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Valentine’s Day music program features Charles Wadsworth

You won’t find country or hip-hop, but there will surely be something to please your Valentine’s fancy in the wide array of musical offerings the USC Beaufort Chamber Music Series will bring to the Lowcountry on February 14. The Series host, Edward Arron, has composed a varied program with violin, cello, piano, flute and a soprano. But his biggest gift this evening will be returning Charles Wadsworth to the stage from which he retired last spring.

Mr. Wadsworth will appear as pianist and composer in the evening’s performance as he joins several of the young artists he has introduced in years past: pianist Jeewon Park, violinist Chee-Yun, soprano Courtenay Budd, and Flutist Angela Jones-Reus. Cellist Edward Arron will complete the evening’s ensemble. While the two gentlemen will work hard to play their parts, it will be the young women who will be spotlighted for many of the pieces.

And no one fills the spotlight more elegantly than Chee-Yun. Charming, charismatic and deeply passionate about her art, Chee-Yun is carving a unique place for herself in the ever-evolving world of classical music. Her flawless technique, dazzling tone and compelling artistry have enraptured audiences on five continents, and we can expect no less in Beaufort. She performs regularly with the world’s foremost orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, and the Toronto, Houston, Seattle, Pittsburgh and National symphony orchestras.

As a recitalist, Chee-Yun has performed in many major US cities including New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Career highlights include appearances at the Kennedy Center’s “Salute to Slava” gala honoring Mstislav Rostropovich, the Mostly Mozart Festival’s tour to Japan, and a performance with Michael Tilson Thomas in the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Chee-Yun has also received exceptional acclaim as a recording artist and has been heard frequently on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and on WQXR and WNYC radio in New York City.

Having Courtenay Budd return after several years’ absence will allow the beauty of her fine soprano to once again entrance the audience and provide variety to the program. Praised as having “a voice for connoisseurs,” Miss Budd has been heard with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the National Symphony, and repeatedly at Carnegie Hall, Spoleto USA, and the Grand Teton and Bard Music Festivals. The recipient of a 2001 Sullivan Award, Ms. Budd won First Prize in the 2001 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, leading to acclaimed recital debuts at Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center. She is a popular recording artist and has appeared in numerous operatic productions.

Sharing the Steinway with Mr. Wadsworth, Jeewon Park will once again delight the audience with her dazzling technique and poetic lyricism. Praised for her “deeply reflective” playing (Indianalopis Star), Miss Park is rapidly garnering the attention of audiences around the world. Since making her debut at the age of 12 performing Chopin’s First Concerto with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, she has performed at major venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Kaplan Penthouse, Merkin Hall, 92nd Street Y, Steinway Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Kravis Center (FL).

As a recitalist, she has given concerts at Steinway Hall in New York, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, Caramoor International Festival, and the Norfolk Music Festival, among others. Following her performance of the Mozart Concerto K. 453 with the Charleston Symphony, the Post and Courier acclaimed that “Park demonstrated rare skill and sensitivity, playing with a feline grace and glittering dexterity…. lyrical phrasing and pearly tone quality.”

Internationally acclaimed flutist, Angela Jones-Reus, is recognized for her multi-faceted career as soloist, chamber artist, orchestral player and teacher. She began studying the flute at age 12. Ms. Jones earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Master of Music at the Juilliard School. Following her Juilliard studies she went to Italy as the sole recipient of the coveted Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship in music.

Currently Professor of Flute at the University of Georgia, she performs as a regular guest with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and is the Principal Flutist of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. She has performed extensively throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States and South America and can be heard on recordings on over 12 labels.

Charles Wadsworth, a celebrated, living legend in the world of music, was the founding Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and led it for twenty years – from 1969 to 1989, creating a concept of programming for varied instruments and voice that brought chamber music to the popularity it has today and led to the profusion of chamber music festivals throughout the U.S. and worldwide.

He has performed at the White House for four Presidents: Kennedy, Nixon, Carter and Reagan, and has been honored by France as a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters and by Italy as a Cavaliere Ufficiale in the Order of Merit. He has been awarded New York’s Handel Medallion, South Carolina’s Order of the Palmetto and the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award, and honorary doctorates from the University of South Carolina, Converse College and Connecticut College.

For fifty years, Charles Wadsworth was a favorite at the Spoleto Festivals, first in Italy and then in Charleston, SC, as Artistic Director for Chamber Music, where he both performed as pianist and was the much-loved host of the daily concerts at the Dock Street Theater. He also was the artistic director of the USCB Festival Series for almost twenty years. In 2007, he founded the acclaimed Festival Internacional de Musica in Cartagena, Colombia.

Relinquishing these extensive responsibilities last spring at the age of 80, Wadsworth continues to perform chamber music as Guest Artist. USCB is proud to welcome back this great friend and highly decorated artist.

For more complete bios of the artists and for a complete program, please go to www.uscb.edu/festivalseries.

The Performance will be at 5 pm on Sunday, February 14 at the USCB Performing Arts Center on Carteret Street. For advance tickets, call Staci Breton at 843-208-8246, Monday – Friday 8:30 – 4:30. Tickets are also available at the door.

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