Tribute to Chopin: An Evening of Romantic Masterworks

The Museum of Russian Art is proud to present Tribute to Chopin: An Evening of Romantic Masterworks

Celebrate the timeless beauty and emotional depth of Frédéric Chopin’s music in Tribute to Chopin, an evening of chamber music at The Museum of Russian Art featuring three distinguished artists: Emily Switzer, violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra; Laura Sewell, acclaimed Twin Cities cellist; and Denis Evstuhin, pianist and TMORA’s Curator of Classical Music Programs.

This intimate concert will include Chopin’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8, the expressive Largo from his Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65, and a curated selection of polonaises and nocturnes that showcase the lyrical brilliance of the composer often called the "poet of the piano."

This performance will take place in the Museum’s Main Gallery, surrounded by the art and ambiance of TMORA’s exhibitions.

Saturday, June 7 | 7:00 PM
Doors open at 6:00 PM. All galleries and TMORA Shop will be open for viewing. Free parking is located across the street from the (Diamond Lake Rd) from the Creekside (formerly Mayflower) Church.

Tickets:
$35 Reserved Seating | $30 TMORA Members
Use the discount code CHOPINJUNE to access Member pricing for your tickets. Please note that while the discount code is available to everyone, all Member tickets are reviewed to confirm membership status.

Violinist Emily Switzer is a 2019 graduate of the Yale School of Music and 2017 graduate of Yale University. Former co-concertmaster of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, she is a winner of the 2015 Friends of Music Recital Competition, the 2016 William Waite Competition and a recipient of the 2016 Sharp Prize for Music. She has performed with numerous orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Lakewood Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, Littleton Symphony and Yale Symphony Orchestra. In January 2022, she performed with the Yale Philharmonia as a winner of the 2019 Woolsey Concerto Competition.

Recipient of the 2017 Yale Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, the Yale Wrexham Prize and the Fry Cup for Contributions to the Arts, she has studied with Hyo Kang, Wendy Sharp, James Maurer, Kathleen Winkler, Jorja Fleezanis, Alexander Treger and Glenn Dicterow. An avid chamber musician and advocate of new music, she was a winner of the 2018 Yale Oneppo Chamber Music Competition, and in May of 2018 premiered a violin concerto by emerging composer Max Vinetz. She attended Music Academy of the West in 2015 and 2016, and in 2017 participated in their Global Academy Program, a 10-day immersive performance residency with the New York Philharmonic. She is a two-time fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and in 2017 was awarded the program’s Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize. In June 2019 she traveled to Incheon, Korea, with Sejong Soloists as part of the Hic et Nunc music festival. Switzer joined the second violin section of the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2019.

Cellist, Laura Sewell, enjoys an active and varied musical career and has distinguished herself as a highly respected chamber musician. From 2007-2016 she was a member of the Artaria String Quartet which was appointed as one of Minnesota Public Radio’s ensembles-in-residence, was featured on Twin Cities Public Television’s “Minnesota Originals” series, and performed the complete Shostakovich quartet cycle to critical acclaim. Earlier in her career she was the founding cellist of the award-winning Lark Quartet.

Ms. Sewell received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Juilliard School where she was a student of Leonard Rose, and her Master’s Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Alan Harris. She also had the unique opportunity, at the age of 17, to study with the legendary cellist, Jacqueline DuPre. Her chamber music teachers have included members of the Juilliard, Tokyo, American, Guarneri, and Budapest quartets, as well as Felix Galimir, Josef Gingold and William Pleeth.

Ms. Sewell plays as a substitute cellist with both the Minnesota and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras and has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, the Bakken Trio, and the Musical Offering. She has appeared on “Saint Paul Sunday” and on “A Prairie Home Companion” on several occasions. She has premiered solo works by Paul Schoenfield, Stephen Paulus, and Steve Heitzeg, and chamber works by Libby Larsen, Peter Schickele, Jon Deak, and Stanislaw Skrowacewski. From 2000-2008 she served on the board of Chamber Music America, the national service organization for chamber musicians, and was its Chair for four years.

Russian pianist Denis Evstuhin has earned international acclaim for his vibrant artistry, remarkable sound quality, and brilliant virtuosity from audiences and critics alike. He has appeared on stages of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the great Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff Halls in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theater and Philharmonic Halls in St. Petersburg and Warsaw, as well as Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Evstuhin has appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and the Sioux City Symphony.

He has also appeared on radio and television in Russia, Europe, and the US.

Denis holds a B.M and M.M. from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. While in the USA, he received M.M. and DMA degrees in Piano Performance at the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Professor Alexander Braginsky.

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