Anita Graef

Media

 Described as "a world class musician" (Galena Gazette) who plays with “high energy and polish” (WQXR), cellist Anita Graef has earned recognition for her music making as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Notable appearances include features in Strings Magazine, as well as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, and “Concerts from the Library of Congress.” She has also performed in recital as a guest of various radio programs, including “Young Artists Showcase” on WQXR, WFMT, WGTE, WUOL, WOSU, WVPB, NPR and others. She directs and performs with the Juliani Ensemble, an innovative, multi-faceted chamber ensemble, with whom she has performed extensively both

nationally and internationally.

Highlights of 2021/2022 include performances at Columbia University, “Temecula Presents,” the 1901 Arts Club in London, the Speed Art Museum, the New Lens Concert Series, and a residency at the University of Missouri. She has performed at various festivals, including as Artist-in-Residence at pianoSonoma, as a Fellow with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, as principal cellist at Brevard Music Festival, the Catskills High Peaks Music Festival, as assistant principal cellist of Miami Music Festival, as well as Credo Chamber Music Festival at Oberlin Conservatory. In 2021, she was announced as the recipient of the American Prize in Instrumental Performance. As an orchestral musician, frequent appearances include the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, originally as a

CCM-CSO Fellow, as assistant principal of the Missouri Symphony, as well as performances with the Louisville Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic and others. She has had occasion to work with and perform for musicians such as Stephen Geber,

Johannes Moser, Felix Wang, Roberto Diaz, Joel Smirnoff, Eric Kim, Charles Pickler, Yehuda Hanani, Martin Katz, Paul Watkins of the Emerson Quartet, Anne Martindale Williams, the Shanghai String Quartet, the Calidore Quartet, and the Chiara Quartet. Former teachers include Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, Hans Jorgen Jensen, and several members of the Chicago

Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in orchestras under the baton of maestros such as Leonard Slatkin, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, James Gaffigan, Peter Oundjian, David Efron, JoAnn Falletta, Rossen Milanov, Louis Langree, James Conlon and Keith Lockhart. Born into a family of professional musicians, Anita grew up surrounded by music. She began piano studies at age two, while beginning to study cello at age four, later making her concerto debut at the age of twelve. She went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where she studied with professor

Anthony Elliott. Following this, she completed studies for a Master’s Degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Ilya Finkelshteyn. When not making music, Anita enjoys reading, cooking, crocheting, weight lifting, hiking, spending time with friends and family, volunteer work and exploring new cities.

Anita performs on a modern Italian cello by Ferdinando Garimberti, dated 1923.

For more information, visit anitagraef.com.

October 2021

Chelsea Wang

Praised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”, Chelsea Wang has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America in venues including Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, New York’s Merkin Hall, Kimmel Center’s Perelman Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Rockefeller University, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Dame Myra Hess Series, and more. She has performed extensively in Europe and Asia, appearing in venues including Konzerthaus Berlin, Munich’s Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, Konzertsaal at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresden Hochschule fur Musik, Auditori Teulada Moraira in Spain, Chamber Hall of Warsaw Philharmonic, Seoul Arts Center, Taipei National Concert Hall, Kaohsiung Weiwuying Center for the Arts, Hong Kong City Hall, and Taitung Cultural Performing Arts Center. She is a prizewinner and finalist of many national and international piano competitions including the Seoul International Piano competition, Washington International Piano Competition, New York International Piano Competition, Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, and many more.

Ms. Wang made her orchestral debut at the age of six and has performed with many orchestras since then including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Orleans Civic Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Dodge Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her festival appearances include the Ravinia Steans Institute, Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival, Bravo!Vail, Tippet Rise Art Center, Music Academy of the West, Orford, PianoTexas, Fontainebleau, Music from Angel Fire, Four Seasons Winter Workshop, Banff, Amalfi Coast, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Hong Kong Intimacy of Creativity.

Chelsea has collaborated alongside Ida Kavafian, Ani Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, Peter Wiley, Roberto Diaz, Anne-Marie McDermott, Anton Nel, Hsin-Yun Huang, Bright Sheng, Arnaud Sussmann, Kristin Lee, Matthew Lipman, Yoojin Jang, Dmitri Murrath, Jose Franch-Ballester, Bright Sheng, and other inspirational mentors. She has also had the honor of playing for many notable musicians and chamber groups including Richard Goode, Gary Graffman, Robert McDonald, Seymour Lipkin, Jonathan Biss, Miriam Fried, Paul Biss, Leonidas Kavakos, Arie Vardi, Aldo Ciccolini, eighth blackbird, Emerson Quartet, and Tokyo String Quartet, among others. Radio appearances include “What Makes It Great” with host Rob Kapilow, NPR’s “From the Top”, along with programs on New York’s WQXR, Chicago’s WFMT, Philadelphia’s WHYY Public Radios, Sarasota’s WSMR, and other programs in Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota.

A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Wang is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn and was awarded the prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award upon graduation. She received her Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Leon Fleisher and Yong-Hi Moon, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with James Giles. Additionally, Chelsea is a member of the prestigious New York-based Ensemble Connect, a highly selective two-year fellowship program under the joint auspices of Carnegie Hall, The Weill Institute, and The Juilliard School.