip Glass Double Timpani Concerto) released on the Naxos Label.