Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 15

SIMPLY THREE The electrifying trio of violinist Glen McDaniel, cellist Zac Clark, and bassist Nick Villalobos, together known as Simply Three, has been cap- tivating audiences worldwide with high-octane performances since 2010. Acclaimed both by collaborators such as the Boston Philharmonic and in press, Simply Three continues to receive praise for its ability to impress listeners with a multitude of genres that span from Puccini and Gershwin to artists such as Adele, Coldplay, and Michael Jackson. By reshaping convention through this style of genre hopping, the trio continues to seek the true essence of classical crossover with original works as well as innova- tive arrangements that showcase their technical virtuosity and heartfelt musicality. With an ev- er-growing online popularity, Simply Three is creating a renewed excitement for instrumental music through inventive music videos that have captured the hearts of millions of YouTube view- ers across the globe. Furthermore, their works have gained great critical recognition from such publications as Rolling Stone . Chart-topping rockers OneRepublic praised Simply Three’s version of their hit single “Counting Stars,” exclaiming they “LOVE this ‘Counting Stars’ cover!” Additionally, Grammy-nominated R&B sensation Janelle Monáe proclaimed the trio’s project of her hit singles “Cold War” and “Tight- rope” to be “an honor” while making it a high- lighted feature of her personal website. Simply Three has old-school training but a new-school sound. The trio’s quest to look beyond the scope of possibility has led them to collaborate with some of the world’s most creative musicians, including Kellindo Parker (Janelle Monáe), Aly- son Stoner, and Jeff Smith (M-Pact), in hopes of creating a new, fresh genesis for string playing. With this, the trio is able to merge shows into a unique synergy of thrilling performances and tone-rich sounds not soon to be forgotten. Sim- ply Three is making its Ravinia debut. ROBERT CHEN, violin Appointed to the position by Daniel Barenbo- im, Robert Chen has been concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1999. He began studying violin at age 7 in his native Tai- wan, continuing to hone his skills with Robert Lipsett when his family relocated to Los Angeles in 1979, there also participating in master class- es led by Jascha Heifetz. Chen went on to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree fromThe Juilliard School under the guidance of Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki. As part of winning first prize in the 1994 Hanover International Vi- olin Competition, Chen recorded Tchaikovsky’s complete violin works for the Berlin Classics la- bel. During his tenure as the CSO’s concertmas- ter, Chen has been featured as a soloist under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Christoph Es- chenbach, Charles Dutoit, Ton Koopman, Osmo Vänskä, Vasily Petrenko, Nicholas Kraemer, and James Conlon, giving the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Astral Canticle as well as the CSO premieres of concertos by György Ligeti, Elliot Carter, and Witold Lutosławski. Beyond these performances, Chen maintains a solo career that has included performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, NDR Orchestra of Hanover, Asia Philharmonic, and the Bournemouth Sympho- ny. His collaborators in chamber music have included Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Christoph Eschenbach, Myung-Whun Chung, Emanuel Ax, Mitsuko Uchida, Lynn Harrell, and János Starker, and Chen has toured exten- sively with Musicians fromMarlboro and the Jo- hannes Quartet, of which he is a founding mem- ber. He also frequently participates in the Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Music Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, and the Schloss Mori- tzburg Festival. In addition to his regular perfor- mances at Ravinia during the CSO’s residency, Robert Chen has been a soloist with the orches- tra at the festival in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2011, and he has been featured on the BGH Classics series for the past two seasons. MATTHEW HAGLE, piano Pianist Matthew Hagle is a musician of great versatility and depth whose solo recitals often explores the boundaries of the piano reper- toire, combining thoughtful programming and committed performance to integrate newer repertoire and lesser-known older works with the traditional canon. He is currently working on a more conventional project: performing Beethoven’s 32 sonatas in a series of live radio recitals. Hagle is also highly valued as a collab- orator by many other artists. With violinist Ra- chel Barton Pine, he has released two acclaimed CDs on the Cedille label and performed many recitals in North and South America, including at Ravinia. His piano duo performances with Mio Isoda-Hagle are highlights of the annual Chicago Duo Piano Festival. Other chamber music partners include the Parker and Avalon Quartets, Quintet Attacca, and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Hagle has been heard in concert halls throughout the United States, including Symphony Space in New York, as well as at the National Gallery of Art and the United States Supreme Court. Internationally, he has performed at venues in England, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Japan. A resident of the Chicago area, he performs frequently at local spaces, including Ravinia, Symphony Center, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Hagle can of- ten be heard on the city’s radio station WFMT, and he has also been heard on NPR’s Perfor- mance Today and Minnesota Public Radio’s St. Paul Sunday Morning . Hagle is a dedicated teacher of piano, music theory, and composition whose students have earned high honors in na- tional competitions and have continued studies at such institutions as The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and Indiana Universi- ty. He is currently on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago, where he is director of the Musicianship Program, and he has previously taught at the University of Notre Dame, Elm- hurst College, and the International Institute for Young Musicians at the Universities of Kansas and California–Santa Barbara. Matthew Hagle made his Ravinia debut in 2000 and is making his third appearance at the festival. RAVINIA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 5, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020 90 OCTOBER 12, 2019 OCTOBER 26, 2019