Andy & Friends Chamber Program I

Join celebrated pianist Andrew Armstrong as he leads the next program of his chamber music series, ANDY & FRIENDS.

This thoughtfully curated program invites you to experience chamber music in all its colors, from the intimate elegance of a miniature waltz to the haunting simplicity of Arvo Pärt, from the expressive intensity of Rebecca Clarke to the irresistible charm of Schubert’s beloved Trout Quintet.

An Extraordinary Gathering of Musical Talent

Bringing together five exceptional performers, this concert unites international acclaim, dazzling virtuosity, and a shared passion for chamber music. Violinist Geneva Lewis, a BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, has captivated audiences from the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall to leading orchestras and chamber music festivals worldwide.

Joining her is Canadian violist Emad Zolfaghari, an extraordinary young artist who made history as the first Canadian to win both first prize and the audience prize at the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition. A Curtis Institute graduate and current Juilliard master’s student, Emad has performed with major orchestras including the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and Tokyo Philharmonic, earning recognition for his imagination, conviction, and remarkable artistry.

Cellist Raphael Bell, principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, brings a distinguished international career that spans celebrated venues including Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. He has collaborated with musical luminaries such as Martha Argerich, Steven Isserlis, and James Ehnes. Double bassist Marguerite “Maggie” Cox, a Carnegie Hall Ensemble Connect alumna and Curtis Institute graduate, brings a versatile musical voice shaped by performances with leading chamber ensembles and orchestras across the United States.

At the piano, acclaimed soloist and chamber musician Andrew Armstrong contributes his signature blend of passionate expression and dazzling technique, honed on stages including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Wigmore Hall. An accomplished performer of more than 60 concertos, he is equally devoted to cultivating the next generation of chamber music audiences through his concert series and festivals.

Together, these five remarkable artists bring their distinctive perspectives and collective musical insight to a program that journeys from intimate lyricism and contemplative beauty to the irresistible exuberance of Schubert’s beloved Trout Quintet. The result is an evening of musical discovery, expressive depth, and the extraordinary connection that happens when world-class musicians come together in the intimacy of chamber music.

About the Program

The evening opens with the graceful sway of Serge Koussevitzky’s Valse Miniature, a delightful showcase for double bass and piano that transforms the instrument’s rich, resonant voice into something unexpectedly nimble and lyrical. Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata follows with music of striking emotional depth: passionate, restless, and tender by turns, it reveals the viola’s remarkable capacity for both warmth and dramatic intensity.

The atmosphere then shifts into a more intimate, dreamlike world with two French works: Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne, with its delicate, shimmering lyricism, and Nadia Boulanger’s Cantique, a moment of soulful reflection. Arvo Pärt’s Fratres brings the first half to a close with music that is at once austere and deeply moving—built from recurring patterns, luminous harmonies, and a sense of stillness that invites the listener to simply be present.

After intermission, the mood brightens with Franz Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major, the much-loved Trout Quintet. Radiant, buoyant, and full of musical conversation, this work pairs the piano with an unusual ensemble of violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Its unforgettable theme and variations—playful, elegant, and endlessly inventive—make for a joyful finale, brimming with warmth, wit, and the pleasure of musicians making music together.

From quiet contemplation to exuberant delight, this is an evening that celebrates the extraordinary range of chamber music: music that can transport, surprise, comfort, and captivate. Whether you are a lifelong classical enthusiast or simply curious to experience something beautiful and unexpected, you are invited to come listen, discover, and be moved.

About the Artists

 

Andrew Armstrong

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia, Canada, and the United States, including performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy
Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Prague’s Dvorak Hall at the Ruldofinum, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic. Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have encompassed a vast repertoire of more than 60 concertos with orchestra as well as solo recitals and in chamber music concerts at festivals around the globe.
This 2026-27 season, Andrew joins longtime friend and duo partner, two-time winning violinist James Ehnes, in a cross-country tour of Canada, playing in each capital, province, and territory. In Tuscany, Italy, Andrew curates and hosts an annual Chamber Music Festival bringing together great music with magical venues and unforgettable experiences. Back in the States, year-round, Andrew directs and hosts four thriving
chamber music series. Three of them are in South Carolina – in Beaufort (USCB Chamber Music), in Columbia (SC Philharmonic’s Andy & Friends), and in Greenville (Andy & Friends, at Furman University). He also directs New Canaan Chamber Music in Connecticut. Andrew resides in Worcester, MA, with his wife Esty and their three children Jack (20), Elise (15), and Gabriel (9). 

Marguerite Cox

Marguerite Cox, a double bassist from northeast Ohio, is a versatile and in-demand collaborator in numerous musical settings throughout the United States. A recent alumna of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect fellowship, she performs regularly with A Far Cry, Palaver Strings, and Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and counts forthcoming appearances with The Knights, AMOC*, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Ruckus, Teatro Nuovo, and other chamber ensembles exploring music through the ages.
As an orchestral musician, she has appeared as a substitute with the Baltimore and Charleston Symphonies, held the principal bass position at Symphony in C from 2022 to 2024, and was a member of the 2023 Cabrillo Festival Orchestra; she was also a member of the inaugural NYO All-Stars Orchestra.
In 2024, Maggie toured and recorded extensively with experimental folk band Big Bend in collaboration with producer and musician Shahzad Izmaily. In 2022, she was in residence at Avaloch Farm with composer Ted Babcock’s Dialogues Quintet.
Marguerite received her undergraduate degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School and her master’s at the Curtis Institute, where she was the first bassist to receive that degree. Based in New York, she instructs budding musicians of all ages across the city, lately at Brooklyn High School of the Arts through her Ensemble Connect placement.

Raphael Bell

Raphael Bell enjoys a career as a principal cellist, chamber musician, teacher, and festival director. He is currently principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, guest professor at the Antwerp Conservatory, co-founder and co-director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival in the USA, and co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France.
As a chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Gaveau, Berlin Philharmonie, Köln Philharmonie, Luzerner Theater, the American Academy in Rome, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Kyoto Concert Hall, and at festivals including Seattle Chamber Music, Ferrara Musica, Wiener Festwochen, Elba Festival, Sonoro Musikland, Ravinia, Verbier and Resonance Festival Belgium. He was part of the IMS Prussia Cove tour that won the Chamber Music Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in London, and has collaborated with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, James Ehnes, Martha Argerich, Pekka Kuusisto, Maxim Vengerov, Ivry Gitlis, Giovanni Sollima and with quartets including Brooklyn Rider, Dante and Orpheus, as well as Oxalys and Japan's Nagaokakyo Ensemble. He has given many world premieres including Olli Mustonen's Triptych for three cellos with Steven Isserlis, and chamber music by Sebastian Currier, Thomas Adès, Paola Prestini, Jeremy Turner, Soren Nils Eichberg, Mansour Hosseini, John D’Earth, Wim Hendrickx and many others. Recent solo concertos include Beethoven Triple concerto with the Virginia Symphony and Eric Jacobsen, Lalo concerto with Antwerp Symphony and Lionel Bringuier, Saint-Saens concerto with the Brasov Philharmonic, as well as Boccherini and Vivaldi concertos with Bruges Chamber Players. Other highlights have been performances with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Luft Ensemble, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under Edo de Waart, Philippe Herreweghe and Fabien Gabel. He has performed Giovanni Sollima’s Violoncelles Vibrez! with both Mario Brunello and Camille Thomas. Raphael enjoys working with young musicians and has given masterclasses at the University of Texas, McDuffie Center at Mercer University, Lemmens Institute, Belgium Cello Society, COSCyL in Salamanca, La Loingtaine, and travels each year to teach in Japan. He has led student orchestral projects at the Antwerp Symphony Academy, Musiq3 Festival in Brussels, the Royal Bruxelles Conservatory and at La Loingtaine. As a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, he played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s celebrated Mahler Symphony Cycle with Claudio Abbado. He has also worked with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Munich Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Les Dissonances, among others.
Raphael studied at The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and later with Mario Brunello, Steven Isserlis and Ferenc Rados.

Geneva Lewis

American/New Zealand violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart and who has been lauded for the “remarkable mastery of her instrument” (CVNC) and hailed as “clearly one to watch” (Musical America).
Named a BBC New Generation Artist (2022-24), Geneva is also the recipient of a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was also Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the winner of the Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize (2021), Musical America’s New Artist of the Month (June 2021), a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence and a YCAT Concordia Artist.
In 2023, Geneva made her BBC Proms debut in the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Jaime Martin. Additional collaborations have included the BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais, Atlanta Symphony, Kremerata Baltica, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The 2026-27 season includes returns to the Indianapolis Symphony and the Austin Symphony, as well as debuts with the Deutsches Symphonies-Orchester Berlin, SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, and New Mexico Philharmonic.
Deeply passionate about chamber music, Geneva has had the pleasure of collaborating with prominent musicians such as Jonathan Biss, Miriam Fried, Kim Kashkashian, Gidon Kremer, András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida. This season’s projects include Bach’s Goldberg Variations with Emma Wernig and Jay Campbell, as well as a baroque trio program with Jonathan Cohen and Jay Campbell. Geneva is a regular participant at festivals and chamber music series such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Cleveland Chamberfest, and Spoleto Festival USA.
Committed to collaborating with living composers, Geneva has premiered works by Reena Esmail, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and John Zorn. Upcoming projects include the world premiere of New Zealand composer Salina Fisher’s violin concerto, presented in collaboration with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Geneva received her Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship, studying with Miriam Fried, and went on to study with Professor Mihaela Martin in the Professional Studies Program at the Kronberg Academy. Before that, she studied with Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.
Geneva currently performs on a composite violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, c.1776, generously on loan from a Charitable Trust.

Emad Zolfaghari 

Described as “An enthralling young viola soloist overflowing with imagination and conviction” by the Violin Channel, Canadian violist and VC artist Emad Zolfaghari came to international attention after being the first ever Canadian to be awarded first prize and audience prize at the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition. Laureate of many prestigious prizes that launched his career as a performing artist, Emad additionally won first prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, first, audience award and every special prize at the ArsClassica International String Competition, first prize at the Morningside Music Bridge Competition, second prize at the Johansen International String competition, third and special prizes at the Tokyo International Viola Competition and third and audience prize at Montreal’s Concours OSM. He also won the Nobuko Imai Förderpreis at the Kronberg Academy’s 2025 Viola Masterclasses as a student of Tabea Zimmerman, was named as one of CBC music’s “30 under 30 hot classical musicians,” and was awarded Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in 2024. Emad was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at age 16, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree studying with Hsin-Yun Huang, Misha Amory and Roberto Diaz. He is a current masters student at the Juilliard School studying with Cynthia Phelps and Hsin-Yun Huang, where he is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.
Emad has appeared as a soloist with several major symphony orchestras, including l’Orchestre Métropolitain in Maison Symphonique de Montréal under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Montreal Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Roy Thomson Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic in Kioi Hall, the National Philharmonic in Strathmore Hall, the Oakville Chamber Orchestra, the National Metropolitan Philharmonic, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Cruz Symphony, among others. He has given recitals across Canada, the United States and Japan at La Chapelle Historique du Bon Pasteur, the Gualala Chamber Music Series, Britton Recital Hall at the University of Michigan, Kioi Hall in Tokyo and more. He was also featured as artist in Residence for the Performance Today Radio Show with Fred Child at Minnesota Public Radio in 2025.
Emad has taken part in extensive touring programs with Curtis on Tour, Morningside Music Bridge and as the principal violist of the Curtis Symphony. In the 2026-27 season, Emad will again tour with Morningside Music Bridge throughout Canada and with Marlboro on Tour throughout the United States. He has attended and is continually invited to several renowned summer music festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Cleveland ChamberFest, ChamberFest West, Music in the Vineyards, Morningside Music Bridge, the Center Stage Strings festival as a junior faculty member, the Four Seasons Chamber Music festival and Music from Angel Fire, among others.
In his earlier years, Emad studied at the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists in Toronto on full scholarship with Theresa Rudolph, Assistant Principal Viola of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Emad performs on a fine 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola on generous loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation and a 1786 Lorenzo Storioni viola and Eugène Sartory bow on generous loan from CANIMEX, inc. His studies are generously supported by a Sylva Gelber Foundation Award which he received both in 2025 and 2026.