Change to March 11, 2023 Program: Announcing Eunghee Cho

Sadly, there has been a change to our program for this weekend. Due to illness, Benedict Klöckner is no longer able to perform. We're delighted and grateful that world-class cellist Eunghee Cho from Houston has agreed to step in last minute.We’re also very excited that composer José Elizondo will be with us.

Eunghee Cho, biography

Born in Davis, California, Korean-American cellist Eunghee Cho was awarded Second Prize and the special award for Outstanding Chinese New Piece Performance at the Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition (China). He has also earned top prizes in the Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition (Czech Republic), AEMC International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, USC Solo Bach Competition, the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, MTNA National Chamber Music String Competition, New England Conservatory’s Honors Ensemble Competition, and Sacramento Philharmonic League Concerto Competition.

A committed teacher, Eunghee currently serves on the cello and chamber music faculty of University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where he also directs the Moores Cello Ensemble and CelloFest Houston. He has been invited to present masterclasses for Towson University, La Jolla Music Society, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Artis Naples, Royal Conservatory of Music, and Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, and is the Artistic Director of Mellon Music Festival in Davis, CA as well as the Houston Chapter of Music for Food. Eunghee has also been invited to serve on the summer teaching faculties of Texas Music Festival, Montecito International Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Festival Internacional de Música Naolinco.

He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras around the country including the Sacramento Philharmonic, Cape Symphony, Atlantic Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, Davis Symphony, and Sacramento State Symphony Orchestras. He held the Joyce & Donald Steele Chair as Principal Cello of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra as well as Principal Cello of Boston Festival Orchestra, and has performed as Principal Cello with Dallas Chamber Symphony, Cape Symphony, Unitas Ensemble, and Symphony by the Sea. Eunghee has actively participated in classes at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival and Académie Musicale de Villecroze in France, and has worked closely with distinguished musicians such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Kim Kashkashian, Steven Doane, Colin Carr, Myung-Wha Chung, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, Tokyo, Orion, Brentano, Borromeo, and Shanghai Quartets.

As an avid chamber musician, Eunghee has collaborated in performances with artists such as Midori Goto, Inon Barnatan, David Shifrin, Maeve Gilchrist, Elton John, Keith Murphy, Alec Benjamin, François Salque, and with members of the Borromeo String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Calder String Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, A Far Cry, and Aaron Diehl Trio. He has also performed as a guest artist with A Far Cry, Da Camera Society, and the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento. Previous festival engagements include La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Taos School of Music, Keuka Lake Music Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival International d’Echternach, and Rencontres Franco Américaines de Musique Chambre in Missillac, France.

As a passionate adventurer of contemporary music, he has collaborated directly with composers in performances of their works including with Frank Ticheli, José Elizondo, Andrew Norman, David Froom, Michael Gandolfi, and Gabriela Lena Frank. Eunghee’s own arrangements have been commissioned and premiered by Sphinx Organization, New England Conservatory’s Cello Choir, Holes in the Floor, Rasa String Quartet, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Mellon Music Festival, Moores Cello Ensemble, and Music for Food.

Eunghee graduated magna cum laude and as a Steven & Kathryn Sample Renaissance Scholar from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance and a Minor in Biology. He completed both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at New England Conservatory under the tutelage of distinguished pedagogues Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz. His previous instructors include Andrew Shulman, Andrew Luchansky, Richard Andaya, and Julie Hochman. Away from the cello, Eunghee enjoys neighborhood pick-up soccer, everything about dogs, and dawdling in local coffee shops.

Youth Orchestra Student Nolan Henckel Wins Competition

This weekend is a big deal for a lot of our student musicians as they tackle solo and ensemble. But one of our students has decided to skip S&E this year for a very good reason.

Horn player Nolan Henckel participated in a competition for high school and college students sponsored by the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble. Though competition was strong, Nolan took home first place with a cash prize and an opportunity to solo with the ensemble. 

His performance is Saturday, March 4th and he will perform Morceau de Concert by Camille Saint-Saens.  

Band director Mike Arendt founded the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble, and Mike was a student of Nolan's grandpa, Richard (Dick) Henckel. Mike has a daughter who plays cello, and Laura Kenney Henckel, Nolan's mother, taught her in her teens. Yet another layer of connection is that Laura is also teaching her two daughters!

The connections don't end there. Mike Arendt taught Jeremiah Eis (band director at Xavier Middle School) who taught Nolan in middle school. Jeremiah is now the conductor of the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble and will be up on stage with Nolan for his concerto debut.

It is hard to believe there can be so many connections, but we are truly blessed to have such an amazing and collaborative music community here in the Fox Cities. 

Best wishes this weekend, Nolan. We know you will be amazing!

Nolan's Biography:

Nolan Henckel, age 17, is a Junior at Xavier High School in Appleton, Wisconsin. He began playing the horn in 3rd grade, and he quickly advanced, despite his young age. He briefly studied with Don Krause (Neenah) before moving on to study with Andy Parks (DePere). Nolan began studying with Dr. Bruce Atwell, professor of horn at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh, in January 2019 and continues to study in his studio.

Nolan has participated in the Wisconsin State Music Association’s (WSMA) Middle Level State Honors program (6^th through 9^th grade) and High School State Honors program (10^th and 11^th grade). He has also participated in the WSMA District Solo and Ensemble Festival, qualifying for State Solo and Ensemble Festival competition each year since 6^th grade.

Nolan has been an active band member at Xavier as well as being a member of the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra and the Lawrence Community Wind Ensemble. He has spent the last two summers at Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) Academy, the nation’s premier faith-based music academy for high school students, in Valparaiso, Indiana. LSM is a four-week program providing advanced musical instruction and numerous performance opportunities. In addition to studying horn, Nolan has explored composition and conducting.

Nolan comes from a very musical family. His parents, Laura (cello) and Michael (trumpet), are both very active musically, as are his siblings, Kayla (violin) and Dylan (vocal tenor). The previous generation also includes Laura’s mother, Carol Leybourn Janssen (piano), and Michael’s father, C. Richard Henckel (horn).  One of the horns Nolan uses today was his grandfather’s.

In addition to playing the horn, Nolan enjoys video games, watching football (the Denver Broncos, not the Packers), cheeseburgers, and spending time with his two cats, Arlong and Snickers.