(Sunday, Palo Alto) Dvorak and Popper: masterworks for cello
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^◡^8/160 spots left
Update: We're at capacity here. If you're interested, please SIGN UP FOR WAITLIST, and we will see what we can do. We will check in with RSVP "yes's" throughout the week and ask them to update if they can no longer make it, and may even schedule an extra show if the waitlist is long.
Note: This is a free concert, but the RSVP list WILL fill up. Please only RSVP "Yes" if you are pretty confident you'll come, so that we can save the space for others.
Night of the Celli: Please join us for a magical, free concert with a star studded cast of professional cellists and pianists, playing a variety of music written for four celli and piano.
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Program:
Danzon no 2, Arturo Marquez. (Piano, Alex Spangher)
Danza Latinamericano, Jose Elizondo (3 celli and piano)
Sonata No. 5, Opus 52. Alexander Scriabin (Piano, Percy Liang)
Requiem, Op 66. David Popper (3 celli and piano)
Intermission
Dvorak Cello Concerto (Solo cello and three cello choir.)
Solos:
- Mov 1: Elmer Carter III
- Mov 2: Lucas Spangher
- Mov 3: Melissa Lam
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Musicians:
MELISSA LAM: is the grand prize winner of the 2025 Antonín Dvořák Competition and has earned first prizes in the 2025 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition, 2024 American Virtuoso Competition, and the 2023 US Open Music Competition. She was also recently named a winner of the 2026 YoungArts Competition and a Finalist for From The Top. Melissa recently premiered the cello ensemble works of Gautier Capuçon’s newest album, Gaïa, alongside the renowned cellist at Davies Symphony Hall.
ELMER CARTER III is recognized for a resonant tone and expressive, collaborative approach to music-making. A recipient of the Denis de Coteua Fellowship with the SF Ballet Orchestra with degrees at the SF Conservatory of Music (Advanced Certificate and MM) he co-founded Mosaic Strings and is an active freelance artist. Recent engagements include section work with the SF Philharmonic and leadership of the Echo Trio through the SF Symphony's Adventures in Music program, along with the Echo Trio, Gem Trio, and Lora Quartet, as well as appearances alongside the SF Composers Chamber Orchestra, SF Symphony, and Fort Smith Symphony. He has contributed to Sony recording sessions and collaborated with Kronos Quartet.
GABRIEL BEISTLINE: has toured with orchestras throughout the United States, Germany, Lithuania, Armenia, Russia and Japan. Gabriel has also enjoyed many experiences as a chamber musician, including a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's String Octet with violin virtuoso Cho Liang-Lin, James Dunham of the Cleveland Quartet, and Lynn Harrell, in a concert series commemorating Mendelssohn's 200th birthday. Gabriel holds a BM from the New England Conservatory under the instruction of Yeesun Kim, cellist in the Borromeo String Quartet. He also earned a Masters in Music from Rice University under the tutelage of Lynn Harrell.
PERCY LIANG: Percy Liang is a professor in the Stanford computer science department. Percy started studying piano at the age of eight, earned a minor in music from MIT, and has participated in various chamber music groups, music festivals, and competitions. In 2008, he won the over-21 division of KDFC's Classical Star Search. He has also performed with the MIT Symphony (2004) after winning the MIT Concerto Competition and the Phoenix Symphony (2000) after winning the Phoenix Young Musicians Competition.
LUCAS SPANGHER: is a cellist actively performing in the Bay. Growing up, he studied cello performance at Juilliard Precollege of Music and performed regularly in Carnegie Hall with the new york youth symphony. He held the second seat at New York All-State 2009 and studied with Fred Ramy at Duke University. He has organized and performed in numerous critically acclaimed concerts, including the massive 2022 Ukrainian Benefit Concert at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. He plays a Prescott 5/4 cello from 1812 from which he is grateful to you all, the SF classical music community, for sponsoring through donations and Kolstein's Music of Manhattan for further sponsoring through a grant. He holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in computer science and a postdoc from MIT in plasma physics.
ALEX SPANGHER: Alex has been playing piano since he was 3 years old; he was twice showcased in New York State All-State piano recital, played for the New York State All-State Orchestra, performed for Off-Broadway plays in New York City, and attended conservatory (for double bass). He has played in a number of critically acclaimed concerts, including a 2022 Ukraine Benefit Concert at Herbst Theater with Svetlana Nikitenko (soprano, the SF Opera). He transcribes (e.g. the Carmen Suite for piano), composes (his work has been premiered at various venues), choreographs (with Sheila Paloma of the American Ballet Theatre), and does computational music research (as a hobby). He also worked for the New York Times as a journalist and data scientist and is a post-doc in the Computer Science Department at Stanford.
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