Chamber series to feature top artists in Beethoven performance

On Sun., April 12, La Sierra’s ongoing Chamber Music Series will showcase Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Cellist Robert deMaine, L.A. Phil Assistant Principal Violist Ben Ullery, Jason Uyeyama, La Sierra’s director of string studies and frequent L.A. Phil violinist, and acclaimed violinist Kristin Lee, a rising star in the classical music world and one of this year’s recipients of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, a $25,000 prize.

The quartet will perform two major works by Ludwig van Beethoven -- “String Trio in D Major, Op. 8 ‘Serenade,’” and “String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1, “Razumovsky.”

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in Hole Memorial Auditorium. 

Lauded by “The Strad” magazine for “rare stylistic aptness” and “mastery of tone and rare mood,” 28-year-old Lee arrives at La Sierra less than a month after receiving the Avery Fisher grant on March 18, one of five young musicians to win this year’s prize. Past recipients include world-renowned violinists Joshua Bell and Hillary Hahn.

A native of Seoul, Korea, Lee began studying violin at age 5 and within one year won first prize at the prestigious Korea Times Violin Competition, her biography states. After studying with several eminent violinists, she was chosen in 2000 to study with the famed Itzhak Perlman after her performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto.” She has toured with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has soloed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and many others, gracing concert stages at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Louvre Museum in Paris and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. She has also made significant inroads into other musical genres including a continued collaboration with ?uestlove, the drummer and front man for Grammy-winning hip-hop band, The Roots, which involved an appearance on the group’s album, “Undun.” Other projects include commissioned pieces from young musicians for duets with violin and steel pan, Indian singing, guitar, spoken word and theramin.

Lee’s performances have been heard on WQXR in New York, and she has appeared in PBS’s “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcast and in the PBS documentary, “PBS in Shanghai.” Her many awards include first prize in three concerto competitions at The Julliard School in New York, an unprecedented feat.

DeMaine, former principal cellist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, joined the L.A. Phil in 2013. A fourth-generation string player, deMaine was introduced to the cello at age 4 by his mother and sister, both accomplished cellists. He later earned full-tuition fellowships to study at Yale University and other preeminent institutions. DeMaine has appeared at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie and many other noted venues. He frequently collaborates with distinguished performers such as violinists James Ehnes and Hillary Hahn, pianists Orion Weiss, Emanuel Ax and André Watts, and many other notables.

DeMaine’s numerous awards include the designation as first cellist to win San Francisco’s prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. He is frequently invited to perform at the world’s leading music festivals in Aspen, Heidelberg, Breckenridge, the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, among others. He has also recorded extensively on top classical labels such as Naxos, Chandos, CBC, and Elysium, and has been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today,” the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and the BBC.

Ullery, a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and native of St. Paul, Minn., became assistant principal violist with the L.A. Phil in 2012. He previously performed three seasons as a member of the Minnesota Orchestra, played frequently with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Currently Ullery’s performance schedule includes appearances with the Phil’s Chamber Music Society and Green Umbrella new-music series.

He also performs regularly with top summer music festivals including those in Aspen, Taos and Tanglewood. He has been featured in chamber music performances broadcast on KUSC FM 91.5 and on Minnesota Public Radio, according to his biography.

In addition to his teaching duties and performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and other groups, Uyeyama is also founder and director of the Orange County String Studio in Irvine which offers private lessons, group and duo instruction. His extensive work as a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and soloist includes appearances with the Pacific Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and festival appearances in Medellin, Colombia, San Luis Obispo, Tanglewood, Aspen and Taos. He holds a master’s degree from The Juilliard School in New York City where he studied with Masao Kawasaki.  Previous teachers include renowned violinists Perlman, Dorothy DeLay, and Yao-Ji Lin.

An advocate for community outreach, Uyeyama has served as music director of Community Kids Connection in San Bernardino since 2008.  Through this program, he has given free violin lessons to underserved children and performances for local hospitals and charity events.

Tickets for the Chamber Music Series are $15 general admission, $10 seniors, and $5 for students. For further information call 951-785-2036, email music@lasierra.edu, or visit https://lasierra.edu/music/. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside.