Ensemble Epomeo- Hereford, March 19, 2009

The international string trio will be giving a concert in Hereford on Thursday, 19 March at 7:30 PM at All Saint’s Church. Joining the ensemble will be Hereford-born violinist, Suzanne Casey. The program will include Beethoven’s String Trio in C minor, the Kodaly Intermezzo for Trio and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet no. 3 in E-flat minor. Tickets (10 pounds general admission, 6 pounds concessions) are available at the door.The members of Ensemble Epomeo: violinist Byron Wallis, violist David Yang and cellist Kenneth Woods will also be performing with the Hereford String Orchestra, in concert on Saturday 21 March at Holy Trinity Church, where Mr’s Wallis and Yang will be soloists in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the HSO under Kenneth Woods’ direction. That program also includes Dvorak’s New World Symphony.Founded on the slopes of the legendary volcano Mount Epomeo in the Mediterranean in 2008 at  the Festivale d’alla Musica da Camera d’Ischia in Italy, Ensemble Epomeo consists of three virtuosi dedicated to the expansion of the string trio and non-traditional performance. Upcoming projects include concertos with orchestra in the UK and Canada and an inaugural concert tour of the United States, the United Kingdom and France in spring 2009.

Born in Indianapolis, violinist Dr. Byron Wallis currently resides in Paris, France where he is concertmaster of the Orchestre de Chambre Francais Alberic Magnard, and a member of Ensemble Matheus, with whom he  performed at Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress. A graduate of the University of California, Eastman School of Music, and University of Wisconsin, Wallis was formerly concertmaster of the Great Falls Symphony and violinist with the Cascade String Quartet. In 2006 he was visiting assistant professor of violin at Ithaca college in New York state. Solo appearances include performances with the Carmel Symphony and Great Falls Symphony. As a member of the Taliesin Trio, he was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts/Chamber Music America grant for a residency in rural Arkansas.

Violist David Yang has been heard throughout North America and Europe in collaboration with members of the Borromeo, Brentano, Lark, Miro and Tokyo string quartets. An advocate of new music, he has commissioned and premiered dozens of works and as leader of the storytelling/music troupe Auricolae, David developed a residency program to foster the creation of new compositions by public school students. David is also a member of Poor Rchard’s string quartet in residence at Ben Franklin’s church in Old City, Philadelphia. He is currently artistic director of the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival and director of chamber music at the University of Pennsylvania. David was raised in New York City and studied with Martha Katz and Heidi Castleman.

Kenneth Woods was founding cellist of the NEA rural residency grant-winning Taliesin Trio and the Masala String Quartet. He was artist-in-residence in the Eastern Piano Trio while professor at Eastern Oregon University. Concerto appearances include Aspen, Grande Ronde Symphony, Boston Chamber Orchestra, Lancashire Chamber Orchestra, Oregon East Symphony, Cambridge Symphony and the Madison Philomusica. Festivals include Sandpoint, Great Lakes, Lucerne, Schloss Weinberg, Domaine Forget, Wallowa Lake, Clock Tower, and Round Top. Woods is the only person to have received Gilbert Award for “Outstanding String Performer” in consecutive years. Chamber music colleagues include members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Pro Arte, Tokyo and Audubon quartets, amongst others.

Guest violinist Suzanne Casey was born and brought up in Hereford.  During her years at the Hereford Cathedral School she became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and also played in many local groups such as the Hereford String Orchestra. Upon completion of her years at the Hereford school, she was awarded a place at The Royal Academy of Music, where she won the Waley Violin Prize and the McEwen Prize for String Quartet playing. Two years later Suzanne received a Performers Diploma from Indiana University while studying with Mauricio Fuks under the Starling Fellowship, and then took up a position in Florida’s New World Symphony. She moved back to Britain to join the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2000 and enjoys a busy musical life with the orchestra, as well as playing chamber music and recitals around the UK with friends and colleagues. She regularly appears on the BBC National Orchestra of Wales chamber series at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. She has also performed with many other leading UK orchestras, including the Hallé, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony. She has appeared as a soloist with a number of orchestras in the UK and the USA, and was recently featured as a solo recitalist at the prestigious Three Choirs Festival.