"Classical on Broadway" is at the Jazz Station in Eugene
- Anthea Kreston violin
- Jason Duckles cello
- Wonkak Kim clarinet
- Eunhye Grace Choi piano
Two husband-and-wife duos (all with distinguished international careers) join forces to perform Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time—a profound and transcendent work of the 20th century. This rare collaboration promises a performance of unforgettable depth, nuance, and power.
Violinist Anthea Kreston sometimes just needs to pinch herself. How did she get so lucky? She was the first American violinist to be a member of a major European string quartet, Germany’s Artemis Quartet – and she travelled the world, performing on some of the most legendary stages a person could dream of, from Carnegie Hall to London’s Wigmore – from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to Seoul. She loves to write – penning a classical music blog on the London-based Slipped Disc which was one of the top-5 most read music blogs internationally, as well as founding and curating the Fortnightly Music Book Club.
She was a Professor at the Universität der Kunste Berlin, where Clara Schumann and Bruch taught, a Master Teacher at the Queen Elizabeth Chapel in Brussels, and teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her mentors include Ida Kavafian, the Emerson Quartet and Isaac Stern. She toured for years with Yo-Yo Ma as a part of his Silk Road Project, landing in places as exotic as Las Vegas and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and everywhere in between.
She is the executive and artistic director of Majestic Chamber Music Series as well as Inside Music Academy, a ground-breaking virtual music school. As a recording artist for Warner Classics, she has received both the Echo Award, Europe’s Grammy Award, and the Diapason D’Or, France’s highest award from music critics. She has hosted her own podcast from the Boulez Hall in the heart of East Berlin and has played in the Berlin Philharmonic, and as concertmaster of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. But most of all, she loves being with her family – two hilarious and generous daughters and a super-duper husband, growing tomatoes, and petting guinea pigs.
The San Diego Reader said of her “… Anthea is a soloist of the Heifetz-Shaham-Vengerov caliber, whose musical instincts could make even a mere bagatelle thrill the soul and stir the senses to a frenzy.”
Cellist and conductor Jason Duckles, after living for four years in Berlin, Germany, has recently moved back to Corvallis, Oregon. Jason attended Corvallis High School, and was a member of both the Corvallis High School Orchestra and the Corvallis Youth Symphony, under the baton of Charles Creighton.
Jason has been on faculty at Wesleyan University, where he directed the Chamber Music Program, and Connecticut College and Willamette University, where he was both Conductor and Cello teacher. He also enjoyed his years as the conductor of the Eugene-Springfield Youth Symphony.
As a chamber musician, Jason has played throughout the world, from Carnegie Hall to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He has performed as the solo cellist for the Mark Morris Dance Group, has toured with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, and while living in Germany, was a member of Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra. Jason is married to Anthea Kreston, who is loving the outdoor life of Oregon, and has two daughters who play stringed instruments. Sometimes it is difficult to convince them to practice.
Korean-born clarinetist Wonkak Kim has captivated audiences around the world with his “excellent breath control” (The Washington Post) and “exuberant musicianship” (Fanfare). Kim appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at major venues throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. A Naxos Recording Artist, he has garnered international acclaim with his extensive discography: Gulfstream, a collection of new American chamber music, received many distinctions, including“Music US Choice” (BBC Music Magazine), “Recording of the Month” (MusicWeb International), and American Record Guide Critic’s Choice, and was praised for its “very highest quality” (Gramophone, UK). The International Clarinet Association Journal lauded Kim’s “sensitive playing, a lovely sound and consummate facility” in François Devienne: Clarinet Sonatas. On his most recent Naxos release of Stephen Krehl’s Clarinet Quintet, American Record Guide wrote: “Kim renders the Clarinet Quintet with a clear and nicely rounded timbre…with seamless blend and excellent legato.” Kim’s live and recorded performances have been featured on Radio France, BBC Radio 3, Swedish Radio, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CJPX Radio Classique Québec, Hong Kong RTHK-HK, Korean Broadcasting System, and NPR stations around the US. Kim is Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Oregon and a performing artist/clinician for Buffet Crampon, Silverstein, and Vandoren. He is regularly invited as a guest artist and teacher at world’s renowned institutions, including the Juilliard, Yale, and Manhattan School of Music. To learn more about Wonkak Kim, please visit his website: www.wonkakkim.com.
Korean pianist Eunhye Grace Choi is an active pianist and chamber musician and is currently Artistic Director of Chamber Music Amici (Eugene, OR). She has performed extensively throughout the United States, France, Belgium, the UK, and South Korea, and has recorded for Naxos, Emeritus, and Origin Classical. Her performances have also been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today. A versatile keyboardist, she was harpsichord soloist for J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto cycle and collaborated with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. As a collaborative pianist in great demand, Choi regularly performs with musicians from the major symphony orchestras, including Cleveland, Philadelphia, St. Paul, Dallas, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony as well as many of the world’s most prestigious music schools and conservatories.
Choi is frequently invited as a resident pianist at competitions and conventions, including the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest and the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Bassoon Symposium. Choi served as Collaborative Piano Faculty for six years at Eastern Music Festival, where she was the principal keyboardist of the Festival Orchestra with conductor Gerard Schwarz. She has also served as music faculty and collaborative pianist at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, The University of Oregon (2017-2018) and Tennessee Tech University (2013-2017). Here in Oregon, in addition to Amici, Grace performs regularly with the Eugene Symphony, Microphilharmonic, and Oregon Bach Festival. Choi holds degrees from the University of Minnesota (D.M.A.), Florida State University (M.M.), and Yonsei University (B.M. Composition).
