January 4, 2025
Carrying The Torch
CMSFW Ensemble
Anton Nel, piano; Gary Levinson, violin; Iakov Zats, viola; Robert deMaine, cello
Program includes:
Antonín Dvořák: Piano quartet D major, Op. 23
Robert Schumann: Fantasiestücke for Cello and Piano, Op 73
Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op.47
Pianist Anton Nel returns to perform with Gary Levinson, Jascha Zats, and Robert deMaine works of Martinu, Schumann, and Beach.
Photo courtesy of Anton Nel
The Artists
Piano
Anton Nel
Following an auspicious debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven’s C Major Concerto after only two years of study, the Johannesburg native captured first prizes in all the major South African competitions while still in his teens, toured his native country extensively, and became a well-known radio and television personality. A student of Adolph Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and in the same year graduated with the highest distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in 1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock.
Violin
Gary Levinson
Gary Levinson is the Senior Principal Associate Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. Known for his Bel Canto playing style and adroit technique, Mr. Levinson made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in 1991, under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf, coinciding with the completion of his Master’s of Music degree at the Juilliard School, where his teachers included Dorothy DeLay, Glenn Dicterow and Felix Galimir.
Viola
Iakov Zats
Absolute commando over the instrument, profound knowledge of music and impeccable taste” ~Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
“His performances are of an extremely high standard, both technically and musically. He has stunning ability to get a divinely warm and beautiful sound out of the instrument” ~Alun Francis, conductor
Iakov Zats was born in Moscow and attended the Institute for child prodigies at the Moscow Conservatory of Music where he then completed his bachelor’s and doctorate in string quartet performance. In 1990 he began his solo career, soloing with chamber music ensembles in Russia, England, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
Photo by Ed Jahelka
Cello
Robert deMaine
Praised by the New York Times as “an artist who makes one hang on every note,” ROBERT deMAINE is the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A highly sought-after solo artist and chamber musician, he is a frequent guest artist at many of the world’s premier chamber music festivals, including those of Marlboro, Seattle, Great Lakes, Limoges, Heidelberg Schlossfest, Chamberfest Cleveland, Montréal, Seoul’s Ditto Festival, and most recently featured as a soloist at the 2016 Piatigorsky Cello Festival. His playing is noted for its “beautiful singing tone, lapidary technical precision, and a persuasive identification with the idiom of the music at hand.”
