University of Florida Performing Arts

Voices of Vienna

There will be a pre-performance discussion with Steven Thomas at 4 p.m.

To read the program and notes, click here.

To hear an interview with David Finckel and Wu Han on NPR’s Performance Today, click here.

Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han rank among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. The talent, energy, imagination and dedication they bring to their multi-faceted endeavors as concert performers, recording artists, educators, artistic administrators and cultural entrepreneurs, go unmatched. Their duo performances take them to some of the most prestigious venues and concert series across the United States, including San Francisco Performances, Stanford Lively Arts, New York’s Lincoln Center, The Morgan Library & Museum, Town Hall, and 92nd Street Y, Washington’s Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institute, and Dumbarton Oaks, Wisconsin’s Union Theater, Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater, UCLA’s Performing Arts Series, the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall, Princeton University Concerts, the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, New Orleans Friends of Chamber Music, Santa Barbara’s UCSB Arts and Letters, and Aspen’s Harris Concert Hall.

The duo’s international engagements have taken them to Mexico, Canada, the Far East, Scandinavia and continental Europe to unanimous critical acclaim. Highlights from recent seasons include their debuts in Germany and at Finland’s Kuhmo Festival, their presentation of the complete Beethoven cycle in Tokyo, and their signature all-Russian program at London’s Wigmore Hall.

David Finckel and Wu Han’s wide-ranging musical activities also include the launch of ArtistLed, the first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, which is celebrating its tenth year. All nine ArtistLed recordings have received critical acclaim and are available via the company’s website.  The duo’s Russian Classics recording, featuring works by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich, received BBC Music magazine’s coveted “Editor’s Choice” award. The two newest additions to the ArtistLed catalogue feature the cello sonatas of Johannes Brahms and David Finckel’s recording of the Dvorák Concerto and August Read Thomas’s Ritual Incantations (world premiere recording).The upcoming Russian Recital album will feature works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin and mark Wu Han’s first full-length solo recording for the label.

David Finckel and Wu Han have served as Artistic Directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004. They are also the founders and Artistic Directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival in Silicon Valley that has garnered international acclaim since its inception in 2003. Prior to launching Music@Menlo, Wu Han and David Finckel served for three seasons as Artistic Directors of SummerFest La Jolla.

For many years, David Finckel and Wu Han taught alongside the late Isaac Stern at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. They have appeared annually on the Aspen Music Festival’s Distinguished Artist Master Class series, and in various educational outreach programs across the country. David Finckel and Wu Han reside in New York with their 13-year-old daughter, Lilian.

Program

Sonata in A Minor (Arpeggione), D. 821 – Schubert
Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, op. 5 – Beethoven
Two Pieces and Three Little Pieces, op. 11 – Webern
Sonata No. 2 in F Major, op. 99 – Brahms

Read the Savannah Now review

Read The Columbus Dispatch review

Read the Palm Beach Post review