MICHELLE CANN and VERONA QUARTET
Piano Violins Viola Cello
MICHELLE CANN, piano
Lauded as “technically fearless with...an enormous, rich sound” (La Scena Musicale), pianist Michelle Cannmade her orchestral debut at age fourteen and has since performed as a soloist with prominent orchestras such as the Atlanta and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Ms. Cann’s 2022-23 season includes an appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, return engagements with the Cincinnati and New Jersey symphonies, and debut performances with the Baltimore, National, New World, Seattle, and Utah symphonies. She makes her debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony and performs recitals in New Orleans, Little Rock, Sarasota, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.
A champion of the music of Florence Price, Ms. Cann performed the New York City premiere of the composer’sPiano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguinin February 2021, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called “exquisite.”She has also performed Price’s works for solo piano and chamber ensemble for prestigious presenters such as Caramoor, Chamber Music Detroit, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, San Francisco Performances, and Washington Performing Arts.
Ms. Cann is the recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, and the 2022 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award. Embracing a dual role as performer and pedagogue, Ms. Cann frequently teaches master classes and leads residencies. She has served on the juries of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and at the Music Academy of the West. She has also appeared as cohost and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top.
Ms. Cann studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, where she serves on the piano faculty as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies.
VERONA QUARTET (JONATHAN ONG and DOROTHY RO, violins, ABIGAIL ROJANSKY, viola, JONATHAN DORMAND, cello)
The Verona Quartet has firmly established itself amongst the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. The group’s singular sense of purpose earned them Chamber Music America’s coveted Cleveland Quartet Award, and a reputation for “bold interpretive strength, robust characterization and commanding resonance” (Calgary Herald). Pianist Michelle Cann is "technically fearless with…an enormous, rich sound” (La Scena Musicale). She is the recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence and embraces a dual role as performer and pedagogue.
The music in this program combines different musical styles and influences to evoke vivid pictures in the listener’s mind. Whether through the play of light on water, the energy of dance and movement, the richness of cultural tradition, or the sense of motion and vitality, the music creates a world of images.
