Faculty Artist Showcase

Approximate Duration: 0:06

Program Notes: Dvořák’s Silent Woods (originally Klid, 1891) is a short yet deeply evocative work that captures the composer’s gift for lyrical intimacy. First composed for piano four hands as part of the cycle From the Bohemian Forest, it was later arranged for cello and piano, becoming one of the instrument’s most beloved miniatures. Its flowing, song-like melodies unfold with serene contemplation, evoking the stillness of a forest landscape. Dvořák’s warm lyricism and rooted sense of place deeply influenced the next generation of Czech composers, including his gifted student Josef Suk – whose Piano Quartet, like this piece, was also composed in 1891.

Erin Breene is in great demand as both a chamber and orchestral musician. She is a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Orchestra of OC. Ms. Breene has also held positions as Principal Cellist of San Diego Chamber Orchestra and Associate Principal Cellist with Opera Pacific Orchestra. Ms. Breene performs in the Aviara Piano Trio with her husband, Robert Schumitzky, and pianist, Ines Irawati. Their 2024 season includes performances on the High Desert Chamber Music series in Bend, Oregon, La Jolla’s Conrad series, Classics at the Merc, and more. Erin also performs chamber music on series throughout Southern California, including the Laguna Beach Music Festival, San Diego’s Art of Élan series, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Breene is also a passionate educator and maintains a private cello teaching studio in Newport Coast. She received her BM degree with professor Paul Katz at Rice University’s Shepherd School, and her MM degree as a student of Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School.

Louise Thomas has concertized extensively throughout Europe, North America, and Asia at such concert venues as the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow; the Franz Liszt Academy Museum in Budapest; the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing; Walt Disney Concert Hall; and Weill Hall in NYC. Born in Ireland, Dr. Thomas studied musicology at Trinity College, Dublin. She received a German Government scholarship to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, Germany, and earned her doctorate in piano from USC with John Perry. Louise Thomas has made recordings in Germany, at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada with Nua Nós, and has appeared on numerous live radio and TV broadcasts internationally. She concertizes regularly with violinist, Elizabeth Pitcairn, who performs on the legendary “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Dr. Thomas joined Chapman University in 2001 as the Director of Keyboard Studies. In June 2014, she was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Performing Arts, and in 2015, she was promoted to Full Professor. Most recently, in October 2024, she assumed the role of Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success.

Approximate Duration: 0:25

Program Notes: Brahms’s Trio in A minor, Op. 114 (1891), originally written for clarinet, cello, and piano, takes on an especially mellow richness in its alternate version for viola. Composed during his late period, the work carries the introspection and harmonic depth that so captivated Dvořák when the two first met years earlier – a connection that proved pivotal in Brahms’s championing of the younger composer’s career. The first movement is imbued with quiet intensity, the Adagio offers one of Brahms’s most poignant slow movements, and the finale combines passion with gentle resignation. Heard alongside Dvořák’s and Suk’s works of the same year, the trio’s velvety intimacy becomes part of a remarkable 1891 chapter linking German and Czech Romantic voices.

Violist and violinist Sorah Myung enjoys a diversified career as soloist, chamber musician, collaborator and educator. Ms. Myung is currently a faculty member at Irvine Valley College, Vanguard University and Chamber Music OC Pre-College while she frequently plays with the Pacific Symphony and San Diego Symphony Orchestra. As part of advocacy of the next generation, Ms. Myung is often invited to judge competitions such as American String Teachers Association and Music Teachers association of California and holds a string chair position at Musical Arts Competition of Orange County. Ms. Myung received her BM from the Oberlin Conservatory and MM from the Yale University School of Music. Ms. Myung spent the summer of 2022 as Artist Faculty at Pacific Music Institute Solo & String Quartet program in Hawaii and Summer music festival at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT and performed at the Pageant of the Masters orchestra in Laguna Beach.

Erin Breene is in great demand as both a chamber and orchestral musician. She is a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Orchestra of OC. Ms. Breene has also held positions as Principal Cellist of San Diego Chamber Orchestra and Associate Principal Cellist with Opera Pacific Orchestra. Ms. Breene performs in the Aviara Piano Trio with her husband, Robert Schumitzky, and pianist, Ines Irawati. Their 2024 season includes performances on the High Desert Chamber Music series in Bend, Oregon, La Jolla’s Conrad series, Classics at the Merc, and more. Erin also performs chamber music on series throughout Southern California, including the Laguna Beach Music Festival, San Diego’s Art of Élan series, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Breene is also a passionate educator and maintains a private cello teaching studio in Newport Coast. She received her BM degree with professor Paul Katz at Rice University’s Shepherd School, and her MM degree as a student of Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School.

Louise Thomas has concertized extensively throughout Europe, North America, and Asia at such concert venues as the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow; the Franz Liszt Academy Museum in Budapest; the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing; Walt Disney Concert Hall; and Weill Hall in NYC. Born in Ireland, Dr. Thomas studied musicology at Trinity College, Dublin. She received a German Government scholarship to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, Germany, and earned her doctorate in piano from USC with John Perry. Louise Thomas has made recordings in Germany, at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada with Nua Nós, and has appeared on numerous live radio and TV broadcasts internationally. She concertizes regularly with violinist, Elizabeth Pitcairn, who performs on the legendary “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Dr. Thomas joined Chapman University in 2001 as the Director of Keyboard Studies. In June 2014, she was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Performing Arts, and in 2015, she was promoted to Full Professor. Most recently, in October 2024, she assumed the role of Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success.

Approximate Duration: 0:06

Program Notes: Valentyn Silvestrov is widely regarded as Ukraine’s leading contemporary composer. Once part of the Soviet avant-garde, he later turned toward a lyrical, introspective style he calls “metamusic,” in which fragments of past traditions appear like echoes or memories. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Silvestrov fled Kyiv and has since made his home in Berlin, continuing to compose works of fragile beauty. Melody of Moments, Cycle VI belongs to his late period, unfolding in a series of delicate, fleeting gestures. Simple melodies hover at the edge of silence, dissolve, and return, creating an atmosphere of nostalgia and timeless reflection.

Hailed as “lively and sensational” by Montreal’s Arts and Opinion, and “flawless” by New York Concert Review, prize-winning violinist Iryna Krechkovsky enjoys an international career as soloist, chamber music collaborator, educator, and arts executive. She has appeared on Classical KUSC, KABC-TV Los Angeles, the Korean Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, and as a speaker/performer at TEDxChapmanU. Born in Ukraine, Iryna Krechkovsky attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York where she was awarded the distinguished 40 Under Forty Alumni Award. She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Chamber Music | OC where she curates the nationally recognized Pre-College Program, and is a founding member of the award-winning ensemble Trio Céleste with cellist Ross Gasworth and pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks.

Louise Thomas has concertized extensively throughout Europe, North America, and Asia at such concert venues as the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow; the Franz Liszt Academy Museum in Budapest; the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing; Walt Disney Concert Hall; and Weill Hall in NYC. Born in Ireland, Dr. Thomas studied musicology at Trinity College, Dublin. She received a German Government scholarship to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, Germany, and earned her doctorate in piano from USC with John Perry. Louise Thomas has made recordings in Germany, at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada with Nua Nós, and has appeared on numerous live radio and TV broadcasts internationally. She concertizes regularly with violinist, Elizabeth Pitcairn, who performs on the legendary “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Dr. Thomas joined Chapman University in 2001 as the Director of Keyboard Studies. In June 2014, she was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Performing Arts, and in 2015, she was promoted to Full Professor. Most recently, in October 2024, she assumed the role of Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success.

I. Allegro appassionato
II. Adagio
III. Allegro con fuoco

Approximate Duration: 0:22

Program Notes: Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 1 (1891) is an astonishingly assured work from the then 17-year-old composer, written while studying under Antonín Dvořák at the Prague Conservatory. Suk dedicated the piece to his teacher, and the music reflects both youthful ardor and the lyrical warmth he inherited from Dvořák’s influence. Sweeping melodies and dramatic contrasts animate the opening movement, followed by a heartfelt slow movement of intimate expression. A lively Scherzo brims with rhythmic sparkle, and the finale blends energy with a touch of Slavic melancholy. Composed in the same year as Dvořák’s Silent Woods and Brahms’s Clarinet Trio in A minor, it stands as part of an extraordinary constellation of works from 1891.

Hailed as “lively and sensational” by Montreal’s Arts and Opinion, and “flawless” by New York Concert Review, prize-winning violinist Iryna Krechkovsky enjoys an international career as soloist, chamber music collaborator, educator, and arts executive. She has appeared on Classical KUSC, KABC-TV Los Angeles, the Korean Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, and as a speaker/performer at TEDxChapmanU. Born in Ukraine, Iryna Krechkovsky attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York where she was awarded the distinguished 40 Under Forty Alumni Award. She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Chamber Music | OC where she curates the nationally recognized Pre-College Program, and is a founding member of the award-winning ensemble Trio Céleste with cellist Ross Gasworth and pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks.

Violist and violinist Sorah Myung enjoys a diversified career as soloist, chamber musician, collaborator and educator. Ms. Myung is currently a faculty member at Irvine Valley College, Vanguard University and Chamber Music OC Pre-College while she frequently plays with the Pacific Symphony and San Diego Symphony Orchestra. As part of advocacy of the next generation, Ms. Myung is often invited to judge competitions such as American String Teachers Association and Music Teachers association of California and holds a string chair position at Musical Arts Competition of Orange County. Ms. Myung received her BM from the Oberlin Conservatory and MM from the Yale University School of Music. Ms. Myung spent the summer of 2022 as Artist Faculty at Pacific Music Institute Solo & String Quartet program in Hawaii and Summer music festival at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT and performed at the Pageant of the Masters orchestra in Laguna Beach.

Erin Breene is in great demand as both a chamber and orchestral musician. She is a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Orchestra of OC. Ms. Breene has also held positions as Principal Cellist of San Diego Chamber Orchestra and Associate Principal Cellist with Opera Pacific Orchestra. Ms. Breene performs in the Aviara Piano Trio with her husband, Robert Schumitzky, and pianist, Ines Irawati. Their 2024 season includes performances on the High Desert Chamber Music series in Bend, Oregon, La Jolla’s Conrad series, Classics at the Merc, and more. Erin also performs chamber music on series throughout Southern California, including the Laguna Beach Music Festival, San Diego’s Art of Élan series, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Breene is also a passionate educator and maintains a private cello teaching studio in Newport Coast. She received her BM degree with professor Paul Katz at Rice University’s Shepherd School, and her MM degree as a student of Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School.

Beth Nam has performed at prestigious institutions and venues, such as Carnegie Weil Recital Hall and Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, and has also won numerous competitions and scholarships including the Five Towns Music and Art Foundation Young Musician Competition and the 15th Annual Young Pianist Beethoven Competition. As an active chamber musician, she had performed extensively as the pianist of the highly acclaimed Allant Trio. Their first album, titled ‘Ignition’, was released under Sony Classical and they were also broadcasted on ABC Classic FM in Australia and WFMT radio station in Chicago. In 2014, they were invited by the Korea International Music Festival to perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto at the Seoul Arts Center with the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra which was broadcasted by Korea’s MBC network. Dr. Nam received the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees as a scholarship student at The Juilliard School. She is currently teaching as an adjunct professor of piano at the Biola University in La Mirada.