Image: Constantine Finehouse, pianist
in its popular series of concerts of beautiful Classical music. This concert will be held at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA. Admission is free.
One of the highlights of Santa Barbara Music Club’s concerts is the opportunity for audiences to hear great music from a variety of historical periods, with a diversity of musical forms, performed by excellent artists. This concert will feature Antonin Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90, performed by Han Soo Kim, violin, Sang Yhee, cello, and Constantine Finehouse, piano. The concert was originally going to feature Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op 67, but another piece was substituted for it.
Program Details
NOT PERFORMED
(1906-1975)
- Andante
- Allegro con brio
- Largo
- Allegretto
Sang Jun Yhee, cello
Constantine Finehouse, piano
Notes on the Program
Composed in 1944 in memory of one of Shostakovich’s closest friends, Ivan Sollertinsky, the Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 is by turns haunting, somber, urgent, and angry. It is seen by some to be not just a work honoring the memory of a close personal friend, but one that acts as an elegy for all victims of war.
Antonin Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90, subtitled “Dumky,” composed in 1891, is one of the composer’s best-known works. In music, a Dumka (plural = dumky) is an Eastern European folk ballad or lament, very often with alternating slow and fast sections. Each of the six movements of Dvořák’s Trio follows that pattern, and each has a unique character, as he draws on a wealth of Czech folk melodies and rhythms to create a work of great diversity.
The Performers
Constantine Finehouse was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended New England Conservatory, Juilliard and Yale. His principal teachers included Fredrik Wanger, Natalia Harlap, Herbert Stessin, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Berman and Bruce Brubaker. Praised by Rhein Main Presse Allgemeine Zeitung for his “interpretations of depth and maturity,” Finehouse has performed extensively in the US (including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Washington) and abroad (including in Lausanne, London, Odessa, St. Petersburg and Trieste). Recent recordings include Backwards Glance [Spice Rack Records 101-01], which interweaves music of Johannes Brahms and Richard Beaudoin. The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included double-CD [Albany Troy 959/960] and a national tour. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” As part of American Double, Finehouse also toured Hungary, performing sonatas by Brahms, Bolcom and Ravel. More recently, he collaborated with violinist Olga Caceànova at Lausanne Conservatoire and with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Merkin Recital Hall (Kauffman Center). Finehouse is currently recording Bolcom’s complete piano solo works for Naxos Records.
Han Soo Kim, violinist, is an award-winning and internationally accomplished artist who has performed to critical acclaim in numerous countries on four continents. Dr. Kim has concertized extensively as solo performer, duo-recitalist and chamber musician. In the United States, he has performed in some of the nation’s most prominent venues including Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Weill Recital Hall and Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Cutler Majestic Theater, Jordan Hall, Kaufmann Concert Hall, and The Kennedy Center. Performances have also led him to institutions and festivals including Académie Internationale de Courchevel, Boston Conservatory, Columbia University, Le Domaine Forget International Music Festival, The Juilliard School, Longy School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, Meadowmount School of Music, Morningside Music Bridge, Musicorda, New England Conservatory, and Stony Brook University. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the US and abroad performing standard concertos to contemporary world premieres. As a Promessa Records Artist he has released Encore Favori, a solo CD featuring a dozen encores and virtuosic showpieces, and will be recording the next album in 2021. He is Founder and the violinist of The Finehouse-Kim-Yhee Trio.
Dr. Kim has earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in violin performance under a fellowship grant. His Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in violin performance are from The Juilliard School where he was a merit scholarship recipient. His influential teachers and mentors include Roman Totenberg, Sally Thomas, and Pamela Frank. He has worked with distinguished chamber music artists including Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, and Orion String Quartets. He is a Bella Rosins Artist and performs on a Carlo Antonio Testore of 1721. His CDs can be purchased at the Westmont College bookstore and hanjoannekim.com. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, son Kian and dog Dolce, exploring restaurants in Santa Barbara, playing pool, and gardening.
Sang Jun Yhee, cello (Tenafly, New Jersey), pursued his studies at the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick, Harvey Shapiro, and David Soyer. He has also studied with David Geringas in masterclasses at the Chigiana Academy in Siena, Kronberg Academy, Interlaken Classics, and Usedom Music Festival. He will be pursuing his doctorate at Manhattan School of Music in the fall. Sang has won the Juilliard School Shostakovich Cello Concerto Competition and has been a quarter-finalist at the Concours de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland. He also won first place at the Thavieu String Competition, the Society of American Musicians Competition, and is a recipient of the 2013 Frank Huntington Beebe Fund. He has performed as soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-college Orchestra, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Northshore Orchestra. Past Yellow Barn musician (2013-2014)
