Piano Trio
Stephanie Arado-violin
Horacio Nuguid-piano
Wilhelmina Smith-cello
Eight Pieces for Violin and Cello, Op 39 — Reinhold Glière (1875 - 1956)
1. Prelude
2. Gavotte
3. Berceuse
4. Canzonetta
7. Scherzo
Chaconne for Violin and Piano — Kari Sundstrom
Caricias (Danza) — Juan de Sahagun Hernandez (1881 - 1945)
Kundiman — Felipe Padilla de Leon (1912 - 1992)
Trio in C Major, K 548 — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
I. Allegro.
II. Andante cantabile.
III. Allegro.
Notes about the 2 piano solos:
Spanish influence on the Philippines is deeply ingrained in the country’s music and culture stemming from over 330 years of Spanish rule in the archipelago. Caricias (Caresses) is a Danza written in the habanera style, the most popular rhythmic pattern used by Filipino composers. Juan de Sahagun Hernandez was first known as a composer of waltzes, habaneras, and zarzuelas. He later produced large-scale compositions such as a piano concerto, orchestral works and chamber music. Unfortunately, most of this compositions were destroyed during the war. He himself was a casualty of war, killed during the bombing of Manila in 1945.
Felipe Mendoza de Leon, composer, conductor, and the son of Felipe Padilla de Leon, wrote that the kundiman is a “unique musical form expressing intense longing, caring, devotion and oneness with a beloved.” With such power, the kundiman came to serve as a vehicle for veiled patriotism in times of colonial oppression, in which the undying love for a woman symbolized the love of country and desire for freedom. The formalized structure of the kundiman is characterized by moderate 3/4 time, with the piece beginning in a minor key and ending in the parallel major. The composer of today’s Kundiman wrote two operas as well as many works for orchestra and small ensembles. His music became a representation of Filipino ideals and aspirations.
Stephanie Arado
Violinist Stephanie Arado’s career encompasses a wide range of performance and teaching experience. She most recently completed a year of teaching at the Interlochen Arts Academy, an institution she graduated from in 1982. She occupied the Loring M. Staples Chair as Assistant Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1991 to 2013. During the 1995/96 season, Ms. Arado served as Concertmaster of The Colorado Symphony under the baton of Marin Alsop. While in Minneapolis, she maintained a private teaching studio and was a founding member of the Bakken Trio, a premier chamber music organization in the Twin Cities. Through her work with the Bakken Trio she has collaborated with many living composers and commissioned numerous chamber compositions. Ms. Arado continues to serve as a Co-Artistic Director of the Bakken.
Ms. Arado played her first solo recital at the age of eight. She went on to debut with the Chicago Symphony as a 12 year old; following that she has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras throughout the US, including the Detroit, St. Louis, and Minnesota Orchestras. As a 21-year-old Ms. Arado was the first American ever invited to play with the European Union Youth Orchestra led by Claudio Abbado and Leonard Bernstein. She was also invited to perform as a part of the prestigious chamber music festival Musiktreffen in St. Moritz, Switzerland with Paul Tortelier and Yuri Bashmet, two of the most renowned chamber musicians of the century.
She was born and raised in Chicago. She began playing the violin at the age of five using the Suzuki method with Sister Mary Ricardo of La Grange. She was fortunate to have worked with many fine violin pedagogues in her youth including Paul Rolland, Eugene Gratovich and David Cerrone at the famous Meadowmount School. She spent five summers as a Fellowship student at the Aspen Music School. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music at Western Illinois University (Macomb, IL) studying with Almita and Roland Vamos, and completed her Masters Degree at Juilliard in New York City under the tutelage of Dorothy Delay and Paul Kantor.
Horacio Nuguid
Pianist Horacio Nuguid has captivated audiences with his "beautiful tone" and
"elegance." In addition to several well known piano concertos, Nuguid has performed also lessor known works, such as Edward MacDowell's Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Clara Schumann's Konzertsatz in F Minor, Mario Pilati's Suite, and Ferdinand Ries' Grand Variations on Rule Britannia with orchestras in the Philippines, Mexico and United States. As the pianist and artistic director of the Rochester Chamber Music Society, Nuguid has been performing with distinguished artists in the region for more than 20 seasons. He was the recipient of the Ardee Award (Mayor's Award) for Outstanding Artist in the city of Rochester. Nuguid received his music performance degrees from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila (BM), the University of Northern Iowa (MM), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DMA). As a music educator, Dr.Nuguid has presented master classes internationally and has served as an adjudicator for piano competitions in Minnesota. He also has served as artist/faculty at the Young Artist World Piano Festival in Minnesota for over 20 years and has taught as guest artist at the Philippine High School for the Arts. Dr. Nuguid recently accepted the position of Co-Artistic Director at Bethel University Summer Piano Academy in Minnesota. In August of 2023, Nuguid published an anthology of piano pieces by Filipino composers, which he edited with annotations. He has been promoting this pioneering piano music collection through a series of lecture recitals in the Philippines and United States.
Wilhelmina Smith
Wilhelmina Smith is an artist of intense commitment, poetic insight and dazzling versatility. She is a cellist whose artistic mission embraces a conversation through music, one that enthusiastically encompasses the music of the present placed within the context of a living past. As a soloist and recitalist as well as a collaborative musician and festival director, Mina has consistently advocated for composers with whom she has developed vital relationships, to have their music creatively positioned within an intellectually engaging context and performed with the utmost passion and technical assurance.
Ms. Smith was awarded a 2015-2016 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians. She made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra while a student at the Curtis Institute of Music and in 1997 was a prizewinner in the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition. She has been soloist with orchestras nationally and internationally including the Orquesta Millenium of Guatemala and the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and has performed recitals across the US and Japan.
She has been a guest artist with the Philadelphia and Boston Chamber Music Societies, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a founding member of Music from Copland House. She has performed regularly in festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In 2005, she formed the Variation String Trio with violinist Jennifer Koh and violist Hsin-Yun Huang, a group that has performed across the US and Europe, and in 2012 formed a piano trio with pianist Lydia Artymiw and violinist Erin Keefe. She is founder and Artistic Director of Salt Bay Chamberfest, on the coast of Maine; a festival that has been home to performers and composers of international renown for over two decades.