For one performance only, this concert will feature winners of RCO’s reimagined concerto competition which cultivates talent of Nevada youth and highlights the work of Nevada teachers.  String students of RCO’s own musicians also perform side-by-side with their mentors in Victor Herbert’s charming Serenade and Saint-Saëns’ youthful Symphony No. 2 closes the season with a flourish. Priced separately from our season subscriptions, with the first chance to buy tickets given to our season subscribers.

Kelly Kuo, conductor

Concerto competition winners

Juliette Leong, Violin

Adele Balcarek, Violin

​

HERBERT   Serenade

SAINT-SAËNS: Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, op. 55

MOZART   Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major

BRUCH    Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor

INSIDE-OUT

​Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, winner of the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, leads this program of baroque works that speaks to the human condition, evoking the feelings of hope, loss, exuberance, anger and joy. 

A. SCARLATTI   Concerto Grosso No. 3 in F Major
PURCELL   Selections from Music for the Theatre
TELEMANN   Sonata à 4 in A Minor
GETER   Buh-roke
HANDEL   Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6, No. 1
DURANTE   Concerto No. 8 in A Major, "La pazzia"
VIVALDI   Concerto for Violin in G Major, RV 307

Principal musicians of RCO shine in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, with sunny and transparent qualities that lend itself to a fanciful chamber orchestration.  Superstar double-threat Chelsea Guo sings the poetic finale AND takes the keys in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, one of just three that the composer allowed to be performed with an intimate number of string players.

​Kelly Kuo, conductor
Chelsea Guo, Piano & Soprano

MOZART   Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414
MAHLER (arr. Simon)   Symphony No. 4 in G Major

Respighi’s imaginative orchestrations of lute music and Bloch’s challenge to his skeptical students bookend a program of works inspired by early music. Jennifer Corning Lucio, Fort Worth Symphony’s principal oboe, performs Vaughan Williams’ pastoral oboe concerto and the baroque concerto grosso form gets a jazz-inflected rethinking by Errolyn Wallen, “the renaissance woman of contemporary British music.”

​

Kelly Kuo, conductor

Jennifer Corning Lucio, Oboe

​

RESPIGHI  Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS  Oboe Concerto

WALLEN  Concerto Grosso

BLOCH  Concerto Grosso No. 1

December 31st at 2:00pm
Beyond Tomorrow
Harlan O. and Barbara R. Hall Recital Hall

MONICA HOUGHTON   String Quartet No. 3
ARENSKY    Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32
DVOŘÁK    String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 77

The final concert opens with a string quartet by Reno composer Monica Houghton, and ends with the Dvorak string quintet, a beloved piece from the  first festival.

​

Dmitri Atapine, Angela Bae, James Baik, Dustin Budish, Justin DeFilippis, Scott Faulkner, Gallia Kastner, Peter Lenz, Ruth Lenz, Steven Vanhauwaert & Benjamin Zannoni

​www.renochamberorchestra.org/tickets

20th Festival Celebration
Harlan O. and Barbara R. Hall Recital Hall

RAVEL   Tzigane for violin and piano
MENDELSSOHN   String Quintet No 2 in B-flat major, Op. 87
SCHUBERT    Piano Trio in B-flat major, D. 898

A celebration of the 20th Nevada Chamber Music Festival. The Mendelssohn and Schubert pieces were performed at the very first NCMF. Ruth Lenz will perform the exciting Tzigane by Ravel, her performance will be in honor of the late violinist James Buswell who passed away in 2021. "Jamie" was a musical titan of the early days of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival.

Dmitri Atapine, Angela Bae, Justin DeFilippis, Russell Houston, Gallia Kastner, Ruth Lenz, Dr. James Winn & Benjamin Zannoni

www.renochamberorchestra.org/tickets

December 30th at 2:00pm
L'Après-Midi Avec Debussy
Harlan O. and Barbara R. Hall Recital Hall

DEBUSSY    Violin Sonata in G minor
LISZT    Transcendental Etude No. 11 in D-flat major “Harmonies du Soir”
DEBUSSY    selection of piano pieces
MESSIAEN  Ile de Feu for solo piano
DELIUS   Romance for Cello and Piano
TAKEMITSU    A Bird Came Down the Walk for Viola and Piano
DEBUSSY   String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10

A concert centered on the music of Debussy, anchored by the Debussy Violin Sonata and String Quartet, which have never before been performed at our festival. Also featuring composers that influenced Debussy or were influenced by his work including Liszt, Delius, Messiaen, and Takemitsu. 

​

Angela Bae, James Baik, Dustin Budish, Russell Houston, Gallia Kastner, Ruth Lenz, Hyeyeon Park, Steven Vanhauwaert, Dr. James Winn & Benjamin Zannoni

www.renochamberorchestra.org/tickets

December 29th at 7:30pm
Cello Mavericks
Harlan O. and Barbara R. Hall Recital Hall

BEETHOVEN   Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5, No. 1
BERIO   Sequenza IV for cello
HOLST   Invocation for Cello and Piano
DOHÀNYI   Serenade in C major for string trio, Op. 10
FREDDIE MERCURY  Bohemian Rhapsody arranged for Cello Quartet

A cello showcase to remember! Featuring Clive Greensmith in a performance of the Berio Cello Sequenza. Peter Lenz and James Winn will perform the Holst Invocation, programmed for the 2022 festival, this piece unfortunately was not performed due to inclement weather.Many will be pleased to have an opportunity to hear it in 2023. The concert closes with a cello quartet arrangement of the Queen mega-hit "Bohemian Rhapsody." 

Dmitri Atapine, James Baik, Dustin Budish, Clive Greensmith, Russell Houston, Gallia Kastner, John Lenz, Peter Lenz, Hyeyeon Park & Dr. James Winn

www.renochamberorchestra.org/tickets

MOZART   Sonata in D major for 2 pianos, K. 448
JANACEK   In the Mists
SCRIABIN   Piano Sonata No. 4
CLARA SCHUMANN  Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann
in F-sharp minor, Op. 20
JAMES WINN   Three Pieces after William Butler Yeats
DVORAK     Selections from Slavonic Dances for four hands

The classic NCMF format of the piano showcase returns. All three of the festival pianists, Hyeyeon Park, Steven Vanhauwaert, and Dr. James Winn perform solo. The program includes original compositions by Dr. Winn, and dynamic piano duos opening and closing the concert. 

Hyeyeon Park, Steven Vanhauwaert & Dr. James Winn

Tickets are available at www.renochamberorchestra.org/tickets

KARIM AL-ZAND   String Quartet No. 4 "Strange Machines"
(Chamber Music America Commission 2022)
MOZART     String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421 
DVOŘÁK    Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, B. 155

NCMF celebrates the return of rising chamber music stars, the Balourdet Quartet. This concert opens with an exciting new piece commissioned by Chamber Music America in 2022 from composer Karim Al-Zand. The Balourdet Quartet will be joined by festival favorite Steven Vanhauwaert for the Dvořák Piano Quintet which was featured in the very first Nevada Chamber Music Festival. 

Balourdet Quartet & Steven Vanhauwaert