The sister conservatories of San Francisco and Shanghai are participating in their fourth joint chamber music festival, the second one in the city, with master classes, rehearsals, and coachings leading up to public concerts in at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall on March 13 and 14. Two of past festivals, initiated by a grant from The Cha Foundation of Hong Kong, took place in Shanghai.
Co-directing the festival are Wei He, of the S.F. Conservatory’s violin faculty, and Jensen Lam, director of the Shanghai Conservatory’s chamber music atelier. Representing the Shanghai Conservatory in San Francisco is a delegation of 13 administrators, faculty and students, including Vice President Xianping Zhang and Jiwu Li, director of the orchestral department.
From the San Francisco institution, faculty performers are Ian Swensen, Wei He and Bettina Mussumeli, violin; Jodi Levitz and Paul Hersh, viola; and Bonnie Hampton and Jean Michel-Fonteneau, cello; they are joined by selected students from the Conservatory.
Highlights of the March 13 concert include Mozart's Piano Quartet in G Minor, K478; David Garner's String Quartet (world premiere); Minzuo Lu's String Trio (world premiere); and Beethoven's Piano Trio in D Major, Op.70, No.1 "Ghost."
On March 14: Brahms' String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 67; Guohui Ye's String Quartet (world premiere); Kenji Oh's String Trio (world premiere); and Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major, Op.20.
Thursday morning at 11, a composers' workshop will discuss the works receiving premieres during the festival.