Claude Debussy: Sonata in D Minor, L. 135

Robert Schumann/ Franz Liszt: Liebeslied (Widmung) from “Myrthen”, Op. 25

John Williams: Elegy

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19

Igor Stravinsky: Suite Italienne

David Popper: Hungarian Rhapsody, Op. 68

A graduate of The Juilliard School and a Fulbright Scholar, cellist JENNIFER KLOETZEL has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. A founding member of the San Francisco-based Cypress String Quartet (1996-2016) and QuartetES, Ms. Kloetzel has toured the globe and performed at such renowned venues as Lincoln Center, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Chautauqua Institute and the Ravinia Festival, the Lobkowicz Palaces in both Vienna and Prague, as well as prominent colleges and conservatories worldwide. Ms. Kloetzel is known for her elegant playing and vibrant tone. She is a sought-after recitalist, performing concerts for San Francisco Performances and on WQXR in New York. The Strad Magazine raved, “Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel is impressively passionate…” The Cello Museum proclaimed that her “energy, ceaseless intellectual curiosity, and virtuosic command of the instrument unite in exceptional musicianship, making her truly a hero of the cello.” Ms. Kloetzel has recorded 36 CDs, including the entire cycle of Beethoven Quartets and Brahms Sextets on the Avie label. Most recently, she released “Beethoven: The Conquering Hero,” the complete works for cello and piano (with Robert Koenig), which was chosen as “Recording of the Month” by BBC Music Magazine in March 2022 and stated, “If only more cellists would play like this—and at this level of ceaseless musicianship… Kloetzel’s playing responds unerringly to the shift of creative tone at each stage of the composer’s development.” The review went on to state Ms. Kloetzel’s playing was “a masterclass in how to engage with the most powerful creative personality music has known.” Gramophone magazine hailed the Beethoven collection for “cello playing that’s notable for its warmth, inward expressiveness… Kloetzel comes across as so utterly natural.”

A champion of new music, Ms. Kloetzel received the Copland Award for engaging living American Composers, commissioning and premiering over 50 works, including five concertos written specifically for her. Recent premieres included a Cello Suite by Daniel Asia, Cello Concerto “Cloud Atlas” and two unaccompanied cello works, “Lift” and “Cricket the Fiddler,” both composed for her by Elena Ruehr, and a Cello Sonata dedicated to her by Joseph Landers. The San Jose Mercury News noted, “Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel shines in premiere” and called her a “terrific soloist… with a robust and earthy sound.” In 2016, Ms. Kloetzel was invited to join the faculty at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she is Professor of Cello and serves as both Head of the String and Performance Areas.

~~

AILEEN CHANCO, pianist, lauded soloist, and chamber musician, has been recognized for her “intense virtuosity” and “commanding presence” (Musicweb-International and the Santa Cruz Sentinel) and described by the Mercury News as “steeped in expressiveness and tastefulness to the core!” She made her solo concerto debut with the San Francisco Symphony at thirteen, followed by appearances with the Boston Pops and solo performances with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, and the Philippines. Ms. Chanco’s chamber music performances have also been described as “extraordinary, colorful, and deft” by the SF Classical Voice and “polished and superb” by the San Antonio News. Her solo recording “Images of Three Centuries” on the Con Brio Recordings Label was praised as “beguiling” by the Contra Costa Times and “beautifully delivered and imaginatively worked out” by the American Record Guide.

Ms. Chanco received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music from The Juilliard School under Herbert Stessin. She attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival, the Banff Centre Resident Artist Program, the Moscow Conservatory in America Festival, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She grew up in Fremont, CA. After moving back to the Bay Area, she founded Music at the Mission, where she serves as Artistic and General Director.