On March 3, award-winning ensemble The Lee Trio, along with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra musicians, will deliver a concert at Concordia University Wisconsin. The Lee Trio will also offer a free masterclass the preceding day.
Music lovers from the Northshore region and beyond have a rare, up-close opportunity to learn from world-renowned musicians and experience their talent. The Concordia University Wisconsin Chamber Music Series is pleased to present two events featuring The Lee Trio and MSO musicians:
Masterclass
Thursday, March 2 | 2:30-4 p.m.
Concordia University Wisconsin, Chapel of Christ Triumphant
This is a FREE event, but reservations are requested. Email CUW Music Director Dr. Louis Menchaca to reserve your spot.
Concert
Friday, March 3 | 7:30 p.m.
Concordia University Wisconsin, Chapel of Christ Triumphant
Tickets are $10 for students, $25 for all other guests.
The Lee Trio Masterclass
With the goal of providing community members edification, education, and enjoyment through high-quality musical performances, Concordia’s brand-new Chamber Music Series proudly kicks off with a free masterclass led by internationally renowned performers.
Attendees will have an intimate opportunity to see these impressive musicians in action and learn from some of the best. Following the masterclass clinic, a Q&A session will be held, giving audience members the chance to interact with the performers.
“It promises to be incredibly informative and engaging,” said CUW Music Department Chair Dr. Louis Menchaca. “To gain insight into these highly accomplished musicians’ process is invaluable to any young, or even seasoned musician.”
Concert Performers
The March 3 concert will feature two of The Lee Trio sisters: Angela Lee on cello and Melinda Lee Masur on piano. Harvard alumnus and current doctoral candidate at Juilliard Max Tan will step in for sister Lisa Lee on violin.
The Lee Trio
Angela Lee | Cello
A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, cellist Angela Lee is a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to study in London with William Pleeth, a grant from the Foundation for American Musicians in Europe, the Jury Prize in the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and a cello performance fellowship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation. She is a founding member of The Lee Trio, which has commissioned and premiered works of numerous living composers. Using music to foster peace and goodwill, she has made humanitarian trips to the Republic of the Philippines and the former Yugoslavia. While on a U.N.-sanctioned tour of six war-torn cities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, she performed for NATO troops and displaced civilians. In addition to coaching chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms. Lee serves on the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Alumni Association Leadership Council and on the Board of Directors of The Resonance Project (https://music-resonance.org), which promotes empathy through live music in mediation settings and international conflict resolution.
Melinda Lee Masur | Piano
Lauded for her “impeccable technique and artistic interpretation” [The Columbian], pianist Melinda Lee Masur has performed on all three stages of Carnegie Hall, at London’s Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, the Berliner Philharmonie, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and at the Ravinia Festival. She has performed with such artists as Augustin Hadelich, Alban Gerhardt, Fanny Clamagirand, Adrian Brendel and Thomas Quasthoff, and is a founding member of The Lee Trio, celebrated for its “gripping immediacy and freshness” [The Strad]. A graduate of Harvard University and Hannover Hochschule für Musik, Melinda serves as Director of Piano Chamber Music and Co-Director of the Young Artist Piano Program at the BU Tanglewood Institute. Melinda Lee Masur is a Steinway Artist.
Max Tan | Violin
Praised as “eloquent” by the New York Times and “warmly rhapsodic” by the Boston Globe, Taiwanese American violinist Max Tan has appeared on stages across the United States, Europe, and Asia, forging a varied career as performer and educator. He has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, The Juilliard Orchestra, amongst others. Notable festival appearances include at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn, Chelsea Music Festival, and The Perlman Music Program. Mr. Tan is an alumnus of the Sylff and Kovner Fellowships and recipient of the Richard F. French Award from Juilliard and the Arthur Foote Prize from the Harvard Musical Association. A Harvard alumnus and current doctoral candidate at Juilliard, Mr. Tan’s mentors include Catherine Cho, Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Chang, and Albert Markov. He is assistant faculty of violin and chamber music at Juilliard’s Pre-College Division.
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra contributors
The Friday concert will feature by MSO musicians including Matthew Ernst, Dylana Leung, Alejandro Duque, and Nash Tomey.
Alejandro Duque | Viola
Violist Alejandro Duque joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2018 and is currently acting assistant principal. Previously, he performed with the Austin Symphony and various ensembles in the Texas area including the Kinetic Ensemble and Austin Camerata. He also received fellowships to numerous music festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. More recently, he has been a guest artist at the Sunset ChamberFest, Caroga Lake Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, and with the Fine Arts Quartet. Alejandro received his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Southern California under the mentorship of Donald McInnes and his Master of Music degree at UT Austin under Roger Myers and John Largess.
Matthew Ernst | Trumpet
Matthew Ernst currently serves as Principal Trumpet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, appointed by Edo de Waart in 2016. He was previously the Principal Trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Pops, Associate Principal Trumpet of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and acted as Principal Trumpet for the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. A dedicated educator, Matthew maintains a private studio in Milwaukee, and he and his wife, Janna Ernst, a collaborative pianist, tour extensively as a duo, giving performances and masterclasses across the country. Matthew has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan, also receiving the school’s prestigious Emerging Artist Award, and two Master of Music degrees from Southern Methodist University in trumpet performance and wind conducting. Matthew resides in Shorewood, Wisconsin, with Janna and their two daughters, Madeleine and Margaret.
Dylana Leung | Violin
Dylana Leung is a first violinist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Prior to holding this position, she was assistant concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, section member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Ms. Leung was second prize winner of the 2000 Stulberg International String Competition, and national finalist at the American String Teachers Association Competition. She dabbled in Civil Engineering as a double major candidate at the University of Michigan until it became clear that calculus was not her forte. Dylana credits her teacher Paul Kantor, and peers at the Cleveland Institute of Music for fostering an atmosphere that was both challenging, and nurturing. You can always find an assortment of dark chocolate stashed in her mailbox at work, and she enjoys running along Lake Drive across the Fox Point footbridge most mornings.
Nash Tomey | Bass
Nash Tomey joins the MSO as the new Assistant Principal Bass. A member of the Kansas City Symphony from 2017-2022, Mr. Tomey is an experienced orchestral bassist and chamber musician. He attended the New England Conservatory where he studied with Boston Symphony Assistant Principal Bass Lawrence Wolfe and Donald Palma of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Under the tutelage of Boston Symphony Principal Bass Edwin Barker, he received his master’s degree from Boston University in 2017. During summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, Tomey has worked with several noted conductors including Andris Nelsons, Christoph von Dohnányi, Michael Tilson Thomas and Charles Dutoit. He also attended the Pacific Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Wabass Institute. He was the 2nd Prize Winner at the 2021 ISB Solo Bass Competition.
Music of the Midwest
The concert will open with Berceuse from Sonata for trumpet and piano, which was written by a local composer, Brian Packham.
Packham’s first compositions appeared shortly after he began piano lessons at age 9. He continued his education at the Peabody Conservatory, preparatory division and Berklee College of Music, where he studied composition with John Bavicchi and piano with Stephanie Plsek. While at Berklee Brian received two scholarships and was the first student to win the Wind Ensemble composition competition two years in a row, 1984 and 1985.
Packham’s music for the concert hall ranges from full orchestra to small chamber ensembles and much music for solo piano. Other musical endeavors include music for film and theater. Packham is currently interim music director at Brookfield Congregational Church.
Following Packham’s composition, selections from Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor and Camille Saint-Saens’ Septet in E-flat Major will be performed.
More about The Lee Trio
Since its critically acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut in 2002, The Lee Trio’s “gripping immediacy and freshness” and “rich palette of tone colours” [The Strad] continue to move audiences and critics around the globe. The Trio’s awards include the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland, 2nd Prize in the G. Zinetti International Chamber Competition in Italy, and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin for rising international artists.
In recent seasons, the Trio has given recitals and masterclasses in cities from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, San Francisco, New York and Toronto to London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris and Kiev. The Lee Trio has performed as soloists with orchestras such as the Shanghai Philharmonic, Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Shenzhen Symphony and Macao Youth Symphony. The Trio’s tours of China have included recitals and masterclasses in Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Shanghai, at the Zhongshan Culture and Art Center, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theatre and Lee Hysan Concert Hall, recordings for RTHK4, Hong Kong’s classical broadcast radio, and a guest appearance on the televised program, Music of Friends.
Learn more about The Lee Trio here.
Want in?
Since 1881, Concordia University’s mission has been teaching and preparing students for careers and vocations that serve The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Music has always been an integral part of that mission. The music department contributes to the spiritual, cultural, artistic, academic and co-curricular aspects of life on campus.
Students can choose to participate in any of CUW’s 12 choral, instrumental, or handbell ensembles. More than 250 undergraduates representing 47 academic programs elect to join music groups at Concordia each year.