November Chamber Concert

On Sunday, November 17th at 3:00 p.m., Solo Cellist Brian Manker, Violinist Katherine Gradojevich Manker, Pianist Wei-Tang Huang will perform at the Phelps Mansion Museum during its Chamber Concert Series at 191 Court Street in Binghamton. Tickets are $20 general admission $15 members and seniors, Students $5.00 and children 13 and under FREE. Please note tickets are available at the door or by calling 607-722-4873.
 

Brian Manker

Solo Cellist of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1999, Brian Manker enjoys a diverse and varied musical career as a performer and teacher. In addition to being a frequent concerto soloist with the OSM, Mr. Manker is a member of the award winning New Orford String Quartet. Formerly the co-director of Festival Alexandria, he can be heard on his 2010 recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites on STORKCLASSICS, as well as numerous recordings of chamber music and with the OSM. Mr. Manker served on the jury of the prestigious and historic Prague Spring International Cello Competition in 2006. Currently on the faculty of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, in 2007, Mr. Manker launched the Beethoven Project and founded the Adorno Quartet, which aimed to perform all the quartets of Beethoven in their proper context, the private salon. Brian Manker plays on a cello made by Pietro Guarneri of Venice in 1729 with a bow made by Francois Pecatte, graciously loaned by the Canimex Foundation, as well as plays a cello made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2005.

Katherine Gradojevich Manker

Katherine Gradojevich Manker spent seven seasons as Associate Concertmaster with the North Carolina Symphony before moving to Montréal, Canada. Currently, she is teaching for the McGill Music Conservatory and is an active freelancer, performing and touring frequently with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. As a member of the Adorno Quartet, Ms Manker participated in the Beethoven Project performing the complete cycle of the Beethoven String Quartets numerous times. Ms. Manker spent several years in Southern California regularly performing with the Santa Barbara Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Opera Pacific, and freelance work in the motion picture, television, and recording industries. She is a graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Music and continued her violin studies at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles as a scholarship student of Robert Lipsett. Ms. Manker has taught for the Preparatory Department of The Cleveland Institute of Music, Colburn School of Performing Arts, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the Artistic Coordinator for Festival Alexandria (Ontario, Canada) from 2007-2010. She plays on a violin made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2013.

Wei-Tang Huang

Wei-Tang Huang moved to the U.S. from Taipei, Taiwan, at the age of 13 to further his musical education. Huang first studied with Jerry Davidson in Kent, Ohio, and was later a student in the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Olga Radosavljevich. He then studied piano performance with Sara Laimon at Yale University while pursuing a degree in Computer Science. Since arriving in Montreal in 2002, he has performed privately at various seniors’ residences and long-term care facilities and collaborated publicly with various musician friends and students. Huang is currently exploring his interest in chamber music performance, piano accompaniment, and musical composition. Huang draws inspiration from collaborations with classical musicians, singers, songwriters, as well as other artistic and creative friends. While Huang has worked as an IT systems architect, studied law, served tea, and explored snack-making at his friend’s tea shop, music has always been the one thread connecting the eclectic dots of his sporadically random life. He lives in Montreal with his loyally soporific cat, Taro.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the United Cultural Fund, a program of the Broome County Arts Council, and with public funds from the Chenango Art’s Council’s Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the NYS Council on the Arts, with support from Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature. Additional support for Broome County provided by the Stewart W. & Willma C. Hoyt Foundation.

Proud Partner of the Binghamton Philharmonic’s Beethoven Project.