A unique and versatile cello quintet, hailed as “brilliant” and “superb” by Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times, the SAKURA Cello Quintet is built on the artistry and virtuosity of its members: Stella Cho, Michael Kaufman, Yoshika Masuda, Peter Myers, and Nathan Chan (guest). Its name honors the great Ralph Kirshbaum, with whom all five members studied: sakura (桜) (Japanese) and Kirschbaum (German) have the same meaning: “cherry tree”, an organism whose flowers have five petals. Playing by memory, this group has a very expressive sonority and an eclectic mix of repertoire from classical to modern, from Dowland and Boccherini to Brahms to Bernstein and Star Wars.

Links:

SAKURA website

Click on below links to hear SAKURA!
Schubert Erlkönig
Princess Leia’s Theme
Bernstein West Side Story Mambo
Debussy Girl with the Flaxen Hair

Program: Faure: Cinq Mélodies “de Venise”
Dvorak: Silent Woods
Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
Peter Myers: Sarabande
Debussy: The Girl with Flaxen Hair
Joe Hisaishi: Merry-Go-Round of Life (from “Howl’s Moving Castle”)
Britten: “Dawn” from Sea Interludes
Schubert: Erlkönig
Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
Debussy: Clair de Lune
Chick Corea: Spain