Date & Time: Saturday October 5, 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco
Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students
For more information visit https://sunsetarts.wordpress.com/mark-valenti-piano-in-concert/
About the Artists
Curium: the 96th element in the periodic table. Discovered in the Bay Area in 1944 and named after the pioneering female scientist, Marie Curie, the element is a symbol of the innovations of female minds, past and present.
Founded in the summer of 2017, the women of Curium piano trio have gained reputations as performers that radiate dynamism and presence. Specializing in performing the music of female composers, they are committed to bringing creative and diverse musical programming to their audiences. The Curium trio highlights the works of women composers and performers alongside traditional piano trio repertoire, and have brought together a community of people with their representation of diversity and women.
Curium was chosen as the 2017 winners of the Barbara Fritz Chamber Music Award.
Rachel Kim, pianist
Rachel Kim enjoys a prolific career as a concert pianist, educator, and mentor in the Bay Area.
She was born in Seoul, South Korea and began learning music theory and improvisation with her mother, a jazz and rock pianist based in Seoul. She began studying piano in the United States with Helen Smith Tarchalski at the age of 11. During this time, she gained a reputation as a standout performer and consistently won first and second prizes in the annual solo and piano ensemble competitions held by Maryland State Music Teachers Association. Her achievements earned her the Distinguished Music Achievement Award by the Maryland State Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the Catholic University of America, where she studied with Marilyn Neeley and Jose Ramos Santana, and a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she continues her studies with Paul Hersh. She has performed in various summer festivals around the US and in Europe, including Aspen, Brevard, and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, and has performed in the master classes of world-class musicians including Leon Fleisher, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bonnie Hampton, and Abby Simon. During her studies at SF Conservatory, she had the opportunity to collaborate and be coached by musicians such as Bonnie Hampton, Ian Swenson, Mack McCray, and Jennifer Culp. During her undergraduate studies, her dedication for bringing music to all audiences led her to join a team of founders at Talent, Education, Art and Mentoring After School Program, Inc., a summer music program that helped bring music and the arts to underserved neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.
Rachel is a versatile musician whose diverse performing and pedagogical experiences help her navigate the challenging world of classical music in today’s society. She has taught privately for over ten years, has worked as a staff accompanist at the San Francisco Conservatory, and is a member of the historic Berkeley Piano Club. Her concert engagements around the Bay Area have included Avedis Concerts at the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum with Alexandra Hawley and Roy Milan, Chamber Music Society of Sacramento with William Barbini, and various private house concerts throughout the city. Currently she is on faculty at the Branson School in Ross, California, where she serves as Music Director for the annual musical productions and directs the Honors Chamber Singers and Chamber Music classes.
Agnieszka Peszko, violinist
Polish-born violinist Agnieszka Peszko has been praised for her “warm and glowing tone,” and “logical yet captivating phrasing.” (Weigang Li, Shanghai Quartet). She is the founding violinist of the San Francisco – based piano trio Curium, dedicated to performing works of women composers A prizewinner of national and regional string competitions, she has given many solo recitals throughout Europe and the United States. She has also served as a leading violinist of chamber ensembles and orchestras, performing in some of the most renowned concert halls in the USA, Europe and China.
As a laureate of various awards and competitions, she has won 2nd prizes at the Concerto Competition at Montclair State University in New Jersey and the J. Garscia National Competition in Stalowa Wola, 4th prize at the G. Ph. Telemann Competition in Poznan, 1st distinction at the G. Bacewicz Competition in Wroclaw and at the National Irena Dubiska Competition of Violin Music Interpretations in Lodz. Some of her other notable achievements include joining the Shanghai International Youth Orchestra for the concert tour in China in 2016, and being appointed concertmaster of the Cali Camerata, a conductor-less string chamber orchestra, to lead the ensemble in performance at the prestigious Weil Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in 2013.
Agnieszka began playing the violin at the age of seven in her hometown of Warsaw. In the U.S., she had the privilege to pursue her studies under the tutelage of distinguished faculty, including Wei He, Weigang Li, and Laurie Smukler. She received her Master of Music degree in Violin Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, an Artist Diploma and Performance Certificate at John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University as well as a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies at Bard College Conservatory of Music.
As a dedicated teacher, Agnieszka enjoys working with all her students and she takes great pride in her students’ success. In addition to her private violin studio, she is also on the violin faculty at Inspire Music and Amabile School of Music in San Francisco.
Natalie Raney, cellist
Natalie Raney fell in love with the cello when she was nine years old after her coolest, childhood role model began playing it in the house next door.
She has had the opportunity to perform chamber music with such musicians as Kim Kashkashian, Menahem Pressler, Norman Fischer, Geoff Nuttall, Bonnie Hampton, Roberto Diaz, Ian Swensen, Jodi Levitz, Paul Hersh, and the Arianna String Quartet. While in her graduate studies, her quartet was invited by the Muir String Quartet to participate in the Emerging Quartets and Composers Program, where she worked closely with composer Joan Tower. After moving to San Francisco, while in school her quartet was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center, and later that year was a finalist for the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. She has studied chamber music under members of the Tokyo, Pacifica, Brentano, Vermeer, Muir, Arianna, and Alexander String Quartets.
Natalie recently graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory receiving an Artist Certificate in Chamber Music studying with Jean-Michel Fonteneau. She received her Master of Music degree at Boston University under Marc Johnson, former cellist of the Vermeer Quartet and received a Bachelor of Music under Kurt Baldwin and the Arianna Quartet at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Natalie is a dedicated teacher and currently holds her own studio in San Francisco. She is currently on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College coaching chamber music. Additionally, she has coached chamber music to young groups through the Lyceum Music Festival in Utah as well as Summer Music West in San Francisco.