INTRODUCTIONS FROM THE STAGE

A rising star on both the historical performance and modern violin stages, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong is a 2020 recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in the UK, Canada, Italy Costa Rica, Panama, China, and New Zealand. A sought-after collaborator, her growing reputation as one of the top historical performers of her generation has resulted in appearances with such respected ensembles as the American Bach Soloists and The Academy of Ancient Music, and tours with Bach Collegium Japan, Les Arts Florissants, and others. Equally accomplished on the modern violin, Ms. Wong made her first public appearance with the Philharmonia Northwest at age 11 and has since performed as a soloist with such orchestras as Seattle Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Panamá, and Orquesta Sinfónica (Costa Rica). Her numerous awards include the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition Grand Prize, among others. She performs on a baroque violin from the school of Joachim Tielke, and on a modern violin by Carlo de March.

Praised as a “[musically] eloquent” (San Francisco Classical Voice) player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists” and a “bewitching musical presence” (The Piedmont Post), Audrey Vardanega has performed as a solo and collaborative pianist across Europe, China, and the United States. She has received instruction from notable artists including Leon Fleisher, Thomas Adés, Gidon Kremer, Robert Levin, Miriam Fried, and Jonathan Biss. She currently studies piano with Richard Goode. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Musaics of the Bay, a nonprofit chamber music series dedicated to music mentorship in the Bay Area. 2019 highlights include her participation in Argentina’s New Docta Music Festival in August 2019, her two-part Beethoven Piano Sonata Project at the Berkeley Maybeck Studios, and the launch of Musaics of the Bay, a concert series and mentorship initiative founded by Audrey in the Bay Area.