Kiss On Wood
September 20th, 2025
7:30 PM
Christ United Methodist Church
September 20th, 2025
7:30 PM
Christ United Methodist Church
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Featuring
Rachael Yonan, viola Kwan Yi, pianist Program To Be Announced |
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Our season opener is a homecoming concert by violist Rachel Yonan. Her album
Kiss on Wood is a brilliant yet mature program that reflects on the metaphor of light
and darkness in works by Sir James MacMillan and Robert Schumann. Kwan Yi, a
musical friend of over twenty years, joins her at the piano. Also in the program is
Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata.
Kiss on Wood is a brilliant yet mature program that reflects on the metaphor of light
and darkness in works by Sir James MacMillan and Robert Schumann. Kwan Yi, a
musical friend of over twenty years, joins her at the piano. Also in the program is
Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata.
Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “perfectly balanced” and offering “the virtue of
variety” the Marinus Ensemble is a dynamic chamber music collective that draws on the best
international performers to bring music alive to enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Each Marinus
program reinforces the idea that when we stop to listen, great music has the power to challenge
and enrich our lives. Marinus engages the community through live concerts, recordings and
lecture recitals both on their own series Marinus Concerts, and concerts series throughout the
country. Beyond the concert hall, Marinus is committed to educating listeners—creating space
for learning through interactive concerts, accessible program notes, and teaching residencies at
schools and universities. The ensemble is based out of Charlottesville, Virginia with participating
artists from Boston, Dallas, New York, Raleigh and Stuttgart. Recent performances include
appearances on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Presents, WRTI Performance
Studio, and the Chamber Music Raleigh.
variety” the Marinus Ensemble is a dynamic chamber music collective that draws on the best
international performers to bring music alive to enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Each Marinus
program reinforces the idea that when we stop to listen, great music has the power to challenge
and enrich our lives. Marinus engages the community through live concerts, recordings and
lecture recitals both on their own series Marinus Concerts, and concerts series throughout the
country. Beyond the concert hall, Marinus is committed to educating listeners—creating space
for learning through interactive concerts, accessible program notes, and teaching residencies at
schools and universities. The ensemble is based out of Charlottesville, Virginia with participating
artists from Boston, Dallas, New York, Raleigh and Stuttgart. Recent performances include
appearances on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Presents, WRTI Performance
Studio, and the Chamber Music Raleigh.
Rachael Yonan |
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Recognized for her expressive playing and elegant style, violist Rachel Yonan enjoys a rich and varied career as recitalist, artistic director, commentator and champion of chamber music. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the United States, England, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and China; and on National Public Radio and Canadian Public Radio. A lover of chamber music, Rachel co-founded the Marinus Ensemble with her brother, cellist Joseph Kuipers. Integrating her interest in music and philosophy, Rachel is a visiting scholar at Jesus College, University of Cambridge where her scholarship focuses on the role of music in personal formation and flourishing. She received funding for this project through Duke University as the inaugural McDonald Agape Fellow in Theology and Music. Beyond her own innovative work with Marinus, Rachel has been invited to perform at prestigious festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Open Chamber Music Prussia Cove, Festival Mozaic and Taos Music Festival. Ms. Yonan has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Roberto Díaz, Joseph Silverstein, James Dunham and Robert Levin; joined the Dover and Escher Quartets for chamber concerts; and worked extensively with Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley and Edgar Meyer. While Ms. Yonan has had the honor of performing around the world in major concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Verizon Hall and King’s College Chapel Cambridge, she is equally at home engaging audiences in more intimate venues through her work with Marinus. She successfully launched a new series—Marinus Concerts—that offers immersive and inviting
concert experiences in scenic Virginia wineries. Rachel is creative director of Marinus, and has taught viola performance and chamber music at Duke University. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University. Rachel plays a Gabrielle Kundert viola modeled on a Camillo Camilli viola from 1739. |
Kwan Yi
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Pianist Kwan Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, the Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Jordan Hall, Jones Hall, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Kravis Center of the Arts, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Teatro Principal de Alicante, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. Mr. Yi has appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Brevard Festival Orchestra under the batons of Hans Graf, Julian Kuerti, Grant Llewellyn and Mikhail Tartanikov. As an avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Roberto Diaz and members of the Vermeer Quartet and was invited to perform at the Kronberg, Ravinia, Trondheim, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Castleton Festivals. As a recitalist and masterclass instructor, he has completed residencies at University of Arkansas, Bowdoin College, Michigan State University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Theatre de Vevey and Sendai Cultural Center. His performances have been broadcast by WQXR, Radio France and Radio Frankfurt. He has recorded for Hänssler label with violinist Itamar Zorman. A recipient of many honors and prizes, Mr. Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and top prizes in the Sendai International Piano Competition, and the Trondheim and Trio di Trieste International Chamber Music Competitions. Mr. Yi is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute where he worked with Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald. He has also attended the Steans Institute at
Ravinia Festival. |
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