Lenox — Tanglewood Learning Institute will present four members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in concert at Tanglewood’s Linde Center for Music and Learning on Sunday, April 13: violinists Ala Jojatu and Sophie Wang, violist Mary Ferrillo, and cellist Will Chow.
Sunday’s program consists of W.A. Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C, K.465, “Dissonance,” and Leó Weiner’s String Trio in G minor, Op. 6.
What is so dissonant about Mozart’s 19th string quartet? The introduction to the first movement. That is where the composer takes the listener on a harmonic adventure that was actually outlandish in its day. Its unusual dissonances and chromatic progressions were so bold that early commentators thought it must be a mistake. Written in 1785, String Quartet No. 19 is the last of the six quartets that Mozart dedicated to the father of the string quartet, Joseph Haydn. It is one of Mozart’s most celebrated chamber works.
Though not as internationally famous as Bartók or Kodály, Leó Weiner was one of Hungary’s most respected music educators in the 20th century. His music often reflects the influence of Hungarian folk idioms, but unlike Bartók, he wasn’t into modernist dissonance. The result is music that is lyrical, warm, and accessible. Think Dvořák meets Hungarian dance, with a bit of French color.
Weiner’s String Trio in G minor, Op. 6., is a hidden gem of early 20th-century chamber music that is bound to appeal to fans of Brahms, Dohnányi, or early Kodály. It is a relatively early work for Weiner and is often given as an example of how the composer blended Romanticism with national color without drifting into the modernist territory of Bartók or Kodály.
Born in Moldova, violinist Ala Jojatu has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2011. Having studied at Bucharest National University of Music and Boston University, Ala was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2000 and 2001. She has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, New England String Ensemble, Portland Symphony in Maine, and as concertmaster of the Indian Hill Orchestra. Ala is married to BSO cellist Mihail Jojatu.
Violinist Sophie Wang joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2022. Her principal teachers have included Malcolm Lowe, Donald Weilerstein, Sergiu Schwartz, and William Terwilliger. She received her master’s degree from New England Conservatory and her bachelor’s from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. She has been featured as soloist with the New England Philharmonic, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Schwob School of Music Philharmonic. She was a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and has participated in such festivals as the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove; Taos School of Music; and Sarasota Music Festival.
Violist Mary Ferrillo has been with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2019. Prior to that, she performed as a freelancer with the BSO and Boston Pops, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. She spent three summers—from 2012 to 2014—as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. She performs chamber music regularly in the Boston and Berkshire areas with BSO colleagues and with her string trio, the Chroma Trio.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Will Chow joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2022 after serving in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Having studied at the Curtis Institute of Music under Carter Brey and Peter Wiley, Chow was the principal cellist of Curtis’ 20/21 Ensemble on Cedille Records’ GRAMMY-nominated album, “Two x Four,” as well as principal cellist of the Curtis Chamber Orchestra for Curtis on Tour. An avid chamber musician, Chow has collaborated with Mitsuko Uchida; Yo-Yo Ma; Ida Kavafian; Roberto Díaz; and members of the Guarneri, Borromeo, Juilliard, and Cleveland quartets.
Hear BSO musicians Ala Jojatu, Sophie Wang, Mary Ferrillo, and Will Chow perform a program of Mozart and Weiner on Sunday, April 13, 3 p.m., at Studio E, Linde Center for Music and Learning, Lenox/Stockbridge. More information and tickets are available here.
