Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67
Craig Reiss, Associate Principal 2nd Violinist with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, brings his Eos Ensemble to the Frank Residences. Along with Evan Kahn, Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Opera, and internationally renowned pianist Elizabeth Dorman, they will present a varied program of Piano Trios by Haydn and Dvořák. Dvořák’s expressive Trio in F minor showcases the exuberant rustic style for which he is most famous as well as the anguish of the recent death of his mother. Haydn titled his Trio in E flat minor “Jacob’s Dream,” referring to the biblical story of the ladder ascending to heaven, and it imbues his inimitable classical style with elements of Austrian folk song.
Craig Reiss is a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Associate Principal 2nd Violin of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. He has been a featured soloist with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Oakland Civic Orchestra, the Nova Vista Symphony, and the Vallejo Symphony. He has taught chamber music at the Blackburn Music Academy in Napa and the Marin Academy and participated in festivals at Tanglewood, Spoleto, and the Colorado Music Festival.
He is also the director of the Eos Ensemble, an exciting chamber music group comprised mainly of members of the San Francisco Opera orchestra. The goal of the group is to present concerts of wide-ranging musical styles and instrumental combinations. Audiences throughout the Bay Area have been thrilled to experience the artistry normally reserved for the grand canvas of opera transformed to the intimacy of chamber music. The Eos Ensemble has received grants from the Music Performance Trust Fund and KIDDO! to present educational concerts in the Mill Valley schools. They also recently performed on the national radio broadcast “West Coast Live.” San Francisco Classical Voice said, “Every little detail was perfectly in place and meticulously balanced… They played with genuine depth and power.”
Grammy-nominated cellist Michelle Djokic enjoys a versatile career as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player. Michelle’s lifelong passion for chamber music and the collaborative process of rehearsing was her inspiration for the launching of Musikiwest in 2017. Musikiwest harnesses the collaborative power of chamber music to engender empathic awareness, promote conflict resolution, and build peaceable communities. Using scripted “open rehearsals” in a unique and creative format, Musikiwest addresses difficult issues in young people’s lives, such as bullying, shaming, and exclusion. The most sought-after performing artists of today gather for this meaningful opportunity to share with adolescents through their incredible artistry and generosity of spirit. Hundreds of lives continue to be impacted by this powerful experience.
In 1997, Michelle founded Concordia Chamber Players based in New Hope, PA, and remains the artistic director. Concordia Chamber Players has produced five exceptional film/recordings during the 2020-2021 season, shared with the public free of charge. Since its inception, Concordia has presented remarkably gifted and generous artists with creative programming in the bucolic setting of Bucks County. Concordia is very proud to have commissioned a new chamber work from the sought-after, Brooklyn-based composer, Paul Wiancko. This new work for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello was premiered in September 2021 as part of Concordia ChamberFest.
Michelle recently launched a multidisciplinary performing arts space in the warehouse district of Sand City, CA. SandBox will be the home of countless collaborations and sharing in a vibrant and eclectic community long known for attracting artists.
Praised by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle for her “elegance and verve,” pianist Elizabeth Dorman enjoys performing music both new and old as a soloist and chamber musician.
A finalist of the 2018 Leipzig International Bach Competition, Elizabeth has been widely recognized as a leading performer for her inquisitive interpretations of Bach’s music on the modern piano. Elizabeth has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Louisville Orchestra, the Leipzig Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Folsom Lake Symphony, the Stanford Summer Symphony, Symphony Parnassus, as a soloist for interdisciplinary projects at New World Symphony, and as a keyboardist at the San Francisco Symphony. She can be heard on Delos Records as a concerto soloist with Santa Rosa Symphony’s new album celebrating the music of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and this season will perform as a soloist with California Symphony and Vallejo Symphony.
She has been presented as a soloist and chamber musician at venues including the Kennedy Center, Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theater, Merkin Hall, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Leipzig’s Hochschule für Musik, and her live solo performances have been nationally broadcast on NPR and public radio. Elizabeth is the Assistant Artistic Director at the Archipelago Collective, a chamber music festival in the San Juan Islands, and has appeared at other festivals including Tanglewood, Britt, Sarasota, Aspen, Toronto Summer Music, Icicle Creek, and the Banff Centre.
Working with the Bridge Arts Ensemble, Stony Brook University, and as a board member of the Ross McKee Foundation, Elizabeth has produced concerts, lectures, and workshops for music students and was honored with the Father Merlet Award from Pro Musicis for her work training high school music students in community engagement.
Elizabeth was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University in 2019, where she studied with Gilbert Kalish and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
